Narsarsuaq Greenland
Greenland
12
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Oceania Cruises (1 Cruises)
Windstar Cruises (5 Cruises)
Frequently Asked Questions
Ships anchor in Tunuliarfik fjord and land passengers by tender. The settlement sits around its airstrip, a few minutes' walk from the landing.
Because the US military built Bluie West One here in 1941 as a link in wartime transatlantic air routes. Thousands of aircraft staged through, and the runway is still in use.
The museum near the runway, which tells the base's story through photographs, uniforms, navigation instruments and crew accounts. A few period hangars and buildings round out the setting.
A valley carpeted in summer with fireweed, harebells and dwarf willow, whose trail climbs to a viewpoint facing the Kiattuut glacier. Allow three to four hours return over ground that turns rocky in places.
Yes. The Valley of Flowers trail opens onto a rare view of the Kiattuut glacier, a tongue of the inland ice descending between the ridges. It is one of the country's most accessible walks toward the great ice.
Yes, at Narsarsuaq since 1988: about a hundred species from subarctic and alpine regions worldwide — Siberian larch, Alaskan spruce, mountain pine. The trail to Signal Hill runs through it.
By boat: ten minutes across the fjord to Qassiarsuk. This is where Erik the Red founded Greenland's first Norse colony around 985; a turf longhouse and a wooden chapel have been reconstructed there.
A popular boat excursion from Narsarsuaq: a front of the inland ice discharges into milky water there. Boats thread between the drifting blocks as far as the ice allows, engines at idle.
Good shoes, a windproof shell, a water bottle and sun protection will do. The terrain is open and the distances reasonable, but loose stones and wet sections call for attention.
A hamlet of about a hundred people arranged around the airport inherited from the war. You do not come for village life but for what surrounds it: the ice, the trails and the Viking ruins across the water.
