Greenland to Newfoundland: Mountains, Wildlife and Viking History

Reykjavik, the world's northernmost capital, distils the entire improbable beauty of Iceland into one compact, creatively charged city. The soaring basalt columns of Hallgrímskirkja dominate a skyline of primary-coloured rooftops, while the Harpa Concert Hall shimmers beside the harbour like a captured aurora. Day trips from the city unlock the Golden Circle's geysers and Geysir hot spring, the black sand beaches of Vík, and the ethereal glacier lagoon at Jökulsárlón. Geothermal pools — from the legendary Blue Lagoon to intimate neighbourhood hot pots — offer warmth year-round. June and July bring the bewitching midnight sun.

Kangerlussuaq Havn is the eastern Greenlandic gateway to the Scoresby Sund — the world's longest fjord system — where sheer basalt cliffs, colossal icebergs, and one of Earth's most isolated Inuit communities await expedition vessels from Ponant and Hapag-Lloyd. Visit July through September for muskox encounters, midnight-sun ice photography, and the Arctic in its most concentrated and demanding form.

Sisimiut is Greenland's adventure capital, a colourful Arctic town of 5,500 people just north of the Arctic Circle on the west coast. Must-dos include hiking the Arctic Circle Trail, whale watching for humpbacks and narwhals, and exploring the colonial-era museum. Summer brings midnight sun and hiking conditions, while winter offers dog-sledding, skiing, and northern lights.

Ilulissat sits beside the Northern Hemisphere's most prolific glacier — the UNESCO-listed Sermeq Kujalleq, which calves forty-six cubic kilometers of icebergs annually into a fjord of almost incomprehensible frozen spectacle. Visit June through August via Silversea or Hapag-Lloyd for midnight-sun zodiac cruises among hundred-meter icebergs, Knud Rasmussen's childhood museum, and the light show that transforms Greenland's ice into one of Earth's most transformative visual experiences.

Pangnirtung, an Inuit hamlet of fifteen hundred on Baffin Island, guards the gateway to Auyuittuq National Park—home to the world's greatest vertical cliff and a landscape that never melts. Internationally acclaimed printmaking and tapestry weaving from the Uqqurmiut Centre complement traditional Arctic char culture and dramatic fjord scenery. Seabourn navigates the fjord to this remote community where Inuit artistic sophistication and some of Earth's most extreme mountain landscapes create a Canadian Arctic experience of rare cultural and natural depth.

Baffin Island is the fifth-largest island on Earth, a vast Canadian Arctic wilderness of mountains, glaciers, and tundra that has been home to Inuit peoples for over 4,000 years. Must-dos include visiting the renowned Inuit art community of Kinngait (Cape Dorset), watching for narwhals and polar bears, and experiencing the dramatic landscape of Auyuittuq National Park. The expedition season runs July through August for the best wildlife activity and most navigable Arctic conditions.

Torngat Mountains National Park occupies Labrador's remote northern tip, where 3.9-billion-year-old mountains plunge into the Labrador Sea amid fjords, glaciers, and polar bear territory. Must-dos include Inuit-guided hiking with bear guards, base camp cultural immersion, and wildlife watching for caribou, Arctic foxes, and seals. The season runs only from mid-July to mid-September, when expedition ships and charter flights provide the sole access to this profoundly wild Arctic sanctuary.

Nain is the northernmost settlement in Newfoundland and Labrador, a small Inuit community serving as the capital of Nunatsiavut and the gateway to the spectacular Torngat Mountains National Park. Must-dos include experiencing Inuit culture and brass band music, tasting Arctic char and bakeapple berries, and exploring the glacier-carved Torngat Mountains. July through September offers the only ice-free window for visiting this remote Labrador coast.

L'Anse aux Meadows is the UNESCO-listed site at Newfoundland's northern tip proving Vikings reached North America around 1000 AD — five centuries before Columbus. Visit June through September via Seabourn or Viking for reconstructed Norse buildings, Parks Canada interpretive programs, and the haunting experience of standing where medieval Greenlanders made landfall on a windswept coast still visited by icebergs from their homeland.

St. John's is North America's oldest English-founded city, a colourful Newfoundland harbour capital where Jellybean Row houses climb steep hills, Marconi received the first transatlantic wireless signal, and icebergs drift past the harbour mouth each spring. Must-dos include climbing Signal Hill for Atlantic panoramas, the screech-in cod-kissing ceremony, and hiking to Cape Spear — the continent's easternmost point. Visit July or August for warm weather and iceberg season.