Nybyen Travel Guide

Southern-most in Longyear Valley, at the foot of the Longyear Glacier, lies Nybyen. Store Norske Spitsbergen Kulkompani built the tiny "village" after the Second World War, and the company's miners lived in the eight houses for many years. The village also included a common bathhouse, a laundry, a shop and a canteen, which soon became known as Stormessa - the large canteen.

The miners moved out and what is left is a very charming place. The solid timber houses are original, and have been redecorated and modernised several times. But it has not been possible - or desirable - to erase all the mining stories imbedded in the walls here. In Nybyen you live near a glacier, and feel a little "out in the wilderness", but in close proximity you have the "Huset" and Galleri Svalbard, both rich in tradition. Old mining equipment looms large against the mountainsides, and the whole area invites you to a very special stay in Longyearbyen.