Exploring this alluring Mediterranean island
The city's cultural draws number several interesting visitor attractions. The standout, however, is the Greenland National Museum. This is where you'll find the famous Qilakitsoq mummies, discovered in an icy tomb in 1972 and dated back to around 1475.
Ilulissat is the Kalaallisut (Eskimo–Aleut) word for "icebergs," and the name is rather apt.
Pictured are the colorful houses of Oqaatsut (formerly Rodebay, or Rodebaai). This tiny settlement is located on a small peninsula jutting off the mainland into eastern Disko Bay. It had 46 inhabitants in 2010.
One of the last contemporary written mentions of the Norse Greenlanders records a marriage that took place in 1408 in the church of Hvalsey, near Qaqortoq—today the best-preserved Nordic ruins in the territory.
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, dance over a sleepy Qassiarsuk, a settlement in southern Greenland.
Picture perfect Kulusuk is an attractive base for hikers, climbers, and polar adventurers (dogsledding is a very popular winter pastime).
Also known as Kangertittivaq, this expansive body of water in eastern Greenland is one of the largest and longest fjord systems in the world.
An obligatory Greenland experience if visiting during the winter, dogsledding lets you travel the Inuit way over Greenland's frozen sea ice.
See also: Why Iceland is a hot destination.
The town's roots are firmly embedded in Norse culture. Indeed, written records of South Greenland history begin with the arrival of the Norse in the late 10th century. The town is noted for its 1990s Stone & Man project, when a collective of Nordic artists carved sculptures into rock faces and boulders in the town.
Qassiarsuk stands on what was once known as Brattahlíð (or Brattahlid), an ancient Viking colony established in the 10th century. A reconstruction (pictured) of what's believed to be the first European church in the Americas sits on the shores of Tunulliarfik Fjord.
Located near Cape Thorvaldsen in southern Greenland, the spruce town of Qaqortoq is another tourist hot spot.
The gigantic icebergs that break off Jakobshavn Isbræ can be as big as a football field and up to a kilometer, or 3,300 ft, in height. This amazing environment makes for great kayaking territory.
The Ilulissat Icefjord runs west 25 mi (40 km) from the Greenland ice sheet to Disko Bay, just south of Ilulissat town.
Ilulissat neighbors the outstanding Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Hans Egede (1686–1758) was a Norway-born missionary known as the "Apostle of Greenland." He founded Greenland's capital Godthåb, now known as Nuuk. His residence, built in 1728, can be admired from the outside, but the interior is closed to the public.
Greenland's southernmost fjords are equally impressive and are noted for their granite cliffs that soar up in the sky to form huge peaks like Uiluit Qaaqa and Ulamertorsuaq.
The town is forever associated with Greenlandic–Danish polar explorer Knud Rasmussen (1879–1933), who was the first European to cross the Northwest Passage via dogsled. His birthplace is now the Knud Rasmussen Museum.
This is the world's largest national park, encompassing a whopping 375,000 sq mi (972,000 km2) of the interior and northeastern coast of Greenland.
The colorful town of Ilulissat is Greenland's most popular tourist destination.
Named for the strong odor emitted during the seasonal rut by males, musk oxen occur in four of Greenland's protected areas and enjoy full immunity from hunting.
The Greenland ice sheet, an immense body of ice covering 660,000 sq mi (1,710,000 km2), roughly 80% of the territory's surface, is melting faster than scientists thought. The pace of ice loss has increased four-fold since 2003.
Greenland is the largest non-continental island on earth, but the least-densely populated territory in the world—which makes this vast and remote destination one of the most exciting and captivating locations on the planet to explore.
Blessed with stunning scenery—a wild and untamed environment created from forces of rivers, glacial ice, and volcanic and geothermal activity—this is a place born from the raw power of nature.
Browse this gallery and find out more about this amazing Arctic territory.
Exploring the grandeur that is Greenland
Discovering the world's largest island
TRAVEL Discover
Greenland is the largest non-continental island on earth, but the least-densely populated territory in the world—which makes this vast and remote destination one of the most exciting and captivating locations on the planet to explore.
Blessed with stunning scenery—a wild and untamed environment created from forces of rivers, glacial ice, and volcanic and geothermal activity—this is a place born from the raw power of nature.
Browse this gallery and find out more about this amazing Arctic territory.