Top 5 Experiences in Ilulissat in 2023

Does Michelin food, beautiful hotel stays and award-winning architecture come to mind when you think of Greenland? Perhaps not, but it should!

Greenland and the Disko Bay Area, in particular, Ilulissat has experienced quite an uprising in recent years. Danish travel writer and photographer Nana Hagel went on a whirlwind trip experiencing the best in gastronomy, architecture, and culture of Greenland’s West Coast.

Ilulissat, which is one of the destinations within the Disko Bay area offers a variety of experiences.

Keep reading as she shares her top 5 must do’s in Ilulissat in the Disko Bay Area — and yes, there will be both ice fjord sailing and a meal with a view.

1. The World’s Most Remote Michelin Restaurant Koks Moves to Greenland

Reindeer tartar with fermented mushroom glace and ramson. Photo by Simon Bajada

A two-starred Michelin meal on the verge of the ice fjord? It sounds like quite the experience, doesn’t it? Wait until you hear about the only way to get there: by boat sailing through iceberg-filled Disko Bay. In the small settlement of Ilimanaq, the world-known Faroese restaurant KOKS (run by head chef Poul Andrias Ziska), moved into one of two painstakingly restored historical houses from the 1700s. They serve a menu consisting of both familiar and new ingredients; all of them found in the landscapes and sea surrounding the restaurant. The 17-course menu is uncompromising in taste, aesthetics, and storytelling, and you have to be quick to secure your table in this last season of 2023. It’ll be a dining experience of a lifetime.

Visit Koks restaurant

2. A Stay with a View

Photo by Nana Hagel

Ever wondered what it’s like to spend the night front row to the ice fjord? A few minute’s walk from KOKS, Ilimanaq Lodge consists of 15 architect-designed cabins with a cosy atmosphere and everything you need to wind down after the memorable meal at KOKS. The wooden cabins are designed to beautifully blend it with their surroundings, and at the foot of the cabins is a small bay where the courageous visitor can go for a morning swim. There’s no mobile reception or wifi, but I promise, you won’t need it. The reception is located in the neighboring house to KOKS, and there’s even a small grocery store selling necessities and locally produced souvenirs.

Round Ilimanaq lodge

Visit Ilimanaq Lodge

Package Tours

Disko Line

Icefjord Cruise

Get closer to the impressive Greenlandic nature with Icefjord Cruise.

FROM €93

Greenland by Topas

Dog Sledding and Northern Lights in Ilulissat

Sled dogs are in their element under the frosty sky, crackling snow and fluttering Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) of the Greenlandic winter. Overnight stay in Igloo Lodge.

FROM €2,812

Greenland Tours

Disko Adventure

4 days in Disko Bay incl. hiking and kayaking

FROM €760

Tasermiut Expeditions

Ilulissat Ice Adventure

Visit the fantastic UNESCO World Heritage Ilulissat Icefjord on a 4 or 5 day trip. Admire massive icebergs in Disco Bay. Dates: June to Sep.

FROM €2,575

3. Sailing the Ice Fjord at Midnight

Photo by Aningaaq Rosing Carlsen

A sail on the Disko Bay is mandatory, and the midnight outing from the harbour of Ilulissat felt like an otherworldly bucket list experience. Sailing in the eternal midnight sun during summer, passing floating ice bergs and spotting whales along the way — highly recommended! For all the info you need on the summer midnight sails, just click here.

Midnight sailing

4. Award-winning architecture: Ilulissat Icefjord Centre

Icefjord Centre & The Ice fjord from above. Photo by Adam Mork - Visit Greenland

Photo by Real Dania

Danish architect Dorte Mandrup is behind the Ilulissat Icefjord Centre; a world-known architectural masterpiece winding its way through the surrounding landscape. The first visitor center in Greenland, the Icefjord Centre has a minimal climate imprint as the building rests on a steel frame on the ground leaving room for plants and wildlife to continue their usual routes. The entire building can also – should there be a need – be taken down one day without leaving a single trace on nature. When visitors enter the building, they’re kindly asked to take off their shoes and slip into comfortable Glerup home shoes; as is tradition in every Greenlandic home. Afterwards, they can move around the inviting building, and take on several exhibitions; one being the permanent Sermeq pillugu Oqaluttuaq – Fortællingen om is. Here, film, archeological objects and sound sequences recorded underneath the inland ice over a span of several years tell the tale of the ice, history and nature in Greenland.

Ilulissat Icefjord Centre

5. Take the UNESCO hike to Sermermiut Valley

Photo by Ívar Eyþórssony

After being cultural at the museum, it’s time for some stunning natural views! Just head out the door and down the wooden walkway to the fjord, and you’ll soon enter the UNESCO heritage area. Choose one of the three different paths, yellow, blue or red. They vary in length and difficulty, but all will take you past one spectacular sight after the next. The frozen ice sea with its stranded icebergs that seem to descend into eternity, the barren cliffs, the enormous open landscape that remind you how small we are in this world of natural wonders. All routes can end back at the Icefjord Centre, so you won’t get lost.

UNESCO heritage area

Article by Nana Hagel

Nana Hagel is a travel writer and photographer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. As a freelancer, she works with media such as The New York Times, Monocle, Condé Nast Traveler and RUM International. Discover more of her stories on her travel & design site here: farandclose.com, and follow along on her Instagram here.