15 Best Things to do in Ilulissat, Greenland

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My previous post covered how to plan a trip to Greenland and this post will cover the best things to do in the city of Ilulissat. Located 300 kilometers above the Arctic Circle, Ilulissat is considered the tourist hub of Greenland and therefore has a lot of things that you can do! There is something for everyone in Ilulissat from challenging hikes to sailing amongst the icebergs. Keep reading for more!

Overview

Before getting into the best things to do in Ilulissat, I want to cover a few questions you may have about booking excursions and how to plan them.

What Activities are Free?

Visiting Greenland and Ilulissat is not cheap and most of the activities do cost a lot of money. However, there are some free things you can do as well! I will call out what is free vs. what is not in the section below.

Are Activities Available Throughout the Year?

Some are while other are seasonal. See below for which activities are available when.

How to Book Activities?

You can book activities ahead of time and it is recommended to do so during the summer. My additional recommendation is to only book with 1-2 tour Operators. This way, if tours get canceled or rescheduled, they will help you reshuffle your other tours. My other recommendation is to book with a local operator who has a physical location in Ilulissat. I did tours with the following operators and can recommend them.

Albatros Arctic Circle – I did kayaking and a mid night sun sailing tour with them and they were both excellent! They have their own boats and equipment and which makes them reliable. They operate out of Hotel Hvide Falk and have a small shop just outside.

Disko Line Explorer – They launch their boats from Hotel Icefiord but have a reservation office in the heart of town. They are one of the bigger tour operators.

World of Greenland – World of Greenland is a middleman who contracts smaller companies for excursions, They have a physical location on the opposite side of the Disko Line Explorer office. I did the Eqi Glacier tour with them and had a great time! They had contracted Unique Tours who had a small boat which was able to cut through the ice and get close to the glacier with ease.

How Many Things Should Be Booked Per Day?

Book around 2 things per day and keep a gap between the two activities. This allows for any delays and time to get from one place to another. If you are visiting in the summer, then you maybe able to do 3 activities if one of the activities is late evening. I will do a detailed post on what an itinerary for Ilulissat can look like next.

Best Things to do in Ilulissat

1. Hike

• Activity type – Free
• Availability – Most of the year. Not recommended in high winter months

Hiking is one of the best things you can do in Ilulissat! All the trails are free of charge and either bring you to amazing views over Disko Bay or have you walk along the bay. Good hiking shoes are a must as the terrain is rocky, muddy, marshy and sometimes even snowy even in the summer.

Blue Trail – The hardest and longest of the 3 trails. I did it in 3.5 hours including stopping to take a lot of pictures. The average is around 4 hours.

Yellow Trail – The most popular of the 3 trails and relatively easier too. If you are looking for a shorter trail with some great views, then this is the trail for you! You basically walk along Disko Bay with the bay in front of you.

Red Trail – The least known of the 3 trails. It overlaps a bit with the blue trail at the end but has no views prior. Skippable if you do the Blue Trail.

All trails start from the Icefjord Center but it is best to start the Blue Trail from the other end (Old Quarry). This way all the difficult parts are at the start.

2. Walk to the Sermermiut Settlement

• Activity Type – Technically it is free but maybe worth going with a guide
• Availability – All year

This relatively easy walk on a boardwalk, starts at the Icefjord Center and ends with amazing views over Disko Bay. For 4000 years, the Inuit had a settlement in this area. You can certainly explore the area on your own but may not be able to tell where the remnants of the settlement were without a guide. If you go on a guided tour, you will also be able to learn about Inuit culture and history. This area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

If you climb a little higher after the boardwalk ends, you will be greeted with some stunning views! Don’t miss this!

3. Go on an Iceberg Cruise

• Activity Type – Not free/Need to book with a tour company
• Availability – All year to most of the year (depending on the company)

Different providers may call this different things but essentially this is a boat trip that sails amongst the icebergs. The water in and around the icefjord is very calm and creates an almost mirror effect. Boat trips are offered throughout the day but the mid-night sailing tour is probably the most popular. When you book, ask how big the boat is. I did a mid-night tour with both a big boat (Disko Line Explorer) and a small boat (Albatros Arctic Circle) and enjoyed the small boat experience a lot more! We explored more areas in the small boat and even saw whales. Disko Line Explorer also has a day time iceberg excursion that is in a small boat.

The best part about this type of tour is that its good for both sunny and cloudy weather. The darker the clouds, the more the icebergs pop in shades of bright blue and turquoise!

4. Go Whale Watching

• Activity Type – Not free
• Availability – Summer

Whales migrate south during winter and come back to Greenland’s waters in the summer. Ilulissat is an excellent place to see these magnificent creatures! I saw whales almost every time I got on a boat! However, I also did a dedicated whale watching tour and saw the most incredible sights. We were surrounded by whales and one started breeching out of the water. I will never ever forget this day! A huge shoutout to the guide and captain of the boat Soren and Ville (Disko Line Explorer) for the most amazing experience!

5. See Greenlandic Sled Dogs

• Activity Type – Depends (free if you want to just see them with tours available if you want to do more)
• Availability – See below

If you are visiting in the winter, you can actually go dog sledding as an activity. This is one of the top things to do in Ilulissat during the winter. If you go in the summer, then you maybe able to book a tour to meet the sled dogs (also offered in the winter if you don’t want to do an actual ride). The World of Greenland offers this activity. Now, if you want to just see them, then you will find them on the way to the Ice Center on either side of the road. You will also find them at the end of the Old Quarry where the Blue Trail starts. You should not pet them under any circumstances when you are not on a tour. Sled dogs are working dogs and should not be petted.

6. Visit the Icefjord Center

• Activity Type – Not free/Can reserve online if needed
• Availability – All Year

A visit to the Icefjord Center is another opportunity to learn about Greenlandic and Inuit culture. Here, you can listen to narratives from locals, learn about the wildlife in the area and about the ice itself.

You can climb the roof of the building for views of the icefjord! There is also a café inside where you can grab coffee or a bite to eat if you are stopping by on your way to or from a hike.

7. Visit the History Museum

• Activity Type – Not free/No reservation required
• Availability – All Year

I highly recommend a visit to the Ilulissat History Museum. I learned a lot about the history and culture of the Inuit and Thule people. They are not open everyday and have limited timing too. My recommendation would be to go there on your first day and see the hours and days they are open (will be displayed on the door).

8. Experience the Mid-Night Sun

• Activity Type – Free
• Availability – Summer

If you are in Ilulissat during the summer months, then you will experience 24 hours of daylight. For 40 days straight in the summer , the sun does not set and stays above the horizon even late at night. It does lower a little and if the sky is cloudy, will illuminate the water and icebergs in beautiful colors. If you are not staying at a place with a view, then the best place to see this phenomenon is in front of the Zion Church by the little bay.

9. Kayak Amongst the Icebergs

• Activity Type – Not free/Need to book with a tour company
• Availability – Summer

The hundreds of icebergs bobbing up and down the waters around Disko Bay in Ilulissat, makes for the perfect landscape to kayak. You will be geared up in a dry suit and a life jacket. When I was researching for this, I read several accounts that said they opted out after after seeing that the kayaks were launched from rocks or a pier as opposed to a beach but I had never kayaked before and the launch was not scary at all. This was such an amazing experience!

I did this activity with Albatros Arctic Circle and had the best guide. Peter was incredible and gave me a lot of tips of kayaking and also great insight into Inuit culture and the Thule people. The highlight was having cookies and hot chocolate amongst the icebergs!

They offer a morning kayaking session and an evening one in the mid-night sun

10. Go on a Day Trip to Eqi Glacier

• Activity Type – Not free/Need to book with a tour company
• Availability -Summer

Sail 2 hours from Ilulissat for this day trip to the Eqi Glacier (also passing another nearby glacier). You will see the most incredible sites on the way there and back, including Greenland’s inlands fjords, icebergs of all shapes and sizes, waterfalls, whales and a seal or two (if you are lucky). After two hours, you will suddenly see the mighty Eqi Glacier appear. This glacier is a part of Greenland’s inland ice. My favorite part was crushing through the ice in our little boat to get close to the glacier. Still can’t believe the boat was able to do that. We got to spend 2 hours in front of the glacier with a lunch provided by the tour company. The return trip took another 2 hours but we stopped a lot to see whales and also to get water straight from a really tall waterfall. Overall it was an incredible day!

11. Take a Helicopter Ride

• Activity Type – Not free/Need to book with a tour company
• Availability -All year

One of the best or rather the only way to see the full scale of the Kangia Icefjord is to go on a helicopter tour. This tour is very expensive but people who have gone do say it is worth it! Check out World of Greenland if you want to learn more.

12. Walk Around the City

• Activity Type – Free or tours available
• Availability – All year

Walk around the city to get a feel for it. I loved seeing all the colorful houses and the sled dogs that were housed all over the city. The tour companies mentioned above also offer guided tours that will give you more context and insight into Ilulissat if you want to go on a guided tour.

13. Do a Day Trip to Another Settlement

• Activity Type – Not free/Need to book with a tour company
• Availability – Summer

Visit the settlement of Ilimanaq by boat on this day trip. You will need to hop on a boat to get there and once there will be given a guided walking tour to learn more about the settlement which is still active today.

14. Eat Greenlandic Food

• Activity Type – Not free/booking recommended
• Availability – All year

While you can eat Greenlandic food anywhere, Hotel Hvide Falk in Ilulissat has an excellent buffet. I tried every single dish in the buffet and they were all so good. They have everything from reindeer and musk ox to whale and snow crabs, including whale skin. They don’t have the buffet everyday so check with them before you go. Highly recommend making a reservation beforehand by emailing them at hhf@aac.gl

15. Enjoy a Picnic Lunch Watching Icebergs

• Activity Type – Free
• Availability – All year

If you are looking for a place to have a picnic lunch, overlooking Disko Bay and the iceberg, there are several places in and around Ilulissat that you can do this. Here are a few options:

1. End of the trail at the Semimuit Settlement
2. Area in the front of Zion church – they have picnic tables
3. Start of the yellow trail from the power plant end

HERE is my how to plan a trip to Greenland post again. I highly recommend reading it before you book a trip to Greenland!

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