15-day Arctic small ship cruises – East Greenland – Fjords and Northern Lights

Welcome to Reykjavík, the world's northernmost capital city! We’ve arranged hotel accommodation where you can rest after your flight and prepare for our upcoming Arctic adventures. Still, have some energy left? Then use this opportunity to explore the city, which offers visitors various points of interest and attractions. Enjoy the panoramic city view from the Perlan observation deck, the futuristic Hallgrímskirkja church towering over the city, cozy houses with colorful tin roofs, narrow streets, historic relics of the Viking era, and breathtaking landscapes surrounding Reykjavik. We bet you’ll fall in love at first sight! Walk along Laugavegur, Reykjavik’s main shopping street, or visit the Whales of Iceland exhibition and the National Museum. For dinner, Reykjavík offers countless options to enjoy an authentic Icelandic meal.

After breakfast at your hotel, the morning is yours to explore the city. Take a leisurely stroll through peaceful gardens or appreciate the abundant birdlife at Tjörnin, a placid lake in the city's heart. You can also use do some last-minute shopping for souvenirs and other necessities. Just don’t go overboard with your clothing purchases: you’ll soon be presented with your own expedition parka that you can keep and waterproof boots to borrow for the duration of the cruise. Our expedition starts in the afternoon. You’ll be transferred to the pier, where our expedition team will offer a warm welcome aboard our comfortable vessel M/V Sea Spirit. Get settled into your spacious cabins and explore the ship — It’ll be your home away from home during this extraordinary adventure. After departure, we’ll kick off our adventure with a full schedule of info briefings and introductions from the expedition staff. After a sumptuous dinner, step out onto the open decks to admire the spectacular views as we sail through Faxaflói. And keep your eyes open for whale encounters!

From Reykjavik, we head southwest across the Greenland Sea toward East Greenland. In these far northern latitudes, we may encounter sea ice at any time of the year, even in August. We’ll keep an eye out for iconic marine mammals. In previous eras, large numbers of various species of whales lived in the Greenland Sea. However, these gentle giants were on the verge of extinction due to hunting (which was conducted up until the 20th century). Fortunately, populations are now recovering, and we’ll spot them on our cruise with some luck. Want to learn more about the unique flora and fauna of the Arctic? Become an Arctic expert in no time with our onboard lectures and briefings!

East Greenland is famous for its giant icebergs the size of ten-story buildings, huge mountains, blooming tundra landscapes, and the best spots in the world to see northern lights. Get ready for an unforgettable adventure, but remember — our exact itinerary heavily depends on weather and sea ice conditions. Rest assured. Our experienced captain and expedition leader will take advantage of every opportunity to see wildlife, discover incredible scenery, and land ashore. You’ll see Northeast Greenland National Park, an absolute bucket list item on your East Greenland cruise! This park is not just remote; it is of a massive scale – more than 100 times the size of Yellowstone National Park and larger than all but 29 nations around the globe. Just imagine miles and miles of untouched wilderness in the world’s largest and northernmost national park! We’ll sail through ice floes alongside the snowy peaks of the Franz Josef Fjord and Kong Oscar Fjord, and Zodiacs will carry us to the most inaccessible spots for landings on pristine polar beaches. Due to its remoteness, fewer than 1,000 travelers visit Northeast Greenland National Park each year, so count yourself among the fortunate few to witness such a spectacular area. Tidewater glaciers create colossal icebergs that float with the wind and tide throughout the fjord system. We’ll be stepping ashore to explore the fields of multicolored tundra home to musk oxen and Arctic hare. These landscapes — vast, open, and seemingly untouched since the beginning of time — are a hiker’s paradise. This area also finds ancient Thule archeological sites, historical trappers’ huts, and modern Inuit hunters’ cabins.

This part of our voyage focuses on the spectacular fjords, coasts, and islands of Scoresby Sund. While sailing the waterways of this stunning fjord system, we are constantly watching out for marine mammals, including a variety of seals, walruses, and narwhals, which can be spotted at any time. Narrow passages, colossal icebergs in sparkling blue waters, and polychromatic mountains capped with fresh snow - a trip through Scoresby Sund sets a new standard for “scenic.” We’ll take advantage of summer weather to go ashore as often as possible for hiking, photography, or simply enjoying landscapes found nowhere else on earth. Small sheltered harbors like Hekla Havn and the breathtaking landscapes of Vikingebugt will give you fantastic photo ops. And don’t forget to sign up for kayaking right when booking the cruise, so you don’t miss out on exploring this beautiful area at your own pace. We plan to visit the modern Inuit village of Ittoqqortoormiit, the only permanent settlement in the region and one of the most remote communities in the world. The village boasts a beautiful museum, bookstore, handmade crafts for sale, post office, and an abundance of Greenlandic sled dogs. It’s late August, and the short Arctic summer in East Greenland is almost over, which means as the night falls, the darkening sky becomes a stage for nature’s greatest celestial performance — the Northern Lights. East Greenland is one of the best places in the Arctic to view this otherworldly natural phenomenon, so don’t miss out on it! Step out onto the deck at night, and hopefully, you’ll get to see these magic lights dancing in the sky.

By now, you’ve surely fallen in love with East Greenland, but it’s time to head back across the Denmark Strait toward Iceland. Presentations and workshops by our expert staff and our range of onboard recreation facilities ensure that this day at sea is not idly spent. Enjoy an abundance of seabirds and whale watching from our panoramic open deck and your cabin’s balconies.

Welcome back to Iceland! Today is our expedition's last day, and we will spend it to the fullest! Our Zodiacs will take us to the Dynjandi waterfalls, also known as “the Jewel of the Westfjords.” Dynjandi means ‘thunderous’ in Icelandic, and you will soon understand why the falls got this name. These majestic waterfalls cascade approximately 100 m, falling in a trapezoidal shape: Dynjandi is twice as wide at the bottom than on top and looks exactly like a beautiful bridal veil.

Our adventure concludes at the port of Reykjavík. We disembark and provide a transfer to the airport or the city center if you plan to extend your stay in Iceland. It is always sad to say goodbye, but why not join us on another expedition, like to Antarctica, for example? We’ll be delighted to welcome you aboard again on one of our future journeys!