Sitting at 300 kilometers above the Arctic Circle, Ilulissat is one of the more popular gateways to Greenland. Ilulissat means icebergs and you will understand why the minute you land in the city. There are a lot of ways to spend 5 days in Ilulissat. It will mostly depend on your budget and interests. This post will show you how you can combine activities in Ilulissat and spend 5 days in the city.
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Table of Contents
Ilulissat Mini Travel Guide
How to Plan a Trip to Greenland
You don’t have to book an organized tour to visit Greenland and can easily plan your own trip. I published a detailed post on how to plan your own trip to Greenland. Follow the 10 steps outlined and you can save some money too!
Click here for my post on How to Plan a Trip to Greenland
How to Get to Ilulissat
Most people get to Ilulissat by air. To do this, you need to either get to Reykjavik or Copenhagen. Iceland Air has direct flights to Ilulissat but they are not as frequent. Air Greenland has flights from Copenhagen that are daily but they are not direct to Ilulissat. You will have to connect in Kangerlussuaq. Ilulissat is building a bigger airport that would be able to accommodate bigger planes but it is still work in progress.
How to Get Around Ilulissat
Ilulissat is walkable. I walked everywhere. The biggest need for transportation is to and from the airport. Most hotels and some private accommodation providers will include pick up as a part of the cost. Ask them. If this doesn’t work, taxis are also available.
What to Do in Ilulissat
There is a lot to do in Ilulissat both in the summer and winter. I published another detailed post on this including if activities were free or not along with their availability (certain activities cannot be done all year).
See here for this post. Don’t make your itinerary for 5 days in Ilulissat without reading this post first.
Where to Stay in Ilulissat
Ilulissat has a range of accommodation from 4 star hotels to B&Bs. I stayed at a B&B called Paa and Jannik and cannot recommend it enough! It’s at a great location. Just walking distance to everywhere! Especially to the starting points of the tours and the offices of the local tour operators. It’s also walking distance to lots of places to eat. Furthermore, I loved the view from the steps just outside the location. But my absolute favorite part was Paa and Jannik themselves! They are truly wonderful people! Jannik picked me up and the airport and dropped me back and was helpful with information and Paa went out of her way to give me a ride every time she saw me walking somewhere! It was also her birthday one evening and she invited me to come celebrate with their friends.
Paa and Jannik have 3 rooms and 3 apartments that you can book. I stayed in a spacious 2 bedroom with a living room, full kitchen and 2 lofted bedrooms. I will 100% stay here if I visit Ilulissat again. You can contact Jannik at jannikch@bb.gl.
Other Accommodation Options:
Your others options are mostly hotels that are very pricey. These are:
- Hotel Arctic – The only 4 star hotel in Ilulissat. One of the pricer hotels and on the other side of town. Good views of Disko Bay
- Best Western Plus Hotel Ilulissat – One of the few “high rises” in town
- Hotel Icefiord – Another option for views over Disko Bay but very expensive
- Hotel Hvide Falk – Great views over Disko Bay. Home to the famous Greenlandic buffet
Hotel SOMA – Perhaps of the cheaper hotel options on this list but also on the other side of town like Hotel Arctic - Hotel Nuka – Another cheaper option from this list
- Ilulissat Hostel – One of the few hostel options
You can check out more options HERE
Where to Eat in Ilulissat
Inuit Café – This was my favorite place and going by how crowded it was both during lunch and dinner, other people thought the same! They have a diverse menu consisting of both local and international cuisine. Try their Sri Lanka kottu. It was so good! I cannot recommend this restaurant more! Although it’s named a café, it’s actually a full serviced restaurant. So if you are looking to have a good meal without paying ridiculous hotel prices then this is the place for you!
Café Iluliaq – I had hot chocolate here a few times and it was delicious! They have a wide range of pizzas, burgers and Thai food.
Hangout Bistro – This is one place that is open late and they serve pizza, pasta, burgers, sandwiches and some grilled meats.
Cafennguaq – This place has more of a café vibe and serves sandwiches, bagels and fries.
Restaurant Icefjord – this restaurant is supposed to be one of the best in the city but I was not that impressed. Granted I only went for a cocktail and dessert but the service was poor and the dessert and cocktail were nothing much. It was also very expensive. The view though is incredible! The restaurant overlooks Disko Bay and has indoor and outdoor seating.
Hotel Hvide Falk – They have an excellent Greenlandic buffet which I highly recommend
How to Spend 5 Days in Ilulissat
Notes About this Itinerary for 5 Days in Ilulissat
- This itinerary is very close to how I spent 5 days in Ilulissat. It is just a sample and you can definitely tweak it the way you like.
- You need 4-5 days minimum to explore the nature around this town. However, you can definitely do more if you have more time.
- Book excursions and activities with 1-2 local tour operators that have a physical location in Ilulissat.
- Have a flexible mind set as booked tours may need to be changed or canceled for various reasons.
- Don’t pack more than 2 activities (3 if one of them is a night time activity) per day.
- This proposed itinerary is for summer where there is 24 hours of daylight and where most acitivites are available. You will need to adjust for winter.
Here is my what to do in Ilulissat post again! I have included a lot more details on all the activities I have mentioned below, in this post.
Day 1
Take a morning flight into Ilulissat if you are able to so you have an almost full day on day 1.
Afternoon – ~3 Hours
Visit to the Icefjord Center
Learn more about the icebergs in the area and Inuit culture at the Icefiord center.
Hike the Yellow Trail
Ilulissat has 3 hiking trails that take you to and along Disko Bay. They are the Blue, Red and Yellow trails. The Yellow Trail is the most popular of the 3 trails. It’s relatively short but has stunning views for almost most of the hike along Disko Bay. It took me around 2 hours to complete the trail from end to end but I stopped to take A LOT of pictures. The trail starts next to the Icefjord Center and ends at the Power Plant. You can start the hike from either direction.
Night – 2.5 Hours
Mid-night Sailing
This was one of the best things I did! We set sail around 9:30 PM on a small boat around the icefjord. The sky was cloudy which made for some stunning scenes of the icebergs. The reflections on the mirror like still water, the colors of the sky and the giant icebergs were truly spectacular! We even saw a whale this trip.
Day 2
Morning – 6 hours
Day Cruise to Eqi Glacier
The mighty Eqi glacier is considered the gateway to Greenland’s inland ice and is also a calving glacier. A day trip to see this glacier is a must do in your 5 days in Ilulissat. The trip takes about 6 hours in total. On the way there and back, you will see amazing sights of whales, massive icebergs, waterfalls and Greenland’s internal fjords. We also stopped at a waterfall and filled water into bottles directly from the waterfall. It was an incredible day!
Evening
Enjoy the Greenlandic Buffet
Enjoy native Greenlandic food at the buffet at Hotel Hvide Falk. They don’t offer it everyday so contact them beforehand. If day 2 does not fall on a day that the buffet is offered then you will have to shift the days around.
Day 3
You can also switch the morning and evening activities. To do this, hike the blue trail in the morning and go kayaking at night
Morning – ~3 Hours
Kayaking in Disko Bay
This was such an incredible experience and a new way of exploring icebergs. I highly recommend this experience. It’s very safe and you will have a guide with you at all times!
Mid-Day – 1 hour
Picnic Lunch
Consider having a picnic lunch overlooking the icebergs. Here are a few places to do this:
- End of the trail at the Semimuit Settlement
- Area in the front of Zion church – they have picnic tables
- Start of the yellow trail from the power plant end
Late Afternoon – 3 Hours
Ilulissat City Walk and Museum
You can either explore the city on your own or join a organized tour for the city walk. The History Museum is definitely worth exploring! However, is it not open daily so check for days and hours on their door the 1st day you get to Ilulissat and switch things around if they are not open on day 3 of this 5 days in Ilulissat itinerary.
Day 4
Morning – 2.5 Hours
Whale Watching
This was hands down one of the most incredible experiences of my life! Not only did we see whales on this tour, they were so close to us and even breached out of the water. If you are in Ilulissat over the summer, I cannot recommend going on a whale watching tour enough.
Afternoon – 2.5 Hours
Iceberg Sailing
You have seen icebergs by the mid-night sun but you may want to also see them during broad day light. The icebergs glisten in the bright light and the mirror effect of the sea is even more amplified. You even get a tasty cocktail made with local bitters and ice straight from an iceberg!
Day 5
Morning – 4-6 Hours
Blue Trail and Sermermiut
The Blue Trail is the longest hiking trail in Ilulissat but offers some good views of Disko Bay. I took me just under 4 hours but I took A LOT of pictures and stopped for more than 15 minutes several times. The Blue Trail is almost 7 kilometers and is also considered the most difficult out of the hiking trails. You will pass the Sermermiut settlement either at the start or the end of the Blue Trail, depending on where you start.
Learn more about all the hiking trails in Ilulissat HERE
Night – 2.5 Hours
Mid-Night Sailing
Depending on how you feel, one option is to do another mid-night sailing trip. I recommend this especially if the weather conditions are different from your first time. Or you can just take this last night to just relax and enjoy a good meal at one of the recommended places above.
With More Time
- Day trip to another settlement close by – Visit the settlement of Ilimanaq by boat
- Eqi Lodge stay – Stay in a lodge right in front of the iconic Eqi Glacier
- Visit and overnight stay at Disko Island – You can visit the settlement of Qeqertarsuaq
If you really wanted to, you could squeeze in a day trip to Ilimanaq on Day 5 by hiking the Blue Trail after whale watching on day 4 instead of doing the extra iceberg sailing.
With More Budget
if you have the means, consider a helicopter ride over the icefjords. This is a great way to see the scale and magnitude of the Ilulissat icefjord and Kangia glacier.
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5 comments
Super useful and exhaustive post! Do you feel like Greenland is gaining traction as a travel destination?
Thank you so much! Perhaps slowly..It was relatively busy when I went but the country is gearing up for more tourism. They are building 2 new airports in Nuuk and Ilulissat in anticipation of more tourists.
Good to know!
This is super helpful! We just booked our August 2025 trip to Greenland; allocated 5 nights for Ilulissat.
Can you recommend any tour companies (or do you think they’re all similar)?
Hi Maureen! Glad you found it useful! Check out this post where I give a few options for tour companies – https://shortgirlontour.com/best-things-to-do-in-ilulissat-greenland/
My biggest tip is to try to book with only one of them. This way if tours need to be shuffled around, it’s their responsibility to do so.