GREENLAND

NEW TERRAIN FOR SERIOUS ADVENTURERS

For many of us, the year ahead will be about seeking out a very particular sort of escapism, to places where the views unravel to eternity and the stresses of you-knowwhat seem far away. Step forward Greenland. The world’s largest island remains one of the most remote corners on the planet: an iceberg-fringed, high-latitude realm of glaciers, fjords and mountains.

New for 2021, Quark Expeditions’ Greenland Adventure: Explore by Sea, Land & Air voyage is a first for polar travel: the expedition itinerary has been put together in conjunction with the island’s community. Local and national partners have helped to create a trip that uses rigid-inflatable landing craft and twinengine helicopters, resulting in a range of seriously adventurous off-ship activities based in and around the southeast fjords. The nine-day July voyage takes place on Ultramarine, the newest ship in the Quark fleet.

For an alternative Greenland experience, meanwhile, Norwegian operator Fifty Degrees North has introduced a six-day small group tour to the island’s west coast. Centred on the coastal town of Ilulissat, around 185 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the itinerary includes kayaking, whale-spotting and an overnight stay on the wonderfully named Disko Island.

Travellers wanting to move more slowly across the map should look to the 103-mile Arctic Circle Trail, one of the world’s greatest summer long-distance walks. Stretching between Kangerlussuaq and Sisimiut, in the west of Greenland, the trail can be done self-supported (there are ten rustic huts en route, free for use by hikers), although specialist operators such as Monkey Mountaineering and Snowdonia Climbing are offering guided packages for 2021.

For Brits, reaching Greenland by air has traditionally been a rather convoluted process, with travellers needing to arrive via either Iceland or Denmark. Options may increase, however, with the news that two of its airports (Ilulissat in the north west and Nuuk in the south west) are being renovated to attract more international flights. quarkexpeditions.com uk.fiftydegreesnorth.com monkeymountaineering.com snowdoniaclimbing.co.uk visitgreenland.com TRAVELLER UK

Visitor walking down Jacko Steps to Layou River, Dominica Sea kayakers paddling below an iceberg in the Greenland Sea, Tasiilaq, Greenland