Uunartoq Hot Springs

Uunartoq is an uninhabited island in south Greenland where three springs rise and feed a stone-walled pool at around thirty-eight degrees, the only hot springs in the country warm enough to bathe in comfortably. The Norse knew them and the pool has been used ever since. What makes it what it is, is the view from the water: mountains around and icebergs drifting in the fjord beyond the shore. There is a changing hut and nothing else.

What to look for

• The bathing pool - the stone-walled basin at around thirty-eight degrees.
• The iceberg view - the fjord and its ice visible from the water.
• The three springs - the sources feeding the pool.
• The uninhabited island - a site with no settlement or facilities beyond a hut.

When to go

June to September is the boat season. Weather and ice cancel trips. The pool temperature is constant year round but access is not.

Good to know

Access is by boat only and trips are cancelled in weather or ice. There is one changing hut and no other facility. The boat trip takes one to two hours each way.

Nearby

Qaqortoq is north, and Nanortalik is south.

Key facts