THE SOUL OF SIBERIA TO NORWAY: YENISEI RIVER, KARA SEA TO TROMSO Set sail on this unique 17-day Soul of Siberia to Norway cruise on board our boutique ship and discover history and tradition as they combine along Siberia’s mighty Yenisei River. Your unforgettable journey starts with culture and traditions of the Nenets indigenous people as we cruise north past abandoned Russian towns bordering the Kara Sea and the world’s least- visited islands in the Russian High Arctic. As we approach the far-flung Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, keep your eyes and ears open for the sound of icebergs calving from vast glaciers, and watch for extraordinary arctic wildlife and millions of seabirds on the greatest bird cliff in the Barents Sea. ITINERARY DAY 1, DUDINKA Siberia’s largest port, Dudinka is the northernmost stop on Yenisei river cruises. The open-air complex, Taimyr-Mou, promotes indigenous peoples’ culture and includes a ‘chum’ living space made of reindeer skins. A 45,000-year-old woolly Sopkarga mammoth found frozen on the banks of the Yenisei in 2012 is on display in the museum of local history. Tours to the nearby scenic Putorana plateau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, include towering waterfalls, fjord lakes, flat-top mountains and deep canyons. DAY 2, YENISEI RIVER One of the world’s largest river systems, the mighty Yenisei river is more than 3,400 miles long from Dikson on the Arctic Sea to Mongolia. As we pass through the Taymyr Peninsula, we get to meet Nenets, an indigenous people from northern arctic Russia. Mostly reindeer herders, they move gigantic herds more than 1,000 km from winter pastures south of the Arctic Circle to 01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com summer pastures in the north, crossing the Yenisei river as it Days at sea are the perfect chance to relax, unwind and do freezes. whatever takes your fancy. So whether that is going to the gym, visiting the spa, trying to spot a whale from the deck, reading a DAY 3, DIKSON chapter or two, or simply topping up your tan, these blue sea Russia's Arctic capital at 73° North, Dikson is the world’s days are the perfect balance to the green days spent exploring northernmost mainland town at the entrance to the Yenisei on land. River. With 82 polar nights from December to February, the river ice breaks up from mid-June until October. Separated by a DAY 7, HOOKER ISLAND, FRANZ JOSEF LAND 1.5km strait where walrus and beluga are spotted, the mostly Rubini Rock is the largest seabird rookery in Franz Josef Land abandoned Dikson island is home to a few polar bears, where where flocks of screeching seabirds - Brünnich’s guillemots, lichens, mosses, saxifrages and arctic poppies make up the kittiwakes, black guillemots, little auks and glaucous gulls - lush tundra. create their nests. Formed from towering cliffs of volcanic columnar basalt, the rock sits in Tikhaya Bay, or Tikhaya DAY 4, AT SEA Bukhta, where visiting ships weigh anchor. On shore lie the As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea ruins of a Soviet-era research and polar expedition base. Polar savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your bears roam free and the island’s cushiony tundra supports lush destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard vegetation and lichens. experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy DAY 8, ZEMLYA GEORGA, FRANZ JOSEF LAND some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with Prince George Island is the largest island in Franz-Josef-Land. newly found friends: the options are numerous. Much of the island is under an ice cap with tabular mountains and some ice-free lowlands where only mosses and lichens live DAY 5, SEVERNY ISLAND on the sparse tundra. Cliff-dwelling birds include little auks, Until recently, Novaya Zemlya was closed, strictly controlled by Brünnich's and black guillemots, northern fulmars, black-legged Russian Armed Forces. The archipelago marks the boundary kittiwakes and glaucous gulls. Much of the area was mapped on between an arctic desert landscape and low-lying tundra with the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition (1894-97) in the mistaken lichens, wildflowers and the polar willow. Brünnich’s guillemots belief that Franz Josef Land extended to the North Pole. and glaucous gulls nest on the ice cliffs of Severny Island where icebergs calve from the glacier’s tongue, and seals and walrus DAY 9, ALEXANDRA LAND, FRANZ JOSEF LAND haul out. A former nuclear weapons testing base remains at The Franz Josef Land archipelago is one of the planet’s last Cape Zhelaniya, the northeastern most point of Europe. great nature reserves where polar bears, whiskered walrus and bowhead whales can be seen. Only accessible by icebreaker, DAY 6, AT SEA 1,000 km from the North Pole, Alexandra Land is the gateway 01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com to the Russian High Arctic. The remote airstrip at Nagurskoye spectacular by cascading meltwater waterfalls. airbase recently gained notoriety when Russian scientists discovered a secret Nazi military base and weather station said DAY 13, BARENTS ISLAND to have stored some of Hitler’s looted gold. Uninhabited Barentsøya, or Barents Island, lies between Spitsbergen and Edge Island to the south. Part of the DAY 10, KVITOYA Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, barren glacial areas dominate Almost completely covered by the Kvitøyjøkulen ice cap, Kvitøya the eastern side of the island, while the west has large flats (White Island) is the easternmost island in Svalbard. Part of the covered in tundra vegetation where arctic fox skulk around and Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, the ice-free land is barren the once-declining Svalbard reindeer are thriving. Polar bears and rocky. Huge numbers of female Svalbard walrus calve at congregate at denning areas to the south at Freemansundet Kraemerpynten in the east, one of the archipelago’s greatest sound near Kapp Waldburg where a kittiwake colony nests on haul-out sites. It was also here in 1897 that a balloon steep cliffs. expedition to the North Pole, led by Salomon August Andree, ended and all three passengers perished at Andréeneset. DAY 14, HORNSUND Considered by some as the most beautiful fjord in Spitsbergen, DAY 11, NORDAUSTLANDET Hornsund is surrounded by spectacular landscape, mountains, One of the three largest islands in Svalbard, separated from glaciers and drift ice (bergs and growlers) due to a unique polar Spitsbergen by the icy Hinlopen Strait, Nordaustlandet is mostly current that also attracts migrating polar bears. The climate covered in ice caps including Austfonna. Part of the Nordaust- creates a high-polar ecosystem drawing scientists to study the Svalbard Nature Reserve, the coasts are made up of rocky concentrated mix of subarctic and high arctic fauna in one small beaches and cliffs filled with seabirds. In the north, you may space. Part of the South Spitsbergen National Park, most of spot polar bears in their denning area and snorting Atlantic Svalbard’s little auks breed here and you can often see walruses hauling out, while Svalbard reindeer roam the Svalbard reindeer. cushiony tundra of this polar desert. DAY 15, BEAR ISLAND DAY 12, ALKEFJELLET The greatest bird cliff in the Barents Sea is on Bear Island, or The towering cliffs of Alkefjellet - meaning guillemot mountain - Bjørnøya, Svalbard’s southernmost island. Thousands of on the northeast coast of Spitsbergen overlooking the icy breeding seabirds - Atlantic puffin, northern gannet, glaucous Hinlopen Strait, teem with 60,000 breeding pairs of Brünnich’s gull, great skua, black-legged kittiwake, little auk, common guillemots. Our Zodiacs will get up close to this incredible sight guillemot and Brünnich’s guillemot colonies nest on the steep where arctic foxes and glaucous gulls hunt for chicks as they cliffs south of Sørhamna around Kapp Kolthoff. Only Zodiacs hatch. The rocks are an excellent example of doleritic intrusion can come alongside, where distinctive sea stack rock columns, dating back to the Jurassic or lower cretaceous age, made more impressive sea caves and tunnels, such as Perleporten, have 01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com been created by the battering seas. DAY 16, AT SEA As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with newly found friends: the options are numerous. DAY 17, TROMSO Known as the Arctic gateway, Tromso is a remote Norwegian city at 69° north, 250 miles above the Arctic Circle, where you can take in the soft glow of the midnight sun. Make time to attend a midnight concert at Tromso’s distinctive Arctic Cathedral or learn more about early polar explorations at the Polar Museum. Famed for the Northern Lights on winter nights, you can find out more about this natural spectacle at the Science Centre. Please Note: Itineraries are subject to change. 01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com YOUR SHIP: VEGA YOUR SHIP: Vega VESSEL TYPE: LENGTH: PASSENGER CAPACITY: BUILT/REFURBISHED: Launched in 2022, this state of the art ship has been designed to journey to off the beaten path destinations and remote polar regions in style and comfort.