Narsarsuaq

Narsarsuaq airport and settlement are the gateway to South Greenland. The settlement is ideal as a base for hiking, and from here there is access to the Ice Sheet, Erik the Red’s Norse ruins and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

South Greenlanders do not laugh very loudly when people bring up the joke that Iceland is green and Greenland is full of ice. For it was here in South Greenland that Erik the Red landed and named Greenland after the lushness you encounter in summer. This is Greenland’s farming centre, where you see sheep farms with green fields scattered across the landscape – among old Inuit and Norse ruins that are today a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Hub for South Greenland traffic

Narsarsuaq means ‘the great plain’, so what could be more natural for the Americans than to build a runway here when, in 1941, they were looking for places to stop over on the way to Europe? The Americans are long gone, so now the runway serves as the gateway to all of South Greenland, and from here your plane leaves for Copenhagen, Iceland and Nuuk, and small helicopters can take you to the towns of South Greenland.

The Norse in Qassiarsuk

On the other side of the fjord opposite Narsarsuaq you will find the sheep-farming settlement of Qassiarsuk, which was founded where Erik the Red once settled at Brattahlid. The settlement lies in a beautiful green landscape criss-crossed by red gravel roads. The red dust swirls up most beautifully when people whizz past on three-wheeled Hondas.

In Qassiarsuk you can see the ruins and reconstructions of both Erik the Red’s longhouse and his wife Thjodhild’s church. This is the first Christian church on the American continents, built 492 years before Columbus reached Central America. Right here in little Qassiarsuk. Now that is fantastic.

Narsarsuaq was the focal point when royalty and clergy from all over the world celebrated the 1,000th anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in Greenland in the year 2000. That is why a large statue of Leif Erikson (Leif the Lucky) stands in Qassiarsuk today.

Igaliku

Igaliku is another settlement you will find not very far from Narsarsuaq. Here too, in the Norse settlement of Gardar, you will find ruins, including their great episcopal seat. In the year 2000 an ecumenical service was held here to mark the 1,000th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity in Greenland and Leif Erikson’s discovery of the North American mainland.

The service was attended by clergy from all over the world, and Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik were also present with the royal yacht Dannebrog. It was also in Igaliku that Greenland’s then minister for foreign affairs, Tuusi Motzfeldt, welcomed his counterparts, Denmark’s Per Stig Møller and America’s Colin Powell.

It is hardly these past events that will make the greatest impression on you when you are in Igaliku. The peace, the surroundings, the high mountains – the place is made for relaxation.

The Ice Sheet

In Narsarsuaq there are two ways to experience the Ice Sheet. Either you can walk to it by following the road through the Flower Valley and climbing up the mountain, or you can join a boat trip and experience the Qoorooq glacier from the water. Both ways are exciting and one does not rule out the other, because the experiences are completely different.

Hiking and experiences

South Greenland is made for hiking, and there are a great many good and exciting routes to take. You can use Narsarsuaq as a hub for your hikes or go on a round trip to the nearby sheep farms.

It is also dead easy to find a good place to fish (just walk down to the harbour, but remember your fishing licence), and you can also rent both mountain bikes and sea kayaks at the tourist office.

Life in the settlement itself

Narsarsuaq is a settlement of 140 inhabitants, so when a full plane lands from Denmark, the population doubles. On busy days, when there is a full plane both to and from Copenhagen, the population triples for a few hours. Then the airport is crowded and buzzing with life, only to lie suddenly deserted a few hours later.

By far most of the settlement’s inhabitants are employed either at the airport or at the large hotel down the road. In fact, with its 93 rooms the hotel is one of the largest in Greenland.

If you would like to experience a slightly larger town, it is only an hour’s sail to Narsaq, where you can wander around one of Greenland’s most beautifully situated towns. After that, another hour’s sail and you are in Qaqortoq, the main town of South Greenland. In South Greenland the towns are surprisingly close together compared with the towns further up the west coast.

The museum and the old depots

You can visit the museum, which is next door to the airport and has a fine exhibition about the local community through the ages. It therefore bears the mark of the Americans’ presence, but also of the Norse who once lived here in the area. Inside the rock face itself, right opposite the airport, there are also old storage rooms that the Americans used for storage.