We board plane in Copenhagen and fly to Nuuk in Greenland. It is a trip of 4½ hours. Ahead of us are five exciting days around New Year’s in Ilulissat, but there is still one more flight to get there.

After a short stop-over in Nuuk where we change planes, we continue towards Ilulissat. After flying over the wonderful Ilulissat Icefjord, we land at Ilulissat Airport. You will be picked up by bus and driven to the cozy Hotel Arctic which lies by the waterfront . Here, you will meet a guide from our local tour office, “World of Greenland.”

After check-in, the guide will organize an information meeting, telling you about the town, the area, and possible excursions. Note that there may be changes to the order in which the excursion are run. This is because daylight hours are limited, as are the availability of tours boats, so we may have to split the group into smaller parties on some days e.g. while some people go sailing, others will go dogsledding. World of Greenland are experts at logistics like this so no one will be missing out.

A guided city tour for everybody

Ilulissat is Greenland’s third largest town and considered one of the four main towns along with Nuuk, Qaqortoq, and Sisimiut. People have lived in the area surrounding Ilulissat for 4,500 years, but the town itself was established as a village in 1727. In 1741, the Icelandic merchant Jacob Severin established a trading post called Jacobshavn (Jacob’s Harbour). Later on, the town changed its name to Jakobshavn (now with ‘k’). You will see many buildings that are linked to this time. Knud Rasmussen, the world-famous polar explorer, grew up in Ilulissat in the building that now houses the historical museum. You can look forward to an exciting tour and you will get lots of information that you can use in the coming days.

At night, you will have a lovely welcome dinner in the hotel’s amazing restaurant (drinks not included).

There are many things to do in Ilulissat on your own. The guide will tell you all about this on your first day. Tonight it’s New Year’s Eve! However, before we get to the evening’s festivities, and if you have bought our excursion package, today’s program is a hike to the former settlement of Sermermiut, and later you will go dog sledding.

Hiking to the former Inuit settlement of Sermermiut by the Icefjord (part of the excursion package)

Today, you will hike to the former settlement of Sermermiut that has been inhabited for thousands of years because of its amazing location at the Icefjord. Although the view here is incredible, it was not the scenery that brought the Inuit here. There are excellent hunting opportunities in the area since the Icefjord provides food for both fish and seals, which in turn has created a basis for human settlements for millennia.

1 ½-hour dog sled ride (part of the excursion package)

Today, you can look forward to a 1 ½-hour dog sled ride. The dog sled is one of the most famous Greenlandic icons and a thousand-year-old tradition for the Inuit. Not many forms of transportation have survived such a long period without changes in appearance and technology: a pack of happy dogs in harnesses tied to a simply constructed wooden sled. The experience can not be explained – it must be experienced.

This trip usually takes place in flat terrain on a plain near Ilulissat. In addition to the sled driver, you are two participants on each of the sleds, so if you have booked the excursion on your own, you may share a sled with another person. However, all dogs are different, so if you are out with family and friends, we can not guarantee that you will be riding together on the entire trip as some dogs are fast, and others are not. This trip is not recommended for those with neck or back problems or if you are immobile. Participants must be 12 years and older.

Gala Dinner at Hotel Arctic

The New Year is now fast approaching, and tonight you will attend a gala dinner at Hotel Arctic. It’s a five-course dinner. There will be a break at 9:00 pm because, at that time, almost the entire population of Greenland go outside and celebrate the CET New Year and send up fireworks in honor of all their friends and family in Denmark (there are about 15,000 Greenlanders living in Denmark and numerous people who have lived in Greenland).

After this, you go back to the dinner table and, when the clock strikes midnight, it’s out in the snow again, this time to celebrate the ‘real’ New Year. Then you go back in and enjoy a glass of bubbly. When you want the night to end is totally up to you.

Today, you will go sailing on the Icefjord if you bought our excursion package.

The Disko Bay is Greenland’s most popular tourist destination. This is because of the ice, but also because the place holds a special beauty and many cultural attractions. One of the great gems in the area – and certainly the most famous – is Ilulissat lcefjord.

Sailing to Ilulissat Icefjord (part of the excursion package)

You will end the year with one of your life’s highlights, a trip to the mouth of Ilulissat Icefjord.  You will cruise around some of the huge icebergs that are created when they break of the glacier front. At the mouth of the fjord, through millennia, icebergs have pushed a sandbank forward, and now the enormous icebergs get stuck here. When the pressure from behind gets too high because of new icebergs being produced by the glacier, or because some of the big icebergs melt in the summer, the icebergs finally pass the sandbank and float out into the Disko Bay.

If you have bought the excursion package, you will go looking for Northern Lights at night.

You could also consider going on a Snowmobile excursion in the day time.

Snowmobile tour with 1 or 2 people on the snowmobile (optional excursion)

This tour takes you into the hinterland of Ilulissat to experience the Arctic winter landscape up close. First, you’ll drive up through a gorge on a narrow track that cuts through the mountains behind Ilulissat. You’ll get a fantastic view of Ilulissat and Disko Bay from the top. Then, you continue over frozen lakes and the rugged mountain landscape as a group. You’ll stop at the best viewpoints for photos and hot drinks. You can purchase the tour so that another person can accompany you on the snowmobile, or you can go solo on a snowmobile.

Northern Lights Safari (part of the excursion package)

When the sky is clear on winter nights, you can see the most beautiful northern lights over Ilulissat. Aurora Borealis is, without a doubt, the night sky’s most spectacular phenomenon. We are going to drive away from the lights of the town and go to where the darkness is at its most intense. The guide will tell us all about the causes of the phenomenon. You will also get tips and tricks to enable you to take the best pictures of the colored lights as they cross the night sky.

Today, we head back towards Denmark. With one of Air Greenland’s Dash 8’s, you leave Ilulissat Airport for Nuuk and then fly on to Copenhagen, where you will arrive in the evening.