Camping Longyearbyen

Camp­si­te Lon­gye­ar­by­en: vir­tu­al pan­or­amic tour

A 360° vir­tu­al tour of the camp­si­te Lon­gye­ar­by­en:

I shot this vir­tu­al tour of the Camp­si­te Lon­gye­ar­by­en on a gol­den late sum­mer day in August 2014. It was a gre­at sum­mer in Spits­ber­gen any­way, com­pa­red to the rai­ny sum­mer of 2013. The camp­si­te had a good sea­son with about 2800 over­night stays, even almost over capa­ci­ty in peak sea­son. So if you want to stay the­re it is good to know that you have to bring your own tent, slee­ping bag and insu­la­ti­on blan­ket. If you want to rent any of this, then you have to get in touch with the Camp­si­te Lon­gye­ar­by­en well in advan­ce. The day befo­re your arri­val does not qua­li­fy as “well in advan­ce”, then they may or may not have equip­ment for you. And if they don’t, then you don’t have a place to sleep, as simp­le as that. Not gre­at …

Also in 2014, the­re were Belugas (white wha­les) several times near the shore next to the camp­si­te, not to men­ti­on regu­lar visits of rein­de­er, arc­tic foxes, a ran­ge of bird spe­ci­es inclu­ding King eiders and so on and so forth …

Pano 1/9

The cam­ping site is at Hotell­ne­set, clo­se to Lon­gye­ar­by­en air­port and next to the shore with a gre­at view of outer and cen­tral parts of Isfjord. In good wea­ther, the rug­ged moun­tains and wide gla­ciers on the nort­hern side of Isfjord seem no more than a stone throw away, alt­hough it is almost 40 kilo­me­tres to Borebreen, the nea­rest gla­cier in view. Every sum­mer, herds of Belugas are seen near the shore several times.

Pano 2/9

The tents are situa­ted on a tun­dra plain on ele­va­ted beach rid­ges. It can be qui­te wet in the ear­ly sum­mer, after the snow mel­ting time. Not far from the camp site, Arc­tic terns are bree­ding on the tun­dra and bet­ween the coas­tal lagoons. Rein­de­er and polar fox are regu­lar visi­tors.

Pano 3/9

In high sea­son, from late June into August, the camp site can be a busy place. It is the che­a­pest accom­mo­da­ti­on in Lon­gye­ar­by­en, and defi­ni­te­ly clo­sest to natu­re.

Pano 4/9

It is not always sun­ny and calm. Many tent owners have found out that their equip­ment does not stand an arc­tic storm on this camp site.

Pano 5/9

The ser­vice buil­ding has sho­wers, toi­lets, coo­king faci­li­ties and place to have a meal.

Pano 6/9

Insi­de the ser­vice buil­ding, it can be qui­ty lively when many are here for a meal. Almost ever­y­bo­dy is eit­her plan­ning an exci­ting trip or just com­ing back from the field. This is the place to exchan­ge sto­ries and infor­ma­ti­on.

Pano 7/9

When it is calm in here and you have some time, it is a gre­at place to hang out and enjoy the view.

Pano 8/9

The camp­si­te is clo­sed during the polar night and most of the win­ter for obvious rea­sons, but a short visit during darkness can nevertheless be qui­te an expe­ri­ence …

Pano 9/9

… Espe­cial­ly if you are lucky to see the nort­hern lights!

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