Kangerlussuaq

Because ships moor or anchor at this port, passengers are tendered ashore.

Take a printable map with you.

Kangaatsiaq, meaning "the little promontory", is Greenland's youngest town, gaining town status only in 1986, although the settlement itself is much older. This unspoilt small town has no large hotels or tourist offices, only private accommodation and an internet café. Among its many colored houses, you can contact friends and family and tell the story of an authentic, almost untouched Greenland town.

Kangaatsiaq is Greenland's principal air transport hub and home to the country's largest commercial airport. It dates to American settlement during and after World War II, when it was called Bluie West-8 and Sondrestrom Air Base.

Thousands of musk oxen inhabit the mountains around town, and a dirt road leads directly to the ice cap for an half day guided drive.

Greenland has no roads linking its towns, so transport is by ship or plane. The at times extreme Arctic climate makes safety a major transport requirement, met in full by Greenland's transport companies. For shorter journeys outside towns, local people use their own boats, dogsleds or snowmobiles.

East of Kangaatsiaq lies a 150 km (95 mile) fjord system of countless islands, coves and bays. Its protected waters can be explored by boat, canoe or sea kayak, with good chances to see reindeer, fox, hare and many bird species en route. The sea around Kangaatsiaq is also the natural habitat of Greenland seals, humpback whales, minke whales and other Greenland sea mammals.

Greenland souvenirs are distinctive handmade artworks unavailable anywhere else in the world. Each product is shaped and designed by a Greenlandic artist who follows tradition and custom while bringing individual ideas and skills to the work. As a visitor, you have plenty of opportunity to find precisely what you are looking for.

Many hotels, restaurants and shops accept credit cards, but bring a small amount of Danish kroner to Greenland because some ATMs may be out of service at the weekend.

As a visitor to Greenland, you may understand absolutely nothing when Greenlandic, or ‘kalaallisut', is spoken. Its name actually means ‘the Greenlanders' language'.

Danish is more or less the second language; English is less so.

Bring your laptop for Internet and e-mail. Most major hotels have established Hotspots for Internet access, while Internet cafés operate in a number of bigger towns and several tourist offices let you check web mail.

Greenland's mobile phone system uses GSM 900/1800.

In major towns, supermarkets usually trade on weekdays from 10:00 – 17:30, until 18:00 on Fridays, and from 09:00 – 13:00 on Saturdays. Many towns also have corner shops and grocer's shops with longer opening hours that open on Sundays.