Price includes 14 day voyage, overnight accommodation in Murmansk, Murmansk city tour, airport transfers & transfers to and from the ship

Voyage to the End of the Earth offers a rare chance to visit Novaya Zemlya and Franz Josef Land. Access to these Arctic wonderlands has been restricted for decades, due to their military sensitivity. The highly productive Kara Sea attracts diverse marine life, including walrus, whales and seals. Explorers have been drawn to this area for centuries, searching for both the North Pole and a maritime route to the east. Our own explorations take us to historic huts and abandoned research stations.

A rare chance to visit the once forbidden Novaya Zemlya and explore Franz Josef Land’s distant and wondrous islands. Departing Murmansk, we sail north into the Barents Sea to a world few have seen. Sea time passes quickly, with entertaining and informative talks about the region’s early explorers, the wildlife and plants we hope to see in the Russian Arctic National Park. Watch for whales, walrus and seals, and – as we reach pack ice – maybe polar bears. Spectacular bird cliffs feature, as do long tundra walks and historic huts. In true expedition style, weather and pack ice dictate our movements.

Overnight in Murmansk then tour this bustling home to Russia’s Northern Fleet. We visit Aloysha, the towering Soviet monument to Arctic defenders, and the delightful Church-of-the-Saviour-on-Waters. Mid-afternoon we’re warmly welcomed aboard Akademik Shokalskiy, with time to settle in before departure.

Sailing north across the ice-speckled Barents Sea, affords a fantastic opportunity to hear stories of explorers Barents, Nansen, Sedov and many more. We spend time with our enthusiastic crew and staff, watching for Arctic wildlife and the first signs of pack ice.

Mountainous and shrouded in mystery, the Novaya Zemlya archipelago comprises one large island and many small, stretching 1000 km in an elongated crescent between the Barents and Kara seas. It remains one of Russia’s most restricted regions. Most lies within a closely guarded military zone, but we head north, hoping to visit Putin’s recently extended Arctic National Park. We Zodiac cruise around offshore island bird rookeries of glaucous gulls, Arctic terns, snowy owls, geese and eider ducks. Whales, walruses, seals and dolphins frequent the surrounding waters. We plan to land at North Cape.

As we push north to the outer limits of the Barents Sea, an archipelago of 191 ice-covered islands rises from the horizon – Franz Josef Land, the planet’s last major landmass to be discovered! Over the next five days we enter a world of exquisite Arctic beauty that few have seen. Uninhabited, bar a few Russian border guards who maintain a presence here, this is the realm of the polar bear, walrus, seals and elusive beluga whales. Migrating visitors include kittiwakes, fulmars and gulls.

While the archipelago is 85 per cent glaciated, the mostly ice-free shoreline of each island is unique. Just off Cape Tegetthoff, Hall Island, a huge cliff rises from the sea like a giant shark’s dorsal fin. Nearby are the weathered remains of explorers’ huts. Seabird cliffs tower over Cape Flora, Nordbrook Island, close to where Nansen met the Jackson expedition after his failed attempt on the North Pole. Walrus haulouts feature at Stolichky and Appolonov islands; Hooker Island has an abandoned polar research station and unpredictable polar bear visitors. Majestic Champ Island’s ice-capped mountains are the highest in the archipelago. There we search for the geological oddity of unique stone spheres up to 3 m in diameter.

Along the entire coastline we watch for remains of explorers’ and hunters’ huts and camps. Some may be little more than weathered timbers and a gravesite, while others stand strong. Although Franz Josef Land’s southern waters are relatively ice-free at this time of year, our schedule is dictated by weather and ice conditions. Fortunately, we have many options.

As we sail southwest across the Barents Sea, we have time for lively discussions about all we’ve seen, to enjoy the beauty of European Arctic light, and top up our tally of whales, seals and seabirds.

We enter Kola Bay for an early morning arrival in Murmansk - largest city north of the Arctic Circle. After bidding our crew and staff goodbye, transfer to the airport.