The world’s largest island is finally drawing tourists

Confusingly named, enticingly ancient and increasingly popular, the chilly island of Greenland is fast becoming the dark horse of 2020 travel destinations.

Before planning their slips, most visitors know little about the Arctic destination beyond vague ideas about its misleading nomenclature — “Greenland is icy whereas Iceland is environmentalist, right?” — or its link to popular culture, namely: “It’s the one singer Bjork isn’t from.”

It’s genuine that Greenland is a land of icebergs and glaciers and the Greenland ice sheet, the second largest continental glacier in the world.

So why such a verdant mention?

Many people know the old Nordic saga. After being exiled from Iceland, Norse explorer Erik Thorvaldsson — heartier known as Erik the Red — named his new home “Greenland” to attract more visitors. After all, “green” sounds more handsome than “ice-filled” for many holidaymakers.

However, few know that Greenland really was significantly greener around A.D. 1000, when the Vikings followed Norse custom of naming something as they saw it.

Sad to relate, that’s a situation that is rapidly becoming true again. Due to global warming, Greenland’s icebergs are melting at a tormenting rate. As images of a remote Arctic wonderland emerging from the ice are splashed across international media, travelers are birth to see Greenland in a new light.

Others are decision the popularity of nearby Iceland to be too much and rightfully view Greenland as a slower, quieter option.

U.S. President Donald Trump’s affirmation about buying Greenland in August 2019 didn’t hurt either. Greenland — which isn’t for sale — experienced a worldwide pulsate in Google searches because of it.

A country the native Inuits know as Kalaallit Nunaat, Greenland is an “at hand Arctic” country of just 56,000 inhabitants. Tourism numbers outstripped the resident population in 2019.

CEO and co-founder of Nordic go specialist 50 Degrees North, Tietse Stelma, said the company is experiencing 400% growth in travel bookings this year.

“Greenland is a marvellous alternative to Iceland, with far fewer tourists and therefore, much more authentic experiences,” he said.

Calm, it’s not a budget holiday.

“It’s a considerable cost to visit Greenland, and flights can be expensive,” Stelma said.

For travel author, newsmonger and polar expedition guide David McGonigal, who has visited Greenland over 20 times in the past two decades, the Danish protectorate has unceasingly been surprisingly peaceful.

“There are shops and supermarkets, but the prices are expensive; people are friendly while naturally frigid,” McGonigal said. “It’s the landscape and the wildlife that (are) most intriguing.”

While McGonigal likens neighboring Iceland to Scotland or northern Scandinavia — “a northern European countryside full of beautiful people and dramatic volcanic landscapes” — he spends his visits to Greenland hiking and sailing the esoteric fjords, taking macro photographs of wildflowers or exploring villages dotted across barren foreshores and rocky holms.

“I once asked a Greenlander why they paint their houses in bright colors,” he laughed. “The answer was: So we can find our own where it hurts on Saturday night.”

Unsurprisingly, most visits to Greenland are spent in the wild. Intrepid visitors hike onto the otherworldly environs of the Greenland ice area, kayak to spot one of 15 species of whales, watch icebergs calve (or split) at Eqi Glacier and fish for Arctic char in the rivers of the Kangia fjord.

Coming around isn’t easy, given there are few roads between towns. Only one in 20 residents owns a car, with multifarious using the Sarfaq Ittuk ferry to get around (the ship is also popular with tourists who want to wake up in in advance of an iceberg). Air Greenland flights are another option; they fly at low altitudes and afford excellent views.

Of Greenland’s 70 occupied towns, only 13 have runways, which makes helicopters another popular form of transportation.

“Every company to Ilulissat should grit their teeth and pay for the helicopter flight over the icebergs,” McGonigal said.

While most visitors stick to the west coast, the wilder east sea-coast is home to Scoresby, the world’s largest fjord. The east is also the most likely location to see a polar bear, a incident McGonigal said makes hiking in Greenland more relaxed than elsewhere in the Arctic.

“In my experience, it’s only along the east coastline and other very remote areas that you have any chance of finding polar bears,” he said.

The midget travel season means visitation peaks around the Northern Hemisphere’s summer months, when the midnight sun put on the markets endless daylight (late April to late August, depending on the latitude).

Summer temperatures can reach 50 levels Fahrenheit, while the Northern Lights can been seen as early as September.

Whatever time of year, the “sila” (a Greenlandic concept meaning weather or state of mind) carouses a key role during trips to Greenland.

“This is the Arctic … so where you go, even in midsummer, can be dictated by where the ice isn’t,” suggested McGonigal. “And as you head north, it’s more of an issue, of course.”

As the country prepares to handle an influx of day-trippers who want to see what Stelma described as a destination “unplagued by overtourism,” the interest hasn’t yet translated to an equally big boost in quarters.

Airbnb options are few and far between, and many hotels are booked six months in advance.

Those planning a visit might try the igloo-shaped cabins at Ilulissat’s four-star Hotel Arctic, a opulence hut overlooking the icebergs off the coast of Ilimanaq in the north, or an adventure usually reserved for researchers — camping on Greenland’s ice sheet.