The best time to visit Longyearbyen

7 min read Updated October 2026 Compare all tours

Visit Svalbard divides the year into three seasons: the northern lights winter from 1 October to the end of February, the sunny winter from 1 March to mid-May, and the polar summer from 17 May to 30 September. Spring and autumn do not count as seasons of their own. The light changes so sharply between them that a trip in January and one in July have very little in common.

Polar night and northern lights

From 27 October 2026 to 15 February 2027 the sun stays below the horizon, according to data from the US Naval Observatory. Between 13 November and 29 January it does not even get light at midday, because the sun stays more than six degrees below the horizon all day. Visit Svalbard dates its polar night from 11 November to 30 January, which roughly matches this darker core.

The northern lights season runs from October to February in Visit Svalbard's calendar; its FAQ gives late September to mid-March. Longyearbyen lies so far north that during the polar night the aurora can show up in the middle of the day as well as in the evening. Clouds still decide everything, and Visit Svalbard itself says there is no guarantee of a sighting. Short aurora drives with hotel pickup, such as a two-hour tour by car for up to six guests, suit these weeks. Our northern lights page compares the formats.

The dark months are also the quietest. In 2025 November had the fewest guest nights of the year. The music festival Dark Season Blues takes place at the end of October, and Polarjazz in early February; check the dates for your year with the organisers.

The sunny winter

The sun rises again on 16 February, but in Longyearbyen itself the mountains hide it until early March. When its rays reach the steps of the old hospital on 8 March, the town gathers to celebrate, and the Sun Festival Week around that date brings concerts, revues and an outdoor church service. By 1 March the sun is up from 08:29 to 15:53, by 1 April from 05:17 to 20:52, and from about 20 April it no longer sets at all.

Visit Svalbard calls the sunny winter the most popular time to visit, and March had the most guest nights of any month in 2025. Flights also become more frequent in the peak season from March to August. It is the coldest part of the year as well. February and March both average about −12 °C at Svalbard Airport, and the record of −46.3 °C was set in early March 1986.

This is the main season for snowmobile tours. Reviews of the full-day trips to Barentsburg and Tempelfjorden come mainly from February to May. Since 2025, motor traffic on the sea ice of selected fjords has been banned after 1 March, so operators plan their routes around these closures. Ice cave visits are possible both in the polar night and under the spring sun.

Dog sled trips run in these months as well. Green Dog Svalbard runs half-day sled trips from its yard in Bolterdalen from January to May, and Svalbard Villmarkssenter has winter tours from November to May. Both are booked with the kennel itself. In summer the kennels switch to wheeled carts, Green Dog from mid-June to October.

The polar summer

The midnight sun lasts from about 20 April to 23 August; the US Naval Observatory has the sun above the horizon from 19 April to 24 August 2027. The summer months are not warm. June averages 3.6 °C, July 7.0 °C and August 6.0 °C. Visit Svalbard describes how seabirds arrive in large numbers to nest and how walruses, seals and whales enter the fjords.

Summer is boat season. The full-day RIB trips to Pyramiden and Barentsburg have reviews from June to September, and the Pyramiden trip is not offered to people with back problems; one reviewer warns that the open boat ride back is hard on knees and back. Visit Svalbard lists boat trips in general from early spring until late November or early December, so the season of a single tour is worth checking before you plan around it. Visit Svalbard also advises booking activities and accommodation as early as possible for the summer, and July was the second busiest month in 2025.

The Spitsbergen Marathon takes place in June, and Longyearbyen Pride at the end of August.

Late August to October

On 25 August the sun sets again for the first time, and Visit Svalbard calls the weeks until the end of September the golden autumn. Daylight shrinks fast: by early October the sun is up only from about 07:30 to 18:00. September brings the Isfjord Radio music festival and the Longyearbyen literature festival. Guided hikes still run in this period, some of them with headlamps as the evenings get dark, and there is a first chance of the aurora on clear nights.

A few things work in any month. The Svalbard Museum is open all year, and short tours drive up to the outside of the Global Seed Vault, which cannot be entered by visitors. Whatever the season, Visit Svalbard warns that the weather can change quickly, so it pays to leave a spare day for tours that are postponed.