A country · 21 places · 5 regions

Greenland, all of it.

21 curated places across 5 regions — photographed, mapped, and noted with the season each is best in.

Ilulissat · via Wikimedia Commons

The 4 biggest regions — Qeqqata, Sermersooq, Avannaata and Kujalleq — read below as chapters, with 1 more waiting past them.

Chapter I · Qeqqata · 5 places

Qeqqata

Kangerlussuaq is a small settlement in central-west Greenland at the head of a long fjord, best known as the main international air hub for Greenland. The surrounding tundra and glacier landscape provides exceptional conditions for observing musk ox and caribou, and the inland ice sheet is accessible from the settlement in a short drive or hike. The dry Arctic climate here, sheltered from coastal moisture, produces some of the clearest skies in Greenland for aurora watching.

Kangerlussuaq

Qeqqata, Greenland

✦ June–August (wildlife), September–March (aurora) · $$$

Russell Glacier

Qeqqata, Greenland

✦ June–August · $$$

Sisimiut

Qeqqata, Greenland

✦ June to September · $$

All 5 places in Qeqqata →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter II · Sermersooq · 5 places

Sermersooq

Nuuk is the capital and largest city of Greenland, situated at the intersection of several deep fjords on the southwest coast. The Nuuk Fjord system behind the city is one of the world's largest fjord complexes and is accessible by boat for wilderness camping and hiking. The Nuuk city centre mixes Greenlandic wooden houses with Soviet-era concrete blocks and a modern cultural quarter anchored by the Katuaq cultural centre.

✦ June–August · $$$

Meet Nuuk All 5 places in Sermersooq →

Chapter III · Avannaata · 4 places

Avannaata

Ilulissat is a town of approximately 4,500 people on Greenland's west coast, set above the mouth of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier fjord — designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site as the Ilulissat Icefjord. The fjord produces some of the fastest-moving and most prolific icebergs in the Northern Hemisphere, which calve from the glacier and drift out through a shallow moraine into Disko Bay. The wooden colonial townscape painted in primary colours contrasts sharply with the white and blue ice landscape below.

Ilulissat

Avannaata, Greenland

✦ June–August · $$$

Uummannaq

Avannaata, Greenland

✦ March–April (dog sledding), July–August (navigation) · $$$

Upernavik

Avannaata, Greenland

✦ June to September · $$

All 4 places in Avannaata →

via Wikimedia Commons

Chapter IV · Kujalleq · 4 places

Kujalleq

Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland is a small airstrip settlement situated at the head of a long fjord system in the Norse farming district of Narsaq. The area is historically important as the region settled by Erik the Red and subsequent Norse colonists beginning around 985 CE, and archaeological remains of farm buildings are scattered across the surrounding grassland valleys. The nearby Kiattuut Sermiat glacier is a short hike from the settlement and accessible for guided walks on the ice.

✦ June–August · $$$

Meet Narsarsuaq All 4 places in Kujalleq →