Barentsburg on Grønfjorden

5 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Barentsburg lies on Grønfjorden, a southern arm of Isfjorden, about 60 km west of Longyearbyen. Unlike Pyramiden, it is a working settlement. Store norske leksikon notes that it still has an active coal mine, along with a power station, a hospital, a hotel, a school and a kindergarten. A Russian consul general is the local authority, and a research station of the Kola Science Centre works here.

From Dutch mine to Arktikugol

A Dutch company, N.V. Nederlandsche Spitsbergen Compagnie, founded the settlement in 1920 and named it after the explorer Willem Barentsz. In 1932 Barentsburg was sold to the Soviet state-owned company Arktikugol. During the Second World War the town was more or less razed to the ground. Since the end of the Soviet Union it has been run by Trust Arktikugol, the Russian state-owned company that also operates Pyramiden.

Statistics Norway counts Barentsburg and Pyramiden together. On 1 January 2026 they had 392 residents, compared with 2,512 in Longyearbyen and Ny-Ålesund.

What you see on a visit

Visit Svalbard mentions the Lenin bust, and the guided walk on the summer boat trip includes the Lenin monument. Lunch is part of the day, in the Barentsburg restaurant on the boat trip and in the hotel restaurant on the snowmobile day. One reviewer on the boat tour would have liked to see more of the mine, which is not part of the programme.

Barentsburg and tourism today

Visit Svalbard currently does not market trips to Barentsburg and Pyramiden through its channels. After an extraordinary general meeting it removed all offers with a connection to the Russian state-owned companies in Svalbard from its platforms, and it says it is uncertain how long this will last. Store norske leksikon notes that tourism to Barentsburg has fallen sharply as a result of the war in Ukraine. Visit Svalbard points to local operators whose snowmobile tours pass Barentsburg on the way west, so you see the town from a distance.

The tours on this page do go into town, with a guided walk and lunch. Reviews of other trips by the same supplier mention that the booking did not show who runs the tour, so check the operator in the description before you book.

By boat in summer

The summer trip takes nine hours and starts with pickup at your accommodation in Longyearbyen. In a dry suit with boots, mittens and goggles you cross Isfjorden in an open RIB, past bird cliffs and the old mining site of Grumant, to the Esmark glacier. Lunch is in Barentsburg, followed by a guided walk that includes the Lenin monument, and then the ride back. Search and rescue insurance is part of the package; individual travel insurance is not.

Reviews date from August and September. The operator excludes children under 12, people over 75 and anyone with back problems or limited mobility.

By snowmobile in winter

The winter day lasts about ten hours. After pickup and a briefing you ride through Todalen, Skiferdalen and Grøndalen to Barentsburg, eat lunch in the hotel restaurant and take a guided walk, then return by a different route. One reviewer put the distance at about 130 km. Snowmobile, fuel, winter overalls, boots, gloves and helmet are included.

Reviews come from February to May. Two points recur. Some groups had little time in Barentsburg, in one case because several drivers were unsure on the machine and the pace dropped. And there are long stretches before and after lunch, so one reviewer suggests packing snacks. You need a valid driving licence and should carry the card itself on the tour. A class B car licence is enough, licences from EU and EEA countries meet the requirements, and digital licences are accepted only if they were issued in Norway. The snowmobile tours page compares this route with Tempelfjorden and the east coast.

Planning the day

There is no road to Barentsburg, so you travel with a tour, and the summer boat day and the winter snowmobile day each start with pickup at your accommodation in Longyearbyen. For summer, Visit Svalbard recommends a windproof jacket and trousers, wool underwear, mittens, a scarf and a hat. In winter the operator provides overalls, boots, gloves and helmet, and layers of wool or fleece plus a balaclava underneath help on a long day; our what to wear page goes through the list. For the summer boat routes on Isfjorden, see boat trips from Longyearbyen.