Exploring “Iceberg Alley” near Kullorsuaq along the northwest coast of Greenland.
PHOTO BY JOE YOGERST
Unless you’re a huge fan of vacationing in total darkness, it may seem strange to be talking about Greenland in the middle of winter. But now is actually the perfect time to start planning a visit to the world’s largest island next summer.
Greenland isn’t your run-of-the-mill travel destination. Because most of the island is covered in a huge ice sheet, only the coastal areas are open to normal visitation.
Sure, you could organize your own dog sled expedition across the frozen interior, but that’s normally left to scientists and hardcore adventurers. For the rest of us, cruising the Greenland coast or flying in for a land-based visit are the only options.
Another thing that makes Greenland different is geopolitics. Even though it’s technically part of North America, it’s an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark and an associate member of the European Union. Which means that every Greenlander is also an EU citizen.
Besides a colossal ice sheet, its geographical claim to fame is boasting the globe’s northernmost dry land — Kaffeklubben Island off its northern coast, which lies above 83 degrees north latitude in the Arctic Ocean.
Part of the Air Greenland domestic fleet, a Dash-8 aircraft on the ground at Qaarsut Airport, above … [+] the Arctic Circle in northern Westgreenland. (Photo by Martin Zwick)
REDA/Universal Images Group via Getty Images
Nuuk’s New Airport
Flying into Greenland just got a whole lot easier with the opening of a new airport in Nuuk, the territorial capital.
Unveiled at the end of November, Mittarfeqarfiit Nuuk (Nuuk International Airport) is the new hub for Air Greenland, replacing the old U.S. air base at Kangerlussuaq as the territory’s main gateway for overseas flights.
An extended runway means that larger aircraft can now land in Nuuk, including the long-range Airbus A330neo of the Air Greenland fleet. In addition to more international flights, the new airport will also serve as the main hub-and-spoke for domestic fixed wing and helicopter services to more than a dozen other Greenland destinations.
After reworking its flight schedule, Air Greenland now offers daily service between Nuuk and Copenhagen (Denmark) and weekly service between Nuuk and Keflavik (Iceland), plus seasonal service to Iqaluit in northeast Canada.
Mittarfeqarfiit Nuuk also opens up the possibility of international flights to other destinations, perhaps even Toronto, New York, or London. And cruise lines are now more likely to use Nuuk (rather than Kangerlussuaq) for passenger charter flights.
Last but not least, the modern gray-and-red terminal at Mittarfeqarfiit Nuuk brings a whole new level of comfort and efficiency to arriving in and departing Greenland. This includes enhanced check in, baggage handling, immigration, duty free shopping and food service.
Sunrise over a fjord near Tasiusaq on Greenland’s remote northwest coast.
PHOTO BY JOE YOGERST
Cruising the Greenland Coast
Greenland’s first tourists were Vikings. And the first tour leader was the notorious Erik the Red, who landed near the island’s southern tip with a ragtag group of followers in 982 AD after being exiled from Iceland for murdering a couple of his neighbors.
Unfortunately, it’s not possible to replicate their trans-Atlantic voyage in longships (if only). Leaving cruise ships as the next best thing. Like air travel, visiting Greenland by sea has become much easier in recent years. In 2023, the island was visited by 74 ships totaling 183 voyages, both around a 50 percent increase from the previous year.
A preference for a more organic experience or traveling in luxury determines whether people opt for an expedition cruise or a more upscale voyage.
Carrying less than 200 passengers, expedition ships are smaller and more maneuverable than their larger brethren, and able to enter and anchor in shallower fjords or bays which the big ships just can’t enter.
Adventure Canada offers a variety of expedition itineraries on the Ocean Endeavour including a two-week voyage between Iceland and Greenland called “In the Wake of the Vikings.”
One of its first landfalls in Greenland is Kujataa (Qassiarsuk) near the island’s southern tip, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that preserves the remains of a farming colony established in the 10th century by Erik the Red’s followers.
There’s another shore landing at Hvalsey, where the iconic stone church is Greenland’s largest and most impressive relic of Viking days.
Early 13th-century stone church at Hvalsey, the most intact Viking structure left in Greenland.
PHOTO BY JOE YOGERST
Adventure Canada also offers one of the few cruises that explore Greenland’s northwest shore between the famed Ilulissat Icefjord (another UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the Nares Strait between Greenland and Canada’s Ellesmere Island.
Sailing as far as 78 degrees north, the voyage is only possible during a brief weather window in September when the sea ice is melted enough to allow passage just before it freezes again for the winter.
At the opposite end of the Greenland cruise spectrum is Silversea, which dispatches several ships each summer on “ultra luxury expedition cruising” in the North Atlantic.
Ships like the Silver Endeavor offer white-glove butler services for each cabin, gourmet cuisine, luxury spa, beauty salon, and private executive-style transfer at each end for those who just can’t live without their creature comforts in the Arctic.
The Aurora Borealis shimmers green and purple over Baffin Bay west of Greenland
PHOTO BY JOE YOGERST
Land Based Adventures
The ability to fly in and out of Nuuk on direct flights from Europe (and hopefully elsewhere in future) also makes it easier to dive into land-based Greenland adventures.
Based in Nuuk, Nomad Greenland offers a range of ice, land and water experiences from sea kayaking and mountain treks to close encounters of the glacier and iceberg kind.
Among the company’s more unique adventures is a guided foraging experience that entails berry picking, gathering wild herbs and mushrooms, harvesting shellfish and catching fish for meals prepared and eaten in spectacular natural locations.
Nomad Greenland also arranges village visits, archaeological sites, sampling local delicacies, sled dog encounters, and indigenous storytelling.
Tasermiut adventures in south Greenland offers weeklong kayak camping expeditions that entail navigating around icebergs and hiking on glaciers. Another trip focuses on trekking the Greenland Ice Sheet including a night on the ice in a tent.
If that’s not hardcore enough, consider your own private ice sheet crossing. UK-based Paul Walker Tangent Expeditions can provide all the training, logistics and support needed for the 350 miles journey on cross-country skies pulling a supply sled. Plan on around four weeks to make the crossing.
Summer homes on Qoornoq island on the Nuuk Fjord.
PHOTO BY JOE YOGERST
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Publish date : 2024-12-18 05:37:00
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