On Thursday, we fly from Copenhagen to Ilulissat. Along the way, you stop in Kangerlussuaq, where you change to a smaller domestic airplane, and, from this plane, you can enjoy the sight of the floating icebergs as we approach Ilulissat. In Ilulissat, you will be transferred from the airport to Hotel Arctic.

Travel Program

You can freely arrange the days on this trip according to your wishes. However, in the following day-to-day program, you can find inspiration for activities, and purchasing an excursion package with five excursions is possible.

Today, you start the adventure with a guided town walk in Ilulissat. Here you will get to know the town, and the guide will point out the places that you can later explore on your own.

Cultural-historical Town Walk (part of excursion package)

Our guided town walk is a good way to hear about Ilulissat and Greenland’s history because the guide gives you an overview of the area’s history and culture. We also walk past the local museum, housed in the building where our world-famous polar explorer Knud Rasmussen grew up. In addition, we experience the bustling harbor, the old, beautiful wooden buildings of the colonial era, and the almost 250-year-old Church of Zion. And then, of course, we also have to pass Kalaaliaraq, the local meat and fish market!

Throughout the walk, the guide will tell you about the town’s history, Greenlandic culture, and life today, 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle.

At night, you will have a lovely welcome dinner in the hotel’s amazing restaurant (drinks not included).

It is Good Friday, and after breakfast, you have the opportunity to go to church. There are many services at Easter. You can inquire about them or check on notices in the town.

Today, it is possible to join a walk to the abandoned settlement by the shore of the Ice Fjord, Sermermiut.

Hike to Ilulissat Ice Fjord and the Abandoned Settlement of Sermermiut (part of excursion package)

Ilulissat’s beautiful icebergs form the backdrop for the ancient settlement of Sermermiut, one and a half kilometers south of the town. For 4,000 years, different Inuit cultures have lived in the settlement. You will hear more specifically about the lives and customs of the early Inuit before the arrival of the Europeans. In addition, you will feel comfortable having a guide with you on your first hike in Greenlandic nature. However, Sermermiut is not a difficult hike, and we are helped by walking on a footbridge so as not to wear nature on this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

We will have a coffee and tea break at “Nakkaliivik,” which recently became even more famous due to its role in the TV series Borgen, season 4, which took place in Ilulissat. Here, we enjoy a beautiful view of the ice fjord before we hike back again.

If you have bought the excursion package, you are going on a wonderful sailing trip on the Ice Fjord.

Sailing among Icebergs (part of excursion package)

Almost all visitors to Ilulissat choose to try this boat trip between icebergs at least once. Every day, more than 40 million tonnes of ice flow from Ilulissat Glacier into the ice fjord. The result is huge icebergs.

These giants are stranded at the mouth of the Ice Fjord, and here we have the opportunity to sail among them. It is an incredible natural experience you should not rob yourself of when visiting Ilulissat.

Today you have the day on your own unless you bought the excursion package as there ia a visit to the sled dogs.

Visit the Sled Dogs (part of excursion package)
If you have bought the excursion package, you will go out to greet the sled dogs today. You can experience the sled dogs up close and can see, feel, and especially hear them when they are fed. The dog’s owner demonstrates how the sled, the straps, and the whip work and tells about the life of the hardy dogs.

If you would like to experience more, you can always consult with the guide about what our sister company World of Greenland offers in terms of excursions.

You can also try something completely different today:

3-Hour Snowmobile Tour (optional excursion)
Snowmobiling is an exciting adventure with heavy-duty engines and speed! In the winter, snowmobiling is a popular activity in Greenland. Our path is subject to change, depending on the snow and weather conditions. We usually begin by driving up through “The Gorge,” a winding road on the mountainside directly behind Ilulissat. We enjoy spectacular town views and Disko Bay from the top of the hill.

The snowmobile tour continues across frozen lakes and rocky mountain terrain. Finally, we stop at the greatest lookout for a cup of coffee or tea along the route.

And there’s room for more fun, too:

Helicopter Excursion (additional excursion)

This helicopter trip is the only way to enter the core of the UNESCO World Heritage Site. No boat or hiker can reach the enormous glacier on the mountain’s outskirts.

Kangia Sermeq is the most productive glacier in the northern hemisphere, producing 43 million tonnes of ice every day. The glacier is over one kilometer thick and seven kilometers wide. Seeing these limitless quantities of ice and the huge forces of nature is awe-inspiring.

The helicopter takes off from Ilulissat Airport and soars over mountains, lakes, rivers, and the Kangia Ice Fjord as low as safety and laws allow. We arrive on a mountain on the ice sheet’s edge. We have about half an hour here to take in the scenery.

We fly over the glacier front and follow the Ice Fjord for 70 kilometers on the way back. The largest icebergs strand on the moraine edge just before town, giving a stunning finish to our journey.

Easter Dinner
We celebrate Easter with a 5-course menu in the hotel’s restaurant (excluding drinks). It will be a wonderful evening!

The day is at your disposal. If you bought the excursion package, you will go dog sledding today or tomorrow.

1½-Hour Dog Sled Ride (optional)

The dog sled is one of the most famous Greenlandic icons and a thousand-year-old tradition for the Inuit. Not many vehicles have survived such a long period without change in appearance and technology: a pack of happy dogs in harnesses tied to a simply constructed wooden sled. It is hard to explain this experience – it has to be tried.

This trip often takes place in flat terrain on a plain near Ilulissat. In addition to the driver, you are two participants on each of the sleds, so if you have booked the tour alone, you may share a sled with another person. All dogs are different, so if you are out with family and friends, we cannot guarantee that you will be riding together on the entire trip. If you have neck or back problems or are immobile, this trip is not for you. Participants must be 12 years and older.

Today is the time to explore the Ice Fjord by yourself on foot. Bring your backpack with some food and warm water in a thermos and spend the whole day at your own pace marvelling at the fantastic Ice Fjord, where large icebergs drift towards Disko Bay.

If you want to experience more, take a boat trip to Oqaatsut.

Boat trip to Oqaatsut (part of the excursion package)

Oqaatsut is a small village, beautifully situated approx. fifteen kilometers north of Ilulissat. The settlement was originally called Rodebay, as it was home to Dutch whalers for centuries. Even today, a whale is occasionally pulled ashore in the old settlement.

Oqaatsut has approx. 45 inhabitants and its own school, church, and grocery store. The school and the church are conveniently located in the same building, and it does not take a lot of effort to transform the school into a church on Sundays. Oqaatsut is especially known for its restaurant, H8, where a delicious meal of local ingredients is served.

This excursion departs from the port of Ilulissat and about half an hour later you arrive in Oqaatsut. You’ll try fishing on the ice, which is frozen solid in the bay near the settlement. There’s also time for a settlement walk and then you’ll be served a delicious lunch or evening meal at Restaurant H8 (the meal depends on when you sail out from Ilulissat). Afterwards, you’ll have time to wander around the village or the surrounding area on your own before heading back home.

You start your morning with a good breakfast. Then, after some wonderful days here 300 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, we fly back to Nuuk and then to Copenhagen. From the plane, you get one last view of the huge icebergs in Ilulissat Ice Fjord.