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Forward Travel
Tailor-Made Itineraries
Forward Travel
Tailor-Made Itineraries
Discover Arctic
Svalbard offers some of the world’s best opportunities to observe polar bears in their natural habitat. Expedition ships navigate pack ice and remote fjords where bears hunt, roam, and raise cubs far from human settlements.
Greenland’s immense ice sheet covers around 80% of the country and produces some of the largest icebergs found anywhere on Earth. Cruising among gigantic ice formations provides a sense of scale few destinations can match.
The Canadian Arctic has rich wildlife and Indigenous peoples. Visitors may encounter narwhals, belugas, and seabirds while gaining insight into Inuit communities that have thrived in the High Arctic for generations.
No single capital. The Arctic spans parts of Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Norway (Svalbard), Finland, Sweden, Russia, and Alaska (USA).
4 million
Inuit, Sámi, Kalaallit, Nenets, Chukchi, Aleut, Inupiat, First Nations communities, residents of Arctic towns and settlements across eight Arctic nations
Christianity (Lutheran, Anglican, Catholic, Orthodox), Indigenous spiritual traditions, Islam, Judaism
English, Greenlandic, Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Russian, Danish, Sámi languages, Inuktitut, other Indigenous languages
Canadian Dollar (CAD), Danish Krone (DKK), Euro (EUR), Icelandic Króna (ISK), Norwegian Krone (NOK), Russian Ruble (RUB), US Dollar (USD)
+1 (Canada/USA), +299 (Greenland), +358 (Finland), +354 (Iceland), +47 (Norway), +7 (Russia), +46 (Sweden)
From UTC−9 in Alaska to UTC+12 in far eastern Russia
Types A & B (Canada/USA); types C, E, F & K (Greenland); types C & F (Finland/Iceland/Norway/Russia/Sweden)
June–August (wildlife) & September–April (northern lights)
Arctic char, reindeer, musk ox, king crab, snow crab, cod, halibut, smoked fish, seal, cloudberries, locally harvested berries
The Arctic Ocean connects eight Arctic nations: Canada, Denmark (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States.
Mobile coverage is available in larger Arctic communities but can be limited or absent in remote regions. Expedition ships provide satellite internet.
Entry requirements depend on which Arctic country you visit. Some destinations fall within the Schengen Area, while others require separate visas or electronic travel authorisations. Contact us for assistance.
Polar destinations have no pre-designed packages. Please get in touch with us or build your own itinerary.
Let’s do it! Perhaps you already know what you want to see and do, perhaps you don’t. Either way, we’ll create the best Arctic tour for you.
Continue your journey with more carefully curated destinations, each offering its own unique experiences, culture, and unforgettable moments.
Few places combine glaciers and volcanoes as beautifully as Iceland. In a single journey, travellers can explore lava fields, geothermal landscapes, iceberg lagoons, and some of the Arctic’s most productive whale-watching waters.
Finnish Lapland is one of the most accessible places to experience the aurora borealis. Long winter nights, minimal light pollution, and comfortable wilderness lodges create ideal viewing conditions.
Swedish Lapland has vast forests, mountain plateaus, and national parks stretching hundreds of kilometres beyond the Arctic Circle. The region provides exceptional opportunities for hiking, wildlife viewing, and Sámi cultural experiences.
For travellers seeking one of the world’s most exclusive achievements, Russia’s nuclear icebreakers provide access to the Geographic North Pole itself, a destination reached by only a small number of visitors each year.
Alaska’s Arctic combines rugged mountain ranges, tundra, coastal wilderness, and abundant wildlife. The scale of the landscape and the sense of remoteness rival any polar destination on Earth.
The Arctic Ocean is the heart of the polar world. Expedition voyages travel through drifting pack ice, past glaciers and icebergs, and into remote regions inaccessible by road or air.
Your travel consultant
David Smyth
Director, Forward Travel
Sample only
Best Time to Travel: June–August (Wildlife) & September–April (Northern Lights)
The Arctic is the northernmost polar region of Earth, centred on the Arctic Ocean. Unlike Antarctica, which is an isolated continent covered in ice, the Arctic is a frozen ocean almost completely ringed by the landmasses of eight sovereign nations: Canada, Greenland (Denmark), Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, and the United States (Alaska). It has extreme light cycles, switching from continuous summer Midnight Sun to total winter Polar Night, and supports uniquely adapted marine mammals, apex land predators, and thousands of years of indigenous human habitation.
Stories from the road
Real journeys, real words — hear from explorers who've travelled the world with Forward Travel.
“David crafted a once-in-a-lifetime safari for us. Every detail, from the lodges to the guides, was flawless.”
Emma & James Wilson
Australia→Kenya
September 2024
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