West Greenland - Disko Bay to Umanak

Your Itinerary

Wednesday 20th June
Your Icelandair flight leaves London Heathrow (Terminal 1) at 1300 hours, arriving in Keflavik International Airport at 1500 hours. From here you take the Flybus (at your own expense) which will drop you off at Hotel Cabin in the business centre of the city, a short walk from the shopping area. Dinner tonight is at your own expense.

Thursday 21st June
The charter flight to Greenland leaves from Reykjavik Domestic Terminal in the City Centre - again there is a Flybus which will pick you up at the hotel. The flight leaves at 1115 hours and gets into Ilulissat at 1430 hours. You arrive in Ilulissat, with 5,000 inhabitants is located at Disko Bay with its amazing icebergs and views to the distant snowfields and glaciers. It's is Greenland's most important tourist destination and has associated facilities with museums and shops, including an excellent bookstore. You join the ship in the late afternoon for an evening sailing.

Friday 22nd June
We arrive in Ilulissat from Reykjavik by chartered plane. Ilulissat, with 5,000 inhabitants is located at Disko Bay with its amazing icebergs and views to the distant snowfields and glaciers. It's is Greenland's most important tourist destination and has associated facilities with museums and shops, including an excellent bookstore. We join the ship in the afternoon for an evening sailing.

Saturday 23rd June
Today we sail along the large Jakobshavn Glacier which produces 10% of Greeland's icebergs! Although it has retreated significantly over recent years, it's still an amazing and awe-inspiring spectacle. South of it we land at Avangnardlit and climb a hill from which we have a fantastic view across the World Heritage Site of Jakobshavn Isfjord.

Sunday 24th June
At the north side of Disko Island we land at Kugangup Innarta for a walk into the valley. Here we'll sea an example of the permafrost phenomena of "pingos" (an Inuit word) which are conical mounds with an ice core. In addition there's a seabird cliff on the east side of a valley.

Monday 25th June
At Uummannaq, we approach High Arctic waters. Seal hunting is still an important source of income for the local people and they also have many dogs which haul their sledges in winter. We will also visit the nearby Qilakitsoq site on the north coast of the Nuussuaq Peninsula where some years ago a family of mummified Thule culture people from the 15th Century was found.

Tuesday 26th June
Today we sail to Akugdleq with its fantastic geological formations creating a desert like image. Passing a Fulmar colonoy, we sail along the west side of Qaqugdlugssuit to the huge glacier Sermeq Sikardleq, where we plan a zodiac excursion along the front.

Wednesday 27th June
The settlement of Uvkusigssat is where the great German explorer, Alfred Wegener, had his base from which he ventured to the Greenlandic ice-cap. Later that day we will land at the head of the fjord where he began his ascent. The Scheideck Glacier, which 80 years ago ended at the coast, has retreated about 10 km inland. In the same area we will see Marmorilik with Black Angel zinc and a lead mine high in the mountains.

Thursday 28th June
Sermeq Avanggardleq in the Perdlerfiup Kangerdlua is another glacier which has retreated considerably. It is about a half an hour walk before you come to a stunning lake in which ice-bergs drift around and where you see huge ice grottos.

Friday 29th June
Today we circumnavigate Upernivik and sail through narrow fjords surrounded by mountains of over 2000m high with glaciers on all sides. We land in Illorsuit on Ubekendt Ejland, where, a century ago, the American artist Rockwell Kent made his famous painting of Greenlandic life.

Saturday 30th June
We land at Schadesøer in the mouth of the Karrats Fjord which is a good area for spotting whales. Later we land on the southern tip of Svartenhuk in a valley with low Arctic tundra full of lakes and geese. Muskoxen have been transferred to this area and have adapted very well.

Sunday 01st July
In the early morning we land at Bjørnefaelden, a Norse ruin at the western tip of Nuussuaq Peninsula.

Monday 02nd July
At Naajat, on the north side of Oqaatsut, we sail with zodiacs along a Kittiwake colony of more than 10,000 breeding pairs. Near Antlagia we have a fine opportunity to land and watch the Kittiwakes from land. In the afternoon we sail toward Ilulissat.

Tuesday 03rd July
We return to Ilulissat from where we fly to Reykjavik by chartered plane.

Alternative Greenland Tours

• West Greenland - Whale Safari
• West Greenland - Disko Bay Whale Safari
• North-East Greenland
• North Greenland - Ultima Thule
• North-East Greenland - Scoresby Sund
• West Greenland - Aurora Borealis
• About our Greenland expedition cruises