The Scenic Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland, is one of the remotest places on Earth

Ittoqqortoormiit is the remotest place in the eastern part of Greenland, between the Northeast Greenland National Park and Scoresby Sund fjord. It is one of the remotest settlements on Earth, that remains frozen for around nine months in a year. The Greenlandic town, Ittoqqortoormiit, is so remote that it can be reached only by helicopter or cruise. The spectacular stretch of the earth is made up of pinkish-grey rocks, Wooden huts, painted in red, blue, green, and yellow, are scattered over the region. The town has a population of just about 452 people.

The term Ittoqqortoormiit means ‘Big-House Dwellers’. The isolated town was founded in 1925 by Danish polar explorer and author, Ejnar Mikkelsen. The Scoresby Sund fjord on the south of Ittoqqortoormiit, which is also the longest fjord complex in the world, is home to walruses, seals, polar bears, and narwals.

Ittoqqortoormiit is not quite like the other towns. For many guests, just getting to Ittoqqortoormiit is in itself an adventure, as the town is almost as far as one can get from any other inhabited area in Greenland. The closest neighbor is the world’s largest national park in a vast landscape dominated by small game, birds, polar bears, musk oxen, reindeer, walrus, and 18,000 kilometers of rugged, pathless coastline.

Furthermore, the city is right next to the world’s largest and deepest multi-branched fjord system, and a special basalt rock formation with horizontal lines running through the cliffs, is quite different from other parts of the country, marking the transition to the even more desolate area of Northeastern Greenland.

The town of Ittoqqortoormiit, positioned on the edge of the frozen sea, is the only inhabited piece of land on this desolately beautiful coastline south of Greenland National Park. Greenland’s population density is an unfathomable 0.0 people per square kilometer, and three-quarters of the 57,000 citizens live in Nuuk, the capital, which lies on the west coast.

Adventure Activities

Many adventure activities take place at Ittoqqortoormiit like mountaineering, dogsledding, and trophy hunting. The expedition tours at this place in sea kayaks and dog sledges are something that will Amaze you for a lifetime. The kayaks take the tourists close to the glaciers and the icebergs.

Hunting and fishing at sea are the only ways the community to survive in Ittoqqortoormiit. in addition, the sea ice is like a road providing new routes through the countryside. During early spring, when the sea ice is still thick yet the sun is high in the sky, many of the local people will go out for a weekend on dog sledding or snowmobile trips. Tent camps and camping life are common for a short tour. Spring is the best experience in this remote land.

This is also the time when the polar bears emerge from Greenland National Park, the biggest reserve on Earth and a freezing wilderness that hits minus 60 Celsius in winter. Although the effects of climate change are already making their mark. Polar bears traditionally steered clear of the town.

The Northern Lights experience

The Northern Lights or the Aurora Borealis is the most spectacular natural light event in the polar regions of the Earth that takes place due to the midnight sun, in the summer months. The isolated Ittoqqortoormiit is one of the best places in the world to see the beauty of the magical Aurora Borealis in full swing. Tourists can spend a night at a heated igloo in the North Pole.

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How to reach Ittoqqortoormiit

Tourists can take flights for visiting Ittoqqortoormiit. Fly to Akureyri, the whale-watching hub of Iceland, directly from any European capitals, or via Reykjavik. Then fly from Akureyri to Constable Point in Greenland. From there, a helicopter transfers the travelers to the remote town. People can also avail the sea route during the summer months when the water is not frozen.

Several cruise ships take halts at Ittoqqortoormiit during summer. The Vatna Glacier in Iceland is the largest ice cap in the country. The snow doesn’t melt until the end of May, making spring its longer days and this is the lovely time for the Ittoqqortoormiit tour.