Greenland Tourism | Visiting the World's Largest Island

What brings people to Greenland?

Adventure seekers and extreme environment enthusiasts

Greenland attracts travellers who view getting there as part of the adventure itself. These visitors want to step outside their comfort zones into landscapes that test assumptions about what environments humans can inhabit. They're drawn to dog sledding expeditions across the ice cap, multi-day treks alongside massive glaciers like Jakobshavn or Eqi, and wild camping along the elevated, exquisite landscapes of the east with views across Northeast Greenland National Park.

Wildlife enthusiasts and nature photographers

As the most sparsely populated territory on Earth in terms of humans, Greenland supports prolific wildlife that draws dedicated spotters and photographers. The opportunity to see polar bears on ice floes, walrus hauled out in fjords, reindeer and massive musk oxen on the tundra, and whales presenting in deep waters makes wildlife viewing exceptional.

Marine mammal diversity particularly impresses: minke, beluga, humpback, and even rare blue whales frequent Greenlandic waters during the summer months. With days that extend well into the night in summer, photographers enjoy twice the usual time to capture these encounters in extraordinary Arctic light.

Cultural travellers and anthropology enthusiasts

The everyday life and local culture of Greenlanders ranks among the main experiences for visitors. These travellers want to understand how Inuit communities maintain traditional practices like hunting and fishing while navigating modern governance and climate challenges. Small settlements accessible only by boat or helicopter offer genuine cultural exchanges impossible in more developed destinations.

Visiting reconstructed Norse ruins and learning about the mysterious disappearance of Viking settlements around 1450 CE adds historical depth. The contrast between ancient Thule culture sites, abandoned Norse farms, and contemporary Greenlandic towns illustrates the island's layered human history.

Aurora chasers and astronomy enthusiasts

Greenland's position within the auroral oval makes it prime territory for witnessing the northern lights. The combination of low light pollution, clear Arctic skies, and dramatic landscapes creates ideal conditions for aurora photography. Autumn and winter months offer the best displays, with icebergs and glaciers providing spectacular foregrounds for the dancing lights.

Best things to do in Greenland

Expedition cruising through fjord systems

Small ship cruising allows access to Greenland's most spectacular and remote fjord systems, particularly Scoresbysund on the east coast, the world's longest fjord system. These expeditions combine comfortable vessels with Zodiac landings at sites inaccessible by any other means. You'll watch icebergs calving from mother glaciers, anchor in bays where Inuit communities maintain traditional lifestyles, and explore long-abandoned islands bearing archaeological traces of earlier inhabitants.

Expert naturalists aboard provide context for what you're seeing, from geology to wildlife behaviour to Inuit cultural practices. The small ship experience prioritises flexibility, adjusting itineraries based on weather, ice conditions, and wildlife sightings rather than adhering to rigid schedules that larger vessels require.

Dog sledding expeditions

Dog sledding represents one of Greenland's most iconic experiences, connecting you directly to transportation methods Inuit communities have relied upon for millennia. Winter expeditions range from day trips near settlements to multi-day journeys across frozen fjords and ice cap margins. The relationship between mushers and their dog teams reveals aspects of Arctic adaptation that lectures can't convey.

You'll experience silence broken only by panting dogs and runners sliding across snow, temperatures that make your breath crystallise instantly, and landscapes of almost abstract purity. Some expeditions include overnight stays in traditional hunting cabins or snow shelters, offering genuine immersion in conditions that shaped Inuit culture.

Ice cap trekking and glacier hiking

Greenland's ice cap covers roughly 80 percent of the island's surface, reaching depths exceeding 3 kilometres in places. Guided treks onto the ice sheet range from day hikes along margins to multi-day expeditions requiring technical skills and significant fitness. You'll walk across ice that fell as snow thousands of years ago, witness crevasse fields that demonstrate the ice's dynamic movement, and gain a visceral understanding of glaciology that textbooks can't provide.

Lower-elevation glacier hikes near settlements like Ilulissat offer accessible introductions to ice environments, with guides explaining how glaciers form, move, and interact with climate systems. The scale overwhelms: standing beside Jakobshavn Glacier, which calves more ice than any other glacier outside Antarctica, makes abstract climate discussions suddenly concrete.

Whale watching and marine wildlife encounters

Greenlandic waters support exceptional whale diversity during the summer months. Boat trips from settlements like Nuuk, Ilulissat, and Aasiaat offer reliable encounters with humpback whales, which frequently approach vessels out of apparent curiosity. Minke whales appear regularly, while fin whales and occasional blue whales reward patient observers.

The seasonal concentration of whales around productive feeding areas creates opportunities for extended observation rather than fleeting glimpses. You'll watch humpbacks bubble-net feeding, witness breaching behavior, and if conditions align, hear their haunting songs through hydrophones. Guides explain whale identification, migration patterns, and the historical whaling that once decimated populations now recovering under protection.

Northern lights viewing and photography

Greenland's auroral displays rank among Earth's most spectacular due to minimal light pollution, exceptionally clear skies, and dramatic landscapes providing foregrounds. Autumn through early spring offers the best conditions, with long nights and active aurora periods coinciding. Photography workshops teach techniques for capturing the northern lights dancing above icebergs, settlements, and mountain peaks.

The experience transcends photography when you simply stand beneath curtains of green, purple, and red light rippling across the sky. Traditional Inuit stories about the lights add cultural dimension, connecting natural phenomena to spiritual beliefs that shaped Arctic societies for millennia.