Franz Josef Land Arctic Russia
Russia
Frequently Asked Questions
Only aboard an expedition ship, often an icebreaker. The archipelago has no pier, no village and no permanent residents: every landing is by Zodiac onto shingle beaches, when weather and ice allow.
Beyond 80 degrees north, in the Russian Arctic, of which it is the northernmost possession. The archipelago counts 192 islands, more than eighty per cent of their surface covered in ice.
No. Days follow the rhythm of Zodiac outings, always subject to weather and ice conditions. A planned site can be dropped the same morning: at this latitude the ice decides, not the programme.
Among the most striking: Tikhaya Bay on Hooker Island, with the buildings of a Soviet polar station occupied from 1929 to 1959 and its tiny seasonal post office; Rubini Rock and its basalt columns; Champ Island and its stone spheres; and Cape Flora, heavy with polar history.
Perfectly round natural concretions, ranging from marble-sized to boulders several metres across. They remain a striking geological curiosity and one of the most photographed sights in the archipelago.
Yes, and this is their territory before it is ours. Sightings happen from the deck or the Zodiac, at a respectful distance, under the guides' watch. Nothing is guaranteed — but the archipelago is one of the best places in the world for the species.
Walruses hauled out by the dozen on shingle beaches, seals on the floes, and the bowhead whale, one of the longest-lived mammals on the planet. Rubini Rock holds tens of thousands of guillemots and kittiwakes.
An Austro-Hungarian expedition, by accident. In 1873 the ship of Julius Payer and Carl Weyprecht, drifting locked in the ice, came upon these unknown lands and named them for its emperor. Twenty years later Nansen and Johansen wintered here in a hut.
None. No permanent residents, no village, no pier — only a seasonal post office at Tikhaya Bay when it is open. Everything, without exception, depends on the ship.
During the short Arctic summer window, roughly July to early September, when the pack ice loosens enough for icebreakers. Even then, pack very warm layers: you are sailing beyond 80 degrees north.
