Ilimanaq Lodge in Ilimanaq, a town of 50 people in Greenland. Peter Knudsen and World of Greenland
A sea of icebergs stands between our water taxi and the 50-person settlement of Ilimanaq, Greenland. This is the only way to reach Ilimanaq from the closest town, Ilulissat, and the captain weaves expertly through the kaleidoscope of blue, reminding us how little berg we can actually see on the surface—only about 10 percent. “It makes you think,” another passenger says, “about how much of the world you haven’t really seen yet.”
Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter
Sign UpThank you for signing up!
By clicking submit, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.
See all of our newslettersThe whole of this ice-covered country reminds you of that: tiny towns dotted with candy-colored homes; shy seals darting under the water as boats approach; ancient igloo remains in icefields telling stories of Inuit tradition. But now, these seldom-seen places are coming under the spotlight.
Once a tricky part of the world to reach, Greenland is ushering in tourism like never before thanks to a new international airport that opened in the capital, Nuuk, on November 28, one of three expected to debut in the country by 2026. That means that some of the most remote reaches of the globe are coming into focus for many travelers.
Nuuk, Greenland. Bogomil Shopov - Бого/UnsplashWith the announcement of a direct United Airlines flight from Newark to Nuuk starting in 2025, that now includes Americans. Previously, the only direct flights to Nuuk were through Copenhagen or Reykjavik, making the journey quite a bit longer if you were flying from North America, and subject to cancellation due to facility limitations and low visibility. The airport also had a shorter runway that didn’t accommodate large international airliners. The new airport in Nuuk promises to change all that.
“The opening of the new international airport in Nuuk is a milestone that will make Greenland’s capital more accessible through direct flights, reducing travel times and opening the doors to new international markets,” Anne Nivíka Grødem, CEO of Visit Greenland, tells Observer.
As a result, dramatic Arctic landscapes are closer than ever, and the remote, exclusive experiences now within reach are drawing plenty of attention from adventure seekers who want to check last frontiers off their bucket lists.
Just look to Ilulissat, the iceberg capital of the world and Greenland’s third-largest city, home to only about 4,600 people. While you may not have heard of it before, it’s poised to become one of Greenland’s big tourism destinations. A typical day here can be spent taking in the rugged Arctic landscape while whale watching and dog sledding, boating through the icebergs in Disko Bay, and hiking the Sermermiut Settlement Walk along the UNESCO World Heritage-protected Ilulissat Icefjord. It’s hard to say what’s more fascinating: witnessing the glacier here break off (“calve”), or seeing how indigenous groups lived thousands of years ago at settlement igloo remains. It’s also an excellent place to learn........