17 Days Luxury Arctic Cruise - Nuuk to Iqaluit

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In the bustling capital city of Greenland, you could be forgiven for forgetting you are in such a vast and isolated country. Nuuk is Greenland's economic and social hub, home to more than a third of Greenland's population, and although it feels like a world capital, scratch the surface, and a uniquely Greenlandic character can be found underneath. Nuuk Cathedral overlooks the gorgeous old Colonial Harbour district and the Greenland National Museum, resting place of the legendary Qilakitsoq mummies, the true highlight of the museum's archaeological collection. Above the Colonial Harbour sits downtown Nuuk, with lines of Scandistyle apartments, a bustling shopping district, the Greenlandic Parliament, Nuuk City Hall (which welcomes visitors to see its artwork) and even outdoor cafes selling locally produced food and beer. These nods to modernity compete for space with local artisan boutiques, the meat market selling the catch from Nuuk's vast fjord-lands, and the stunning Katuaq Cultural Centre, where blockbuster movies, as well as local and foreign performers entertain the people of Nuuk. Although Nuuk has long been a melting pot of Danish and Greenlandic ideas, this is a city where Greenland displays its sophistication, with the Country's only traffic lights, roundabouts and University. Most of all, expect to find a multitude of friendly people who are proud of who they are, and equally proud of the city they call home.

Evighedsfjord (Eternity Fjord) is a large fjord northeast of Kangaamiut in southwest Greenland. The fjord has a length of 75 kilometers and several branches with numerous glaciers coming down from the Maniitsoq Ice Cap to the north can be seen. The Evighedsfjord has several bends and whenever the ship reaches the supposed end the fjord continues in another direction and seems to go on forever. Qingua Kujatdleq Glacier is at its southeastern end. At the northwestern end a U-shaped valley has seven glaciers coming down from the mountains but not reaching the water. The glaciers had their maximum extent around the year 1870 and have gone through several cycles of advance and retreat. The mountains on either side of the fjord can reach in excess of 2,000 meters and the fjord has a depth of up to 700 meters. Evighedsfjord’s snowline is at 1,100 meters and the Evighedsfjord region is famous as one of Greenland’s best heli-skiing areas.

Qeqertarsuaq sits on Disko Island's east coast, overlooking Disko Bay — one of the Arctic's most spectacular and iceberg-rich bodies of water. Disko Island, Greenland's second-largest at over 3,300 square miles, is known for its dark basalt landscape and the bay's extraordinary concentration of icebergs calved from the Jakobshavn Glacier inland.

Eqip Sermia, known as the Calving Glacier, is one of the most active glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere, with a 2-mile-wide wall of ice towering up to 550 feet above the surface. Found at the terminus of Eqi Fjord, its roots lie in the Greenland Ice Sheet, the second-largest body of ice in the world after Antarctica. Fin, humpback, and minke whales frequent the nearby waters of Disko Bay.

Ilulissat, whose name means icebergs in Kalaallisut, is home to the Ilulissat Icefjord, which produces nearly 20 million tons of ice each day. The town of around 4,500 people is the third largest in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. A local history museum is located in the former home of Greenlandic polar explorer Knud Rasmussen.

Sisimiut, Greenland's second city and the largest Arctic community in North America, bridges the warmer south and the frozen north of the island. Inhabited for over 4,500 years, the town is known for exceptional dog sledding in winter and for the Sisimiut Museum — a collection of restored buildings tracing the progression from ancient turf houses to modern Inuit art.

Qikiqtarjuaq, 'Big Island' in Inuktitut, sits on Broughton Island's sheltered western shore above the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. Summer nights remain light for months, winter brings the northern lights over the mountains of Auyuittuq National Park across the channel, and the surrounding waters of Davis Strait hold narwhals, polar bears, and migrating Arctic wildlife.

Pangnirtung, meaning 'the place of bull caribou', is an Inuit hamlet on Baffin Island's Cumberland Sound, its brightly painted houses set against snow-capped mountain scenery of alpine drama. To the north, Auyuittuq National Park offers hiking, skiing, and climbing routes beneath the distinctive hammerhead formation of Mount Thor, the world's tallest vertical cliff face.

Lady Franklin Island lies off Baffin Island's Hall Peninsula at the entrance to Cumberland Sound, named after the wife of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin. The island's geology features vertical cliffs of Archean rocks among the oldest stone in Canada. The surrounding waters support abundant seabirds, ducks, seals, and walrus, with Atlantic Puffins and the rare Sabine's Gull possible sightings.

Named in honour of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin, Monumental Island rises from the frigid waters of the Davis Strait as a slab of ancient metamorphic rock surrounded by vast icebergs drifting from Greenland. The island is a known polar bear den site, and mother bears with cubs are regularly observed here during the summer months when sea ice retreats.

High Bluff Island rises from the frigid waters of the Hudson Strait just south of Baffin Island. Along its upper coastline, 330-foot precipices look out across North Bay's vast waters toward Baffin Island. The island is part of Kimmirut Inuit Owned Land and has been officially renamed Qikiqtarjuarusiq in recognition of Inuit ownership and connection to these lands.

Located on Dorset Island off Baffin Island's southern shore, Cape Dorset is a small Inuit hamlet whose traditional name Kinngait means high mountain. The area was inhabited by Thule and Dorset Culture peoples for 3,000 years, and Captain Luke Foxe became the first European to land here in 1631. Since the 1950s Cape Dorset has become known as the Capital of Inuit Art, with more than 20 percent of its residents employed in the arts.

Days at sea are the perfect opportunity to relax, unwind, and pursue personal interests, whether visiting the gym, the spa, or simply watching for whales from deck. These blue sea days offer an ideal balance to busy days spent exploring ashore.

The Lower Savage Islands are a small group off the southeastern tip of Baffin Island, where polar bears are commonly found during summer months as ice retreats with the warming season.

Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut, Canada's newest territory, located at the head of Frobisher Bay on southeastern Baffin Island. The Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum and the Nunavut Legislative Assembly Building both house notable collections of Inuit artwork, with prints available for purchase in the museum shop.

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Itineraries are subject to change.