Ilulissat in brief
- Where
- West Greenland, about 200 km north of the Arctic Circle
- The ice fjord
- UNESCO World Heritage Site, inscribed 2004
- The glacier
- Sermeq Kujalleq, the most productive in the Northern Hemisphere
- Glacier speed
- Up to 40 metres per day at its fastest
- Access
- Flights via Nuuk or Kangerlussuaq; some expedition cruises call here
What Is Sermeq Kujalleq?
Sermeq Kujalleq — also called the Ilulissat or Jakobshavn Glacier — is the most productive glacier in the Northern Hemisphere, moving up to 40 metres per day at its fastest and calving vast volumes of ice into the fjord behind the town. It is the largest single contributor to ice loss from the Greenland Ice Sheet.
The numbers behind the scenery explain it. The glacier drains an enormous share of the ice sheet's output into one narrow fjord, and the icebergs that result are so large they ground on the underwater moraine bar at the fjord's mouth — some for years — before breaking free into Disko Bay.
That traffic jam of ice is precisely what visitors come to see: a fjord permanently choked with bergs, and a bay beyond it scattered with skyscraper-sized icebergs waiting for the current.
What Are the Sermermiut Hikes?
Sermermiut is the classic walk from Ilulissat: marked boardwalk trails leading through the ruins of ancient Inuit settlements to dramatic lookout points directly over the ice-choked fjord. It is an easy half-day on foot from town and the single best land-based view of the glacier's output.
People have watched this fjord for thousands of years — Sermermiut was settled by successive Inuit cultures long before Ilulissat existed — and the boardwalk keeps the fragile ground protected while putting you at the fjord's edge.
Go in the evening if you can. In midsummer the low midnight sun turns the ice in the fjord gold, and most day visitors have already left.
What Is Disko Bay Cruising Like?
Disko Bay cruising means moving slowly among enormous icebergs stranded on the moraine bar at the fjord's mouth, by tour boat from town or by Zodiac from an expedition ship. Evening departures under the midnight sun, when the bergs glow amber and rose, are the signature Ilulissat experience.
Humpback whales feed in the bay through summer, and it is common for a whale to surface between the bergs while you are out among them.
Whale season and iceberg season overlap neatly here — July through September covers both, which our best time to visit guide explains month by month.
What Is the Eqi Glacier Excursion?
Eqi Glacier — properly Eqip Sermia — lies north of Ilulissat and is reached by boat. Unlike the ice fjord, where the glacier hangs back from view, Eqi offers front-row viewing of a calving ice wall directly from the water, with frequent collapses into the sea.
Most excursions run as full-day boat trips, and some stay overnight at a small lodge facing the glacier. If Ilulissat's ice fjord is the grand landscape, Eqi is the close-up: sound, spray and falling ice.
Guided helicopter tours and 4x4 overland excursions from town also reach the edge of the inland ice cap itself, for travellers who want to stand on the ice sheet rather than beside it.
Have We Been to Ilulissat Ourselves?
Not yet — and we would rather say so plainly. Our firsthand Greenland is the east coast: Scoresby Sund and the southern fjords aboard the National Geographic Resolution in July 2026. This guide draws on the experiences of clients we have sent to Disko Bay and on our operator partners there.
The distinction matters when you plan with us. If you ask about Scoresby Sund, we will tell you what the ice smelled like at midnight. If you ask about Ilulissat, we will tell you what our clients consistently report, which ships call there, and which we trust — and we will not confuse the two.
The east-coast account — Scoresby Sund, Bernstorff Isfjord, Skjoldungen, Tasiilaq and Kulusuk — is in our Greenland journal, and the ship is profiled on our National Geographic Resolution page. Our East versus West Greenland guide sets the two coasts side by side.
Ilulissat questions
Why are the icebergs in Ilulissat so large?
Sermeq Kujalleq drains a vast share of the Greenland Ice Sheet into one narrow fjord. The resulting icebergs ground and choke at the shallow moraine bar at the mouth of the bay before finally breaking free into the sea.
Can you walk on the ice sheet from Ilulissat?
Yes. Guided helicopter tours and 4x4 overland excursions from town take travellers directly to the edge of the inland ice cap.
How do you get to Ilulissat?
By air via Nuuk or Kangerlussuaq, or aboard an expedition cruise that calls on the west coast. There are no roads between Greenlandic towns.
How many days do you need in Ilulissat?
Two to three full days covers the Sermermiut boardwalk, an evening Disko Bay cruise and an Eqi Glacier boat trip, with slack for the weather delays that are part of Arctic travel.
More on Greenland
Greenland itineraries
Where Ilulissat fits among the west, east and southern routes.
East versus West Greenland
The iceberg coast against the wilderness coast.
Best time to visit Greenland
Midnight sun, aurora season and when ships sail.
Greenland wildlife guide
Whales in Disko Bay, and what lives beyond the icebergs.
Our East Greenland journal
What we know firsthand: ten days on the east coast, July 2026.