The fjord full of floating ice bushes is the most famous tourist attraction in Greenland and is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site due to its extraordinary natural beauty.

The wide sea fjord cuts inland from Disko Bay to a depth of 40 km and ends at the Greenland Ice Sheet, the second largest ice sheet in the world after Antarctica.

The Icefjord (sometimes spelled "Icefiord") is one of such significant attractions that it is worth travelling to Greenland for the Icefjord alone.

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A body of water dotted with ice floes

While Greenland has countless fjords that touch glaciers and are dotted with ice floes, the Ilulissat Icefjord stands out among them all.

Ice floes of all shapes and sizes float silently on the surface of the fjord all year round. Even in the warmest months (July and August), the Icefjord is dotted with hundreds and thousands of bushes.

The proximity to a major city also makes Ilulissat Icefjord perfectly accessible by foot and boat.

All the shrubs come from the Jacobshavn glacier, which is one of the most productive in the world.

The glacier flows at a rate of 20-35 metres per day and breaks off 20 billion tonnes of ice every year. And it all ends up in the Ilulissat Icefjord.

Walking along the fjord

As we've already hinted at, Ilulissat Icefjord is superbly accessible on foot along convenient marked trails.

There is even a wooden walkway leading to the site of the former settlement of Sermermiut, which is popular with locals who often come here for walks with their strollers.

There are a total of 3 marked hiking trails around the fjord.

The yellow trail

Starts at the southern edge of Ilulissat near the local power station and leads over the rocks along the coast to the visitor centre

• The path is the least well-trodden in the terrain and passes over rocks and heathland, but is manageable for less trained travellers
• 3 km
• Beautiful views of both the fjord and Disko Bay

Blue route

The longest and most popular route runs through the dog town, but on a fairly busy tarmac road that is frequented by quite a few people.

If you don't have a good feeling about dogs, don't worry. Working dogs are used to pedestrians, especially in this part of Ilulissat, and they have to be chained up anyway, except for puppies.

From the visitor centre, the aforementioned wooden walkway leads directly to the fjord, from where you can continue along the coast for about 2 km.

After that, the blue trail turns steeply up a beautiful valley and follows the river back to Ilulissat. At this end you will pass right through an area where dogs are kept for sledging, but here too all dogs must be chained.

• The path is clear for its entire length and is generally not physically demanding
• The total distance is 8 km.

Red route

The least interesting route is just a link from the visitor centre to the more easterly parts of the blue trail and runs mainly across heathland and moorland.

It is a suitable alternative to the blue route if you do not want to return the same way.

A diversion from the blue trail

Where the blue trail turns inland from the sea through the valley back to Ilulissat, you can turn off onto an unmarked but well-trodden path that continues along the fjord for another 8 km in one direction.

However, the scenery along this route is very similar to that along the blue trail.

In the map below we mark this route in green, although it is not officially marked in any way in the terrain.

Boat trips on the fjord

If you want to discover the fjord with its magical ice lands in all its glory, we definitely and absolutely recommend going on a boat cruise.

There are many different companies operating in Ilulissat, and cruises take place several times each day during the season from June to mid-September.

Cruises are quite common even in the winter season, as long as the fjord is not frozen and if there are enough participants (usually at least 4), cruises are also held in the absolute low season in April and October.

The normal price for a 2-hour cruise is between 85 eur and 120 eur per person, and we describe in detail where to book and our experience in the chapter What to do in Ilulissat.

Sightseeing flights over the fjord

Enjoy an ethereal bird's eye view and pay for a helicopter or plane flight over the Icefjord.

Most flights always continue to above the Jacobshavn glacier.

We took the helicopter flight and it was one of the best travel experiences ever. We summarize the experience, highlights and practical information in our Review of the helicopter flight over Ilulissat.

What to see around

Discover all the places to see in Ilulissat.