In Greenland, as in Antarctica, the Ice Age hasn’t really closed. The island sports the greatest ice sheet on the planet outside of the Southern Continent, sprawling across 700,000 square miles and reaching a thickness of nearly two miles in places. Many of Greenland’s peaks are nunataks, utterly swamped in ice save for an exposed horn or ridge crest. Only the ice-free coastal margins support Greenland’s slim (but vibrant) human population. Besides the frigid, windswept dominion of the icecap and the black-rock mountains, Greenland’s striking scenery includes the marginal glaciers inching coastward, sheer fjords, and coastal waters littered with rafting icebergs.
This austere-looking landscape supports a wealth of polar wildlife: Arctic foxes, polar bears, Arctic wolves, muskoxen, and reindeer roam the tundra, while numerous varieties of baleen whales mingle with orcas, narwhals, belugas, walruses, and seals in Greenland’s waters beneath swooping seabirds. Whether you’re observing the marine spectacle on a whale-watching cruise or you’re trekking the rugged muskox pastures of Northeast Greenland National Park (the world’s largest), Greenland’s wilderness offers adventure of the most primal variety. And the Midnight Sun of summer and the pulsing Northern Lights of winter are their own attractions.
Against that raw backdrop you’ll find a fascinating blended culture dominated by the ancient lifeways of the Greenlandic Inuit but strung with Danish accents. Native people of the Canadian Arctic colonized Greenland in waves for thousands of years, the Thule—forerunner of today’s Inuit—being the most recent. While Inuit culture has been dramatically affected by outside influence, traditional practices—from kayaking, mushing, and seal-hunting to ivory carvings and drum dances—remain important parts of daily society in many villages.
The island’s Scandinavian roots date back to the 10th century, when the Norse settled in southern Greenland; they didn’t last however, disappearing by the 1400s. The kingdom of Denmark-Norway reoccupied Greenland in the 1700s and the island eventually fell entirely under Danish control. Self-governing since 1979 but still part of the Kingdom of Denmark, Greenland’s moved increasingly toward full independence.
The capital of Nuuk—which, despite having fewer than 17,000 inhabitants, is Greenland’s biggest city—offers the best launchpad for cultural explorations of the island. It includes several museums—the Katuaq Cultural Center, the Greenland National Museum, and the Nuuk Art Museum—that are well worth a visit.
It takes planning and not a trifling amount of money to pull off a worthwhile vacation to Greenland, but this giant, ice-mantled island is unforgettable to experience firsthand.
12 things not to miss.
- icebergs calve at IlulissatWatch icebergs calve at Ilulissat
- Aurora-watch above the ice capAurora-watch above the ice cap
- Greenland
- Jakobshavn
- Disko BaySummertime flotillas of austere icebergs make this west-coast inlet a much-photographed one.
- Jakobshavn IsbraeThis exceptionally vigorous glacier off the Greenland Ice Sheet sheds loads of icebergs into the Ilulissat Icefjord and ultimately Disko Bay.
- Gunnbjorn FjeldThis 12,100-foot Watkins Range nunatak (icecap-bound summit) is remote, but adventurers scale it to stand atop the Arctic’s highest point.
- Northeast Greenland National ParkBigger than most countries, this is the world’s largest and northernmost national park—a rugged Arctic wilderness ruled by polar bears and muskoxen.
- Tasermiut FjordOne of Greenland’s legendary mountaineering destinations, this valley comes ringed with sheer, toothy horns and pinnacles.
- UunartoqThis South Greenland isle has soakable hot springs with a killer backdrop.
- Greenland National MuseumAmong this Nuuk museum’s diverse collections are the Qilakitsoq mummies, the preserved bodies of Inuit people discovered in 15th-century graves.
- Nuuk Art MuseumA splendid array of media, styles, and eras distinguish this fine museum, home (for instance) to exquisite ivory and soapstone carvings.
