Remote Destinations

Destinations

The best way to understand Greenland is to visit. There is an overwhelming amount of information on the internet about Greenland but nothing compares to experiencing it for yourself. All of the photos and videos below were taken by me.

Bottom Line

If you are interested in visiting the remotest towns in Greenland, my local vendors and I deliver experiences that no typical traveler could ever hope to arrange on their own. If you can dream up something you want to do, we will make it happen provided it’s possible, legal and ethical.

Below, you can find the standard destinations I serve. I can also work with partners to design a custom itinerary for extreme experiences such as heliskiing and crossing the Greenland ice sheet, kayaking and mountain climbing etc. You can view more examples here in the extreme gallery.

Ilulissat

Ilulissat is very well documented as a travel destination. Oddly, less than 3,000 of the overland hotel guests to Greenland were American in 2022. Relatively few Americans have visited Greenland but interest unexpectedly ticked up in 2019 when there was talk about the US offering to purchase it. Greenland is not for sale but the free publicity was helpful until the pandemic hit.

See the video inspiration and the partners section for more information on Ilulissat. Rather than spend the time describing what can be done in Ilulissat and its surrounding communities like Ilimanaq, the photos above encapsulate exactly what you can see and experience. I will place some additional links below for research purposes.

Hotel Arctic | Visit Greenland | World of Greenland | Disko Line Explorer

Qeqertarsuaq

Qeqertarsuaq is the name of Greenland’s largest island, also known as Disko Island. The small port town now has approximately 850 inhabitants and enjoys a beautiful location. Large parts of the island consist of tall, steep basalt mountains created by volcanic activity 25-65 million years ago. The island is interesting for many reasons, not least because of the great diversity in the flora found here. Featuring black sand beaches littered with small sparkling ice fragments, tall reddish-black mountains that rise precipitously above its colourful buildings, an impossibly lush backcountry in which more than half of Greenland’s plant species are found, and artistically contorted columns of basalt rock, Qeqertarsuaq stands apart in Greenland’s only volcanic region.

Hikers, in particular, are drawn to the unusual geology and colourful landscapes around Qeqertarsuaq, which also offer front-row seats to the enormous icebergs and some of the best whale watching in Disko Bay. An abundance of fish and other marine life in the waters around the island brings large numbers of migrating whales. In spring, the area is one of the best in the world from which to observe the great Greenland whales. In Greenlandic the whales are known as “Arfivik”, meaning “barrel-shaped”. In summer, humpback whales are regularly sighted just off the shoreline.

Uummannaq

Uummannaq is a very special place located almost 600km north of the Arctic Circle on a small island of the same name. To arrive there is an adventure in itself, requiring at least 2 domestic flights + helicopter (Ilulissat – Qaarsut – Uummannaq) or one flight (Ilulissat – Qaarsut) and a boat transfer.

A fantastic resource is the Uummannaq Polar Institute. Please visit their website for more information about Uummannaq and their film, Inuk, and other projects including info about the Uummannaq Children’s Home. Uummannaq is home to the most northern 24-hour care centre for children and young people with social problems – the Uummannaq Children’s Home. Uummannaq Music and its therapies are an important part of the pedagogical work at the home.

Uummannaq and its surrounding fjord is a photographer’s paradise that completely changes character, but loses none of its grandeur, as the seasons change. During summer in Uummannaq, sailing trips will take you to where the Qilakitsoq mummies (Greenland’s oldest mummies) were discovered, to the brilliantly yellow “Arctic Desert” with rocks more than 1.5 billion years old, to nearby settlements, impossibly steep bird cliffs, actively calving glacier faces, and past icebergs that are at least as big as those found in Ilulissat.

Our providers for Uummannaq are Uummannaq Sea Safaris and Avani, both of which are linked on the partners page.

Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq is the present day international airport hub in Greenland for all flights coming from Denmark. There are other airports under construction in Ilulissat and Nuuk that can accommodate larger airplanes but for now this is the stopover that is unavoidable unless you’re flying through Iceland.

I think the visit it worthwhile if you go to the ice cap. Albatross Arctic Circle runs a fantastic tour to the ice cap and you can actually walk on the inland ice of Greenland and drive down the only long road in the entire country (35km). I have linked them in the partners section. Kangerlussuaq is also known to be a fabulous area to view the aurora and there are established tours that make it easy to see them in darkness but you will need to dress appropriately. I have suggestions on my gear page.

Ittoqqortoormiit

The most isolated town in Greenland, Ittoqqortoormiit’s neighbours include the World’s largest national park to the north and the World’s largest fjord system to the south.  Ittoqqortoormiit’s backyard is an unspoiled, pristine wilderness where wild animals thrive, millions of seabirds nest, enormous icebergs form a constantly changing sculpture gallery, and local hunters still follow the ancient traditions. Ittoqqortoormiit is the best place in Greenland to experience the traditional Inuit style of living and where you have the highest chance/risk of meeting a polar bear. Some have termed the life here as “on the edge” and from experience that is accurate.

This is the most extreme experience in Greenland that is accessible commercially. The overland experience is far more compelling and authentic than the excursions offered by the luxury expedition cruises that are starting to visit the area.

I spent seven weeks in this town for a scouting expedition I self-organized in 2022 and it was a trip that changed my life. The provider is Nanu Travel, a local family-owned business.

If wildlife is your priority, this is the destination for you but you must give yourself a minimum of two weeks in Ittoqqortoormiit to give yourself the best chances of seeing them. We will need to coordinate with Nanu about what’s possible during that time of year and if any permits are necessary.

Special gallery for Ittoqqortoormiit can be found here.

Required reading and trip inspiration: Life at the Edge by Carsten Egevang and Nanu Travel. Greenland Outside by Ruth Aaqqii. Videos by TheUrlofEaling and Hotels.com showing off the world’s most remote hotel, Ittoqqortoormiit Guesthouse

Qaanaaq

Qaanaaq is the destination for people wanting to experience extremes. It is the most northern town in North Greenland where the Sun never makes it above the horizon for 3.5 months of the year (a time of Polar Darkness), and then never sets for 5 months over summer (known as the Midnight Sun). Qaanaaq – a place where traditions such as hunting with dog sleds, kayaks, and harpoons are still common and necessary for survival. A place where the sea ice extends for more than a day’s dogsled from shore during the winter and where massive icebergs dwarf the colourful houses along the shore.

Qaanaaq is the ultimate adventure in the far north of Greenland. Few people are able to visit because of the enormous expense to get there and how remote Qaanaaq is. It might take an extra week or two to reach Qaanaaq because of limited flights, weight considerations, weather, status on Air Greenland, and numerous other priorities. I was personally stranded for an extra four nights in Ilulissat en route to Qaanaaq. This is common and I found a recent 2023 blog post that. detailed an ordeal of being delayed over one week getting there. You need patience and control of your schedule - such as being retired, on sabbatical, extended vacation, self-employed or some other circumstance conducive to off-grid travel with limited connectivity.

Like Ittoqqortoormiit, Qaanaaq is a hunting village in polar bear country. There is not a lot of information about traveling to present day Qaanaaq and my snapshots above are considered very comprehensive.

History of this region is extremely well documented by academics and a group of individuals that called themselves polar “explorers.” See writings of Knud Rasmussen, Jean Malaurie, Fridtjof Nansen, and Peter Freuchen among many others. The ambition to go to Qaanaaq and the surrounding communities back in the day was often called “Ultima Thule” - the extreme limit of human discovery. My scouting expedition was completed in September - October timeframe and I will be returning to Qaanaaq and Savissivik in spring 2024. with up to four people in waves.

The tourism sector is almost nonexistent unlike what you will experience in the Ilulissat stopover. However, life here is very authentic to the traditions and that’s what makes Qaanaaq magical. Life is much slower here.

Bring your own food or be prepared because you will eat local cuisine like whale (narwhal or Beluga), polar bear, muskox, walrus, local fish etc. There are no restaurants and there is one hotel, Hotel Qaanaaq, and some informal guest houses. You will go on a dog sled because our trips are going to be in the winter season but you must be fit enough to ride on a sled - no back problems etc. All activities will be conducted with local hunters that will serve as guides. The name of the game is subsistence in this part of Greenland so you will be able to see what that entails. The nearest community is Thule Air Base / Pituffik Space Base (US Air / Space Force).

This location is too far north for the northern lights / aurora borealis to be appreciated.

As a trigger warning, if you are not comfortable with subsistence lifestyles and hunting of wild game, including marine mammals, that can be seen on programs like Nat Geo’s ‘Life Below Zero’ or ‘The First Alaskans’ then this trip is not for you. I have included some photos of a hunt that took place while I was there as a sampling of what may be experienced. All IBC Adventures travelers have to respect the local subsistence lifestyle that is essential to survival in a hostile and remote part of the planet. Please schedule a call with me if you have any concerns.

Curious?

We operate and organize our signature Introduction to Remote Greenland tour. You can check out our itinerary for Ilulissat + Uummannaq below. The dates have been set for 2024 and you can see the itinerary below.

If you work in the travel industry, then please see our DMC information and send us a message. You can set up a call here as well.

Looking for something truly out of the ordinary?

We also operate and organize travel in small groups to the Far North of Greenland and Northeast Greenland for the truly adventurous traveler that wants to live on the edge and off grid. This is where you have the highest chance of encountering polar bears and witnessing the traditional lifeways of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples of Greenland.

Inquire here about Qaanaaq and Ittoqqortoormiit trips in April + May 2024 and February through May 2025, respectively.