Greenland: Ten Attractions and Natural Wonders

An island mostly made of ice

Greenland is the largest island on earth, an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark with only about 56,000 people — nearly all Inuit, living in scattered coastal towns and settlements with no roads between them. Roughly 80 percent of the land is buried under the Greenland Ice Sheet, up to three kilometres thick, whose melting is one of the biggest single contributors to global sea-level rise. Travel is by small plane, helicopter, coastal ferry, boat, and, in winter, dog sled.

The ten below run up the more accessible west coast and across to the remote east. The summer window (June to early September) has the midnight sun, boat access, and hiking; late autumn to spring brings the northern lights, sea ice, and dog sledding, with very short days.

1. The Ilulissat Icefjord

The Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site on the west coast, is where the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier — draining a large part of the ice sheet — dumps tens of billions of tonnes of ice into the sea each year, in bergs so big they run aground in the shallower parts of the fjord, sometimes for years. Boardwalks from the town of Ilulissat lead to viewpoints; boat trips and, in summer, kayak tours go among the bergs.

Ilulissat has Greenland's best tourist infrastructure and is the usual first stop.

2. Disko Bay and Disko Island

Around Ilulissat, Disko Bay is a broad bay dotted with icebergs and small Inuit settlements (Oqaatsut, Ilimanaq) reachable by boat. Across it lies Disko Island, the largest island off Greenland's coast, unusual for its flat-topped basalt mountains and hot springs, with the town of Qeqertarsuaq on its south coast. The bay is a prime spot for whale watching, humpbacks among them.

Boat excursions from Ilulissat cover the settlements and the whales.

3. Nuuk

Nuuk, on the southwest coast, is the capital and only real city — a mix of Danish-era colonial houses in the old harbour, large apartment blocks, and striking new architecture like the Katuaq culture centre. The Greenland National Museum holds the remarkably preserved Qilakitsoq mummies; the huge Nuup Kangerlua fjord system behind the city is good for boat trips to see whales, the Qooqqut valley, and abandoned Norse and Inuit sites.

It has Greenland's widest range of restaurants and, since its rebuilt airport opened in November 2024, the country's main air hub.

4. The Ice Sheet at Kangerlussuaq

Kangerlussuaq, a former US airbase at the head of a long fjord, has the only road in Greenland that reaches the inland ice — a rough track, driven on 4x4 tours, to the edge of the ice sheet, where visitors can walk onto the ice itself. The tundra along the way has musk oxen, caribou, and gyrfalcons, and the area has unusually stable weather.

It is a common transit point and the easiest place to stand on the ice cap.

5. South Greenland and the Norse ruins

The far south is Greenland's greenest corner — sheep farms, hay meadows, and hot springs among the fjords. It was settled by Erik the Red's Norse in the 980s; their farms and churches lasted about 500 years before mysteriously dying out. The best-preserved ruin is the church at Hvalsey; the wider farming landscape of Kujataa is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Igaliku and the hot springs of Uunartoq are other highlights.

The region is reached via the airport at Narsarsuaq and small boats between villages.

6. Qaqortoq

Qaqortoq, the biggest town in the south (about 3,000 people), climbs in tiers of red, blue, and ochre houses around a square with Greenland's oldest fountain (1932). In 1993–94 an open-air art project, "Stone and Man", had 18 Nordic artists carve 24 sculptures into rocks and boulders around the town. There is a small museum in the old blacksmith's shop and a working sealskin tannery.

It is the hub for exploring the southern fjords and Norse sites.

7. Uummannaq

Uummannaq, on a small island about 590 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle, is one of Greenland's most photogenic towns — a cluster of coloured houses beneath a distinctive heart- or thumb-shaped granite peak, on a coast of long fjords and improbably jagged mountains. Nearby are the Qilakitsoq site where the mummies were found and, in winter, some of the best sea-ice dog sledding in the country.

Access is by helicopter from Qaarsut Airport on the mainland.

8. Tasiilaq and East Greenland

East Greenland is far more isolated than the west — the population of the whole coast is only a few thousand, and the region, with its own East Greenlandic language, had no contact with Europeans until the 1880s. Tasiilaq, the main town, sits in a bowl of mountains, with the vast Sermilik fjord and its icebergs nearby and helicopter access to the tiny settlement of Kulusuk.

It is reached by a short flight from Iceland via Kulusuk, making it a feasible add-on to an Iceland trip.

9. Scoresby Sound and the Northeast Greenland National Park

Scoresby Sound (Kangertittivaq), on the remote northeast coast, is one of the largest fjord systems in the world — a branching maze reaching some 340 kilometres inland, walled by mountains and studded with flat-topped icebergs. Its one settlement, Ittoqqortoormiit, is among the most isolated inhabited places on the planet. North of it lies the Northeast Greenland National Park, the largest national park on earth, bigger than most countries and home to musk oxen, polar bears, and walrus.

Both are seen almost exclusively on small expedition cruises in August and September.

10. Dog sledding and the northern lights

North and east of the Arctic Circle, the Greenland dog — a working breed protected by a ban on bringing in other dogs — still pulls sledges over the frozen fjords in late winter and spring, and visitors can join multi-day trips from Ilulissat, Sisimiut, Uummannaq, or Tasiilaq. The dark months bring the aurora, best seen away from town lights.

Winter travel is weather-dependent and very cold.

Greenland is expensive and slow to move around, and weather routinely reshuffles plans. A summer trip of a week or more usually focuses on Ilulissat and Disko Bay, perhaps with the south or Kangerlussuaq; winter trips centre on dog sledding and the lights.