Iceland & East Greenland - Under the Northern Lights

Upon arrival in Reykjavik, meet your Aurora Expeditions representative and transfer to your designated group hotel. At the hotel, please proceed to the Aurora Expeditions hospitality area, where you may store your luggage and enjoy light refreshments if arriving before 4:00 p.m. While there, you can collect your luggage cabin tags and speak with the ground operations team for important pre-embarkation updates. They can also assist with local recommendations on dining options, ATM locations, pharmacies, and shops for any last-minute essentials.

The remainder of the day is at your leisure. Please note that all meals today are at your own expense.

Follow the route of one of Reykjavik’s most famous scenic circuits—the Golden Circle. Visit Thingvellir National Park, the site of Iceland’s first parliament and the dramatic meeting point of the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. Continue to the powerful Gullfoss Waterfall, where water plunges 34 meters into the Hvítá River, creating a spectacular photo opportunity. Explore the geothermal fields and geysers that define Iceland’s volcanic energy, where bubbling mud pools and erupting hot springs showcase the immense natural power beneath the surface.

Return to Reykjavik in the late afternoon to board the Sylvia Earle. Settle into the cabin and attend the mandatory safety briefing before departure. In the evening, meet the expedition team and crew during a Welcome Dinner as the ship sets sail for the Greenland adventure ahead.

Immerse yourself in the tranquillity of morning as you take in breathtaking landscapes and keeping a watchful eye for whales. Later, embark on a Zodiac landing to witness the awe-inspiring power of Dynjandi waterfall.

In the coming days, a host of choices are available to us, and depending on ice and weather conditions, the east coast of Greenland is yours to explore. Your experienced Expedition Team, who have made countless journeys to this area, will use their expertise to tailor your itinerary on a day-to-day basis. This allows you to make the best use of the prevailing weather, ice conditions and encounters with wildlife. You generally attempt up to two landings or Zodiac excursions per day, including cruising along spectacular ice cliffs, following whales feeding near the surface.   

East Greenland contains some of the Arctic's most impressive scenery. Deep fjords and narrow channels, flanked by sharp ice-clad peaks up to 2,000 m (6,562 ft) high. Gigantic icebergs calved from glaciers drift throughout the fjord system creating breathtaking scenery. The landscape is filled with multi-colored tundra, home to musk oxen and arctic hare. Throughout the area are ancient Thule archaeological sites, historical trappers' huts, and modern Inuit hunters' cabins.  

A highlight is a visit to the Inuit village of Ittoqqortoormiit, the most isolated and northernmost permanent settlement in the region, with approximately 500 inhabitants. Here, you can explore the village, visit the fascinating museum, or sit in the beautiful Lutheran Church. The locals are friendly, and from underneath their Arctic fox-fur jackets, the shy young children are keen to say hello and practice their English. The community boasts an excellent museum, gift shop, an abundance of Greenlandic sled dogs, and the opportunity to meet Inuit people.   

Thanks to the fertile volcanic soil mountains that protects areas from the strong winds, the area is rich in wildlife. You may spot everything from muskox and arctic foxes to mountain hares and even reindeer near the fjord. Look skyward and you could catch a glimpse of birds including common eider, glaucous gull, black-legged kittiwake, northern fulmar, and arctic terns gracefully gliding or plunging into icy bays for zooplankton. 

North of Scoresbysund, you hope to visit Kong Oskar and Kaiser Franz Josef fjords, two of the most significant fjord systems in Greenland, each one encompassing several smaller fjords and sounds. Thanks to the fertile volcanic soil and the surrounding mountains offering protection from strong winds, the area is rich in wildlife. You may spot everything from musk ox and arctic foxes to mountain hares, and even reindeer, near the fjord. Look skyward and you could catch a glimpse of birds, including the glaucous gull, black-legged kittiwake, northern fulmar, common raven and common eider. 

There are great hiking options in the area, where flowering tundra plants, scattered bones of whales and muskox from centuries of hunting by the Inuit and fumaroles can be found. These are areas where heated groundwater boil to the surface creating bubbling pools and mineral formations as the water reacts with the atmosphere.   

The area also boasts some of the most striking sedimentary sandstone, shale, and siltstone formations imaginable. The layers of sediment here are estimated to have taken about 4,000 years to be laid down, and the alternating colors and patterns in the layers of rocks are stunningly beautiful.

As you cross the Denmark Strait to Iceland, begin your series of informative and entertaining onboard lectures from your team of experts.  

During the early morning, cruise into Reykjavik and disembark at approximately 8.00 am. Farewell, your Expedition Team and fellow passengers, as you all continue your onward journeys. Transfer to Keflavik airport. 

Note: At the conclusion of the voyage, it is recommended to book flights departing after 12.00 pm on the day of disembarkation in case there are delays.