By
Rebecca Gibson |
Hurtigruten is to deploy four ships on its Norwegian Coast voyages and offer new land-based itineraries in Spitsbergen, Svalbard in winter 2016-2017.
The new four- or five-night ‘Pure Spitsbergen’ itinerary includes flights (direct from London Heathrow) and a choice of two hotels in Longyearbyen. Guests can choose from around 20 excursions, including dog sledding under the Northern Lights, ice cave tours, Spitsbergen winter safaris, and a three-day guided snowmobile trip.
To allow guests to travel at convenient times and fly direct to Norway, the line will also offer direct charter flights from ten UK regional airports to Bergen or Tromsø, allowing guests to join the 12-day ‘Classic Round Voyage’ and the five- or six-day ‘Arctic Highlights’ itinerary. Direct flights are available from Glasgow, Dublin, Newcastle, Manchester, East Midlands, Birmingham, Bristol, Bournemouth, Gatwick and Norwich.
“Every year we see an increase in demand from guests wanting to fully explore coastal Norway and the Arctic Circle under the Northern Lights,” said Anthony Daniels, Hurtigruten’s head of sales for the UK and Ireland. “We are always keen to widen our offering to meet this demand, while continuing to reaffirm our position as leaders in winter exploration. This winter season, we’ve expanded our coastal expedition teams to four ships; expanded our regional programme to ten airports; and we’ve launched our exclusive land-based itineraries in Spitsbergen which opens up this awesome Arctic destination to satisfy anyone’s thirst for adventure.”
Hurtigruten will also continue to offer its Northern Lights Promise for bookings in 2016-2017. This entitles guests on the 12-day ‘Classic Round Voyage’ or ‘Astronomy Voyage’ to a free six- or seven-day voyage if the Aurora Borealis fails to make an appearance during their journey.