Disko Bay: Meeting the Inuit & Discovering the Unknown

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.

Baffin Bay is a vast Arctic waterway known for its dramatic ice formations, towering glaciers, and extraordinary polar wildlife. Located between Canada and Greenland, it offers rare opportunities to witness icebergs, whales, seals, and migrating seabirds in a remote and pristine environment. Its raw beauty and ever-changing sea ice create a powerful sense of exploration at the edge of the Arctic world.

Baffin Bay is a vast Arctic waterway known for its dramatic ice formations, towering glaciers, and extraordinary polar wildlife. Located between Canada and Greenland, it offers rare opportunities to witness icebergs, whales, seals, and migrating seabirds in a remote and pristine environment. Its raw beauty and ever-changing sea ice create a powerful sense of exploration at the edge of the Arctic world.

Disko Bay is a large bay located on the western coast of Greenland, opening into the Baffin Bay. It is known for its dramatic Arctic landscapes, floating icebergs, and cold, clear waters. The bay is surrounded by glaciers and coastal settlements, with Ilulissat being one of the most well-known towns nearby. Disko Bay is famous for the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where massive icebergs calve from the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is also an important area for Arctic wildlife, including whales and seals, and is a popular destination for polar tourism and scientific research.

Disko Bay is a large bay located on the western coast of Greenland, opening into the Baffin Bay. It is known for its dramatic Arctic landscapes, floating icebergs, and cold, clear waters. The bay is surrounded by glaciers and coastal settlements, with Ilulissat being one of the most well-known towns nearby. Disko Bay is famous for the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where massive icebergs calve from the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is also an important area for Arctic wildlife, including whales and seals, and is a popular destination for polar tourism and scientific research.

Disko Bay is a large bay located on the western coast of Greenland, opening into the Baffin Bay. It is known for its dramatic Arctic landscapes, floating icebergs, and cold, clear waters. The bay is surrounded by glaciers and coastal settlements, with Ilulissat being one of the most well-known towns nearby. Disko Bay is famous for the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where massive icebergs calve from the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is also an important area for Arctic wildlife, including whales and seals, and is a popular destination for polar tourism and scientific research.

Located just north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut is the northernmost town in Greenland where the port remains free of ice in the winter. Yet it is also the southernmost town where there is enough snow and ice to drive a dogsled in winter and spring. In Sisimiut, travelling by sled has been the primary means of winter transportation for centuries. In fact, the area has been inhabited for approximately 4,500 years. Modern Sisimiut is the largest business center in the north of Greenland, and is one of the fastest growing Greenlandic cities. Commercial fishing is the lead economy in the town‘s thriving industrial base.

Located just north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut is the northernmost town in Greenland where the port remains free of ice in the winter. Yet it is also the southernmost town where there is enough snow and ice to drive a dogsled in winter and spring. In Sisimiut, travelling by sled has been the primary means of winter transportation for centuries. In fact, the area has been inhabited for approximately 4,500 years. Modern Sisimiut is the largest business center in the north of Greenland, and is one of the fastest growing Greenlandic cities. Commercial fishing is the lead economy in the town‘s thriving industrial base.

Baffin Bay is a vast Arctic waterway known for its dramatic ice formations, towering glaciers, and extraordinary polar wildlife. Located between Canada and Greenland, it offers rare opportunities to witness icebergs, whales, seals, and migrating seabirds in a remote and pristine environment. Its raw beauty and ever-changing sea ice create a powerful sense of exploration at the edge of the Arctic world.

Qassiarsuk is the newer, Greenlandic name for this small village. Brattahlid is the older, Norse name. Here we tour the foundation remains of the manor house of Erik the Red, who found Greenland after being banished from Iceland and Norway for murder. We will also visit the site of the first Christian church ever built in North America (physiographically speaking), see a recently unearthed Norse graveyard that contains remains of 144 Norse colonists, and have a chance to admire Hans Lynge’s remarkable bronze sculpture of Erik the Red.

The largest town in southern Greenland, Qaqortoq has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Upon arrival in this charming southern Greenland enclave, it's easy to see why. Qaqortoq rises quite steeply over the fjord system around the city, offering breath-taking panoramic vistas of the surrounding mountains, deep, blue sea, Lake Tasersuag, icebergs in the bay, and pastoral backcountry. Although the earliest signs of ancient civilization in Qaqortoq date back 4,300 years, Qaqortoq is known to have been inhabited by Norse and Inuit settlers in the 10th and 12th centuries, and the present-day town was founded in 1774. In the years since, Qaqortoq has evolved into a seaport and trading hub for fish and shrimp processing, tanning, fur production, and ship maintenance and repair.

Uunartoq is a small island in South Greenland a short distance east of what once was considered the largest settlement in Greenland. The island has hot springs that were renowned as far back as the days of the Norse for their healing effects. Three naturally heated streams have been channeled to flow into a knee-deep and stone-lined pool. While one unwinds by soaking in the steaming waters, one can watch icebergs that either clog the fjord to the north or come floating by.

Aappilattoq is a small settlement near the western end of Prins Christian Sund in southwestern Greenland. In the local Greenlandic language the name means, "sea anemone". This small village of 130 inhabitants, hidden behind a prominent rock, offers a good insight into the life of Greenlandic Inuit. A stroll through the village will reveal a small school and a church, along with the likely possibility of seeing a polar bear skin drying in the wind behind a local dwelling. People have lived off the land in the area around Aappilattoq since the 19th century. The tradition continues today as most people here hunt and fish to make a living.

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.