Greenland Explorer: Arctic Photo Tour

Arrival at Ilulissat. The arrival time to Ilulissat is flexible but make sure it’s before 5 p.m.! Our Arctic hotel provides an airport shuttle – you will need to tell us your inbound flight.

We recommend the flight which arrives at 13:00 to Ilulissat. Please check AirGreenland for available tickets. Flights via Copenhagen are usually with one change at Kangerlussuaq. If you fly from North America you can take Air Iceland Connect flights. They have regular direct flights from Reykjavik Domestic airport.

After the dinner, we embark our vessel and depart to the Icefjord. On this night you’ll meet the greatest icebergs in the world! The magic light usually lasts around 2-3 hours. The sun slightly touches the horizon, coloring the sky with incredible hues, and rolls onto distant mountains. During these 3 magical hours we’ll be photographing icebergs and cruising around the fjord, since our trip is designed for photographers, unlike touristic cruises you may book on solo trip to Ilulissat. We finish the cruise around midnight. You’ll have some time to relax until breakfast. If you feel ready for some more activities, you are welcome to walk around Ilulissat after breakfast, observing how the settlement wakes up and starts its normal everyday life.

© Iurie Belegurschi

© Iurie Belegurschi

After breakfast we will get together with our photography guides and have a session on post-processing. After our late photography session, there are sure to be plenty of questions on everyone’s minds for our experts. After, we’ll have a fairly leisurely afternoon, plan for the evening ahead and get some much-needed rest.

After dinner we will once again sail out into the Icefjord. We’ll start a little earlier on day two, as on top of our usual ice hunt we will be visiting several small settlements to the south, including Kangia, Qasigiannguit, and/or Ilimanaq. The final stop will depend on the conditions of the ice.

Greenlandic settlements tend to be colourful, with colonial style buildings full of character, providing plenty of photo opportunitites. On our journey back we will hunt for some open-water icebergs, which vary in size, and come in a staggering variety of shapes. Castles, archways, towers – we will spend plenty of time under the midnight sun photographing these natural masterpieces. We’ll arrive back in Ilulissat around 1 a.m.

© Iurie Belegurschi

© Iurie Belegurschi

After another late expedition, we’ll take some time out to rest after breakfast on day three. Following a quick lunch, we’ll hop aboard our boat and head to, depending on the conditions, either Oqaatsut or Rodebay. Rodebay is a small settlement to the north of Ilulissat. There we will take a walk through the village, which currently has under fifty inhabitants. Despite the small population there is a church, a shop and a school! We will eat out that evening, in what is known as the “whalehunter’s pub”, a small restaurant with a big history. There won't be a huge amount of options, so we may just go there for lunch instead – it will depend on their weekly schedule!

After eating we will head back to Ilulissat and begin a night hike to Sermermiut and the nearby Sermeq Kujalleq glacier. This is where all of the Disko Bay icebergs begin their journeys. Our walk will start from the outskirts of Ilulissat, before heading past Seqinniarfik, and up to the hilltop where local people meet the first rays of sun on January 13th every year. The path is straight, for the majority fitted with wooden paving. It will take about one hour each way, with striking views and comfortable slopes. We will have plenty of stops on the way, and enjoy the midnight sun while keeping an eye out for the local wildlife. We will also spend a couple of hours harnessing our tripods and long exposures to take some memorable photographs of the Icefjord.

© Iurie Belegurschi

© Cuma Cevik

After another late night hike, we’ll settle in for a cozy sleep back at our hotel in Ilulissat. After breakfast our guides will take us through another post-processing session. As evening rolls around again, we’ll prepare for another night out on the water. Just before midnight we will once again set sail, skirting around the Icefjord in search of the best compositions and light conditions. The area is a UNESCO world heritage site after all, so it’s definitely worth exploring as much as possible. After several hours gliding over the waveless expanse we will head back to port.

© Iurie Belegurschi

© Iurie Belegurschi

After breakfast we will spend several hours having an in-depth session with two of our award-winning photography guides. By this point in the expedition, there will be a mountain of photos to process and plenty of questions to be answered. Our guides will do their best to satisfy your curiosity, give you tips, and improve your photography results as much as possible. As evening falls we will once again set sail in search of icebergs, wildlife and any spectacles that the midnight sun will illuminate for us.

© Iurie Belegurschi

© Iurie Belegurschi

Day six will be our last in Greenland. After a hearty breakfast we will have a farewell meeting, say our goodbyes and talk through some highlights. We hope you will leave with vivid memories, thousands of incredible photographs, and your skills with a camera taken to another level.

© Iurie Belegurschi

© Iurie Belegurschi