Customer Reviews

Spitsbergen: Svalbard, Franz Josef, Jan Mayen, 3rd: The Bradt Travel Guide

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I purchased this book as a travel guide however it is more suited for those arm-chair readers. Having just returned from this region on an Artic cruise, many of the landings on my itinerary are not covered in this book. And many of the destinations in this book are rarely visited so I would not recommend this book as a travel guide to Svalbard. You will find more useful information on the search engines.
The author devotes too many pages on technical information rather than as a practical guide. Other travelers on the cruise had the same comment about this book being impractical.

This fascinating Travel Guide was written by long-time Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen resident and tour operator Andreas Umbreit. The book covers the Svalbard archipelago, Jan Mayen Island, and the Russian-owned Franz Josef Land Islands, giving such important information as the geology and geography of the islands, the climate, wildlife and conservation, history, and practical information. The later covering such useful information as getting there, tours, health and safety, and so forth. As an added bonus, the book contains quite a few, breathtakingly beautiful color pictures from that Ultima Thule.

Overall, I found this to be a fascinating book. The author gives a lot of information on the islands, focusing primarily on Spitsbergen. Indeed, even Longyearbyen city is discussed, giving such useful information as accommodations, getting around, shopping, eating, and so forth.

Now, even with a place as small as Spitsbergen, it is quite likely that the author missed out on some locations. Or, perhaps, being a tour operator, he focused on those locations that he gives tours of, and knows best. But, that said, I think he did a very good job of covering a good deal of information on those islands. I really enjoyed this book, and don't hesitate to recommend it to anyone interested in those northern islands.

I am circumnavigating Spitsbergen on a small ship in June/July, 2009 and wanted a detailed general guide. This fits the bill and provides good information not only for those seeing it mostly from the water but also for intrepid hikers who want to camp out. I heartily recommend this. Useful with The Arctic: A Guide to Coastal Wildlife, 2nd (Bradt Guides).

This is intended for those who want to genuinely visit the European Arctic islands, Svalbard, Spitsbergen, Bear, Franz Josef, and Jan Mayen. If you're just on a cruise ship, some old Danielle Steel novel would be more appropriate.

The author is a leading travel guide to the Arctic islands, and anyone traveling in those parts even semi-independently needs this book. Heck, it's a great armchair travel book too.

This book is a great source for curious minded people who wonder about those hidden Islands within 500 miles of the North Pole!

It is amazing to note that this island of Svalbard, most commonly noted as an obscure territory in the game "Risk," has such an astonishingly warm climate due to the same Mexican Gulf waters that fueled Hurricane Katrina! Its capital city is Longyearbyen and the highest temperature ever recorded here was 21.3 degrees Celsius, confirmed in this book and elsewhere. That's approximately 70 degrees farenheit and in proximity to the North Pole equal to that of Washington, DC in relation to Boston,Massachusetts. Interesting to note, eh?

I think there's multiple purposes of using this book, whether planning to camp out in this warm haven in the far north or learning what's at the top of your sphere, purchase this now!