5 day tour of Ilulissat – The Realm of Icebergs
Ilulissat is the Greenlandic word for “icebergs” and because of its close proximity to the picturesque Ilulissat Icefjord, it is Greenland’s most fascinating destination on the west coast. With a population of about 4,600, the town is the seat of the municipality of Ilulissat, and also the third largest settlement in Greenland.
Highlights
- Ilulissat – the city of icebergs
- Evening boat tour amongst the floating icebergs (guided in English)
- Boat trip to Oqaatsut (guided in English)
- Hike to Sermermiut village (guided in English)
- Wild nature of Greenland
Daily itinerary:
Day 1 – Tuesday:
Flight departure from Iceland to Ilulissat. Upon arrival to Ilulissat airport transfer by hotel shuttle van to the hotel where you stay all 3 nights.
Guided city walk in the afternoon: with the culture-historical walk you will get an enhanced understanding of the Greenlandic culture and history, which will give the other experiences in Greenland a new perspective. You will learn about the history of the city, the Greenlandic culture and the modern life 300 km north of the Arctic Circle.
Among the highlights along the way are the fishing harbour and the hunters‘ trading post “Brædtet”; the church and the house where the famous explorer Knud Rasmussen was born.
A 2-course dinner at the hotel.
Day 2 – Wednesday:
Breakfast at the hotel.
Today we make a 2-hour guided hiking tour to the old settlement by the Icefjord: Beautiful Icebergs are the setting for the old settlement of the Sermermiut 1½ km south of Ilulissat. For 4000 years, different Inuit cultures lived in the settlement and today you can still see relics left from times gone by.
Learn about the Inuit people’s way of life and traditions before the Europeans came to Greenland, see the ruins and touch the permafrost with your own hands.
On this hike we will pass “kællingekløften” where you can enjoy the magnificent view of the Icefiord, before heading back to Ilulissat.
In the evening we take a Boat tour amongst the floating icebergs – an exceptional experience you do not want to miss out while visiting Ilulissat. During the year, more than 46 km3 of ice flows into the fiord. The result is gigantic icebergs, which can be more than 100 metres on each side and with a height on more than 100 metres above the water surface. These giants strand at the end of the fiord, and that gives a good opportunity to sail among them.
The icebergs are beautiful every kind of weather; in the sunshine the contrasts are very clear, the blue shades are very beautiful, when it is cloudy and the midnight sun casts a unique glow on the icebergs during the night. The boat trip at bright night is definitely an extraordinary experience.
Day 3 – Thursday:
Breakfast at the hotel.
Boat trip to Oqaatsut (Rodebay) settlement (duration 5 hours). The settlement Oqaatsut (Rodebay) was through several centuries the resort of the Dutch whale hunters, and whales are still drawn ashore here once in a while. Oqaatsut is beautifully situated about 15 km north of Ilulissat. Even though it only has 45 inhabitants it has got its own school, church, shop and a small restaurant called “H8”, which is one of the old buildings from the colonial time.
Day 4 – Friday:
Breakfast at the hotel.
Free day in Ilulissat or possibility for an addtional optional tour, such as day tour to Eqi glacier, whale safari, sea-kayaking etc.
Day 5 – Saturday:
Breakfast at the hotel.
In the morning you have some time to take another short hike in the area before it is time for transfer to the airport and departure to Iceland (or Copenhagen via Kangerlussuaq upon request).
Dates and prices
Departures:
June & September: Tuesdays and Saturdays
July & August: Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays
In double room /standard
Price per person: 2.845 EUR
Upgrade to 4* Hotel – in double room/standard
Price per person: 165 EUR
In single room /standard
Price per person: 3.175 EUR
Upgrade to 4* Hotel – in single room/standard:
Price per person: 200 EUR
Package price includes:
* Flights Reykjavík-Ilulissat-Reykjavík
* Airport taxes
* Hotel accommodation in double/twin room with private facilities, including breakfast
* Welcome dinner (2 courses) on arrival day
* Airport transfers in connection with flights in Ilulissat;
* Cultural city walk of Ilulissat
* Hike to the old settlement, Sermermiut, a UNESCO World Heritage Site
* Evening boat tour sailing amongst icebergs
* Boat tour to Oqaatsut (Rodebay), incl. lunch in Oqaatsut
We reserve the right to change the itinerary depending on flights or weather conditions.
Information about Ilulissat
Ilulissat is the Greenlandic word for “icebergs” and because of its close proximity to the picturesque Ilulissat Icefjord, it is Greenland’s most popular tourist destination on the west coast. With a population of about 4,600 it is the the seat of the municipality of Ilulissat, and also the third largest settlement in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut.
In Danish it has been named Jakobshavn – after the founder Jakob Severin. The town has about 3500 sled dogs, which underlines the importance of the dogsled as means of transportation even in a large modern town.
The Ilulissat Icefjord was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004 and is 40 km long situated close to Ilulissat town. At its eastern end is the Jakobshavn Isbræ glacier, the most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere. The glacier flows at a rate of 20-35 m per day, resulting in around 20 billion tons of icebergs calved off and passing out of the fjord every year. Icebergs breaking from the glacier are often so large that they are too tall to float down the fjord and thus lie stuck on the bottom of its shallower areas, sometimes for years, until they are broken up by the force of the glacier and icebergs further up the fjord. On breaking up, the icebergs emerge into the open sea and initially travel north with ocean currents before turning south and running into the Atlantic Ocean. Larger icebergs typically do not melt until they reach 40-45 degrees north (south of the United Kingdom and level with New York City).
