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  • A couple overlooking Tasiusaq sheep farm near Qassiarsuk in South Greenland

Qassiarsuk

The settlement is an agricultural destination for hikers and a visible meeting place between Norse culture and modern-day sheep farmers.

Visit south greenland

A THOUSAND YEARS OF SHEEP FARMING AND AGRICULTURE

One thousand years ago a group of Norsemen, with Erik the Red in the front, sailed into the bay where the settlement Qassiarsuk is located today. According to legend, Erik had such strong emotional ties to the area where he had grown up in Norway that he baptised the place he found, Brattahlíð which means “steep hill”. Before long, he and his companions had established an agricultural community in the fjord.

Farming is still the main occupation in Qassiarsuk and the sheep farmers in the area cultivate the same fields, and let their animals graze in the same river valleys and the same hillsides that the Norsemen used towards the end of the 9th century.

The agriculture of the sheep farms is also about a special feeling of community, and you will experience the strong bonds and the close cooperation between the families living in the settlement and the farms in the countryside.

ALL ABOUT GREENLAND’S VIKINGS

What was life like when Leif Eriksson and Freydís Eiríksdóttir lived in South Greenland?

Find out here

REMOTE FARMS WITH MODERN CONNECTIONS

Where the gravel roads end around the settlement lie the sheep farms that give new meaning to the word “remote”, and especially in Tasiusaq and Nunataaq, about a day’s hike west of Qassiarsuk, the fields reach down to the edge of the water, in fjords where icebergs from the Ice Cap drift by on their way towards the ocean.

Yet, you will experience that the locals are connected to the internet, watch satellite television and run modern farms adapted for export, send their kids to a well-run school in the settlement and are generally focused on seeing the next generation grow up and get educated, even if this means that the young will have to leave South Greenland for a number of years.

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  • Qassiarsuk is a sheep farming settlement founded in 1924 by Otto Frederiksen. Many of his descendants today are among the settlements 50 inhabitants.

  • Eric the Red and his wife Thorhildur settled here in 982 and built the first Christian church on the North American continent.

  • Today Qassiarsuk has a grocery store and a cafe.

  • There is a 120 kilometer gravel road in Qassiarsuk and the surounding hillsides and the area is great for hiking trips.

  • Due to the sheep in the settlement the surrounding area has no mosquitoes.

  • Every year Qassiarsuk hosts the Leif Ericsson Marathon.

Package Tours

Blue Ice Explorer – South Greenland 4 days – easy going

Blue Ice Explorer

South Greenland 4 days – easy going

South Greenland is famous for its Norse history and blue icebergs, and you can easily reach both on daytrips from the airport in Narsarsuaq.

FROM €435
Blue Ice Explorer – Towns & settlements 8 days

Blue Ice Explorer

Towns & settlements 8 days

Explore the 2 towns of Narsaq and Qaqortoq together with the delightful calmness, warmth and undisturbed paradise of the village of Igaliku.

FROM €953
Blue Ice Explorer – South Greenland 5 days – active

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
Greenland Tours: Coastal Ship – South & West

Greenland Tours

Coastal Ship - South & West

13 days in the south & west of Greenland incl. 5 days on board Sarfaq Ittuk

FROM €1,385
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THE NORSEMEN IN QASSIARSUK

Qassiarsuk was the stronghold of the Norsemen. It was here they built the first Christian church on the North American continent, and it was from this location that their culture of farming spread to the rest of South Greenland.

Today a statue of Leif Ericsson has been erected on a prominent vantage point in Qassiarsuk keeping watch over both the past and the present. In the Danish language, Leif is better known by his nick names – Leif the Happy, Leif the Lucky, or simply Eric the Red’s son. He is the very first man to sail towards the west arriving in North America at a place he called, Vinland. A feat of that magnitude is not left unnoticed in South Greenland.

Qassiarsuk is the most important of all the Norsemen landmarks in South Greenland because the ruins are still very much part of the present-day landscape, and with the re-construction of Thodhilde’s Christian church and the adjacent long house, you will experience the feel of these historical buildings coming alive in a way that is unique in Greenland.

HIKING AND THE WILDERNESS EXPERIENCE IN QASSIARSUK

Although the actual growth of trees is limited to certain protected fjords, the landscape of South Greenland nevertheless in many ways resembles the fjords of western Norway.

The area around Qassiarsuk has mountain hiking trails as well as a 100 kilometer gravel road that connects the settlement with the surrounding farms of Tasiusaq, Nunataaq, Sillisit, Qorlortoq and Ipiutaq that offer accommodation if you wish to stay overnight on the route.

One of the classic treks in Greenland is the 60 kilometer hike from Qassiarsuk over the mountain to Narsaq. The route changes between easy-to-walk gravel roads, staying overnight at a sheep farm, and trekking over a mountain area with many remnants of the Norsemen.

Where the gravel roads end around the settlement, lie the sheep farms that give new meaning to the word “remote”.

Plan your trip

How to get there

Commercial airlines are the only way for travelers to get to Greenland, served by airports in Denmark and Iceland unless you arrive with a cruise ship.

How to get around

Read about boats, helicopters and planes that tie the country together in a web of sea and air connections operated by both large and small scale operators.

Where to sleep

Read about accommodation possibilities in Greenland - where is it possible to stay for longer or shorter period of time.

When to go

Summer is a season of the midnight sun, while winter is for dog sledding, northern lights, ski trips, and star gazing. Read more.

See plan your trip

Local providers

Sillisit Hostel

Qassiarsuk, Postboks 21
3921,
Phone: (+299) 665 093 & (+299) 497 185More information
Two men and three Icelandic horses close to Inneruulalik Guest Farm in South Greenland. Photo by Inneruulalik Guest House

Inneruulalik Guest Farm

Qassiarsuk,
3921,
Phone: +299 19 92 14More information
Tasermiut 3

Tasermiut South Greenland Expeditions

Qassiarsuk, B-873 Qassiarsuk
3923,
Phone: (+299) 522 822More information

Tasiusaq Kayak Hostel

Tasiusaq,
3921,
Phone: (+299) 665 010More information
Leif Eriksson Hostel

The Leif Eriksson Hostel

Qassiarsuk, B-873
3921,
Phone: (+299) 665 010More information
Beautiful view in sunlight from Ipiutaq Guest Farm in Summer. Photo by Agathe Devisme

Ipiutaq Guest Farm

Narsaq, 40 min by boat from Narsarsuaq and Narsaq
3921,
More information
A field with straw bales at a farm in Qassiarsuk in South Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl - Visit Greenland

Illunnguujuk Hostel

Qassiarsuk, Postboks 21
3921,
Phone: +299 49 71 85More information
Guests at Hvalsey church ruin in South Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl - Visit Greenland

Greenland Sagalands

Qaqortoq, Vatikanbakken 68,
3920,
Phone: +299 64 24 44 / +299 49 37 41More information
Saling vessel between icebergs in Greenland. Photo by Blue Ice Explorer, Visit Greenland.

Blue Ice Explorer

Narsarsuaq, Box 58
3923,
Phone: +299 66 54 99 / +299 49 73 71More information

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