Exploring the Garden of Greenland (Westbound) (1)

Embark in Reykjavík

Your expedition begins in Reykjavik, a city that rewards a longer look. Stroll Laugavegur for independent shops and coffee, take in the striking Hallgrímskirkja church, or lose an afternoon in the city's galleries and museums.

If you can, we highly recommend booking our pre-voyage programme to explore the Blue Lagoon, Þingvellir National Park, and the Langjökull glacier.

From here, it’s time to board MS Fridtjof Nansen and get ready for departure.

Sprawling Reykjavík, the nation's nerve center and government seat, is home to half the island's population. On a bay overlooked by proud Mt. Esja (pronounced eh-shyuh), with its ever-changing hues, Reykjavík presents a colorful sight, its concrete houses painted in light colors and topped by vibrant red, blue, and green roofs. In contrast to the almost treeless countryside, Reykjavík has many tall, native birches, rowans, and willows, as well as imported aspen, pines, and spruces.Reykjavík's name comes from the Icelandic words for smoke, reykur, and bay, vík. In AD 874, Norseman Ingólfur Arnarson saw Iceland rising out of the misty sea and came ashore at a bay eerily shrouded with plumes of steam from nearby hot springs. Today most of the houses in Reykjavík are heated by near-boiling water from the hot springs. Natural heating avoids air pollution; there's no smoke around. You may notice, however, that the hot water brings a slight sulfur smell to the bathroom.Prices are easily on a par with other major European cities. A practical option is to purchase a Reykjavík City Card at the Tourist Information Center or at the Reykjavík Youth Hostel. This card permits unlimited bus usage and admission to any of the city's seven pools, the Family Park and Zoo, and city museums. The cards are valid for one (ISK 3,300), two (ISK 4,400), or three days (ISK 4,900), and they pay for themselves after three or four uses a day. Even lacking the City Card, paying admission (ISK 500, or ISK 250 for seniors and people with disabilities) to one of the city art museums (Hafnarhús, Kjarvalsstaðir, or Ásmundarsafn) gets you free same-day admission to the other two.

In the wake of Vikings

We leave Iceland behind and sail to Greenland across the Denmark Strait. These days at sea offer time to relax and settle into the ship. Perhaps keep watch for whales and seabirds from the deck, mingle with fellow travellers in the Explorer lounge, or enjoy the wellness facilities.

The Expedition Team will give presentations about the protocols of respectfully visiting the fragile natural areas and indigenous Arctic communities. Now is the time to book excursions and maybe learn a few words of Greenlandic.

Discover ice-carved landscapes, Norse heritage, and remote communities

Over the next four days we fully embrace expedition mode, navigating South Greenland's maze of channels and scenic fjords. Local weather and ice conditions will determine where and when we land, but the Captain and Expedition Team know these waters well and will seek out the best the region has to offer.

Southern Greenland's rugged mountain ranges tower above scattered green meadows and fjords, a landscape sculpted by ice over billions of years. The Norsemen settled here over a thousand years ago, drawn by the same beauty, though harsh conditions eventually drove them away after just four centuries. Today this vast, mostly unpopulated wilderness offers a rare sense of tranquillity. We may visit Norse ruins at Brattahlíð, step ashore in colourful Qaqortoq with its beautiful lake, or simply gaze in wonder at the spectacular mountainous scenery unfolding around us.

Fjords, glaciers, and ghostly mining towns

The stretch of coast between the fjord systems of southern Greenland and Nuuk is as wild as can be. Long distances separate the few scattered settlements. Although the climate is still mild by Arctic standards, the topography is rough, segmented by high mountain ranges half covered by ice and cut through by deep turquoise fjords. With very few inside passages, travelling here has been a challenge since ancient times. And it still is. Mother Nature is in charge here, meaning it's the perfect adventure playground for modern explorers.

On our way north, and always adapted to the local conditions, we’ll get to know the landscapes of the so-called Mellembygden: the Middle Settlement of the Norse settlers. We'll also look for the ghostly mining town of Ivittuut, where cryolite, once vital to aluminium production, was mined for over a century. And we'll sail into great fjords carved out over millennia by massive glaciers cascading down from the ice cap.

Return to Greenland’s capital

Today, as we arrive at Nuuk, you will say a fond farewell to MS Fridtjof Nansen, the crew, the Expedition Team and the new friends you will have made. The lively capital of Greenland is a big city to all other towns in the country you have visited over the last couple of weeks. If you have time before flying back home, it is a fascinating window onto modern Greenland.

From here, you'll catch a flight back to London, taking with you a wealth of fantastic memories that will no doubt endure.

Perched on the seaside in the shadow of ice-capped Sermitsiaq Mountain, Nuuk is the world’s smallest capital city by population, with some 19,000 inhabitants experiencing tremendous cultural and economic growth. Watch for harp seals as you enter the harbor, and hear from local residents to learn how the community has changed over the generations. At the National Museum, examine the extraordinary 15th-century Qilakitsoq mummies found near Uummannaq—a discovery that was featured in a National Geographic magazine cover story in 1985. The Arctic ice preserved these mummies so well that researchers have been able to study their tattoos, their medical conditions and even what they ate.