Travel in Svalbard

In many cases, you are required to apply or register if you are going on travel in Svalbard. The requirements depend on where you are traveling and what activity you are doing. It is important that you familiarize yourself with the application and registration requirements before you go on a trip to Svalbard.

More information, as well as the registration and application form, can be found on our website about the application and registration requirements. 

All tenting and camping in tourism, field activities, and under the auspices of research and education activities now require permission from the Governor. For permanent residents and individual travellers, a similar requirement applies when tenting and camping in the same place for a week or more.

Applications for tenting and camping in Svalbard must be submitted to the Governor no later than four weeks before the planned camping trip. The application form can be found here: Application for camping and camping in Svalbard.

Researchers can apply in the RIS portal.

Tenting and camping that require an application to the Governor must be secured with a vigilant and organized polar bear guard when there are people in the camp.

If you are a permanent resident of Svalbard and wish to drive a snowmobile in the Northwest Spitsbergen National Park, Forlandet National Park and Sør-Spitsbergen National Park, you must apply to the Governor. The application form can be found here.

More information about motorized traffic in Svalbard can be found on these thematic pages. 

When landing in areas on Nordaustlandet and Edgeøya (zone A), notification to the Governor is required no later than four weeks before landing. After landing has taken place, a report must be sent to the Governor.

Here is the notification form

Here is the report form

A landing regulation has been introduced for tourist activities in all protected areas except for Nordre Isfjorden and Sassen-Bünsow Land national parks, as well as protected areas where there is already a traffic ban, such as bird nature reserves. The landing regulation does not apply to permanent residents, visitors and researchers unless they participate in tourist activities.

The regulation means that disembarkation for tourist activities can only take place at specific, mapped locations. In addition, disembarkation and stay on land can only take place with a guide who has knowledge of the natural and cultural environment. The regulation also regulates how many people can be on land at the same time.

An overview of these sites is available as Appendix 6 of the Regulations on the National Parks of Sør-Spitsbergen, Forlandet and Nordvest-Spitsbergen, on the Nature Reserves of Nordaust-Svalbard and Søraust-Svalbard, and on the Nature Reserves for Birds in Svalbard and in Appendix 4 of the Regulations on the Van Mijenfjorden National Park in Svalbard, as well as in the Svalbard Map.

There is no longer a requirement for separate permission from the Governor to go ashore in Virgohamna.

The precautionary regulation for travel in nature in Svalbard has been tightened in the protected areas. Anyone traveling or staying in the protected areas must prevent new permanent traces and wear on the terrain or cultural monuments. Stones, logs and other things that are used on site must be cleared and returned to where they were found.

In Svalbard, all traces of humans from before 1946 are automatically protected. Typical cultural monuments that you can experience include cabins, settlements, trapping facilities, blubber ovens, and mines. Old graves (including crosses and other grave markers) are automatically protected. The same applies to bone remains in and on the ground surface, slaughter sites for walruses and whales, and polar bear bones at installations used for polar bear hunting. These cultural monuments must not be destroyed, excavated, or moved. You must also not take anything with you, cover up, or hide what you find in Svalbard.

There is a 100-meter safety zone around cultural monuments. This zone around cultural monuments is also protected. Within the safety zone, it is not allowed to light fires, and camping is only permitted in winter when the ground is frozen and covered in snow.

Out of consideration for cultural heritage, some places are closed to traffic all year round. An overview can be found on our website here.

More information about cultural heritage in Svalbard is available on our website here.

You can see all known cultural monuments in Svalbard by zooming in closely on the Kulturminnesøk or Svalbardmap.

There are a number of restrictions on traffic in Svalbard, and motor traffic outside of established roads or spaces is basically prohibited under the Svalbard Environmental Act. However, there are several exceptions, and individual permits can also be applied for. Rules for motor traffic on land, in the air and at sea can be found on our website about motor traffic in Svalbard. 

The Svalbardmap is an interactive map where you can zoom in and out to find information about traffic regulations in the areas you will be traveling in.

Here you will find an overview map (in PDF) of some of the traffic regulations through the protection regulations.

From 1. July 2027, the use of approved Svalbard guides will be required. More information about this will be posted on our website continuously. You can also read more about the new requirements in the field safety regulations.

Due to the unique conditions in Svalbard, you must take a number of safety precautions when you are on a trip. It is important to consider both nature, climate and wildlife to prevent dangerous situations and accidents.

There are requirements for safeguarding your own and others' safety through, among other things, the field safety regulations.

Due to the danger of polar bears in Svalbard, everyone who moves outside the settlements must have suitable means to scare away polar bears. You can read more about this on our website about weapons.

Below you will find some information that you should familiarize yourself with when planning a trip to Svalbard:

• Safety in Svalbard (PDF brochure) (12/16/22)
• Warning card if you need help from the emergency services (3/21/2023
• Warning card if you spot a polar bear (3/21/2023

If you are travelling to Svalbard by boat, please note that entry to Svalbard always involves crossing the Norwegian territorial border. This means that you, as the operator of the boat, must, in addition to any notification of movement, also submit a pre-notification with information about the crew and passengers on the boat. Such a pre-notification must be submitted through SafeSeaNet Norway.

As the boat's captain, you are also obliged to ensure that everyone on board has a valid travel document for entry to Svalbard.

More information about border control (person control) is available in the Regulations on the control of travellers to and from Svalbard and on our website about entry and stay in Svalbard.

We also point out that the Svalbard Environmental Act applies in the territorial waters around Svalbard, and you must investigate yourself whether the actual journey also requires a permit under the environmental regulations. 

All visitors to Svalbard must pay an environmental fee of NOK 150 per person in accordance with the Regulations on Environmental Fee for Visitors to Svalbard.

The fee is automatically added to ticket prices by airlines and cruise lines. Visitors in private boats must arrange to pay the environmental fee themselves.

You can read more about the environmental fee and the Svalbard Environmental Protection Fund here.