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New Year’s Eve in Greenland
Visit: Ilulissat
New Year’s Eve in Greenland is something quite special. The beautiful fireworks are a dazzling contrast in the polar night and, on the days around New Year’s Eve, you get to experience the winter wonderland at Ilulissat.
We board Air Greenland’s red plane in Copenhagen and fly to Kangerlussuaq in Greenland. It is a trip of 4½ hours. Ahead of us are five exciting days around New Year’s in Ilulissat, but there is still one more flight to get there.
After a short stop-over in Kangerlussuaq where we change planes, we continue towards Ilulissat. After flying over the wonderful Ilulissat Icefjord, we land in Ilulissat Airport. You will be picked in Hotel Arctic’s bus and driven to the cozy hotel which lies by the waterfront of Ilulissat. Here, you will meet a guide from our local tour office, “World of Greenland.”
After check-in, the guide will organize an information meeting, telling you about the town, the area, and possible excursions. Note that there may be changes to the order in which the excursion are run. This is because daylight hours are limited, as are the availability of tours boats, so we may have to split the group into smaller parties on some days e.g. while some people go sailing, others will go dogsledding. World of Greenland are experts at logistics like this so no one will be missing out.
Then it’s time for a guided city tour for everybody
Ilulissat is Greenland’s third largest town and considered one of the four main towns along with Nuuk, Qaqortoq, and Sisimiut. People have lived in the area surrounding Ilulissat for 4,500 years, but the town itself was established as a village in 1727 and, in 1741, the Icelandic merchant Jacob Severin established a trading post called Jacobshavn (Jacob’s Harbour). Later on, the town changed its name to Jakobshavn (now with ‘k’). You will see many buildings that are linked to this time. Knud Rasmussen, the world-famous polar explorer, grew up in Ilulissat in the building that now houses the historical museum. You can look forward to an exciting tour and get lots of information that you can use in the coming days.
At night, you will have a lovely welcome dinner in the hotel’s amazing restaurant (drinks not included).
There are many things to do in Ilulissat on your own. The guide will tell you all about this on your first day. Today, you can explore it on your own.
If you have bought our excursion package, today’s program is a hike to the former settlement of Sermermiut, and later you will go dog sledding
Hiking to the former Inuit settlement of Sermermiut by the Ice Fjord (optional)
Today, you will hike to the former settlement of Sermermiut that has been inhabited for thousands of years because of its amazing location at the Ice Fjord. Although the view here is incredible, it was not the scenery that brought the Inuit here. There are excellent hunting opportunities in the area since the Ice Fjord provides food for both fish and seals, which in turn has created a basis for human settlements for millennia.
1 ½-hour dog sled ride (optional)
Today, you can look forward to a 1 ½-hour dog sled ride. The dog sled is one of the most famous Greenlandic icons and a thousand-year-old tradition for the Inuit. Not many vehicles have survived such a long period without changes in appearance and technology: a pack of happy dogs in harnesses tied to a simply constructed wooden sled. The experience can not be explained – it must be tried.
This trip usually takes place in flat terrain on a plain near Ilulissat. In addition to the sled driver, you are two participants on each of the sleds, so if you have booked the excursion on your own, you may share a sled with another person. However, all dogs are different, so if you are out with family and friends, we can not guarantee that you will be riding together on the entire trip as some dogs are fast, and others are not. This trip is recommended for those with neck or back problems or if you are immobile. Participants must be 12 years and older.
Tonight it’s New Year’s Eve! However, before we get to the evening’s festivities, you will go sailing on the Ice Fjord if you bought our excursion package.
The Disko Bay is Greenland’s most popular tourist destination. This is because of the ice, but also because the place holds a special beauty and many cultural attractions. One of the great gems in the area – and certainly the most famous – is Ilulissat lce Fjord.
Sailing to Ilulissat Ice Fjord (optional)
You will end the year with one of your life’s highlights, a trip to the mouth of Ilulissat Ice Fjord. You will cruise around some of the huge icebergs that are created when they break of the glacier front. At the mouth of the fjord, through millennia, icebergs have pushed a sandbank forward, and now the enormous icebergs get stuck here. When the pressure from behind gets too high because of new icebergs being produced by the glacier, or because some of the big icebergs melt in the summer, the icebergs finally pass the sandbank and float out into the Disko Bay.
Gala Dinner at Hotel Arctic
The New Year is now fast approaching, and tonight you will attend a gala dinner at Hotel Arctic. It’s a five-course dinner. There will be a break at 8:00 PM because, at that time, almost the entire population of Greenland go outside and celebrate the CET New Year and send up fireworks in honor of all their friends and family in Denmark (there are about 15,000 Greenlanders living in Denmark and numerous people who have lived in Greenland).
After this, you go back to the dinner table and the entertainment. When the clock strikes midnight, it’s out in the snow again, this time to celebrate the ‘real’ New Year. Then you go back in and enjoy a glass of bubbly. When you want the night to end is totally up to you.
You will have January 1 on your own to relax. If you have bought the excursion package, you will go looking for Northern Lights at night.
Northern Lights Safari (optional)
When the sky is clear on winter nights, you can see the most beautiful northern lights over Ilulissat. Aurora Borealis is, without a doubt, the night sky’s most spectacular phenomenon. We are going to drive away from the lights of the town and go to where the darkness is at its most intense. The guide will tell us all about the causes of the phenomenon. You will also get tips and tricks to enable you to take the best pictures of the colored lights as they cross the night sky.
Today, we head back towards Denmark. With one of Air Greenland’s Dash 8’s, you leave Ilulissat Airport for Kangerlussuaq and then fly on to Copenhagen, where you will arrive in the evening.
Inclusion
- Flight Copenhagen – Kangerlussuaq return
- Flight Kangerlussuaq – Ilulissat return
- Transfers
- 4 nights at Hotel Arctic with private facilities
- Breakfast
- Welcome dinner in Ilulissat, excl. drinks
- Gala Dinner on New Year’s Eve at Hotel Arctic, excl. drinks except for a glass of champagne
- Food and beverages onboard the Air Greenland flight Copenhagen – Kangerlussuaq return
- Information meetings
- English and Danish speaking Tour Leader
- Sightseeing in Ilulissat
- All flight/transportation taxes and fees known at the time of publishing
- 20 kg of checked baggage and 8 kg of cabin baggage
Exclusion
- Lunch and dinner other than mentioned above
- Excursions (we recommend you pre-book the Excursion Package)
- Insurances
Note
Highlights
- Celebrate New Year’s Eve in Greenland
- Stay in the Town of Icebergs, Ilulissat
- See the UNESCO World Heritage Site Ilulissat Ice Fjord up close
- Sail among gigantic icebergs
- Watch the Northern Lights dance across the night sky
Optional tours available on request.
Triple rate on request.
Escorted Experience
- Fixed Dates
- Modern Airconditioned Vehicle
- First Class Hotels
Tour Category
Tour Vehicle
Car or Small Van AC
Tour Guide
Local English only guide
