Summer hiking in South Greenland

Standing here in Narsarsuaq airport, the first word that strikes me is ‘grandeur’. I am about to go hiking in this spectacular landscape!

SIMPLY ‘GRANDEUR’

I inhale the fresh air while majestic blue icebergs calve out in the fjord and flowering bluebells illuminate this verdant landscape. As I look over to the other side of the fjord to where Erik the Red had his farm, ‘Brattahlid’, it dawns on me why he called the country Greenland.

AN UNFORGETTABLE HIKING TRIP

My backpack is bursting with provisions for three memorable weeks of hiking here in the summer warmth of southern Greenland.

We’ll be hiking to Qaqortoq and Narsaq before making a loop back to Narsarsuaq. It’s a route that offers impressive landscapes, small but colourful villages with their friendly inhabitants, cheap lamb, and a silence I’ve never before experienced.

Our group is made up of my mother, father, sister, and boyfriend. Along the way we meet a family with a one-year-old daughter and two retired grandparents. Hiking in southern Greenland is for people of all ages, provided that you come here with a passion for adventure and magnificent scenery.

I inhale the fresh air while majestic blue icebergs calve out in the fjord.

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Package Tours

Blue Ice Explorer

UNESCO sites 4 days

Visit Hvalsey, Igaliku and Qassiarsuk – 3 of the UNESCO sites – together with South Greenland’s colourful town Qaqortoq.

FROM €632

Tasermiut Expeditions

Kayak & Hiking 8 days

Kayak expedition in total freedom among icebergs & glaciers. Ice-walk, polar fauna, northern lights. Dates: June to Sep. Flight from KEF/CPH.

FROM €2,195

Blue Ice Explorer

South Greenland 5 days – active

A 5-day getaway from Iceland for the active traveller with hiking around Igaliku, Qassiarsuk and Narsarsuaq.

FROM €541

Grönlandresor

Horseback riding in South Greenland, 8 days

Using Icelandic horses we’ll ride between sheep farms and experience the lush nature of the area around Qassiarsuk.

FROM €2,950

blue-ice-iceberg-in-south-greenland-photo-by-camilla-hey

Sun over a field of flowers in South Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl

a-view-over-qassiarsuk-also-known-as-brattahlid-in-south-greenland-near-narsarsuaq-airport-photo-by-david-buchmann

A couple overlooking Tasiusaq sheep farm near Qassiarsuk in South Greenland

KAFFEMIK – A LAVISH EXPERIENCE

“Do you want to join me for kaffemik?” asks a shepherd when we knock to ask if we can pitch our tents on his sheep field. “Kaffemik” is the Greenlandic version of the Danish “kaffebord”, and can loosely be translated as coffee and cake in English. After several days alone in the wilderness, we suddenly find ourselves sitting bunched together with an entire Greenlandic family enjoying an abundant array of cakes. After days living off campfire food, fish, and herbs from the mountains, we hikers welcome this hospitality and all the cakes.

Greenlandic explorer Knud Rasmussen once said, “No country in the world offers the traveller such a profusion of experiences as Greenland.” Queen Margrethe of Denmark also once said, “No one who knows northern Scandinavia can escape feeling at home.”

And I can only agree. Greenland’s harsh, authentic, and wild nature has also taken me by storm. The feeling of freedom and craving for adventure bubbles within you in this landscape, and after returning home from the trip, I have to say that Greenland has well and truly captivated me. See you soon, Greenland – I promise.

Article by Katrine Dybkjær – Visit Greenland

By Visit Greenland

Behind Greenland's largest travel site is the Visit Greenland that is 100% owned by the Government of Greenland, who is responsible for marketing the country's adventures and opportunities for guests wishing to visit the world's largest island

https://visitgreenland.com