Expedition to the Thule Region

From 1941 to 1992, the town of Kangerlussuaq in Greenland was home to an American military base. Nowadays, thanks to its international airport, it has become a transit point for travellers seeking adventure in the Far North. Located to the north of the Arctic Circle, this town is the starting point of magnificent discoveries surrounded by unspoiled nature. Indeed, just a few dozen kilometres from there it is possible to get close to the Greenland ice sheet, the largest body of ice in the Northern Hemisphere.

From Kangerlussuaq, admire also the superb landscapes of tundra in autumnal colours, where Arctic hares, musk oxen, Arctic foxes, reindeer, falcons and eagles live.

During your cruise, we invite you to discover Sisimiut, founded in 1756 and the second largest town in Greenland. This small town is typical of Greenland, boasting bewitching panoramas: here and there, colourful stilt houses dot the undulating landscape, and the small fishing port stands as the gateway to an icy realm. As for the town centre, it is home to a number of historic buildings, a small church and a museum which retraces the history of the Inuit people, as well as many craft shops. When your ship drops anchor here, you will set out to meet the locals in a typically arctic atmosphere.

Disko Bay is scattered with countless icebergs produced by the Ilulissat Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. From your ship, admire the majestic ballet of these ice giants as they slowly drift across the dark waters. This site is a natural marvel of Greenland, and is also renowned as an observation point for the region’s many humpback whales.

Visitors can choose to explore the bay by small boat, to head ashore to stroll through the town of Ilulissat or to enjoy a walk to the idyllic Sermermiut valley. Ships will anchor offshore and tenders will be provided to the shore.

"The most beautiful place in the Arctic" is how Paul-Émile Victor described Greenland, a land of great icebergs and of towering ice formations calved by the giant glaciers of the polar ice cap. The Eqi Glacier is one of the region’s most impressive sights. Here, the silence is broken only by the roaring and cracking of the ice. It is impossible to know if one is shivering from cold or from the sheer thrill of being here.

Imagine the vast outline of a glacier, its translucent crystals glowing with an ice-blue fire in the sunlight. Paul-Émile Victor’s shelter cannot be overlooked; it was from here that the French Polar Expeditions’ anthropological and geographic explorations set off in the 1950s.

In the curve of Uummannaq Bay, opposite a narrow passage between two islands, you will discover the moonscape of the small desert island of Akulleq. The ochre yellow and orange of this mineral site look ablaze under the sunshine of the polar summer. From the island’s summit you will be able to contemplate a panoramic view of the bay’s magical landscape and its huge icebergs with surprising shapes.

Beyond the Arctic Circle, in the majestic landscapes of Greenland’s Northwest, lies the village of Kullorsuaq, the last bastion of Greenland’s traditional hunters. A place of vast mineral expanses, sumptuous mountains, impressive glaciers and a local population which still lives off fishing and seal or bear hunting.

Hospitality and respect for nature are essential elements in the daily lives of the locals, who live an austere life. Visitors can meet these friendly people who are also talented craftsmen, deftly sewing the furs and skins of marine mammals.

Savissivik, a small Inuit village with less than a hundred inhabitants, is a magical place. Considered to be the biggest iceberg graveyard in Greenland, it is a stunning sight to behold.

During a Zodiac outing, you can sail between these icy giants. Once on land, you can hike to a viewpoint from which to enjoy breathtaking views over these icebergs, which come in an incredibly diverse range of shapes and colours.

Savissivik Bay attracts many bears and is also known for having been the home of one of the world’s biggest meteorites, but the latter has now been moved to a museum in New York.

Thule, the region located to the northwest of Greenland, is the mythical name used to designate the Far North. The presence of many drifting icebergs calved from the glaciers of Greenland and sheets of ice floe can make sailing tricky - but spectacular - in this region. You will attempt to sail as far north as possible and if you are lucky enough you will perhaps observe one of the many polar bears that roam this favourable environment. You’ll perhaps visit traditional villages such as Dundas (“old Thule”) and Siorapaluk, Greenland’s northernmost native settlement, where you will probably be greeted by a joyous group of children, who are always happy to welcome visitors.

During your journey at sea, make the most of the many services and activities on board. Treat yourself to a moment of relaxation in the spa or stay in shape in the fitness centre. Depending on the season, let yourself be tempted by the swimming pool or a spot of sunbathing.

This journey without a port of call will also be an opportunity to enjoy the conferences or shows proposed on board, depending on the activities offered, or to do some shopping in the boutique or to meet the Ponant photographers in their dedicated space. As for lovers of the open sea, they will be able to visit the ship’s upper deck to admire the spectacle of the waves and perhaps be lucky enough to observe marine species. A truly enchanted interlude, combining comfort, rest and entertainment.

On Baffin Island, located in northern Canada at the mouth of the famous NorthWest Passage, there is a small Inuit settlement at the very bounds of infinity. To get there, cross the Arctic Circle, the imaginary line that separates man from lands of mystery and wonder. It’s not so much the way of life that sets Pond Inlet’s inhabitants apart, so much as the setting. Snow-capped mountains, fjords and glaciers combine in a dazzling natural environment that fills space and expands time. Some discoveries change you forever: this is one of them.

Located in Baffin Bay, Devon Island is part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Anchored on the Arctic Cordillera, its rocky surface, similar to that of Mars, is of great interest to scientists. Robert Bylot and William Baffin were the first Europeans to sight Devon Island in 1616 but it would be mapped two centuries later by the British sailor William E. Parry, who named it after the eponymous English region. Around 1920, the Hudson's Bay Company set up a fur-trading outpost there, until the departure of the Inuits in 1936. A new attempt to populate it was made at the beginning of the 1950s. Only a few buildings in ruins, vestiges of that time, remain today.

On the southern coast of Devon Island, Dundas Harbour, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police post in the early 20th century, keeps watch over the entrance to the Northwest Passage. This site has been frequented for centuries by the Inuit, who call it Talluruti - or “woman’s chin with tattoos on it” in Inuktitut - in reference to the lines of the landscape which are reminiscent of their traditional tattoos. Its hills, covered in taiga reflecting greens, browns and golds, are edged by the deep navy waters of a bay dotted with white and turquoise ice floe glistening in the sunlight.

The ship makes its way deeper into North Arm Fjord, leaving you free to admire the spectacular geological formations that plunge abruptly into the emerald-green waters of Baffin Bay. When the temperature rises and the ice begins to melt, Nunavut becomes one of the best places in the world to observe the wildlife of the Arctic.

Be on the lookout for polar bears, which hide away amongst the scree to seek out the freshness of the permafrost. On the water’s surface, you could get the chance to glimpse the tusk of a narwhal, or perhaps the silhouette of an orca or a bowhead whale. And in the sky, it is not uncommon to see a colony of arctic fulmars with their impressive wingspan gliding near the ship.

The east coast of Baffin Island is a real lacework of fjords. Among them, in the north, is the spectacular Icy Arm fjord. As you sail these parts, you’ll be dazzled by the immense cliffs that are sometimes over 1,000 metres high. This is a paradise for base jumping (parachute jumping from the top of the cliffs).

During your stop here, you will have the opportunity to hike at the feet of these mountains and within the glacial valleys. Keep your eyes open when you get back on your boat: you’ll probably get the chance to observe marine mammals, such as whales, orcas and even narwhals.

During your journey at sea, make the most of the many services and activities on board. Treat yourself to a moment of relaxation in the spa or stay in shape in the fitness centre. Depending on the season, let yourself be tempted by the swimming pool or a spot of sunbathing.

This journey without a port of call will also be an opportunity to enjoy the conferences or shows proposed on board, depending on the activities offered, or to do some shopping in the boutique or to meet the Ponant photographers in their dedicated space. As for lovers of the open sea, they will be able to visit the ship’s upper deck to admire the spectacle of the waves and perhaps be lucky enough to observe marine species. A truly enchanted interlude, combining comfort, rest and entertainment.

Your ship glides slowly along the water towards the west coast of Greenland, to enter Evighedsfjorden, just a few kilometres south of Kangerlussuaq. Evighedsfjorden means “the fjord of Eternity”, and for good reason: just when you think you’ve reached the end of this stretch of sea measuring over 100 kilometres in length, it seems to go on forever, as though to bring even more pleasure to those sailing in it. The spectacular scenery ranges from glaciers to tundra with an abundant flora, and jagged cliffs where numerous bird species have taken up residence. Take the time to observe the white-tailed eagles and the colonies of seagulls and black-legged kittiwakes flying overhead in the area.

Located in western Greenland, Kangerlussuaq is the country's main air transport hub. Thanks to an American military base turned international airport it has become a transit point for travellers seeking adventure in the Far North.

Just a few dozen kilometres from here it is possible to get close to the Greenland ice sheet, the largest body of ice in the Northern Hemisphere. From Kangerlussuaq, visitors can also admire the superb landscapes of tundra in autumnal colours, where Arctic hares, musk oxen, Arctic foxes, reindeer, falcons and eagles live.