Advice on Travelling to Greenland
East Greenland is a tricky place to explore. The northernmost permanently inhabited settlement here is Ittoqqortoormiit, which is served by just two flights a week that arrive into Nerlerit Inaat (Constable Point) Airport – one from Akureyri in Iceland, and the other from Kangerlussuaq on Greenland’s west coast. Owing to this limited flight schedule, most travellers to Greenland tend to arrive by sea during the summer months, when melting sea ice allows expedition ships to explore the country’s intricate network of fjords. Ships arrive into East Greenland either via Svalbard or Iceland, voyages which can last a day or so depending on weather conditions.
West Greenland is a little easier to access, with more frequent flights and slightly better infrastructure. The busiest airports are those serving Ilulissat, Kangerlussuaq and Greenland’s capital, Nuuk, with flights arriving from both Iceland and Copenhagen. You cannot currently fly direct to Greenland from the UK or the USA, which is another reason why most visitors choose to arrive by ship. Trips that include West Greenland on their itinerary either start and end here or take in the region as a stop-off point on a combination cruise from Arctic Canada