A short guide about Adventure travel to Greenland
Greenland is great if you are into dog sleighing or snow scooters. Big parts of this land are covered with snow all year round, and here you’ll find the glacial cap more than a kilometre thick. South Greenland will appeal more to visitors seeking excellent outdoor activities from hiking to serious rock climbing. Floating sheets of ice, called field ice, drift through this area in spring and summer, occasionally impeding vessels that carry supplies to the villages.
The East Coast is mostly uninhabited and there are only two major settlements Tasiilaq and Ittoqqortoormiit. The area is very beautiful and boasts the biggest National Park in the world, but north of Ittoqqortoormiit the park becomes very inaccessible to the ordinary traveller.
The North Disko bay is a prime destination and has the best climate in summer, of course it is also very cold in winter and is ideal for outdoor activities. Further north is Qaanaaq, the only settlement of some size and is hard to visit because of the presence of a US military base. The capital city Nuuk is located in the West and is an ideal starting place for exploring the rest of the country. It has the best places to find transport, accommodation and arrange the finer details of your trip. Igaliku is a tiny village to the South and in ancient times was known as Gardar. Blessed with good soil and shielded by mountains, the village people are able to tend their sheep and grow vegetables in the area. With a population of
1500, Nanortalik offers well kept gardens and provides scenic views of the surrounding granite mountains. Narsaq is a village also set against a mountain backdrop with a population of 1900 and offers several attractions including a museum.
Narsarsuaq was founded in 1941 as a U.S. air base, U.S. personnel departed shortly after World War II, and this area has become the gateway to the beautiful Skov and Eiriks Fjords. Qaqortoq has very friendly people, and rates as one of the most beautiful towns on the island with its multicoloured houses perched on a mountainside overlooking icebergs.
It’s not all dog sleighing or snow scooters, Tourabout has operators that provide packaged tours to Greenland that will have you visiting cosy and exotic fishing villages and even the Hot Springs at Uunartoq where you can bathe in the warm water while watching icebergs float by in the fjord.