Greenland: June 2025: Day 3: Ilulissat

Greenland

June 2025: Day 3: Ilulissat

Inaugural GOH-EWR, UA 81, leaving in two hours.

Warren (center) heading back on the Inaugural return.

Dramatic reflections in the fog.

Air Greenland's DHC-8-200's are busy little airplanes.

Arrived at Ilulissat Airport.

Cafe Iluliaq.

Just icebergs right outside.

Dramatic one with an arch.

Sled dog pups decided to greet us.

Close-up of the arch.

Different angle as we proceeded south from the neighborhood down the trail.

Two icebergs, not just one.

Little cafe on the icefjord trail.

Scott says it's selfie time.

Big iceberg, little boat.

Some icebergs are so large they have their own surface features that stand tall on their own.

Mix of textures.

View from the easy yellow Ilulissat Icefjord trail.

The view is amazing.

Lovely trail in the summer.

Plenty of other hikers on the trail, also taking in the view.

There's a little bay/inlet at the southwest end.

One more photo that better shows just how many icebergs there are in the Icefjord.

Starting to head back inland.

Looking north towards the town and the museum.

So many cute sled dogs. With big warnings, DO NOT PET.

Ilulissat not as colorful as Nuuk.

Used to be over 3,000 sled dogs in Ilulissat, but heard it was below 2,000 today.

Brasserie Ulo's reindeer/musk box/lamb "Arctic burger".

Evening icefjord cruise went right by the same arch iceberg.

Getting close up to some different icebergs in the icefjord.

Starting to see more sea ice.

Getting close up to some different icebergs in the icefjord.

Less-common glimpse of just how much of an iceberg is under water (90%).

Tossing glacier ice.

Whisky and glacier ice.

Wildlife among the icebergs.

Am not a bird expert, maybe black-legged kittiwakes?

Dramatic formations.

More big iceberg, little boat.

Lots of dirt on this one.

So much texture.

Ilulissat harbor.

Norwegian-flagged supply ship that handles much of Greenland. Silver Mary is 112.94 meters long, 10,308 gross tonnes, so not large.

With an early morning flight to Ilulissat, opted to get to the airport slightly early to catch frequent flier friends returning on the inaugural Nuuk to Newark (GOH-EWR) return. Am seriously not sure how either Warren or Joyie were awake after exploring all night, must have been unprecedented levels of adrenaline??

For the less-crazy people at the airport after yesterday's inaugural, next up was a quick flight on Air Greenland to Ilulissat. Known as the tourist hub for Greenland, Ilulissat's location above the Arctic Circle means plenty of sights, including icebergs literally right in the harbor, although two of the larger hotels (Hotel Arctic and Hotel Soma) are on the north edge of town, past the harbor, so a bit of a walk (stay at the Hotel Hvide Falk if you're allergic to walking). Hotel Arctic has a nice shuttle to/from the airport, and the local bus system isn't too hard to figure out.

Cafe Iluliaq was pretty solid for lunch, and the first realization that most of the chefs here are Thai, so you see a lot of Thai food on the menus, even at non-Thai restaurants (yum!). Made friends with another guy on the inaugural, William, and ended up hiking the shortest, easiest (yellow) trail around the icefjord, where we got to see not only some spectacular icebergs, but some exceedingly friendly sled dog pups. There's a bit of elevation but nothing bad, even a little hut/restaurant halfway down the trail, and of course, massive icebergs.

Honestly we could have stopped here, or maybe hiked some more. Dinner at the Hotel Arctic was very good (reindeer and musk ox burger was good, cookies were awful), the evening icefjord cruise was nice but unnecessary. Scott booked through Albatross Arctic Circle, and it turns out they were the only icefjord cruise running tonight, as all of their competitors canceled due to fog, so things predictable got a bit crazy. It was still amazing to cruise up to the icebergs, pluck glacial ice straight from the water, see birds, and enjoy drinks, but honestly, the hike was easy, free, and had equally amazing (if slightly different) views of the icebergs. Those with more time in Ilulissat can venture much further afield than we did-- Eqi Glacier in particular looks like an amazing experience if you can affords the 8 or 9 hours it takes.

The midnight end of the icefjord cruise meant no cabs or buses that we could see... ended up being a nice walk past the harbor and back to the hotel, and we got a glimpse of the Silver Mary, the Norwegian supply ship that transports most supplies to Greenland in the summer.