How to Plan Your Post Arctic Circle Trail Trip to Ilulissat Greenland

How to Plan a Post-Arctic Circle Trail Trip to Ilulissat Icefjord

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When planning my long-distance trek of the 100-mile Arctic Circle Trail in West Greenland, I read about what a shame it would be to omit a post-hike trip to Ilulissat to see the UNESCO icefjord. I hiked the classic route from Kangerlussuaq in the east to Sisimiut in the west, and I knew that from Sisimiut you can either fly or take an overnight ferry to Ilulissat. I went ahead and reserved the ferry, but that’s about the extent of the preparation I did for this leg of my trip! I knew practically nothing about the icefjord in advance and expected to figure it out as I went.

As my ferry reservation approached and I began to research things to do in Ilulissat more thoroughly, I realized I was utterly confused about all of the different tour options and potential day trips. If I want to do a day trip to a local settlement, should I choose Qasigiannguit or Oqaatsut? What are these places even about? Why does every single tour operator offer identical whale watching and icefjord sailing tours, and how do I know which is best?

My aim is to help future visitors decipher between the different options, and also to approach Ilulissat from an ACT hiker’s perspective. Hikers on the Arctic Circle Trail would have already experienced so much of the beauty and culture that Greenland has to offer, so some experiences in Ilulissat may be more redundant for us than they would be for other travelers; hikers will have unique priorities, and the dirtbaggiest of us will also be more budget-conscious. 

This post will be about summer experiences, assuming most ACT hikers visit Ilulissat in the summer. I won’t be writing about Northern Lights, snowmobile, snowshoe, ice fishing, or sled tours.

Preface: Why Visit Ilulissat?

I had never heard of Ilulissat prior to planning my Arctic Circle Trail hike and it wasn’t on my radar as a bucket list destination. I also didn’t know much about glaciers and icebergs in general. I wondered if I’m the right person to appreciate a place like Ilulissat, but in reality the icefjord turned out to be so jaw-droppingly magical that I “got it” immediately and was inspired to get educated. If you’re not quite sure what the deal is with Ilulissat, let this preface establish the setting:

80% of Greenland is covered by a giant ice sheet which can be up to 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) thick at its center! When snow doesn’t melt over many years and instead keeps piling further up each winter, it becomes compacted and is extremely heavy. It begins to flow down and out towards the coasts in the paths of least resistance. The icefjord at Ilulissat is an outlet where large chunks of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier calve and float to sea, sometimes after a journey of thousands of years from deep within Greenland’s icecap to the foot of the glacier. In some places the fjord is more than 1000 meters deep, but at a popular viewpoint, there is an elevated moraine that can cause the largest icebergs to get stuck. As a result, tons of them are all congregated in close proximity to the shore near the village of Ilulissat, creating a photographer’s dreamscape.

According to UNESCO, who inscribed Ilulissat Icefjord onto their World Heritage List in 2004 (the first place in the Arctic to be added to the list!) because of its unique glaciology and outstanding natural beauty, “Sermeq Kujalleq is one of the fastest and most active glaciers in the world.” If you were to melt the annual ice mass that calves from Sermeq Kujalleq, there would be enough water to provide for the USA’s yearly water consumption.

The largest icebergs that calve from it can be up to 900 meters high! Remember that we can only see 10% of an iceberg above water, the rest of it remaining submerged. The average iceberg floating around Ilulissat reaches 200-300 meters beneath the surface.

Ilulissat’s icebergs have drifted far away from home, even as far as Bermuda, Ireland, and the Azores. Most people believe it was an iceberg from here that sunk the Titanic.

Getting to Ilulissat from the Arctic Circle Trail

Most Arctic Circle Trail hikers end their trek in Sisimiut. There are frequent domestic flights from Sisimiut to Ilulissat via Air Greenland, a journey which takes only 50 minutes (if direct – sometimes there is a layover in Kangerlussuaq) and costs around $300-$350 if booked far in advance or potentially $500 if booked only a couple of weeks before. If you are hiking west to east and ending your trek in Kangerlussuaq, there are 45-minute Air Greenland flights from Kangerlussuaq Airport to Ilulissat, and these tend to be cheaper at $250-$350 for economy or standard rates.

Air Greenland flight from Ilulissat to Kangerlussuaq
My Air Greenland flight from Ilulissat to Kangerlussuaq

However, the much more novel and fun method of travel to Ilulissat is the overnight ferry from Sisimiut! Your reservation on the Sarfaq Ittuk ship can be booked via Arctic Umiaq Line. Private cabins and suites are available, but many budget-minded ACT trekkers opt for a couchette bunk in a shared wing instead. I paid 1,689 DKK for my top bunk, or $250. It’s important to book the ferry months in advance to ensure you snag a spot, as it only runs once every two weeks. For this reason, if you want to visit Ilulissat via ferry, you also need to plan your entire Arctic Circle Trail hike around the ferry schedule

I wanted to hike in late August 2024 and ferries to Ilulissat were scheduled for every other Sunday, either August 18th or September 1st. This informed my decision to hike from August 21-28, arriving in Sisimiut a few days in advance of September 1st. In case I ran into any issues during my hike and needed more days to reach Sisimiut, I could still make it in time for the ferry and hopefully even have time to do laundry and collect myself before the journey.

I’m sure schedules change seasonally, but my ferry departed Sisimiut at 10:00AM and arrived in Ilulissat the next morning at 6:30AM. If you’re not camping, you may want to ask your accommodation about early check-in.

The ferry was a one-and-done experience for me, so I did not book a return journey at the end of my time in Ilulissat, instead opting for a flight from Ilulissat to Kangerlussuaq and then Kangerlussuaq to Copenhagen.

Where to Stay in Ilulissat – on a Budget!

Tent Camping (Free)

I originally planned to tent camp for free on the outskirts of town in order to save money. Wildcamping is allowed everywhere in Greenland as long as you aren’t in the village directly next to houses, and as long as you aren’t on protected land such as Sermermiut in Ilulissat (ancient indigenous Saqqaq, Dorset, and Thule cultures passed through this site over thousands of years, and it’s the famous spot where icebergs break off into the ocean). Read more in my Cost Breakdown: Solo Hiking the Arctic Circle Trail.

Camping in Ilulissat sounded clever prior to completing the Arctic Circle Trail, but after spending 8 days battling the elements, it was a lot less appealing. Rain was predicted for some of my time in Ilulissat. It’s common sense, but I also learned firsthand from my pre-hike day trip to Russell Glacier in Kangerlussuaq that temperatures would be colder close to glaciers and icebergs. Camping along the ACT was already cold some nights, so how much colder would it be in Ilulissat near the ice sheet? I wondered what I would do with my tent and other gear during the day while I was away on tours. Do I pack up my tent every morning and then do boat trips while carrying a 60L pack? Do I leave all my stuff pitched at camp and hope nothing gets stolen? The crime rate is extremely low in Greenland…

While in Sisimiut, at the last minute I ultimately decided to book an accommodation in Ilulissat, but hotels were already full except for the most expensive suites. If you think you might change your mind about camping, try to make the decision as soon as possible.

Hotels and AirBnBs

Most of the “cheap” hotels and hostels in Ilulissat (such as Hotel Søma Ilulissat and Ilulissat Hostel) are going to be around $190-210 per night, and others (Hotel Icefjord, Hotel Hvide Falk, Best Western Plus, Hotel Arctic) are $250-400+. All of those are a bit steep for me!

One of the more affordable accommodation options is the Ilulissat Guesthouse, especially if you get a single room in their Blue House or Yellow House. You can rent out an entire house if you are a group, or a single room is $163 per night. This is still more than what I would normally pay elsewhere, but it’s one of the best options I could find. They only had a couple of nights available for me, though, so I kept looking.

In the end, I found an AirBnB/hostel called Michelle’s Place which had availability for the entire duration of my trip for $135 per night. This was the best rate I could find anywhere in Ilulissat on late notice, and it’s situated very close to Hotel Icefjord which has reviews about incredible views, so I figured it must be a good location. It turned out to be even better than I imagined, and in fact I’m glad everything else was sold out, otherwise I wouldn’t have gotten to experience this cool AirBnB! 

Michelle’s Place is right on the shore with views of icebergs floating by and there is a porch facing the water where I sat to watch the sunset. The Yellow Trail hike to the icefjord starts just outside the door. The closest neighbor is a sled dog camp, so dog howls lulled me to sleep and multiple times upon leaving the AirBnB to walk to the harbor, a sweet little puppy ran up to me for snuggles! I was in heaven. I also enjoyed having my very own private room, because the word “hostel” on the listing made me think of bunk beds and shared rooms. The kitchen, bathroom, and common area are shared. You can log into Netflix or Amazon Prime on the TV in the living room, which was fun for me because I was inspired to watch Valhalla Rising after my Arctic Circle Trail hike.

The only drawback about this AirBnB is that it’s a 20 minute walk from the main town center and maybe 30 minutes from the harbor where some of the boat tours and day trips start from, and where the ferry from Sisimiut will drop you off. I did a tour almost every day, so this walk got tiring, but hey – I am a walker by trade. I think it’s balanced out by the close proximity to the icefjord and the Icefjord Center; every other accommodation apart from Ilulissat Hostel will be farther away from Ilulissat’s biggest attraction.

For context, a lot of the hotels in Ilulissat have spectacular views overlooking icebergs – perhaps all of them. But from what I observed, no accommodations (including Michelle’s Place) overlook the coolest, most expansive part of the fjord where icebergs are entering the sea from the foot of Sermeq Kujalleq glacier. This area is protected and there would be an uproar if commercial building projects took place here! Still, rogue icebergs float away from the icejord and around to the harbor side of the shore, which is what the hotels have a view of.

The Ilulissat Airport is not really walking distance from any of the hotels or hostels, so you’ll probably want to get a taxi. My taxi from Michelle’s Place was 143 DKK, or about $21.

A lot of taxi companies and other businesses in West Greenland only offer a local phone number for voice calls, aren’t on WhatsApp, and don’t have a way to book via email or website, so if you have a data-only eSIM you will need to ask someone at the Tourist Information building or a receptionist at your hotel/hostel to reserve the taxi for you (Michelle did this for me when I messaged her on AirBnB). I wrote more about eSIM and SIM card options for my Arctic Circle Trail gear list.

Choosing Between Many Things to Do in Ilulissat

Boy, was I confused by all the options of things to do in Ilulissat! One of the best resources I used to get my mind around the day trips and tours was May Cause Wanderlust’s “Best Ilulissat Tours – Firsthand Reviews” post. Martha did a ton of tours, sometimes even repeating the same tour with different companies to see how they compare. 

From her post, I became particularly interested in whale watching, the Albatross Arctic Circle midnight sailing trip to the icefjord, which was her overall favorite because of the beautiful light at this hour, and the Eqi Glacier boat tour. Even though she wasn’t able to see Eqi Glacier because of inclement conditions, her post introduced me to its existence and added “see a glacier calve” to my bucket list. 

From here I did my own research to figure out what else I wanted to prioritize in Ilulissat. I really love dogs so I hoped to find a way to learn about the Greenlandic breed despite the sled tours not taking place in summer. I also wanted to dig into the history, culture, and archaeology of West Greenland to create more context around my Arctic Circle Trail experience, so the settlement tours piqued my interest. I learned about Disko Island through other ACT hikers who were keen on camping there. What follows is a breakdown of what I gleaned from various sources after agonizing over what to book. 

One question I had in advance of my trip was whether I would already be seeing icebergs and whales during my overnight ferry journey with Arctic Umiaq Line. If so, would it be redundant to book some of the tours out of Ilulissat? In the morning as we arrived in Ilulissat harbor, we did sail amongst a few very small icebergs, but it was nothing like what you’ll see on an Icefjord Sailing tour and it was also dark at 6:30 AM. At one point during the trip, the captain came on the loudspeaker to point out a whale in the distance, but it was very far away and not everyone saw it. I think the ferry doesn’t make anything redundant.

Tour Companies in Ilulissat

There are many tour operators in Ilulissat. A lot of them offer basically the exact same itineraries for the exact same prices, so if one is sold out or not operating on your ideal date and time you can check with the others.

Popular tour operators in Ilulissat include Albatross Arctic Circle, Disko Line Explorer, Diskobay Tours, Ilulissat Adventure, Tarajoq Tours, Ilulissat Tours, and Unique Tours. I used the first three and my experience is that you can’t go wrong with any of them.

One thing to take special note of when reviewing your options for boat tours is how large the boat will be! Some tours use very small vessels that are open to the elements, which I was hesitant about. Every tour I chose used a mid-size boat that had both an indoor seating area and an outdoor viewing deck. If you are more adventurous or want a more personalized experience with just a few participants, you might like the small boats.

Note that weather and seasonality are likely to interfere with at least some of your plans and may be deciding factors in who you book with. This is one reason, as Martha advised, to wait and book your tours only a few days out.

Day Trips and Guided Tours

Whale Watching/Whale Safari

Book If: Losing three hours won’t bother you if you don’t get lucky enough to see any whales.
$150-$180, 3 hours

Whale watching tours are around 995-1195 DKK, or $150-$180 for a three hour boat trip. 

I went with Disko Line Explorer for my whale watching tour because other companies weren’t offering one on the sunniest forecasted day of my trip, which is obviously when I wanted to go, and because they had a mid-size boat where I could sit inside to hide from the cold!

We saw three humpback whales on this tour, a mother and two calves! Our guide and captain were so excited and proud to have found whales for us that day and kept fist bumping each other. I was really charmed by their enthusiasm and ended up booking another Disko Line Explorer tour since I liked them so much. The only downside was that there was not a lot of interpretation and information given about the whales.

For most Disko Line Explorer trips, you will meet at their office in the city center and then they’ll shuttle you to whichever dock the boat is departing from.

Icefjord Sailing

Book If: The icefjord is the main reason you came to Ilulissat and you want to learn about the science of icebergs.
$100, 2 or 2.5 hours

There are two main ways that people view the UNESCO icefjord – either through hiking to it on the Yellow or Blue trails from town, or taking a boat tour. I would recommend doing both! You get totally different vantage points by seeing it on land vs. approaching the ice from the opposite side on the water.

Icefjord Sailing tours are 2 or 2.5 hours long and ~695 DKK, or $100. This is one of the more affordable tour options because you are sailing close to the shore in Ilulissat (and not doing much else). I think this is an obligatory “why not?” type of purchase. People come to Ilulissat to see the icefjord, so here ya go. I think the only reason to potentially not do a dedicated Icefjord Sailing tour is if you expect to sail around it on another tour anyway. For instance, my day trip to Qasigiannguit took us through a bit of the icefjord even though this wasn’t the main point of the tour.

Unfortunately, the midnight sailing time Martha recommended with Albatross Arctic Circle is not offered in September and since my ferry arrived in Ilulissat on September 2nd, I was a bit too late! I booked a 4 PM icefjord sailing tour with Albatross instead, but they cancelled on me at the last minute because of wind. I rebooked an 8 PM tour with Disko Line Explorer, who I already knew I liked from the whale watching trip. They said that because the wind would die down by evening and because they would be using a bigger boat, their tour was not cancelled. 

Our guide was very informative and I learned a lot about the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, the formation of icebergs, the Greenland ice sheet, how nutritious the icebergs are for wildlife, and climate change’s drastic effect on the glacier and ecosystem. 

This is the company that gives everyone a cocktail of glacier ice pulled right out of the water from the side of the boat, a syrup made with locally collected Labrador tea leaves, and gin. You can listen as the ice crackles in your cup, releasing air that’s been trapped for potentially hundreds or thousands of years.

Since the tour began at 8 PM and ended at 10:30 PM, Disko Line shuttled people to their hotels afterwards so we wouldn’t have to walk in the dark. I didn’t ask them to drop me at the AirBnB because it was easy enough to get off at Hotel Icefjord just down the street.

Eqi Glacier / Eqip Sermia

Book If: You want to see a glacier calve and don’t mind splurging.
$340-$360, 6+ hours

Eqi Glacier is the longest and most expensive trip option because it’s located so far north of Ilulissat, but the draw is that it’s one of the biggest and most active calving glaciers in Greenland. You are basically guaranteed to witness loud breaks as blocks of ice slide away into the ocean.

Originally I thought Eqi would be one of my top priorities, but every tour company that offers an Eqi Glacier trip charges ~2295-2445 DKK, or $340-$360. At this price, and because a fellow tourist told me they had the same experience as Martha where they sailed for hours only to turn around and miss out on seeing Eqi because of inclement conditions, I decided not to book a trip to Eqi. I’m a little sad about it; will I ever get another chance to see something similar?

I did hear loud cracking sounds while hiking to the icefjord in Ilulissat on the Yellow Trail, so I may have heard a calving despite not seeing where it was coming from.

Meet a Sled Dog

Book If: You love dogs but understand the Greenlandic breed are not house pets.
$37, 1.5 hours

Sled dog tours are obviously much more popular in winter when you can actually ride the sleds, but I was on a mission to meet some dogs in summer! They are everywhere in Sisimiut and Ilulissat, but you are not allowed to pet the adult dogs without asking permission from the owner because they may be aggressive. This was torture because every moment in these towns, you are listening to howling dogs and watching them jump around and play, taunting you. I needed to pet a dog!

In Sisimiut, I tried emailing multiple different companies to sign up for a Meet a Sled Dog experience but they kept jerking me around. I also walked past this one dog camp like four times because a hiker told me a puppy lived there who would run out to greet me, but I never saw the puppy. I was getting desperate!

In Ilulissat, the first few companies I researched weren’t offering a sled dog tour during my dates. By a stroke of luck, I went into a gift shop and noticed a calendar on their wall with tour times – including a Meet a Sled Dog tour later that same day at 3 PM! It turns out I had entered the Diskobay Tours office/gift shop.

Diskobay Tours run boat tours like all the other companies, but Nivé and Frank also own 52 sled dogs (53 by the time I left Ilulissat – they brought one home with us from our Qasigiannguit settlement day trip!). From their headquarters in the city center, they will drive folks out to their sled dog camp on the outskirts of town. Upon arrival, you’ll change into coveralls, gloves, and boots to protect your clothes in case it’s a muddy day, and then it’s time to meet the dogs!

You’ll play with the dogs, get to help feed them, and learn facts and stories about the Inuit sled dog tradition in Greenland. I wrote about what I learned in my post History, Context, and Tips about the Arctic Circle Trail – That Aren’t About Hiking.

The day I was there, I got to hold five-day-old puppies! They hadn’t even opened their eyes yet.

I liked Nivé and Frank and felt that they are proud of their dogs. Nivé, who was born in Greenland, is gracious to share interesting perspectives on her heritage and how things have changed for Inuit people as a result of Danish colonization. She said that owning dogs makes her feel connected to her ancestry.

Some tourists struggle with the tradition because the dogs are chained up all summer – it is the law that dogs over 6 months of age must be chained. Dogs that are trained for hunting can be particularly aggressive and there have been issues with attacks on children or drunk people. Contrastingly, Diskobay said their dogs are “trained for tourism” and this training involves a lot of cuddles. My pervading memory from the tour was of one happy dog who bounced around and played with me for ages. 

If you’re a dog lover, obviously you don’t want to contribute to any sort of ill treatment of dogs, regardless of whether they’re working dogs or house pets. I have read some opinions online where tourists are quick to assume sled dogs are poorly treated. While it’s important to think critically and ask yourself tough questions about ethical tourism, it’s also important to lean towards local experts who come from a lineage of thousands of years of indigenous tradition, and who know the breed inside and out that tourists are only just now being introduced to. 

If you’re not sure how you feel about sled dogs, you may opt not to invest your tourist dollars into such an experience, or you might do some research on different companies that offer this tour so you can pick one you’re comfortable with.

Settlement Tours

Book If: You have a particular interest in the archaeology and ethnography of West Greenland.
$200-$350, 7-8 hours

Some tour operators offer boat trips out to settlements called Qasigiannguit, Oqaatsut, Qeqertarsuaq, and Ilimanaq. Based on the tour descriptions, I had trouble distinguishing between these places and understanding why I would pick one or the other. I asked fellow traveler Vicky Inglis, who knows the Arctic much better than me, for help. She explained:

“Qasigiannguit has Danish colonial history and Inuit archaeology. It’s a bigger settlement, a working fishing port, more facilities. Oqaatsut is pretty tiny, with whaling history, cute buildings. Ilimanaq has some pretty houses and maybe is aimed a bit more high-end tourism, gourmet food tasting, luxury eco-lodge, etc.

Any boat tour in Disko Bay would give a chance of seeing whales, we spotted several humpbacks. I would try to get to Qeqertarsuaq on Disko Island if I could. I zodiac cruised along some insane columnar basalt cliffs with caves and sea stacks, but there is also a hike along the cliff top with views of the rocks, a pretty waterfall, botanical interest, etc.”

This helped me decide on Qasigiannguit because I love archaeology, I was already interested in the ancient Saqqaq culture after reading up on them at the Sisimiut Museum, and Diskobay Tours was going there on a convenient day. It turns out that Nivé and Frank actually used to live in Qasigiannguit with all their dogs, so who better to guide me there?

The Qasigiannguit Museum does not have signs in English, so I was glad that a guided tour of the museum was included in the trip. An employee came out and spoke to us for over an hour to explain about the Saqqaq, Dorset, and Thule people. She was extremely knowledgeable and really brought the displays to life; while the museum looks small when you first enter, her presentation expanded its contents to stretch over thousands of years of history in West Greenland.

On summer Sundays in July and August, the Qasigiannguit Museum has a “Living Settlement” where volunteers demonstrate the old tools and practices. The day trip is probably more worth it when the Living Settlement is operating. Since I was in Ilulissat the first week of September, it was no longer possible for this to be included as part of the tour.

We had a nice Greenlandic lunch at a local restaurant, but apart from that and the museum, the rest of the town was not particularly exciting. Its population has dwindled in recent decades, although those who remain are still heavily involved in the fishing industry and hunting. When our boat docked, the first thing we saw on shore was a group of caribou hunters loading their spoils into a truck for processing.

A lot of hikers choose to visit Oqaatsut because you can do a 12.5 mile (20 km) hike there and get a boat shuttle back (Ilulissat Adventure and Albatross Arctic Circle both offer shuttles), or vice versa. Albatross Arctic Circle runs a handful of different tours to Oqaatsut, including “Oqaatsut Evening and Restaurant H8,” “Oqaatsut Day,” “Adventure Day in Oqaatsut” (which involves kayaking and a short hike), and “Full Day Hike to Settlement.” Ilulissat Adventure has a tour that involves boating to Oqaatsut, a guided hike to a waterfall, and then a guided city tour before boating back to Ilulissat. After the Arctic Circle Trail, I honestly had no interest in hiking for a few days!

Disko Island

Book If: The Arctic Circle Trail wasn’t enough hiking for you.
$400, 9.5 hours for day trip | $75+ for one-way ferry (prices vary wildly based on the month)

While you could opt to simply do a boat tour day trip to Qeqertarsuaq on Disko Island, I met Arctic Circle Trail trekkers in Ilulissat who decided instead to camp at Disko Island overnight so they could spend more time hiking in this majestic terrain. The way Vicky described it above certainly piqued my interest! Read more about the hiking terrain of Disko Island here.

The ACT hikers said they were indecisive about this at first because they had to fork over a lot of money for boat shuttles to and from Disko Island, which is longer than other boat trips. Experiencing Disko Island independently like this sounded more complicated than doing a guided day trip. I am guessing they booked this through the Arctic Umiaq Line, the same ferry that brings folks from Sisimiut to Ilulissat, or perhaps hired a private charter.

Guided Hikes

Book If: You want interpretation about Sermermiut.
$45-$75, 2-5 hours

I would bet that most Arctic Circle Trail hikers don’t feel the need to sign up for a guided hike in Ilulissat. The ACT is a wilderness route for self-sufficient hikers, so if you’ve pulled that off, you should be able to easily find your way on the local trails. Read more about them below in the “self-guided” section of my post.

The only reason I can think of to sign up for a guided hike in Ilulissat is if you would enjoy having a local explain the history and archaeology of the region. Most tours are short at about 2 hours, but Diskobay Tours has an “extended” 5 hour hike.

The main Ilulissat hiking trails all eventually lead you to Sermermiut, which has been ancestral Inuit territory for over 4,000 years. Piles of rocks mark ancient graves and earthworks signal where turf houses used to be. You may be able to spot these yourself, especially if you visited the Icefjord Center beforehand because it has an interactive display screen pointing them out. I didn’t go there until afterwards and breezed right past everything without a clue, so maybe a guided walk would have actually been illuminating.

As described in the Settlements section, there are long guided day hikes out to Oqaatsut, though you can do this self-guided too.

Diskobay Tours offers a unique guided hike that you would not be able to pull off by yourself because it involves taking a series of boats and overland drives to reach a secluded glacier. 

Kayaking

Book If: You enjoy being freezing?
$180, 3 hours

Frankly, kayaking in that iceberg water around Ilulissat just sounded cold and I was not into it. If you enjoy freezing, you can book these masochistic tours with Albatross Arctic Circle or Ilulissat Adventure. They are generally 3 hours, but Ilulissat Adventure also offers a longer 6 hour trip to Brede Bugt. They do SUP paddling tours too, conceivably for those who have no fear of a polar plunge.

City Tour

Book If: You want more background on the buildings you’ll pass by during your time in Ilulissat, such as Zion Church, the oldest church in Greenland.
$37, 2 hours

Zion Church Ilulissat oldest in Greenland
Zion Church

Albatross Arctic Circle and Ilulissat Adventure both offer guided city walks in Ilulissat. On a town tour, you can learn “how the city has developed over the years, why the Inuits have been in the area for thousands of years, how important fishing is to the Ilulissat and much more.”

I decided to skip this because you can quickly cover a lot of ground by walking around Ilulissat by yourself, but surely a guided tour would add another dimension.

If you’re tired from hiking the Arctic Circle Trail or cold after a day of frolicking around the icefjord, you can find some relaxation and warmth by booking the Arctic Sauna or Private Wellness Sauna experiences with Ilulissat Adventure.

Self-Guided Things to Do in Town

You may not feel like spending money on too many tours, or perhaps you’re feeling like staying close to town to wind down after gallivanting around Greenland, but that doesn’t mean you can’t thoroughly enjoy your time in Ilulissat! The trip is still worth doing after your Arctic Circle Trail hike even if you’re fatigued and don’t feel like organizing a whole extravagant itinerary.

Hike to the Icefjord

Tourists can reach the icefjord a few different ways. The easiest route is to walk from the city center to the Icefjord Center, which is a museum. Behind the Icefjord Center is a wooden boardwalk leading directly to the icefjord. 

The boardwalk ends at an intersection with the Blue Trail, which you can optionally walk for more vantage points of the icefjord. Between the Yellow and Blue trails, the Blue is the longer of the two.

The Yellow Trail basically “ends” at the Icefjord Center at the beginning of the boardwalk. I put “ends” in quotes because I connected the Yellow Trail with the boardwalk to create one long walk.

The Yellow Trail is the one that begins right outside the AirBnB/hostel I recommended. I suggest beginning from this official trailhead instead of doing the boardwalk first, because the views unfold in a much more rewarding way. When you walk the boardwalk, BANG, there is the icefjord! You’re just hit over the head with the best, coolest view immediately. When you hike the Yellow Trail beginning from this point, you are teased with smaller icebergs until the sweeping view is finally unveiled as you reach the boardwalk at the end. Some of these teasing views have their own charm, including the especially turquoise-tinted water in one part of the bay. It’s more of a “real” hike if you want to stretch your legs and feel like you earned your view.

The trails are well-marked, but you can download GPX tracks of the Yellow Trail and Blue Trail from AllTrails and WikiLoc and upload them to a phone application for offline navigation such as GAIA.

At the end of the boardwalk is a place called Nakkaavik, or “the place to fall.” Greenland Travel says that elderly Inuit would jump to their death here to make way for the younger generation.

Icefjord Center

I almost didn’t go inside the Icefjord Center museum because it looked a little pricey for such a small space, but two different people recommended it to me and I’m glad I ended up checking it out.

This gorgeous building was opened in July 2021. In addition to learning about the formation of icebergs and how wildlife interacts with the Ilulissat icefjord, you’ll also be introduced to the EGRIP Polar Ice Station, a research base in North East Greenland National Park where scientists study ice cores. There is an awesome virtual reality setup that gives you an underground tour of the station and an above-ground tour of their camp.

In combination with the Icefjord Sailing boat tour, a visit to the Icefjord Center helps provide visitors to Ilulissat with background information on what exactly they’re looking at when admiring the beautiful UNESCO icefjord.

Ilulissat History Museum

I didn’t end up going to the history museum because reviews online said that it focuses more on Danish explorers like Knud Rasmussen (who was born in Ilulissat) than on Inuit culture, and the Inuit-related artifacts I could make out in the pictures looked similar to the displays I had already seen at museums in Sisimiut, Qasigiannguit, and Copenhagen. That said, it is well-rated and some reviewers said it is packed full enough with artifacts that you could spend a lot of time here. 

If you decide to go, note that the combined ticket also gets you entry to the Art Museum in Ilulissat.

✈️ I used an Airalo eSIM for international cell data in Greenland. It worked really well in Ilulissat, though it was not as affordable or generous an allotment as their eSIMs in other countries. Remember with a data-only eSIM, you cannot make voice calls. An alternative is the local Tusass SIM card, which is even more expensive but allows voice calls.


I hope this post has helped you wrap your mind around what’s-what in Ilulissat! Going into it basically blind, my mind was entirely blown by this mystical place. I’ve never had much interest in visiting frozen landscapes before, but after this trip I’ve found myself researching more excursions in the Arctic. I’ve even been missing the cold, if you can believe it! Did I become a totally new person in Greenland?

Related:

Ilulissat Hiking Map
Ilulissat Hiking Map
Arctic Heroes A Tribute to the Sled Dogs of Greenland
Arctic Heroes: A Tribute to the Sled Dogs of Greenland
Trekking in Greenland The Arctic Circle Trail Cicerone guidebook
Trekking in Greenland: The Arctic Circle Trail, Cicerone guidebook
When the Ice Is Gone What a Greenland Ice Core Reveals About Earths Tumultuous History and Perilous Future
When the Ice Is Gone: What a Greenland Ice Core Reveals About Earth’s Tumultuous History and Perilous Future
Glaciers and Glaciation book
Glaciers and Glaciation
The Frozen Saqqaq Sites of Disko Bay West Greenland Qeqertasussuk and Qajaa 2400 900 BC Monographs on Greenland
The Frozen Saqqaq Sites of Disko Bay, West Greenland: Qeqertasussuk and Qajaa (2400–900 BC) (Monographs on Greenland)

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How to Plan a Post Arctic Circle Trail Trip to Ilulissat Icefjord

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