North Pole Expedition Museum

Poli Arctici actively participated in the creation of The North Pole Expedition Museum and continues to support its development. The museum’s goal is to preserve cultural heritage and educate visitors about North Pole Expedition history and its importance in the Arctic. 

The North Pole Expedition Museum stands out as one of Norway's few independent museums. Receiving no local or national funding, the museum thrives only thanks to valuable visitor contributions

You can find the North Pole Expedition Museum just behind the University building (UNIS) towards Adventfjord, close to Poli Arctici’s headquarters.

The museum tells stories about polar expeditions with airships, skis, dog-sledges, boats, and by foot. The exhibition consists of two floors featuring original documents, historical artifacts, images, film footage, and other cultural heritage

Your visit will allow you to understand the tremendous human effort explorers put forth to explore these mysterious frozen landscapes driven by curiosity and in pursuit of scientific inquiry.

Most of the texts you will see while visiting the museum were written by relatives of the explorers recounting their journey to reach the North Pole throughout the last century. Arctic exploration is multicultural by nature and the North Pole Expedition Museum represents history from Norway, Russia, Italy, America, Sweden, Holland, France, Czech Republic, and Finland.


Controversy and a general lack of information often surrounds historical polar events and expeditions. The museum seeks to clearly communicate fact based understanding of these stories both during and after the expeditions. The museum emphasizes the diversity of the personal stories of the explorers throughout history. 

Some of the spots mentioned in the museum are visited during Poli Arctici’s Voyage in the Arctic sailing trips such as Ny-Ålesund and the North-East Land.

Main themes and focuses of the museum are: 

  • Nansen, and the ship Fram (1893-1896)
  • Andrée, and the balloon Ørnen (1896-1897)
  • The Duke of Abruzzi, and the ship Stella Polare (1899)
  • Cook and Peary (1906-1907)
  • Wellman, and the airship America (1907/1909)
  • Amundsen, Ellsworth, and Nobile’s Norge expedition (1926)
  • Italia expedition (1928) and the following rescue operation after the crash on the sea ice which constitutes the largest rescue operation in the Arctic to date

Our perception and scientific understanding of the Arctic as we know it is possible thanks to these explorers. Learning about historical and cultural heritage that the expeditions brought to the archipelago is a must during your visit to Svalbard.

The museum gift shop sells a range of polar-related items, including Polar literature and maps, art  created by local artists, postcards, clothing, and fossils. 

As a Poli Arctici customer, you receive a 20% discount on the cost of entry to the North Pole Expedition Museum. Your ticket is valid until the end of your stay in Longyearbyen and we encourage you to visit the Museum multiple times during your visit to Svalbard.

Thank you, and we hope you visit soon!

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