Longyearbyen is the administrative capital of Svalbard and the main gateway for visitors to the archipelago. Named after the American coal magnate John Munro Longyear, who opened the first mine here in 1906, the town sits in the Longyear Valley surrounded by mountains and glaciers. With around 2,500 inhabitants — scientists, miners, tourism workers, and their families — it is the world's northernmost settlement of any real size.
Despite its remote location, the town is surprisingly well equipped. You will find supermarkets, outfitter shops, restaurants, a museum, and a university centre all within easy walking distance of the airport. Because Svalbard is outside the Norwegian VAT zone, some goods — particularly outdoor equipment — are cheaper here than on the mainland.
Longyearbyen is the jumping-off point for almost everything in Spitsbergen. Dog-sledding and snowmobile trips run through the dark winter months; boat expeditions into the fjords depart through summer. The Svalbard Museum is worth an afternoon for the context it gives on the island's whaling, trapping, and mining history. And the light here is something else: the midnight sun from late April to late August, the polar night from November to February, and the extraordinary blue twilight of the transition periods in between.