Polar Night Dogsledding
with Greendog Svalbard
About the tour
In November, the polar night enters the archipelago and that creates fantastic opportunities to see the northern lights. Some years winter comes early, and we can go out with the dog sleds from November, other years we have to wait until Christmas, before we have good sledding conditions. Regardless the amount of snow, we go out every day, so we have made a dog sledding trip in the polar night, where the means of transport depends on the weather and snow conditions.
The polar night from November to January is a spectacular time for aurora borealis observations. You can see the northern lights at any time of the day and going on a northern lights hunt with polar dogs is a fantastic experience. We will pick you up at your hotel in Longyearbyen and take you to the kennel, 12 kilometres out in the wilderness. Here we provide you with warm clothes (suit, boots, hat, gloves and buff), and you will be introduced to meet our furry friends. The guide will give you a throughout introduction to dog sledding and everybody will help harnessing the dogs. We go in pairs and in front, the guide will be driving with 2 guests.
If there is enough snow, we go by sledge into Bolterdalen. If theres lack of snow, the trip goes by dog cart in Adventdalen. Out in the valley, there is less light pollution than in Longyearbyen and the chances of seeing the northern lights are greater. And regardless of the amount of northern lights, the polar dogs will be grateful as always, to go out in the wilderness. The guide drives in front with 2 guests on his sled and after him, teh next sledges will follow with 2 guests pr sled, who takes turn in mushing.
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After the trip, we return to the kennel, to enjoy hot drinks and biscuits in our heated log cabin. We also get to greet and cuddle with the last litter of puppies
Depending on weather conditions, the dogtrip can last from 1-1,5 hours.
From 1/1, you can join us twice daily on our halfday sledding in Boltervalley!
Physical Requirements
Suitable for those with normal, good physical fitness.
Practical information
Included in the trip
Dress in layers – it’s the best way to stay warm. Remember: it is better to be too warm than to be too cold. And also – there is no bad weather, just bad clothing!
- Pick up and return to your hotel
- We provide you with suit,boots,mittens,hat and neck gaiter. Goggles if needed. We strongly recommend that you wear a woolen inner layer, a mid layer of fleece/wool or knitted, thick wool socks and handwarmers ( can be bought many places in Longyearbyen).
- Coffee/hot chocolate & bisquits ..and maybe a brandy!
- A visit in the puppycage, after the tour.
Important Information
- You must be able to communicate in English to join our excursions.
- When making the booking, please choose a hotel as pick-up spot. We only pick up from hotels, to avoid delays.
- Please note that the guide starts picking up guests at the start of the tour from the various hotels and may therefore be a few minutes late.
- No previous mushing experience is needed before the trip.
- We go in pairs – and 2 guests are sitting on the guide sled.
- The guide will give you a throughout briefing before the trip.
- We end the trip with a visit at the puppies and coffee, cake and brandy in our cozy log cabin.
- Children – From 12. Children always needs to be accompanied by an adult.
- We provide you with suit,boots,mittens,hat and neck gaiter. Goggles if needed. We strongly recommend that you wear a woolen inner layer, a mid layer of fleece/wool or knitted, thick wool socks and handwarmers ( can be bought many places in Longyearbyen).
- Bring a water bottle.
- Our guides are all very professional and passionated in their daily work with dogs & guests. They are certified and they participate yearly in the SGO (Svalbard Guide Course).
- Please note that the local hospital does not recommend pregnant women to participate on dogsled tours.
- This is an activity with live animals and it is therefore not possible to make longer stops for photography.
- On all trips, at all times an experienced and armed guide will be around to protect you from polar bears. At Green Dog safety is our number one priority.
Cancellation Policy
22 days prior to arrival give a full refund
8-21 days prior to arrival gives a 50% refund
0-7 days prior to departure gives no refund
Svalbard is beautiful, but also unpredictable. For your safety, our guides may need to move activities to another day or replace them with a different trip if conditions do not allow the original plan.
In rare cases, if the weather makes it impossible to run an activity at all, it may be cancelled. Should this happen, you will of course receive a full refund for the affected trip.
Your safety and comfort always come first, and we’ll do our best to make sure you still have a memorable experience.
