Iceland & Greenland North Iceland
Iceland’s Arctic coast: whale watching from Húsavík and Akureyri, Lake Mývatn’s volcanic landscapes, Dettifoss, and Grímsey, the island the Arctic Circle runs through.
East Greenland: things to see
Three sights of the far north-east, reached by ship, and four around Tasiilaq, reached by air.
1. Scoresby Sund
Named after an English whaler who charted it in 1822, the fjord system covers an area larger than many countries, with depths of more than 1,400 metres. Ships thread narrow arms such as Øfjord, beneath granite walls, and anchor off Røde Ø, an island of red sandstone surrounded by grounded icebergs. Zodiac cruises and tundra walks are made wherever ice allows.
2. Ittoqqortoormiit
About 350 people live in bright wooden houses on a rocky slope at the fjord mouth, cut off by sea ice for around nine months of the year. Founded in 1925, the community still depends on hunting seals, musk oxen, narwhals and a small quota of polar bears. Visitors see the little museum, the church and the weather station, and should behave as guests in someone’s village.
3. Northeast Greenland National Park and Jameson Land
North of Scoresby Sund begins the largest national park in the world, almost a million square kilometres with no permanent residents. The low tundra of Jameson Land, on the fjord’s north shore, has one of Greenland’s largest populations of musk oxen, along with Arctic hares, geese and occasional polar bears. Access to the park needs a permit, which cruise operators arrange.
4. Tasiilaq
East Greenland’s only real town, with around 2,000 people, lies on a sheltered bay ringed by sharp peaks. Europeans first reached this district in 1884, and East Greenlandic language and traditions remain distinct. Walk the Valley of Flowers behind the town, visit the museum in the old church and look for tupilak carvings in the workshop.
5. Kulusuk
A village of about 250 people on a small island, with the area’s only airstrip — built by the United States military in the 1950s. Most visitors only pass through, but a walk into the settlement gives views of icebergs and the open sea, and a first sense of how small communities here are.
6. Sermilik fjord
A broad fjord west of Tasiilaq, fed by several large glaciers and almost always crowded with icebergs. Boat trips from Tasiilaq reach its shore near the tiny settlement of Tiniteqilaaq, and multi-day kayak and hiking trips follow its edge. Whales are sometimes seen in summer.
7. Glaciers and icebergs of the inner fjords
Throughout the east coast, glaciers flow from the ice sheet straight into the sea. In Scoresby Sund the bergs they release collect in shallow bays where ships launch Zodiacs to drift among them; near Tasiilaq, day boats visit calving fronts such as the Knud Rasmussen glacier.
Destinations
Combine it with
Iceland & Greenland 
Iceland & Greenland West Greenland
Ilulissat and Disko Bay: a fjord choked with icebergs the size of city blocks, whales among the ice, sled dogs and the midnight sun — with Nuuk as the gateway.
Norway & Svalbard Svalbard
Norway’s high-Arctic archipelago, halfway between the mainland and the North Pole: glaciers, polar bears, walrus and the world’s northernmost town.
Plan your trip
Book tours in Iceland, the gateway to East Greenland
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