Greenland 7 Day Itinerary

Greenland 7-Day Itinerary

There is no road between Nuuk and Ilulissat. There is no road connecting any two towns in Greenland at all. Every leg of this trip happens by plane or boat, and that single fact should shape how you pack, budget, and plan around weather delays that can run days, not hours.

Day 1: Arrival & Nuuk Since late November 2024, Nuuk Airport has a 2,200 metre runway that finally takes wide-body jets, so Air Greenland’s A330neo can fly you in nonstop from Copenhagen instead of routing through Kangerlussuaq. Icelandair also runs Reykjavik to Nuuk year-round, a useful option if you are stacking Iceland onto the trip. The airport sits about 4km from downtown; a taxi runs roughly 100-150 DKK. Once settled, head to the Nuuk Art Museum and the Greenland National Museum, where the real draw is the Qilakitsoq mummies, a set of naturally preserved 15th-century Inuit bodies found in 1972. Walk the old colonial harbor district of Kolonihavnen for the colorful wooden houses, then push out along the coast path toward Qoornoq or the Nuup Kangerlua fjord viewpoint if daylight allows. Skip the tourist-menu spots and book a table at Sarfalik or Mikisoq, both of which build menus around musk ox, snow crab, and whatever the day boats brought in. I would rather spend one good dinner here than three mediocre ones stretched across the trip; Nuuk has the best restaurant density in the country, so use it.

Day 2: Nuuk Exploration & Boat Tour Spend the morning at Katuaq Cultural Center and the open-air Nuuk market, where hunters sell seal, whale, and reindeer meat directly, cash only. In the afternoon, book a boat trip out into Nuup Kangerlua toward the Nuussuaq peninsula and, weather depending, Kangeq, an abandoned settlement with visible ruins. Boats here are small and the fjord chop can be rough, so anyone prone to seasickness should take tablets beforehand, not after boarding. Whale sightings happen but are not guaranteed this far south; do not let an operator sell you a “guaranteed whale” tour, it is a soft scam line repeated across the Arctic tourism industry. Return to Nuuk for dinner.

Day 3: Kangerlussuaq or Sisimiut Connection Most itineraries skip straight to Ilulissat, but flying Nuuk to Sisimiut, Greenland’s second-largest town and dog sledding capital, breaks up the trip and adds real texture. Air Greenland runs this route several times a week; expect to pay a premium versus mainland European short-hop fares, domestic Greenlandic flights are genuinely expensive because there are no roads to compete against. In Sisimiut, walk up to the old Blue Church and the Taseralik cultural center, then head out along the marked hiking trail toward Palasip Qaqqaa for icefjord views without the Ilulissat crowds. Overnight in Sisimiut.

Day 4: Transfer to Ilulissat Fly to Ilulissat. Do not attempt to substitute a boat here in summer expecting it to be faster, the ferry network (Arctic Umiaq Line and local operators) is scenic but slow, often a full day or more between towns, and schedules bend around ice and weather without warning. Check into your hotel; Hotel Icefiord and Best Western Plus Hotel Ilulissat both sit close enough to walk to the Icefjord Centre. Spend the afternoon on the boardwalk trail to Sermermiut, the abandoned settlement site right at the mouth of the Icefjord, and get your first look at the calving front.

Day 5: Ilulissat Icefjord This is the UNESCO World Heritage core of the trip. Book an Icefjord boat cruise, expect to pay in the 650-800 DKK range depending on route and season, with the Rodebay/Oqaatsut run often landing near the top of that band. Midnight sailings in June and July let you watch the sun barely dip below the horizon over the ice, worth the late start. Dog sledding is genuinely seasonal here, not the flexible “book anytime” activity generic guides suggest: it runs February through mid-April only, so a June or July visitor should not expect it to be on offer, budget for kayaking among smaller bergs instead if visiting in summer. Dinner at Mamartut or mamaq bistro for a reindeer or whale tasting menu.

Day 6: Oqaatsut (Rodebay) and Ice Cap Walk or take a boat north to Oqaatsut, a genuine fishing village of around ten residents, not a manufactured tourist stop, with an old trading post building now serving as a small restaurant in summer. If budget allows, a helicopter flight over the ice cap interior shows scale that no ground-level view can match; book through Air Zafari or a similar local operator and expect several thousand DKK for a short flight. Farewell dinner back in Ilulissat.

Day 7: Departure The current Ilulissat airport has a short runway limiting it to smaller turboprops; a new 2,200 metre runway modeled on Nuuk’s rebuild is under construction and, as of mid-2026, is targeting an opening around October 2026, running well behind its original 2024 target and needing extra funding from Denmark to finish. Until it opens, expect a connection through Kangerlussuaq or Nuuk rather than a direct flight home from Ilulissat. Buy last-minute qiviut (musk ox wool) knits or tupilak carvings at the shops near the harbor before heading to the airport.

Important Information: Visa: Greenland is not in the Schengen Area, so a Schengen visa alone does not cover entry here, even though applications are submitted through the same Danish missions. Nordic citizens travel freely. Citizens of the US, Canada, UK, and most Schengen-exempt countries can enter visa-free for up to 90 days with just a passport; anyone who needs a visa for Schengen generally needs a separate Greenland-specific visa, applied for at the same appointment.

Transportation: There are no inter-town roads anywhere in Greenland. Domestic flights on Air Greenland link Nuuk, Sisimiut, Ilulissat, and other towns; coastal ferries and local boats fill the gaps but run far slower and are weather-dependent. Budget real slack time into any itinerary that involves more than two town-to-town transfers.

Weather: Summer (June to August) gives 20-plus hours of daylight in the north and is the only realistic season for the Icefjord boat tours and hiking described above. Winter brings the dog sledding and northern lights but shuts down most boat tours entirely.

Money: Greenland uses the Danish krone (DKK), not the euro. Card payments are widely accepted in Nuuk and Ilulissat but carry some cash for the open-air hunters’ markets, which are cash only.

Safety: Weather delays of a day or two on domestic flights are common, not exceptional, so never book a same-day international connection out of a Greenlandic town. Build at least one buffer day into the back end of any trip.