Nanortalik

Nanortalik is the southernmost town in Greenland, its name meaning the place of polar bears, which arrive on the drift ice in some years. It has around a thousand people and an unusually good open-air museum: a quarter of the old colonial harbour kept with its timber and turf buildings, including a store, a smithy and a Greenlandic turf house, laid out as it was. The town is the base for Tasermiut and the southern fjords.

What you actually see

• The open-air museum - the old harbour quarter kept with its original buildings.
• The turf house - the traditional Greenlandic dwelling in the museum quarter.
• The polar bear name - the animals that arrive on drift ice in some years.
• The fjord access - the base for Tasermiut and the southern fjords.

When to go

June to September is the season. Drift ice can close the harbour even in summer. Winter connections are very limited.

Honest expectations

Drift ice can block the harbour and strand people for days even in summer. Connections are by ferry and helicopter and both are weather dependent. Facilities are limited.

Nearby

Tasermiut is north, and Aappilattoq is southeast.