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Amazing blue water and ice in Greenland

Gateway to the Northwest Passage: Greenland and Canada

Roundtrip Reykjavik - Example 24 Day Cruise aboard National Geographic Endurance
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Embark on a 24-day expedition cruise roundtrip from Reykjavik aboard the National Geographic Endurance. Cruise through the famed Northwest Passage, rich with tales of past explorers, and cruise amidst towering icebergs at Greenland's Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Explore Ellesmere Island, keeping your binoculars handy for spotting polar bears, walruses, seals, whales, and even narwhals, and visit the welcoming Inuit community of Pond Inlet, renowned for its friendliness and world-class soapstone carvings.
Colorful Sisimiut, GreenlandMidnight sun light, IlulissatFirst views of Baffin IslandView of Reykjavik from the Church TowerAmazing blue water and ice in Greenland
Highlights
  • Explore Iceland's hot springs, beautiful Icelandic Horses, and a fascinating power plant
  • Discover the beautiful and rugged coastline of Greenland while keeping an eye out for humpback and minke whales
  • Experience the Canadian High Arctic, searching for ringed seals, arctic foxes, walruses, and polar bears
  • Explore the remote east coast of Ellesmere Island, searching for polar bear
Activity Level: Relaxed
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Full Itinerary

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Day 1: Reykjavik, Iceland

Arrive in Reykjavik. Take a tour to see Iceland’s hot springs, beautiful Icelandic horses, and a fascinating power plant. After lunch, check in to your centrally located hotel.

Day 2: Reykjavik | Kangerlussuaq, Greenland | Embark

  • Ship
  • 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
The morning is at leisure, followed by lunch and a tour of the city ending at either the National Museum or the Whale Museum. Transfer to the airport for a chartered flight to Greenland and embark your ship at the head of Kangerlussuaq Fjord, a 120-mile-long waterway whose name means "large
fjord" in Greenlandic.

Day 3: Sisimut

  • Ship
  • 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
Dozens of deep fjords carve into Greenland’s west coast, many with glaciers fed by the ice sheet that covers about 80 percent of the country. Discover
this beautiful and rugged coastline in Zodiacs, keeping an eye out for humpback and minke whales. At Sisimiut, a former whaling port, visit the
museum and stroll around a picturesque jumble of historic and modern wooden buildings.

Day 4: Ilulissat

  • Ship
  • 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
Sail into Qeqertarsuup Tunua, also known as Disko Bay, to explore the World Heritage Site of Ilulissat Icefjord, a tongue of the Greenland ice cap that extends to the sea. Take an extraordinary cruise among towering icebergs at the mouth of the fjord. Visit the town of Ilulissat and walk to the archaeological site in Sermermiut, an abandoned valley previously inhabited by several distinct Inuit cultures.

Day 5-7: Exploring Eastern Baffin Island

  • Ship
  • 3 Breakfasts, 3 Lunches, 3 Dinners
Continue your exploration of the Canadian High Arctic with a visit to the small Inuit community of Pond Inlet, Nunavut. Explore some of the beautiful bays and inlets along Baffin Island’s Lancaster Sound, a favorite Inuit hunting and fishing location for hundreds of years. Carved by Ice Age glaciers, Lancaster Sound is also the eastern gateway to the Arctic Archipelago, where European explorers like William Baffin first ventured in the 17th century to search for the Northwest Passage. Your days here are spent searching for ringed seals, arctic foxes, walruses, and polar bears, as well as beluga and bowhead whales. Visit Devon Island and take a walk with the ship’s archaeologist to learn about the Thule people—ancestors of the modern Inuit—that once inhabited this region. 

Day 8-11: Exploring the Queen Elizabeth Islands

  • Ship
  • 4 Breakfasts, 4 Lunches, 4 Dinners
Explore the ice-laden channels and glacier-carved islands that stretch for hundreds of miles—a stunning display of raw geology. Explore the rocky, Mars-like terrain of the uninhabited Devon Island. Following wildlife, stopping for hikes on the tundra, dropping anchor in a beautiful fjord or an iceberg-strewn bay to explore and kayak beneath massive ice sculptures and soaring cliffs. Sail past the northernmost part of mainland North America in the Bellot Strait, one of the narrowest and most infamous passages. Learn about the Inuit peoples who have hunted and fished here for thousands of years. As well, look out for the animals that call this region home, such as ringed seals, arctic foxes, musk oxen, walruses, and polar bears, as well as beluga and bowhead whales.

Day 12-16: Exploring Ellesmere Island

  • Ship
  • 5 Breakfasts, 5 Lunches, 5 Dinners
Heading ever northward, make your way up the beautiful and remote east coast of Ellesmere Island. Cruise along scenic Smith Bay (a.k.a. Skog Inlet), bordered by a steep wall of mountains with a glacial ice tongue that pours down the mountains on either side. Be up on the bridge as you search for
a patch of "polar bear ice," the mixture of first-year and multi-year sea ice that is the preferred habitat of the ice bears. Your binoculars seek out any small ivory-colored dot on an otherwise white ice surface. Strain to see the dot move. With luck, it is a bear, spotted at a considerable distance. Stalking the polar bear as much as the bear stalks seals on the ice. At the end of the bay, go ashore to hike or kayak in picturesque surroundings. Ice is always present here. On your next day, enter Buchanan Bay and turn into Alexandra Fjord to reach the area of Skraeling Island. ("Skraeling" is the word that the Norse settlers of Greenland used for the Inuit.) This is the site of an important archaeological find. Norse artifacts show that the Norse traded with the natives here on Ellesmere Island, far north of their settlements on Greenland. Last summer, quite unexpectedly, the team discovered the remains of a summer encampment of natives, possibly of the Thule culture (the third of the three Inuit cultures to occupy this area). They saw rings of stones that held down the edges of skin tents against the wind and stone chambers that might have been constructed for storage. Perhaps the Inuit camped at this very site as they traded with the Norsemen, exchanging skins and walrus ivory for European goods, especially metal.

Day 17-19: Exploring above 80 Degrees North

  • Ship
  • 3 Breakfasts, 3 Lunches, 3 Dinners
On these two days, you explore to 80ºN and beyond, ice conditions permitting. Take full advantage of Lindblad's "human resources"—the experienced captain, expedition leader, and naturalists—as well as the technological resources. They chart where the ice is impenetrable and where there are leads guiding you to exciting discoveries.

Day 20: Kiatassuaq Island, Greenland

  • Ship
  • 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
Marking the southern border of Melville Bay, Kiatassuaq Island means "a large torso" in the Greenlandic language. Known as an important area for whaling in the 19th century, spend the day exploring the southern reaches of Melville Bay and the shores of the island, marveling at the ice dispatched from the Greenland Ice Cap, and being on the lookout for whales and other marine life.

Day 21-22: Disko Island

  • Ship
  • 2 Breakfasts, 2 Lunches, 2 Dinners
Continue south, stopping to explore the volcanic Disko Island, home to isolated Greenlandic settlements, dramatic cliffs laced with waterfalls, and black-sand beaches.

Day 23: Kangerlussuaq | Disembark

  • 1 Breakfast, 1 Lunch, 1 Dinner
Sail back into the Sondre Stromfjord to Kangerlussuaq and disembark the ship. Take an evening charter flight to Reykjavik and transfer to the Marriott Keflavik Airport Hotel.

Day 24: Reykjavik, Iceland

On your final morning, you may choose to join a tour of the Reykjanes Peninsula to view the Mid-Atlantic Ridge before transferring to the airport for flights home.

Ship/Hotel

National Geographic Endurance

Bar
Dining Room
Reception area

Reykjavik - Hotels

Dates & Prices

My Preferred Start Date

Deals

Special Offer
Book by December 1, 2023, to lock in current rates on all 2025 departures. Additionally, book two or more 2025 cruises within the year and save 10% on the lowest-priced departure. This promotion is subject to availability, is valid for new bookings, and cannot be combined with other offers. Additional restrictions may apply. Please contact us for details.
Applicable to all 2025 departure dates

Per person starting at
$43,895
Cabin
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Category 1
Located on the Fore Deck. 183 square ft room with two large windows, Alcove seating, Relax chair, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers
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Category 2
Located on the Fore Deck. 205 square ft. room with two large windows, Alcove seating, Relax chair, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers.
Cabin
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Category 3
Located on the Main Deck. 205 square ft. suite with balcony, sofa, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers
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Category 4
Located on the Lounge Deck. 205 square ft. suite with balcony, sofa, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers
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Category 5
Located on the Bridge Deck. 205 square ft. suite with balcony, sofa, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers
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Category 6
Located on the Bridge Deck. 344 square ft suite with large balcony, sofa bed, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers
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Category 7
Located on the Bridge Deck. 430 square ft. suite with large balcony, sofa bed, bathtub, walk-in closet, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers
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Category A Solo
Located on the Main Deck. 140 square ft. suite with balcony, sofa, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers
Cabin
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Category B Solo
Located on the Lounge Deck. 140 square ft. suite with balcony, sofa, private bathroom, tv, Wi-Fi and hair dryers

Notes


Included
  • 23 Breakfasts, 24 Lunches, 23 Dinners
  • 22 Nights Accommodations
  • Accommodations as listed
  • Ground transportation as listed
  • Activities as listed
  • Meals as listed
  • Access to a 24-7 Emergency line while traveling
  • Non-Alcoholic Beverages
  • All airport transfers mentioned in the itinerary.
  • Use of snorkeling equipment, wet suits, and kayaks (where available)
  • Services of the expert expedition team and guest speakers
  • Shore excursions, sightseeing, entrance fees, and special access permits
  • Taxes, service charges, and tips (except for ship’s crew, at guests’ discretion)
Excluded
  • Gratuities
  • Travel Insurance
  • Personal Expenses
  • Flight costs (please request a quote)
  • Additional excursions during free time
  • Fuel and transportation surcharges (when applicable)
  • Additional Hotel Nights 
  • Private Transfers
  • Expedition Extensions 
  • Laundry 
  • Air transportation (except when indicated in the itinerary, as included)
  • Passport, visa, and immigration fees
  • Special and unique excursions such as scuba diving, flightseeing, etc. (where offered)
  • Alcoholic beverages (alcohol is included on select ships)
  • Items of personal nature
  • Phone and Internet Service
  • Gratuity for ship’s crew, at guests’ discretion (crew tips are included on select ships
  • We strongly recommend our guests to take Travel Protection Plan. A Plan with comprehensive coverage to protect you from cancellation fees, costs incurred due to trip delays/interruption, damaged or lost baggage, medical assistance, and evacuation during your travels

Map

When to Go

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Good to ideal period to travel, and many people choose to visit at this time.

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