1. The most remote town in the world
Greenland is home to just over 300 residents and a pack of Greenlandic dogs. The town is blanketed in fluffy snow for nine months of the year. It’s definitely the most remote community in the Western Hemisphere, and you can only visit this remote location by helicopter or snowmobile. But the nice thing is that the town still has a supermarket, where you can find everything from butter to diapers to soy sauce.
2. You can kayak with whales
The word “kayak” is believed to have originated in Greenland. Thousands of years ago, when the Thule people arrived on its rugged shores, they brought kayaks along with sleds as their only mode of transportation.
In Greenland, you can kayak alongside steamboat-sized blue whales. Keep your ears open as you’re out on the water and you might hear the sounds of the milky white beluga whales, also known as canaries for their repertoire of whistles, squeals, chirps and clicks.
3. Or soak in hot springs
You might be surprised to learn that there are actually a lot of hot springs in Greenland. These springs are formed when naturally heated water bubbles to the surface. On the uninhabited island of Uunartoq, between Qaqortoq and Nanortalik in South Greenland, you will find many of these springs, along with a romantic backdrop of sparkling icebergs and soaring mountain peaks. Uunartoq Island in Greenland has extremely hot springs that can reach temperatures of up to 38 degrees Celsius.
4. East Greenland is the world's largest national park
East Greenland covers 972,000 square kilometres, or 85% of Greenland. It is the world’s largest national park. Here you’ll find some of the most incredible Arctic landscapes, from wildflower-strewn tundra and glacial peaks to beaches littered with petrified whale bones from centuries of Inuit hunting.
East Greenland is also home to Scoresbysund, the largest fjord system on the planet, filled with natural basalt cliffs and a wealth of wildlife, from fierce muskoxen to agile, cunning foxes.
5. Greenland Mummies
At the Greenland National Museum in Nuuk, you will find the mummies of eight ancient Greenlanders. The 500-year-old mummies, six women and two children, were found in a cave in northwest Greenland in 1972 by two grouper hunters. The dry air and low temperatures have preserved the mummies, making them invaluable evidence of the ancient Inuit way of life.
6. It is called the ice factory in the north.
The Ilulissat Icefjord in Western Greenland is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It features huge icebergs the size of cathedrals that break off from one of the most productive glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere, before drifting into Disko Bay and back to Canada. In fact, the 70km long iceberg releases enough fresh water to power the entire city of New York every day, and many believe it was this iceberg that sank the Titanic in Ilulissat. These pristine icebergs make for some fantastic photo opportunities.
7. Color-coded houses
For thousands of years, the Inuit lived in huts made of building materials including bones and furs. But when Hans Egede arrived in Greenland in 1721, he marked his new colony with colorful wooden buildings that remain a signature style of Greenlandic architecture to this day. These buildings, in particular, have been color-coded for years, even hundreds of years. A yellow hut meant medical supplies, a merchant’s house was red, and a fisherman’s house was blue. If you were out on a boat and needed help, you knew exactly where to go.
8. You can experience 24 hours of daylight
Greenland’s northernmost towns never see darkness between late April and late August. The sky is still changeable and shimmering, flashing from white daylight to golden evening streaks, but the sun is always there, creating the impression of an endless day without end. Hiking at this time is particularly spectacular for visitors. However, by mid-November, things are different. The sun sets early, leaving behind a long, dark, dreary winter.
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