Greenland - Holiday Areas

Disko Island lies off the west coast of Greenland, and Disko Bay is to the south of the island. Qeqertarsuag/Godhavn, the largest place on Disko Island, was once a base for whalers. Nearby the University of Copenhagen has set up a research station with the aim of studying biological and ecological conditions in the Arctic.

There are only two towns on the east coast of Greenland. Near the second of these, Ittoqqortoormiit/Scoresbysund, stretches the world's largest National Park, covering an area of 972,000sq.km/375,000sq.mi, or more than Great Britain and France combined. Examples of almost all Greenland's fauna are to be found here - polar bears, musk-oxen, walruses, sea-lions, foxes and numerous birds.

On Greenland's Disko Bay lies Ilulissat/Jacobshavn, a section of coast where huge glaciers "calve", meaning that icebergs break off from them and float out into the coastal waters. Holidaymakers can watch this natural spectacle. The Danish explorer Knud Johan Victor Rasmussen (1879-1933), the son of a pastor, was born in Jacobshavn; the family's wooden house is now a museum.

On the west coast north of Nuuk lies Sisimiut, a fishing port with a wharf. East from here at the end of the fjord lies Kangerlussuaq/Stromfjord, with Greenland's major airport. Between Nuuk and Sondre Stromfjord walking tours (including a visit to the inland ice) are organized and in winter there are safaris on skis. To the south, near Manitsoq, there is a ski center.

Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland is a base for walking tours; information about these can be obtained from tourist offices and hotels. Excursions to sights in the vicinity include those to ruins of the period 985-1500, including the Hvalsey Viking Church, to the inland ice and to fishing settlements. There is also a South Greenland Program which includes a stay in Narsaq, Qaqortoq/Julienehåb and Nanortalik. Nanortalik is a busy place, especially in early summer when seals swim along the coast. A visit to the museum in the Old Town is recommended, and popular excursions include those to the mountains near Nanortalik and the islands off the coast with their colonies of birds.

For a long time few visitors came to the eastern side of Greenland because of the severe climate. Today, however, Tasiilaq/Ammassalik is the destination of short trips from Iceland. In addition to the impressive landscape visitors will find some beautiful traditional handicrafts.