Optional Tour Package
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The Polar Circle Marathon to Kangerlussuaq is a splendid opportunity to experience
the ‘real Greenland’, and for this reason we have included an optional tour package.
The sea ties Greenland together
What makes Greenland a truly unique destination is the combination of wild nature
and the inuit culture adapted to it through hundreds of generations. It is along
the coast the people of Greenland live and it is in the towns and settlements that
we find “the real Greenland”. Small colourful houses cling to mountainsides. Culture
and architecture enriched and limited by nature. And if you take just a few steps
outside the town you’ll find yourself almost completely isolated, surrounded by
one of the worlds last and biggest wildernesses.
Ilulissat and the Disko Bay
Monday 20th October to Thursday 23rd October
Day 1. Monday 20th October. : Kangerlussuaq to Ilulissat.
Checkin for Air Greenland’s flight to Ilulissat in the morming. From the right side
of the plane it is possible to get a glimpse of the ice cap and the marathon route,
and - on a clear day - the unique Ice Fjord approximately 5-10 minutes before landing.
We check in at Hotel Arctic - widely acclaimed as the best hotel in Greenland. The
hotel enjoys one of the best views of the town, the bay and the massive icebergs.
Ilulissat is situated in the heart of the famed Disko Bay, an area of great natural
beauty. The city itself is picturesque, lively and inviting. By Greenland standards
it offers many cultural sights that - apart from the birthplace and museum of arctic
explorer Knud Rasmussen - includes a Hunting and Fishing museum, and the fine collection
of paintings of Emanuel A. Petersen. Since the foundation of Ilulissat more than
250 years ago, it has grown steadily and is today Greenland’s third largest city
with more than 4,300 inhabitants. The main occupation is, as always, fishing.
The city is rightfully called the capital of icebergs. In the Disko Bay, just off
the coast of Ilulissat, the gigantic icebergs linger. South of the city the enormous
Ice Fjord cuts its way through the country. It starts 32 kilometres further inland,
where the huge Sermeq Kujalleq Glacier, with a front more than 5 kilometres wide
and several hundred meters high, is calving icebergs with a speed of 25 metres per
day, equivalent to 20 million tons of ice or more than 10% of all icebergs in Greenland.
This makes the glacier the most productive outside Antarctica. These facts and the
stunning setting has put the Ice Fjord on the Unesco list of World Heritages.
The day offers a tour of the city, where we among other things will see the museum
in Knud Rasmussen’s birthplace and Emanuel A. Petersen’s collection of painting
in one of the oldest houses of the city.
Day 2. Tuesday 21st October: Ilulissat & The Ice Fjord
After breakfast we walk to the harbour and embark for a 2½ hours boat trip on the
Ice Fjord where we will see the spectacular icebergs. We will get really close to
the impressive “floating mountains” and see their true greatness. A good chance
to get some stunning photos and an experience you will never forget. Remember warm
clothes.
The afternoon is free to shop or walk to one the nearby hilltops overlooking the
Ice Fjord.
Day 3. Wednesday 22nd October: Ilulissat
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We willll go for a small walk down to the Sermermiut Valley, approximately
2 kilometres south of Ilulissat. Sermermiut means “The People by the Ice”, and the
place has been inhabited from 1400 BC to 1737. In 1727 when the first Danish commercial
nation arrived at the Ice Fjord and discovered Sermermiut, some 250 people were
living there. Today the area reveals a number of grass grown square craters marking
the foundation of tuft houses. Kitchen middens show large numbers of bones from
seals, birds, fish and whales.
From the valley and the small bay, we walk along the fjord and up onto the hills
with a grand view of Icefiord.
Ilulissat offers a wealth of tour possibilities and the afternoon can be used for
a boat trip or - if available - a helicopter trip over the fjord.
In the evening a farewell dinner is included.
Day 4. Thursday 23rd October: Return flight, Ilulissat - Kangerlussuaq - Copenhagen.
Transfer to the airport in the morning and via Kangerlussuaq to Copenhagen. Arrival
in the evening local time.