Greenland & the Canadian Arctic with Silversea

Enjoyed a relaxing overnight stay at a Stansted hotel before boarding a special Silversea charter fight from London Stansted airport to Kangerlussuaq in Greenland on Day 2. 

Stay: Stansted airport hotel

On arrival in Kangerlussuaq you will be transferred directly to Silver Cloud, one of the most luxurious expedition ships operating to the Arctic, for your cruise. Settle in to your suite and familiarise yourself with your new floating home from home before enjoying the first of many memorable dining experiences onboard. 

Stay: Silver Cloud

Sixty kilometres southeast of the entrance to Kangerlussuaq Fjord and halfway between Maniitsoq and Kangaamiut is Sermilinnguaq. This is one of the smaller fjords leading to the Greenland Icecap’s westernmost valley glaciers in South Greenland. Razorbills, Brünnich’s Guillemots (Thick-billed Murres), Common Guillemots, and Black Guillemots, Glaucous Gulls, and Black-legged Kittiwakes – all attracted by rich fishing grounds - have formed bird colonies in Sermilinnguaq. 

Maniitsoq is Greenland’s sixth-largest town but is still home to less than 2700 inhabitants. The main attractions are the small museum and old cemetery at the northern end of town. At the community hall local artist and artisans usually exhibit some of their carvings and beadwork. Beadwork pieces are created for the national dress of the West-Greenlandic, as women wear an elaborately beaded collar. They also make popular souvenirs for visitors. Its local name means the ‘place of rugged terrain’ contrasts  with the name given by the Danish in 1782 (‘New Sugarloaf’).

Stay: Silver Cloud

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 and home to more than a third of Greenland's population. Although it feels like a capita city, under the surface a uniquely Greenlandic character can be found. Nuuk Cathedral overlooks the pretty old Colonial Harbour district and the Greenland National Museum, resting place of the legendary Qilakitsoq mummies, the highlight of the museum's archaeological collection.  Above the Colonial Harbour sits downtown Nuuk, with lines of Scandinavan style apartments, a bustling shopping district, the Greenlandic Parliament, Nuuk City Hall - and even outdoor cafes selling locally produced food and beer. Modernity competes with local artisan boutiques, the meat market selling the catch from Nuuk's vast fjord-lands, and the impressive Katuaq Cultural Centre, where blockbuster movies, as well as local and foreign performers entertain the people of Nuuk. Expect to find a friendly people who are proud of who they are, and equally proud of the city they call home.

Stay: Silver Cloud

Days at sea provide a perfect opportunity to relax and unwind.  Perhaps visit the spa or gym, do some whale watching from the deck or simply read a book. 

Stay: Silver Cloud

Iqaluit is the capital of Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut, which is Inuktitut for “our land”. The community is located at the head of Frobisher Bay, an inlet of the North Atlantic extending into southeastern Baffin Island. The Bay is so long that it was first taken to be the possible entrance of a Northwest Passage. In Iqaluit, the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum and the Nunavut Legislative Assembly Building both house incredible collections of Inuit artwork with local prints for sale in the museum shop

Stay: Silver Cloud

The Lower Savage Islands are a small group of islands off of the south-eastern tip of Baffin Island. Polar bears can be found here in the summer months as the ice vanishes with the summer's warming temperatures.

Stay: Silver Cloud

Monumental Island is a spit of ancient rock in the frigid waters of the Davis Strait, defying the ocean and ice around it. Named in honour of the legendary Polar Explorer Sir John Franklin, who died trying to discover the Northwest Passage, the island displays everything Nunavut has to offer. Above all it offers den sites for polar bears and there is a good chance of seeing mothers with cubs as the bears become trapped by the lack of summer ice. Groups of harp seals are a common sight in the iceberg studded waters around Monumental Island. They can be very curious, often swimming very close to investigate boats. There are several sites on the island where the charismatic Atlantic Walrus can be found. These vast animals are surprisingly gentle and yet skittish, and can often be observed caring for their calves on the rocks while keeping a careful watch for polar bears. Almost nowhere else in Nunavut can the charismatic wildlife of the Arctic be observed in such a stunning setting.

The lonely and uninhabited Lady Franklin Island - named in honour of Sir John Franklin’s widow - lies off of Baffin Island’s Hall Peninsula at the entrance to Cumberland Sound. The geology of the island is striking with vertical cliffs of Archean rocks, likely to be some of the oldest stone in Canada. The waters around Lady Franklin Island offer an abundance seabirds, ducks, seals, and walrus. With a bit of luck it is possible to see Atlantic Puffins here and perhaps even a rare Sabine’s Gull.

Stay: Silver Cloud

At sea

Stay: Silver Cloud

Isabella Bay is about 100 kilometers south-southeast of Clyde River, on the northeast coast of Baffin Island. During the 19th century Isabella Bay was an important centre for whaling and this National Wildlife Area is still an important marine habitat – today a sanctuary - used for feeding and resting by bowhead whales during late summer and fall. Bowhead whales gather here to feed on the abundant copepod zooplankton blooms that occur in two deep troughs in Isabella Bay. The single largest concentration of bowhead whales in Canada has been recorded here with up to 100 whales. Although this is a sanctuary, resident Inuit have according to the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement the right to harvest wildlife on lands and waters throughout the Nunavut settlement area and therefore are allowed to hunt  whales, polar bears, ringed seals and narwhals found in Isabella Bay. King Eiders, Long-tailed Ducks, Little Auks and Northern Fulmars also call Ninginganiq (“the place where fog sits”) their home.

Stay: Silver Cloud

The starkly beautiful Sam Ford Fjord area of Baffin Island has one of the most impressive concentrations of vertical rock walls to be found anywhere in the world. It is a 110-kilometer (68-mile) waterway lined with sheer cliffs that have attracted some of the world’s best (and most extreme) rock climbers. The steep stone walls were formed by ancient glaciers that carved the landscape through the ages. However, the feature that makes the shoreline truly special is the way that many of these walls rise straight up from the dark waters of the deep fjord. Marine mammal, including narwhals and seals that once attracted Inuit hunters to this coast, abound.

Stay: Silver Cloud

In Gibbs Fjord it is possible to see only towering cliffs and the seemingly impenetrable fortress of 4,000-foot walls and buttresses that make up Sillem Island. Very little of this spectacular terrain has ever been explored and there are few places on earth where the grandeur of the landscape can dwarf a ship with giant peaks, steep cliffs, and glacial rivers of ice. The geological formations here make for excellent photo opportunities. 

Stay: Silver Cloud

At Sea

Stay: Silver Cloud

Upernavik, home to around one thousand people, sits on a low island in an iceberg dotted sea and is surrounded by sea ice for much of the year. Upernavik is surprisingly cosmopolitan, particularly as it is the northernmost true town in Greenland. A runic inscription dated to around 1300 was found outside the town in the 1850s, marking the northern limit of Norse exploration in Greenland. But the Inuit history of the area goes back far longer, with waves of Palaeo-Inuit settlers from Canada inhabiting the prey-rich area for almost five thousand years, and inhabited by the modern Thule Inuit (ancestors of modern Greenlanders) continuously for the last nine hundred years. Founded in 1772, the town is one of the oldest in Greenland, and the excellent local museum displays a stunning collection of artefacts and artwork from all over Northwestern Greenland in several period buildings, including the Old Church. Upernavik is also a commercial centre for North Greenland, with fresh food and mail going North, while fish and furs are exported South, and the local artisans are among the best in Greenland, proudly displaying their work to visitors.

Stay: Silver Cloud

The exploration of the Disko Bay area will include the village of Qeqertarsuaq, which is named after Disko Island’s local name, meaning “large island”.  With more than 3,300 square miles, Disko Island is Greenland’s second-largest island.

Stay: Silver Cloud

Known as the birthplace of icebergs, the Ilulissat Icefjord produces nearly 20 million tons of ice each day. In fact, the word Ilulissat means “icebergs” in the Kalaallisut language. The town is known for its long periods of calm and settled weather, but it tends to be cold due to its proximity to the fjord. Approximately 4,500 people live in Ilulissat, the third-largest town in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. Some people here estimate that there are nearly as many sled dogs as people.  The town also boasts a local history museum located in the former home of Greenlandic folk hero and famed polar explorer Knud Rasmussen.

Stay: Silver Cloud

At Sea

Stay: Silver Cloud

Enjoy a final breakfast onboard after arriving back in Kangerlussuaq, before transferring to the airport for your charter flight home to Stansted. On arrival you can enjoy an included overnight stay at the Radisson Blu hotel, before bidding farewell to your fellow explorers.

Stay: Stansted airport hotel

After a leisurely breakfast, check out of your hotel and make your way home.