The 5 most remote places in Greenland

- the magic of ‘one-option-only’, plus how to find alternatives after all: UNPLUGGING IN GREENLAND - part II

There is certainly some truth to it when movie star Ben Stiller – acting as Walter Mitty – arrives with Air Greenland to Nuuk, and is overwhelmed with a tricky question when it comes to choosing a rental car: “We have a blue one or a red one”, the rental car agent offers to him. He thinks twice, and picks red.

Getting to Greenland from continental Europe is even easier, there’s only the trademark red one to choose, the Airbus A330, of the national air carrier.The more remote in Greenland you travel with their domestic aircrafts, the less choices you have in general.

The more remote in Greenland you travel with their domestic aircrafts, the less choices you have in general.

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A small passenger boat in front of the huge glacier wall at the Eqi glacier in Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl

An adventurer discovers the Greenland Ice Sheet by glacier walking near Kangerlussuaq in the Arctic Circle Region. Photo by Paul Zizka

Inuit peat hut reconstruction. By Camilla Hylleberg

FROM A THOUSAND CHOICES TO ONE ONLY

So if you need a break from thousands of choices you make every day from which mustard to buy at the grocery store (like the wholegrain, the horseradish, or the ordinary Dijonnaise), or which way to commute to work today, and how strongly roasted your coffee bean should be, well then everything becomes much simpler in Greenland. ‘Cause either you do it the Greenland way, or you stay home and take the highway.

How can you live like that, you may ask? Trust us, you adapt to what you have, but it’s also a question of selecting your position on the scale of “one-option-only” vs. “a-few-options-only”, i.e. the smaller the places, the less options, and the bigger the towns…well, you get the picture. So in other words, be prepared to experience a world which is more simple, but still with a few choices to be made.

A SIMPLER LIFE THE FURTHER AWAY YOU GO

To make it easy for you to find a place where you can unplug, and depending on which end of the scale you prefer, we have handpicked the 5 absolutely most remote places – but also their nearest alternatives for the more comfy types who, after all, prefer more choices than Earl Grey for their afternoon tea:

A view over the fjord leading towards the famous Triplets peaks and the glacier near Tasiilaq Mountain Hut in East Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl

An Air Greenland AS 350 helicopter over icebergs in the Disko Bay near Ilulissat in North Greenland

MOST REMOTE PLACE #1: SIORAPALUK

This is the northernmost settlement in Greenland and last inhabited place before the North Pole. Some 60 souls live there – most of them hunters – and you’re only option of getting there is via Air Greenland’s route network or by expedition cruise ships during summertime.

A COMFIER ALTERNATIVE:
Qaanaaq, the northernmost town in Greenland, and thereby the northernmost hotel as well, Hotel Qaanaaq.

MOST REMOTE PLACE #2: ITTOQQORTOORMIIT

There’s a certain ‘End of the Earth’-feeling about Ittoqqortoormiit which lies in East Greenland at the entrance to the world’s greatest fjord system and just south of the world’s biggest national park. But to 450 people, Ittoqqortoormiit is the very beginning, and so it is for adventurers who come from afar to go on kayak expeditions in the summer time or longer dog sled journeys in the winter time.

A COMFIER ALTERNATIVE:
Tasiilaq, largest town in the East, at Hotel The Red House which provides a fantastic view of the Kong Oscar Fjord.

MOST REMOTE PLACE #3: THE GREENLAND ICE SHEET

The Greenland ice sheet: The biggest – and the only – ice sheet on the northern hemisphere is melting with a faster pace than ever seen before in modern history and contributing to rising seas. Luckily, in March and April, it is still frozen and almost steady as a rock which makes this time of year the best time to cross the ice from the West to East. Your home will be sturdy expedition tents, and your means of transportation a dog sled or skis plus stamina above average.

A COMFIER ALTERNATIVE:
Kangerlussuaq and Camp Ice Cap by World of Greenland.

MOST REMOTE PLACE #4: AAPPILATTOQ

Not far from the southern tip of Greenland lies this gem surrounded by steep mountains, and even closer to the settlement the most beautiful passage in Greenland, the Prince Christian Sound. Around 30 people inhabit this place where polar bears occasionally pass by on ice floes when summer comes.A COMFIER ALTERNATIVE:
Nanortalik, at Hotel Kap Farvel, gateway to the most unforgettable fjords in Greenland

MOST REMOTE PLACE #5: EQI

In relation to the aforementioned places, Glacier Lodge Eqi, not far from the Disko Bay and popular holiday destination Ilulissat, is probably the easiest place to travel to, but the 15 environmentally friendly cabins with a stunning view to the calving Eqi Glacier are also very popular, so hurry up and book before it’s too late.

A COMFIER ALTERNATIVE:
Ilulissat, and the Igloos of Hotel Arctic, probably the most renowned place to stay in all of Greenland, and at the most comfy end of the scale of this top 5 list.

UNPLUGGING IN GREENLAND

Is a series of articles about disconnecting from your daily day life and duties and slowing down the pace so you can almost hear your own heartbeat while enjoying the unbelievably beautiful nature and calmness in Greenland. Part III will be published in the first quarter of 2016.