Norway

Polar Expedition · Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Svalbard wilderness expedition, polar bear country

Trekking, ski touring or snowmobiling outside Longyearbyen puts you in the same landscape as roughly 250–300 polar bears that live on Svalbard year-round — the Governor of Svalbard requires travellers heading outside the settlements to notify authorities, carry adequate insurance, and in practice travel with an armed guide or rifle-trained member, since a bear encounter is a firearms-level emergency, not a wildlife-photo one.