DISKO BAY and UUMMANNAQ

SHIP OFFERING THIS ITINERARY

Ocean Albatros

Ocean Albatros offers 95 comfortable staterooms and suites, all with unobstructed sea view, most with their own balcony, the Ocean Albatros is a popular expedition cruise vessel. Choice of two restaurants, a wellness area,  Albatros Nordic Bar, an open deck dining facility, modern lecture lounge, and other state-of-the-art amenities. It has a 50% lower carbon footprint than traditional expedition vessels and one of the most environmentally friendly, implementing the Green Initiative Program, ensuring both absolute comfort and sustainability for guests. There’s a unique panorama sauna and a total of 12 dedicated solo travel cabins without a single-supplement.

Day 1 Copenhagen to Kangerlussuaq

Day 2 Sisimiut

Arrive in the colourful city of Sisimiut with around 5,400 inhabitants, it is Greenland’s second largest city, and one of the most interesting to explore. Paleo-Inuit people have lived around Sisimiut on and off since 2,500 BC, arriving in waves of migration from Arctic Canada.

In 1756, Count Johan Ludvig Holstein established a colony here and called it “Holsteinsborg”. The oldest part of Sisimiut features town houses from this era, and the oldest dates back to 1756. One of the most culturally significant buildings is the Blue Church, built in 1775, now a landmark in the city’s historical museum district, arguably the best preserved in Greenland, and the perfect place to discover the Greenland of old.

Nowadays an important hub of education and industry, and local factories process the bulk of fish caught in the country (Greenland’s largest export). The fish processing plant in the harbour is one of the largest in Greenland, and among the most modern in the world. Just beyond the harbour sits the headquarters of KNI, the government-operated company which resupplies the many small settlements throughout Greenland – a vital service in a country with so many remote communties.

Day 3 Qeqertarsuaq

Nestled below Disko Island’s 1,000-metre mountains, we pull into port in a beautifully sheltered natural harbour.

For most of Greenland’s modern history, Godhavn was the political and economic capital of North Greenland (while Godthåb, now Nuuk, served this role in Southern Greenland). With the end of whaling the town was forced to reinvent itself, changing its name to Qeqertarsuaq in 1979 . Today, hunting and fishing are the main industries in Qeqertarsuaq, while tourism is becoming increasingly important.

Qeqertarsuaq’s sweeping red-and-black basalt mountains are radically different to the rolling granite hills which characterize much of Greenland, and provide a much richer soil. Despite being situated well above the Arctic Circle, this rich volcanic soil and the area’s mild microclimate make it much more green and lush compared to the rest of the country. Locals from all over Disko Bay come to the island in summer to hunt and collect angelica, herbs and mushrooms, and the stunning rock formations and black sand beaches attract visitors from all over the world. The town itself is typically Greenlandic, with quaint multicoloured homes, a splendid museum, and the unique octagonal church nicknamed ‘God’s Inkpot’ (built in the Norwegian stave style).

Days 4 and 5 Uummanaq and Eqip Sermia Glacier

The small city of Uummannaq sits perched precariously at the foot of a massive mountain. Like the rest of the area, here the mountain reaches vertically out of the icy depths, punching 1170m into the clear blue sky. Uummannaq mountain (translated from Greenlandic as “heart shaped”) is a true Greenlandic icon, and is a mecca for climbers who visit from all over the world.

From Uummannaq, we return to the heart of Disko Bay, setting sail towards Eqip Sermia.

Eqip Sermia (a typically descriptive Greenlandic name meaning ‘the Glacier at the End of the Fjord’) is a relatively small glacier compared to many in Greenland, although it is still a truly vast river of ice, flowing directly from the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is also one of the most active, and ice tumbles.

If conditions allow, we will launch our fleet of Zodiacs to approach this vast river of ice, and hopefully experience the roar of the glacier’s frequent calvings at sea level (from a safe distance of course)!

Day 6 Ilulissat

This is it. This is why visitors from all over the world come to Greenland. Translated from Kalaallisut simply as ‘icebergs’, Ilulissat is rightly known the world over as ‘the Iceberg Capital of the World’. Surely no other city on Earth occupies such a spectacular natural setting.

Situated within a short walk of the harbour lies Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland’s most famous site.

Day 7 Itilleq

The settlement of Itilleq, which translates roughly as “the Crossing Place from the Sea” nestles at the foothills of the mountains and and fjords which line central Greenland’s backcountry. Situated just north of the Arctic Circle, Itilleq is one of the many tiny villages dotting the coast of Greenland. The settlement is situated in the heart of the Aassivisuit-Nipisat UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Day 8 Kangerlussuaq

During the night, we will sail up the 160-kilometer/100 mile Kangerlussuaq Fjord. After breakfast aboard the ship, we will bid a fond farewell to the ship’s crew, Expedition Team and fellow travellers before shuttling ashore by Zodiac.

Your Arctic adventure and time in Greenland concludes as we board the flight from Kangerlussuaq back to the southern world.