Arctic Marathon

Flights arrive in Copenhagen, Denmark and will transfer on their own to the Copenhagen Marriott Hotel.  Your Marathon Tours & Travel hosts will meet you at the hotel and there will be an optional light training run in the late afternoon along the Nyhaven (New Harbor) River. You have this evening to explore some of this city’s famous restaurants just a short walk (or ride) from our hotel.

Following breakfast, enjoy a two-hour Grand Canal Tour, which will introduce you to the most interesting capitals in Scandinavia. There is an optional 4:00 PM light training run along the Nyhaven River, or if you prefer, we recommend you join the locals for a refreshing swim in the river. We look forward to seeing you at the evening cocktail reception, followed by a welcome dinner and the important mandatory race check-in/briefing at the hotel. (Breakfast and dinner included)

Enjoy today by exploring more of Copenhagen on your own or join us for an optional day tour to nearby historic sights.

Optional Day Tour – Today we will explore historic sights outside of Copenhagen, including the interactive Viking Ship Museum that is built around five original Viking ships from Skuldelev. For a royal journey through time we will visit The Roskilde Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage, with 800 years of history as the burial church for Danish monarchs. The tour also includes time to explore the imposing exteriors and interiors of Frederiksborg and Kronborg castles, the latter set on the banks of the Sund between Denmark and Sweden, and most notable as the site of Elsinore in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Soak up the romantic setting of Frederiksborg Castle in Hillerød, surrounded by a beautiful lake and gardens.

You have this evening to explore some more of this city’s famous restaurants. (Breakfast included)

After breakfast, we board our chartered flights in Copenhagen, Denmark, bound for Kangerlussuaq on the west coast of Greenland.

Situated at the head of a 160km long fjord of the same name, Kangerlussuaq is Greenland’s only inland town, and was established as Soderstrum Air Base/Bluie West-8 by American troops in 1941. Existing largely to service the airport, the town of Kangerlussuaq itself retains a strong ‘Cold War’ feeling, hinting at its extensive American military use before it was signed over to the Greenlandic Government in 1992. Today Kangerlussuaq is Greenland’s largest air hub, with flights arriving daily from Denmark and around the country. Its stable climate and lack of fog makes it ideal as an airport, but it exhibits some of the most varied temperatures in the country, commonly registering the highest summer and lowest winter temperatures due to its inland location.

Upon arrival in Kangerlussuaq, you will be transported to the small port located west of the airport, where the Ocean Albatros awaits at anchor. Zodiacs will transfer us the short distance to the ship, where you will be checked in to your stateroom. While enjoying dinner and a glass of champagne we set sail on a course for adventure along the 160-kilometre Kangerlussuaq fjord. (Breakfast and dinner included)

After breakfast, Ocean Albatros will arrive in the colorful city of Sisimiut. With around 5,400 inhabitants, it is Greenland’s second largest city, and one of the most interesting to explore. Paleo-Inuit people have lived around Sisimiut on and off since 2,500 BC, arriving in waves of migration from Arctic Canada. Remnants of turf huts and tent camps from this time can be found throughout the vast back country which surrounds Sisimiut, including on Tele Island, a pleasant short walk from the harbour.

In 1756, Count Johan Ludvig Holstein established a colony here and called it “Holsteinsborg”. The oldest part of Sisimiut features town houses from this era, and the oldest dates back to 1756. One of the most culturally significant buildings is the Blue Church, built in 1775, now a landmark in the city’s historical museum district, arguably the best preserved in Greenland, and the perfect place to discover the Greenland of old.

Nowadays, Sisimiut is an important hub of education and industry, and local factories process the bulk of fish caught in the country (Greenland’s largest export). The fish processing plant in the harbour is one of the largest in Greenland, and among the most modern in the world. Just beyond the harbour sits the headquarters of KNI, the government-operated company which resupplies the many small settlements throughout Greenland – a vital service in a country with so many remote communities.

The busy city center of Sisimiut offers a glimpse of what daily life is like in 21st-century Greenland, where seal hunts and smartphones collide. Take a refreshing stroll around Spedjesø and take in an exhibition at the city’s cultural center, explore the region’s fascinating heritage at the city museum, or visit the Artists Workshop, where savvy shoppers can purchase traditional artworks direct from the artist. As evening falls, we will leave Sisimiut and set a course for the iceberg studded waters of Disko Bay (Qeqertarsuup Tunua) as Ocean Albatros sails for Qeqertarsuaq. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

This is it. This is why visitors from all over the world come to Greenland. Translated from Kalaallisut simply as ‘icebergs’, Ilulissat is rightly known the world over as ‘the Iceberg Capital of the World’. Surely no other city on Earth occupies such a spectacular natural setting.

Situated within a short walk of the harbor lies Ilulissat Icefjord, Greenland’s most famous site. Choked with city-sized icebergs so closely packed one could almost walk across to the other side, Ilulissat Icefjord stretches 70 km from its outlet in Disko Bay near the city of Ilulissat back to the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier. This is the single largest glacier on Earth outside Antarctica, draining 13% of the Greenland Ice Sheet, and producing 10% of all the ice in the Northern Hemisphere (enough water to supply the annual needs of the entire United States). These mind-blowing statistics, together with the indescribably beautiful scenery, have secured the Ilulissat Icefjord designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

While archaeological finds detail the long Inuit habitation of the area, the modern town has steadily flourished in the 280 years since its establishment; legendary Arctic explorer, Knud Rasmussen was born in Ilulissat, and his childhood home now houses the city museum. Today, Ilulissat is Greenland’s third largest town, with more than 4,500 inhabitants, and is undoubtedly Greenland’s tourism capital, with more hotel rooms than even Nuuk. The city offers excellent amenities to visitors, with fresh locally caught seafood served in the city’s cafes and restaurants, and excellent shopping – look out especially for the Artist’s Workshop above the harbour, where you can buy handmade artworks direct from the artist. The city typically experiences dry sunny weather throughout the summer, and there are a variety of well-marked hiking routes around the Icefjord, with options to suit all abilities.

During the visit you will have the opportunity to join a boat trip with a local captain to the Icefjord (optional excursion – charge applies). The journey takes about two and a half hours and is considered the best way to experience the magic of Ilulissat Icefjord up close. If a hike or a trip by boat does not present enough excitement, there is also an opportunity to join a flightseeing excursion in fixed-wing aircraft over the Icefjord (optional excursion – charge applies).

Please note the boat and flight excursions to the Ice fjord are not included in the general tour price. Refer to Price Information for further details.  (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

Situated on the opposite side of Ilulissat Icefjord, the small village of Ilimanaq is the architype of rural Greenland. With a tiny harbor often choked with floating ice, clusters of multicolored houses, and an almost endless backcountry, this is what most people think of when considering this vast island country.

Ilimanaq, meaning ‘Place of Expectations’ in Greenlandic, was established during the whaling era, when Dutch, English and Danish whalers flooded the region in search of prey. Many of the other settlements in the region also date to this era, with Ilimanaq established as ‘Claushavn’ in 1752 by Poul Egede, son of the Danish missionary Hans Egede who re-established European contact with Greenland. The collapse in whaling stocks in the late 1800s meant a decline in the area’s fortunes, with Ilimanaq fading into obscurity, and nearby Ilulissat becoming the dominant city in Disko Bay.

More recently, tourism has become an important part of the economy of Ilimanaq. The church and the various buildings from the settlement’s days as a remote trading post have been lovingly restored and repurposed. Today, a set of swanky cabins overlooks the crystal-clear iceberg-studded waters of Disko Bay from the village, and the old warehouses have been converted into a Michelin-starred restaurant serving new Nordic cuisine with authentic Greenlandic ingredients.

Away from these modern additions, Ilimanaq remains deeply rooted in the hunting and fishing culture that has governed life in Greenland for millennia. Meat and fish are put out to dry next to the day’s laundry, and the only sound on the wind is the yowling of sled dogs.

The vast backcountry of Ilimanaq holds vast tundra plains, punctuated by rocky hills and fjords – a typically Greenlandic location to run in! (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

From Ilimanaq, Ocean Albatros will follow the rugged coast of Greenland southwards. All settlements in Greenland (except for Kangerlussuaq) are situated directly on the ocean coast of the country, and the vast majority of residents (some 50,000 or so) live on the narrow strip of coast on the west of the country, facing the Davis Strait. Ocean currents bring warm water up from the Atlantic to the west coast, enriching these wildlife-filled waters. During our day at sea, keep your eyes on the sea! Whales, seals and a huge variety of seabirds are common in these rich waters.

Days at sea are never dull. We will arrange a variety of activities onboard for our guests to enjoy and to engage the mind, body and soul. Join your knowledgeable Expedition Team lecturers in the Theatre to hear specially crafted lectures on local history, wildlife, geology, culture and more, unwind with a massage in the Albatros Polar Spa, or simply watch the seabirds gliding along the ship from our hot tubs as the Ocean Albatros flies along the coast of Greenland.  (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

A mixture of skyscrapers and traditional wooden houses, the quaint and the cosmopolitan, Nuuk is a city of contrasts. The vibrant bustling capital of Greenland, Nuuk feels much larger than its 19,000 inhabitants, and offers a wealth of experiences to visitors. The calm fjords around Nuuk have been inhabited by Paleo-Inuit cultures since at least 2200BCE, and archaeological evidence indicates waves of migration through the area as ancient hunters followed migrating prey. Around the year 100CE, Norse colonist from Iceland established the Western Settlement in the green meadows of Nuuk Fjord; these settlers mysteriously disappeared several hundred years later leaving the island to the Inuit, who were far better equipped to live in Greenland’s harsh environment.

The next Scandinavian to visit the area was Hans Egede, the controversial Danish missionary who ‘rediscovered’ Greenland, founding Nuuk as Godthåb (“Good Hope”) in 1728. Danish initiatives to modernize Greenland in the 1950s left a significant mark on Nuuk. While they brought significant improvements to the city’s infrastructure, the many large apartment blocks in the city attest to rapid (and sometimes haphazard) urbanization. In 1979, the Home Rule Act created the Greenlandic Parliament (Inatsisartut) and proclaimed Nuuk the capital. The city’s population continues to rapidly grow, with new suburbs being constructed beneath Ukkusissat, the mountain which looms to the east of the city.

Nuuk offers a huge amount to the discerning visitor; larger than any other city in Greenland, Nuuk has a bustling cosmopolitan vibe, and hosts some of Greenland’s best attractions. Swing by Kolonihavn district to visit the Greenlandic National Museum, a treasure trove of history stretching back to the first inhabitants of this icy island – including artefacts from the Paleo-Inuit and Norse periods, as well as the spellbinding Qilakistoq mummies. Explore Greenlandic culture at Katuaq, the city’s cultural center, and an architectural marvel; shop for authentic Greenlandic artworks in the city’s many boutique shops, or simply relax at a hip curbside café with a Greenlandic coffee and watch this vibrant city in action. Nuuk York (as proud locals call it) is unlike any other city in Greenland, or indeed the world. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

During the afternoon, Ocean Albatros will sail through the majestic mountains of Tunulliarfik Fjord towards the small village of Qassiarsuk. The southern fjords of Greenland offer a very different environment to the chilly north of the country. Situated at roughly 60°N, this region is level with northern Scotland or southern Scandinavia, with a climate to match. Here, the weather is calm, stable and humid, with much warmer summers and milder winters than in the rest of the country. In place of rocky hillsides, the fjords here are lined with lush green meadows and dotted with small sheep-farming settlements, of which Qassiarsuk is perhaps the best known.

While the modern village of Qassiarsuk was founded in 1924, the location has a fascinated and much longer history; it was here that Eric the Red, legendary Norse explorer settled after being banished from Iceland. He named the land he discovered ‘Greenland’ to encourage other settlers to follow him – a marketing ploy that has stood for over a thousand years!

Erik the Red settled in this green landscape and set up a small farmstead in typical Norse style, naming his new settlement Brattahlíð. Erik himself kept fiercely to the Norse gods, but his wife Thjodhild was a Christian. Legend has it, she refused to join his bed until he built her a church, which he eventually did, constructing a tiny hut (Þjóðhildarkirkja) which was nevertheless the first church in the Americas (although he refused to have it within view of his house).

The Norse settlers in Greenland stayed for almost 500 years but disappeared from all historical records in the early 1400s. Whether some plague or famine struck them, or whether deteriorating climate simply forced them to return to Scandinavia remains a topic of lively debate. Today the outlines of buildings (including Erik’s house and Thjodhild’s church) can be seen, along with stunningly accurate reconstructions of the farm. Modern Inuit farmers continue to raise sheep in the same farms as Erik the Red, and a statue of Erik now overlooks the village, commemorating the first European to reach the Americas, whose son Leif would be the first European to reach Baffin Island and Newfoundland. A site rich in fascinating history and culture old and new, the settlement of Brattahlíð is today part of the Kujataa UNESCO World Heritage Site. (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

South of Qassiarsuk lies Kap Farvel, or Cape Farewell, which is renowned not only as Greenland’s southernmost point, but also for its infamously challenging weather, which commonly features large swells and gale-force winds.

With this in mind, we deliberately opt for a far more comfortable but also more spectacular route, cruising via the inside passage of Prins Christian Sund. Known in Greenlandic by its typically descriptive name of Ikerasassuaq (‘the Big Strait’), this 60 km long waterway reaches from the small village of Aappilattoq out to the southeastern coast of Greenland, connecting the Labrador and Irminger Seas.

Prins Christian Sund is one of the most spectacular waterways anywhere on Earth. Kept free of ice year-round by strong tidal currents, the strait is hemmed in on either side by mountains which rise straight out of the water some reaching over 2,000m in height. Large glaciers flow from the ice sheet into the sea on the northern side of the strait, while sapphire blue mountain glaciers loom over the water from the southern side, and vast icebergs stud the glassy waters.

We will exit Prins Christian Sund into the Irminger Sea and set a course up the coast towards the fjord of Skjoldungen.  (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

Today’s adventure begins as we sail into magnificent Skjoldungen, a staggeringly beautiful fjord on the southeastern coast of Greenland. The fjord is named for Skjold, an ancient Danish King of Norse legend, while the Greenlandic name, Saqqisikuik, references the sunny climate of the area. Various archaeological finds on the island which sits in the middle of the fjord suggests nomadic Inuit groups visited and stayed in the area in years gone by; more recently, settlers were brought from Tasiilaq to settle the island in the 1930s but returned there thirty years later; some houses can still be seen on the southern side of the fjord. A small weather station was also operated on the island by the Allies during WWII.

Today uninhabited, Skjoldungen sits almost 300km from the nearest village, with Mother Nature its only ruler. Vast saw-toothed mountains lined with opalescent glaciers line the deep chilly waters of the fjord, which can freeze even in summer. At the head of the fjord lies the magnificent Thryms Glacier, a magnificent river of ice flowing down from the ice sheet. On the southern side of Thryms Glacier lies the sweeping U-shaped glacial valley of Dronning Maries Dal – a textbook example of a glacially produced landscape. Join your expedition team for a walk on the flower-lined floor of this valley, and marvel at the stunning scenery. Ensure you are on the outer decks on our approach and departure from this magnificent fjord too: you will not be disappointed!  (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)

During our time at sea approaching Reykjavik, a variety of activities will be arranged on board to provide our guests with the chance to reflect on their voyage. Relax with an expertly crafted cocktail in the Nordic Bar in the company of new friends, soak up the knowledge and passion of our Expedition Team during lectures, or simply enjoy the flight of the fulmars which accompany us towards Iceland.

During your last evening onboard, join the Captain and Officers for the Farewell Cocktail Party, followed by a presentation of photos and video by our onboard photographer – the ideal opportunity to re-live your Arctic adventure. Skål!  (Breakfast, lunch and dinner included)