Greenland

One of the last frontiers for Arctic cruising junkies, Greenland is now enjoying supreme popularity among affluent adventurers looking to leave the beaten path far behind.

Encrusted with an ice cap that’s up to three kilometres deep in places, with resident populations of Arctic wolves, polar bears, muskoxen and reindeer, Greenland, or Kalaallit Nunaat, as it’s known by the Greenlander communities that call this remote landscape home, is the ultimate wilderness in a world running short of frontiers. Fortunately, new itineraries from luxury expeditionary cruise lines ensure you don’t have to travel to this remote kingdom of ice without a few creature comforts.

I first visited Greenland in 2014 with Dutch adventure gurus Albatros Expeditions, which offer cruises along the ruggedly beautiful east and west coasts of Greenland, the world’s largest island and its least-populated territory. Even back then, tiny settlements like Sisimut, Disko Bay, and Ilulissat, famed for its glacier fjord, were preparing to top the bucket lists of the world’s well-heeled and most intrepid travellers; adventurers looking to conquer the last Arctic landscape even while its majesty melts due to global warming.

With very little infrastructure it has been expeditionary cruise lines that have been at the forefront of Greenland’s luxury travel buzz. Specialist companies like Albatros Expeditions, which offers week long cruises aboard its boutique adventure ship Sea Explorer; Silversea Expeditions, which parcels Greenland’s iceberg-clogged bays with Iceland or the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago; and Scenic, which plans to cruise its state-of-the-art all-inclusive discovery yacht Eclipse to the fjords of southern Greenland en route to the Canadian Arctic, are offering a rather indulgent way of exploring one of the world’s most hostile landscapes.

Small ship cruising is the ultimate way to discover Greenland’s dramatic coastline; guests can spend their days cruising the towering cliff faces of great glaciers like Kujalleq and Equip Sermia on guided zodiac excursions; visit remote settlements like Niaqornat and Sarfannguit, where villagers maintain timeless hunting traditions; and watching for pods of beluga, minke and bowhead whales, before dressing up for degustation dinners complemented by wines served by resident Sommeliers. Troupes of naturalists, historians and Arctic guides bring the destination to life, delving into the wildlife, ecology and folklore of this frozen wonderland on regular lectures. By Nick Walton