2 min summary Best time to visit Small ship cruises Icebergs in Disko Bay Photography holidays Wildlife Wilderness holidays Responsible tourism

Greenland travel guide

Greenland is one of the most of the most dramatically beautiful islands to visit on our planet. And yet still so little is known about it when it comes to travelling there. This Greenland travel guides unravels some of the mysteries, showing you the hiking, kayaking and sailing opportunities that await travellers here, on holidays led by tour operators that are committed to responsible tourism and incredible holiday experiences.

Home\Polar regions\Greenland

Greenland travel guide

Who didn’t get confused at school about Greenland not being green but actually mostly white, given that 80 per cent of it is made up of ice sheet? In fact, there is quite a lot of confusion around Greenland. Do people live there? Yes, they do, about 56,000 Greenlanders live on an island the size of Mexico. Is it a country? It’s a Danish territory, but also an autonomous country with increasing decision-making powers – like deciding to ban new oil and gas exploration because the environmental impact is too high.

One of the most wonderful things about hiking in Greenland was that I didn't need Alpine skills or athletic prowess. Just a love of walking in wilderness.

This Greenland travel guide aims not only to unravel the confusion but also show that with superb responsible tourism operators ready to take you hiking along ice fjords or mountainous tundra terrain, sailing across the biggest national park in the world, staying in ancient Inuit communities, sea kayaking around glaciers or snowshoeing to see the Northern Lights, it is also most gorgeously green.

See all our Greenland Holidays

Give us a call

Greenland is...

the world's largest island, with the world's largest national park and world's largest living creatures. Big, then.

Greenland isn't...

all about water and ice. There are superb hiking, snowshoeing and wildlife expeditions to be had, with feet firmly on terra firma.

Things to do in Greenland...

Just getting to Greenland is an adventure holiday, but for those who want to step onto terra firma and out of their comfort zone, Greenland is Go-Pro gorgeous. Hike and wild camp along the elevated, exquisite landscapes of the east with views out across the Northeast Greenland National Park. Go on a veritable polar expedition, cross country skiing across the ice cap, dog sledding or trekking alongside the great Jakobshavn or Equi glaciers. And you can even go diving with polar experts alongside glaciers and icebergs. Or just chill and watch the Northern Lights. Take a small ship cruise or sailing trip around Greenland’s fjords, its vast national park or across the Denmark Strait, to really get to grips with Greenland’s poetry in motion. Watch icebergs calving from their mother glaciers, look out for polar bears and whales, enjoy lectures and guidance from expert naturalists on board, and anchor up at small bays that are home to Inuit communities, or long abandoned islands. The most sparsely populated island in the world in terms of humans, Greenland has prolific wildlife. Spotting polar bears on ice floes, walrus in the fjords, reindeer and massive musk oxen on the tundra, minke, beluga, humpback or even rare blue whales presenting in the deep, will make your day. And with days that go on all day in summer, you have twice as much time to see them.

Contact Us

Call us for a chat about our holidays. We are happy to discuss your holiday and help in any way we can. No bots, queues or awful hold music.

01273 823 700 01273 823 700

Call us until 6pm

Calling from outside the UK

rosy@responsibletravel.com

Things not to do in Greenland…

Eat whale meat. Controversially, Greenland is one of several places in the world that still allows hunting for whales, contravening the International Whaling Commission’s commercial whaling moratorium. It is permitted as a subsistence practice by indigenous whalers, but whale meat is often on sale to tourists. Which increases demand and, therefore, the killing. We do not therefore recommend eating whale meat as it is a direct threat to whale species.
Hunting also plays a role in Inuit society, and trophy hunting is a tourist thing. Most responsible travellers will not see the killing of seals or polar bears as their thing, but we also encourage visitors to keep an open mind, and understand that the culture among your Arctic hosts is very different, and an innate way of life. So, don’t to go in with metaphorical guns ablazing on the subject. Refer to people as Eskimos. The native Greenlanders, or Kalaallit, are Inuit descendants of nomads from northern Canada, and they make up almost 90 percent of the population here. The word Eskimo is considered derogatory, so stick to Greenlander, and while you’re at it, learn a couple of words of their language – Greenlandic.