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The Ice Sheet

Tourist flights, boat trips, and the only road to the Greenland Ice Sheet bring one of only two polar ice caps in the world directly to your doorstep.

Some destinations in the world are home to the most active volcano or the largest coral reef, but Greenland has something of a totally different nature as its claim to fame – the Greenland Ice Sheet. This coast-to-coast ice cap has almost single-handedly formed the world’s perceptions of our large northern country, and for the many populations who have lived in Greenland throughout the millennia, it has all but defined the entire way of life.

Historically, the ice cap was rather deserted as Greenlanders opted instead to stay on sea ice with access to fertile waters below. Now, thanks to aircraft, boats, and most importantly, wanderlust, the Greenland Ice Sheet has since become a sought-after spot for travelers in search of unmistakable Arctic adventure.

“I have been on many glaciers, like in the Himalayas. But Greenland is another world! Vast and a totally different view!”

Package Tours

Icelandic Mountain guides: From Sun Gate to Icefjord

Greenland Adventures by Icelandic Mountain Guides

From Sun Gate to Icefjord

This trip will instill peace and quiet in you as you take in the Greenland ice cap, a massive ice field, ancient and still.

FROM €2,100
Greenland Travel: Winter adventure! Vacation in a snowy paradise

Greenland Travel

Winter adventure! Vacation in a snowy paradise

Sail on Ilulissat Ice Fjord and see the icebergs. Go dogsledding. See northern lights. Walk the Ice Cap. Go explore! Greenland is waiting

FROM €2,020
Show More

UNEXPECTED TERRAIN

Take a look at any map and one might imagine that the white island at the top of the world is nothing but uncharted territory. Even flying high in the Greenland airspace, the ice cap still appears to be just one blinding expanse. But in fact, the Greenland Ice Sheet is full of surprises.

At close range, the Greenland Ice Sheet reveals its true palette of blues and greens and comes to life as a jagged accumulation of centuries-old ice fragments. It has deep cracks whose walls look like ocean waves frozen in space, and during summer, those same dormant tunnels can fill with fast-moving glacial rivers. No two edges are alike on the Greenland Ice Sheet so let your curiosity run wild as you explore this icy wilderness.

THE ROAD TO THE ICE CAP

The Greenland Ice sheet is visible from most towns in Greenland, but merely looking at the ice cap is like running a marathon and not crossing the finish line. Kangerlussuaq is the proud home of the only road to the Greenland Ice Sheet, and though it is a bit bumpy around the edges, it delivers you literally to the ice edge. Stepping off of solid ground and onto ice that moves undetected beneath your feet will give you new appreciation for the natural environment.

  • 80% of Greenland’s land area (more than 1.7 million km2) is covered by glacier, called the Greenland Ice Cap or more accurately, the Greenland Ice Sheet. It is one of only two ice sheets in the world, and it has been present for 18 million years.

  • Currently, the Greenland Ice Sheet reaches a thickness of 3 km and is over 100,000 years old.

  • The Ice Sheet is accessible from towns in every region in Greenland. One can experience the Ice Sheet by flying overhead in helicopters or in Air Zafari’s small airplanes, hiking or camping at the glacier’s edge, and dog sledding.

  • From Kangerlussuaq, a 25 km dirt road leads directly to the edge of the Greenland Ice Sheet, passing several viewpoints of glacier tongues along the way.

  • The Russell Glacier in Kangerlussuaq and the Eqip Sermia and Sermeq Kujalleq glaciers in Ilulissat are fine places to see calving events.

  • Those with the strong wills, great physical condition, and a government permit can lead expeditions into Greenland Ice Sheet territory.

ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVES

Did you know that you can also experience the Greenland Ice Sheet from the water? Boat trips into deep fjords wind between icebergs that were once embedded in the ice cap and lead you directly to the glaciers that form a living bridge between ice cap and sea. The Ilulissat Ice Fjord is the greatest collection of floating sculptures from the Greenland Ice Sheet, but other towns, like Nuuk and Uummannaq, have their own versions of an ice fjord to discover by sea.

After seeing the ice cap at close distance, zoom out and get a bird’s eye view of the frozen, yet very much alive, Greenland Ice Sheet. A helicopter or small fixed-wing airplane can fly you high enough to see hundreds of kilometers over the ice cap yet stay low enough to detect the ridges and cracks that give evidence of its motion. With so many ways to experience the ice cap, getting there is fairly easy. It is leaving again that is the hard part!

Local providers

Dogs on a dog sledding trip near Ilulissat in Greenland fanning out in typical west Greenlandic fashion. Photo by Mads Pihl - Visit Greenland

Albatros Arctic Circle

Kangerlussuaq, Mittarfiit Aqq.
3910,
Phone: +299 84 16 48More information
Tasermiut 3

Tasermiut South Greenland Expeditions

Qassiarsuk, B-873 Qassiarsuk
3923,
Phone: (+299) 522 822More information
Handmade figure. Visit Greenland

Tupilak Travel

Nuuk, Imaneq 18,
3900,
Phone: (+299) 313 218More information
CEO Thomas Olsen of North Safari Outfitters standing with an Arctic char. Photo by North Safari Outfitters

North Safari Outfitters

Kangerlussuaq, Box 152
3910,
Phone: +299 29 92 14 / +45 23 72 90 89More information
Three men enjoying the sun in front of Nanu Travel Tourist Office. Photo by Nanu Travel

Nanu Travel

Ittoqqortoormiit, Postboks 4  Mikip Aqqutaa B-186 ,
3980,
Phone: +299 99 12 80 More information
An evening view of the white church in Nanortalik in South Greenland. Photo by Mads Pihl - Visit Greenland

Nanortalik Tourism Service

Nanortalik, Lundip Aqqutaa B 128,
3922,
Phone: +299 61 36 33More information
Nuuk Water Taxi Boat. Photo by Aningaaq R Carlsen

Nuuk Water Taxi

Nuussuaq, Qarsaalik 25A,
3905,
Phone: +299 54 56 90More information
IceCap Tours Accommodation

IceCap Tours Accommodation

Ilulissat, Fredericiap Aqqutaa 5,
3952,
Phone: +299 94 45 45More information
Greenland Travel 01

Greenland Travel

Copenhagen, Wilders Plads 13 A,
1403,
Phone: +45 33 13 10 11More 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
Hikers in Aasivissuit UNESCO area close to Kangerlussuaq Photo by Morten Christensen - Visit Greenland

Greenland Outdoors

Kangerlussuaq, P.O.Box 87, B466
3910,
Phone: +299 24 06 16More information
A tour boat in front of an iceberg wall near Ilulissat in Greenland. By Mads Pihl

Disko Line

Ilulissat, Kussangajaannguaq 13,
3952,
Phone: +299 94 53 01More 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
Hytten Amaroq from outside. Photo by Asimut Tours and Camp, Visit Greenland

Asimut Tours and Camp

Nuuk, Postboks 153
3900,
Phone: +299 55 34 04More information
Boat tour into the Pack-ice near Angmagssalik. Photo by Arctic Wonderland Tours, Visit Greenland

Arctic Wonderland Tours

Tasiilaq, Suulup Aqqutaa B-725,
3913,
Phone: +299 98 12 93More information
Sarfaq Ittuk cruising in the Disko Bay outside Ilulissat ice fjord in Greenland. Visit Greenland

Arctic Umiaq Line

Nuuk, Aqqusinersuaq 48 A,
3900,
Phone: +299 34 91 90More information
Arctic Dream Travellodge Greenland 02

Arctic Dream

Tasiilaq, B-771
3913,
Phone: +299 58 41 71More information

World of Greenland

Ilulissat, Kussangajaannguaq 7,
3952,
Phone: (+299) 944 300More information
A view of two Air Zafari flightseeing planes over the Greenland Ice Sheet near Kangerlussuaq Airport

Air Zafari

Nuuk, Box 568
3900,
Phone: +299 58 40 68 / +299 24 85 54More information

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