Yes, Greenland is very doable without a tour, as long as you book ahead, because no roads link any two towns and every move between them is a flight or a boat.
Most backpackers arrive via Copenhagen or Reykjavik into
Nuuk,
Kangerlussuaq or
Kulusuk, then connect on Air Greenland. Once in
Ilulissat,
Sisimiut or
Tasiilaq, you walk everywhere and hike straight from town. Hostel and guesthouse beds run about DKK 350 to 650 (US$50 to 95), and camping outside towns is widely accepted, which is how budget travelers keep costs down. Book July and August flights 2 to 4 months out, and keep one buffer day before your international flight for fog delays.
Plan on 10 to 14 days for a satisfying first trip to Greenland; one week works if you stay in a single region such as Disko Bay.
Give
Ilulissat 4 to 5 nights and
Qeqertarsuaq on Disko Island 2 nights, which together fill a relaxed week. Adding the east coast around
Tasiilaq and
Kulusuk takes another 4 to 5 days, and
Nuuk deserves 2 to 3. The
Arctic Circle Trail alone needs 7 to 10 days of walking plus a night at each end, so hikers should think in three weeks. Whatever the length, add one spare day, since fog and wind cancel flights regularly.
Yes, and you have no other choice: Greenland has no road network between towns, so travel happens by plane, helicopter and boat.
Air Greenland covers the main links, with one-way fares such as
Nuuk to
Ilulissat typically DKK 2,000 to 4,500 (US$290 to 650) depending on how early you book. In summer, the Arctic Umiaq Line ferry sails the west coast about weekly, linking Nuuk,
Sisimiut and Disko Bay more cheaply and slowly. Disko Line boats connect Ilulissat with
Qeqertarsuaq in roughly 2.5 to 3.5 hours. In East Greenland, Kulusuk to
Tasiilaq is a 10-minute helicopter hop or a summer boat. Within towns you walk, and Nuuk has city buses.
The
Ilulissat Icefjord is the one place in Greenland nobody should skip, with its giant icebergs calved from one of the world’s fastest glaciers.
Give Ilulissat 4 to 5 days, including the walk into
Sermermiut Valley and an evening iceberg boat trip. Next on the list is the east coast, where
Tasiilaq and tiny
Kulusuk pair sharp mountains with a distinct East Greenlandic culture, 4 to 5 days via a two-hour flight from Reykjavik.
Nuuk earns 2 to 3 days for the National Museum’s Qilakitsoq mummies. Hikers should walk the 160-kilometer
Arctic Circle Trail (7 to 10 days), and
Disko Island is an easy 2-night add-on by boat from Ilulissat.
If time is short in Greenland, skip the far-flung corners that need expensive charters or several connecting flights, and focus on Disko Bay.
Northeast Greenland National Park is realistically reached only by expedition or with a permit, so leave it for another life.
Ittoqqortoormiit,
Upernavik and
Cape Farewell each cost 2 or more extra travel days and steep fares. The south, around
Qaqortoq and
Kujataa, is lovely but works best as its own 5 to 7 day trip. In
Ilulissat, the full-day
Eqi Glacier boat at DKK 2,000 to 3,000 (US$290 to 440) is the easiest big expense to drop if the icefjord already blows you away.
Yes, our itinerary-planner does exactly that. Set your trip length in days, give your interests and travel style, optionally give start- and end location and/or some mandatory stops you would like to include and the itinerary planner creates your personalized routes for Greenland in seconds. Try it out!
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