Welcome to the world’s largest island. Look forward to intensive expedition days that will bring you closer to Greenland’s spectacular contrasts between the ice-covered Disko Bay and the few settlements beyond Old Thule. In the summer, the island paints a colourful picture: icy white, lush green, deep brown and dazzling yellow. A vast and silent landscape home to relics of a 4,500-year-old culture – seemingly almost forgotten by the world. Your personal Arctic adventure gets off to an impressive start with the Eqip Sermia Glacier and its white wall of ice. In the small town of Uummannaq, a museum recalls the expeditions of Alfred Wegener, a German who conducted research in Greenland. A hike with your experts will take you to “Santa’s summer house”, the setting of a Danish TV series. Storoen seems almost like a Martian landscape. The desert isle displays many different shades from ochre to red. It’s the ideal terrain for a hike and an excursion with your experts to explore the geology. Life in Greenland is shaped by fishing and hunting – and the same goes for Kangersuatsiaq, situated on a small island in the Upernavik archipelago. Its colourful houses and natural harbour reflect the enchanting untouched north.

The further north the HANSEATIC inspiration goes, the greater the excitement on board. Will the ice conditions allow you to reach remote coasts with their moving history of settlements and exploration? Time and again, Zodiac landings offer the opportunity for hikes through fascinating landscapes. Early Inuit groups settled in the Qaanaaq region over 4,000 years ago. The town itself was built in 1953 for the people that were moved to make way for a US airbase. Life in the village of Siorapaluk is almost unbelievably isolated. The country’s most northerly settlement lies on a narrow beach at the foot of some gently rolling mountains. With luck, your travel diary will include encounters with seals, musk oxen and reindeer. Your team of experts will provide fascinating information about various chapters in history: for example Knud Rasmussen, who founded a missionary station in North Star Bay in 1909 and later Old Thule, the world’s most northerly trading post. He used the profits to finance his Thule expeditions to research the Inuit culture. Walk in his footsteps as you visit old turf houses. Cruising off Cape York brings breathtaking views of bizarre ice formations. A rocky crest bears a memorial to the American explorer Robert Edwin Peary, who set out from here on his North Pole expeditions at the end of the 19th century.

Qeqertarsuaq, founded on Disko Island in 1773, is particularly full of character – enter the small town through the whalebone gateway. The chances of seeing whales are very good in these waters. Explore the backdrop of a fascinating basalt mountain with your experts or hike through the Arctic tundra to the Windy Valley. Be amazed by Ilulissat in the company of your experienced experts. Hike to the ice fjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site with the highest concentration of icebergs in the whole country. The end of the cruise brings a very special highlight: Disko Bay. Cruising and Zodiac rides will place you right at the centre of this spectacle with drifting ice sculptures that originate from the Jakobshavn Glacier. The world’s fastest glacier, it produces more than 40 km³ (9.6 mi.³) of ice each year. Your summer polar adventure on the HANSEATIC inspiration will leave you with unforgettable memories of Greenland.