From a yacht charter in Northern Europe, explore the Arctic regions; here, you are on top of the world, floating through an ethereal landscape of craggy mountain fjords, deep glassy bays, colourful fishing villages and mighty glaciers that crash into the sea. This is wilderness cruising – silent and pure. The sharp aroma of snow drifts down from the high mountains, while surprisingly warm summer sunshine beats upon the sparkling sea.
In the Lofoten islands in northern Norway, turquoise and sapphire seas are edged with white sand beaches and green fields covered in buttercups in the summer months. This is an archipelago of heart-wrenching beauty, where Vikings once ruled under the shadow of mountains, and legends of trolls and elves still live on in the fjiordlands.
High above the Arctic circle, the Gulf Stream brings warm temperatures to Lofoten in the summertime, under the famed midnight sun. This means you can play a game of golf after dinner or go kayaking at midnight, as the last glint of daylight gives the water a golden hue before the sun brightens the horizon minutes later. On a motor yacht charter in the Arctic you might surf Lofoten’s incredible beaches, dive stunning shipwrecks among the kelp forests, or fish for halibut, cod, or flounder.
As you venture north to the Svalbard archipelago, you enter a land of eternal ice and snow. In this spectacular region, you can ski in midsummer, spending a day in powder-soft snow, racing down pristine, remote mountains before skiing back to the yacht to warm up with a cognac by the fire or a long soak in the sundeck Jacuzzi beneath the midnight sun. Take the tender through fields of icebergs to glaciers, which glow ice-blue under the summer sun, the air filling with the sound of rushing melt water.
In Svalbard, polar bears lumber across the tundra, flabby walrus seals rest on icecaps, and eagles soar above the empty mountains. At night-time on your yacht, you can hear the whales breathing – the soft explosion of air from their blowholes breaks the near silence, while the only other sound is the gentle lapping of water on the yacht’s hull. This is the edge of civilisation.
An Artic yacht charter can also be experienced in the cooler months, so that charterers can witness one of the most extraordinary sights in the natural world: the Northern Lights. Ski under a sky that ripples with waves of green and purple light, or ride horses along wintery beaches.
There can be no better superyacht on which to explore the Arctic than M/Y LEGEND, a 77.4m ice-breaking explorer yacht that is available for sale exclusively through Fraser and is also available to charter through Fraser. She offers stunning accommodation for 26 guests in 13 palatial staterooms. Relax in the sauna or enjoy a massage in the superyacht’s spa centre after a hard day’s hiking; sink back into a plush chair in the onboard cinema; or take a flight across the region’s majestic mountains and fjords in one of the vessel’s two private helicopters. With inviting fireplaces and an incredible array of water toys, M/Y LEGEND is a superyacht that was built for adventure in the world’s most remote corners.