East Greenland: Stories of Ice and Light

Reykjavík sits between steam and sea, with bright houses spread across old lava fields. The air carries salt and a trace of sulfur from the city’s geothermal system. Heat moves under the streets, and the city blends long-held Icelandic stories with cafés, music, and modern art.

Before leaving, walk the harbor area or visit the National Culture House to view original manuscripts of the Poetic Edda and Norse sagas. When evening arrives, lights reflect across Faxaflói Bay. Your ship heads north toward the Westfjords and then continues to Greenland, defined by wide ice fields and rugged coastline.

In Iceland’s far northwest, steep mountains meet the ocean. The air smells of seaweed, and steady wind moves through the grass. Puffins and guillemots circle above basalt cliffs, their calls carried across the shoreline.

Explore this rough coast by Zodiac and on foot, stopping at tide pools that mirror the sky. The Westfjords encourage an unhurried pace—time to pause and pay attention to the terrain. As the ship departs, the cliffs disappear into the mist and the open water draws you forward.

A day for inner and outer horizons—a time of learning as much about the mind as the sea’s edge. The Atlantic deepens to cobalt; fulmars follow the ship’s wake. Conversation, presentations, and hands-on workshops fill the lounge, or perhaps you would prefer a quiet corner on deck to watch the changing sea. Ahead lies Greenland—its first icebergs already visible on the edge of vision.

Kangertittivaq—Scoresby Sound—is a labyrinth of fjords, islands, and ice reaching deep into East Greenland. Mountains rise sharply from still water; glaciers move with patient force. The light shifts constantly—from silver to blue, from glow to shadow.

Days spent exploring by Zodiac and on foot draw you deep into this seldom-visited landscape. Each landing offers a new glimpse of Arctic life: saxifrage bright against stone, the possibility of muskox grazing on slopes, the clean silence between echoes of calving ice. 

Along the shore, traces of ancient Inuit camps show how long this landscape has been lived in and understood. Inuit cultural interpreters, who travel with us, share stories of ice, animal, and season, connecting past to present in ways no map can capture.

Evenings bring calm and reflection. Icebergs drift past like sculpted memory; the midnight sun hovers low, painting the water in impossible blues and golds. Ahead lies Ittoqqortoormiit, a far-northern community where the stories of land and sea meet and evolve.

At the mouth of Kangertittivaq lies Ittoqqortoormiit, one of the world’s northernmost communities, where brightly painted homes stand against sea, ice, and tundra. Life follows the rhythm of the seasons—hunting, fishing, and gathering—each activity shaped by deep knowledge of place and weather.

The local economy flows with these patterns: seal, narwhal, and muskox hunting; fishing for Arctic char; and the making of art and crafts in narwhal tusk, soapstone, and sealskin. Some residents work in guiding, education, or public service, while expedition visits and small-scale tourism add new layers of exchange. Yet the heart of life here remains close to the land and sea, bound to the movement of ice and the return of light.

Visitors are welcomed ashore by local hosts who share stories of their community and connection to the environment. Children’s laughter mingles with the sound of sled dogs and the creak of sea ice. This is a place of continuity, not distance—where knowledge, tradition, and creativity sustain daily life. From here, the ship follows the coast south along Greenland’s eastern edge, where glimpses of the island’s vast ice sheet appear now and then along the mountainous fringe. 

Farther south along Greenland’s east coast, the scenery grows wilder and more intricate. Mountains lean over the sea, glaciers split and tumble, and icebergs turn slowly in calm fjords the color of steel and turquoise.

Zodiac cruises and landings bring travelers close to the cliffs, where ice and stone meet in sculpted silence. When conditions allow, hikes ashore offer a chance to feel the land underfoot and take in its stillness. In calm weather, reflections blur sea and sky until the world feels weightless. The ship then turns again toward open water—the route bending south into another shade of blue. 

As you travel south along Greenland’s east coast, the rhythm of the sea sets the tone for the day—calm, steady, and full of quiet wonder. The fjords give way to open water, and the coastline drifts by in shades of ice and rock, glacier and mist. Out on deck, guests linger to trace the slow movement of bergs, watch seabirds trace the wind, and feel the pulse of the North in every rolling swell.

Inside, the atmosphere is easy and engaging. An expedition team member might share stories of Greenland’s geology, wildlife, or Inuit heritage, while others enjoy reading, journaling, or conversation over coffee. There’s laughter on deck, the creak of the ship in gentle swells, and time to simply watch the world unfold. As the light shifts across the water, the day becomes both restful and rich—a pause between destinations that deepens connection to this vast and beautiful coast.

Sailing through Ikerasassuaq, one of the world’s most dramatic waterways, jagged peaks of gneiss and granite rise in wild, serrated lines, streaked with waterfalls and glaciers. This is the moment to be on deck—watching light and ice shift with every turn—as the Irminger and Labrador Seas meet through Uummannarsuaq, the islands of the Cape Farewell Archipelago at Greenland’s southern tip.

Calving ice cracks through the air; fog curls between cliffs; sunlight slides down the mountainsides. It’s a passage that humbles and renews. South Greenland now opens ahead, lush with life. 

At Uunartoq, hot springs steam beside a cold bay—a meeting of extremes that feels almost ceremonial. Nearby stand the ruins of Qaqortukulooq (Hvalsey), once a Norse farmstead. Its stone church still holds its shape after six hundred years. The last written record from the colony describes a wedding here in 1408.

Today, only wind and birds move through the valley. Moss softens the stones; history feels close enough to touch. As the ship sails westward, the landscape grows greener, warmed by the North Atlantic Current that softens the climate along these southern coasts. It was in this area that Erik the Red established his settlements and, some say, named the island "Greenland"—perhaps to attract settlers, or perhaps inspired by this genuinely fertile and temperate shore.

Sermersooq—the “place of many glaciers”—unfolds into deep valleys, bright tundra, and fjords lined with wildflowers in summer. This is a coastline alive with movement and sound: the sharp call of white-tailed eagles overhead, the sweep of glaucous gulls and kittiwakes along the cliffs, and now and then the soft exhale of a minke or humpback whale just beyond the bow. Beyond these fjords, the journey’s final harbor awaits. 

The voyage ends in Nuuk, Greenland’s capital—a city alive with art, language, and everyday life. On the waterfront, fishing boats, families, and sea ice share the same horizon.

Nuuk feels both timeless and forward-looking—a community rooted in tradition and alive with new ideas. As departure approaches, the northern light lingers, carrying the sense that the story continues—and that, in some quiet way, you are now part of it.