16 August

Greenland: Sisimiut

The name Sisimiut means ‘the people living in a place where there are fox dens’, though these days the town is better known for being Greenland’s northernmost year-round ice-free port. Around 25 miles north of the Arctic Circle, it’s a common stop for ships making the journey north to Disko Bay.

17 August

Greenland: Disko Bay

Disko Bay is one of Greenland’s most spectacular sights, where calving glaciers send huge icebergs floating out across the water. These bergs can be several kilometres in length, and are sculpted into weird and wonderful shapes by the weather. Whatever you do, don’t forget your camera!

18 August

Greenland: Eqi Glacier (Paul Emile Victor Base)

Eqi Glacier is one of the largest and most active in Greenland, calving several tonnes of ice into Eqi fjord daily. The sight and sound of the huge slabs crashing down into the sea creates a truly dramatic spectacle, and the surrounding iceberg-strewn waters are also home to humpback whales.

19 August

Greenland: Akulleq

20 August

Greenland: Kullorsuaq

21 August

Greenland: Savissivik

The little Inuit village of Savissivik, home to fewer than 100 people, is the only settlement on Meteorite Island, named after the Cape York Meteorite which crash landed here thousands of years ago. The island is surrounded by vast glaciers that calve icebergs into the sea, and the locals survive by hunting seals, narwhal, beluga whales and polar bears.

22 August to 23 August

Greenland: Qaanaaq (Thule)

Qaanaaq is the northernmost town in Greenland and one of the most northerly settlements in the world, still popularly known as Thule after the ‘ultima Thule’ of antiquity. The town’s 600 hardy inhabitants endure permanent darkness in winter, while summer brings four months of 24-hour daylight.

24 August - At sea

25 August

Canada: Pond Inlet

The small Inuit settlement of Pond Inlet sits at the entrance to the fabled Northwest Passage, on the north coast of Baffin Island. A dramatic landscape of fjords, glaciers and icebergs provides a habitat for wildlife including whales, seabirds, seals and narwhals, the otherworldly ‘unicorns of the sea’.

26 August to 27 August

Canada: Radstock Bay (Devon Island)

Devon Island is the world’s largest uninhabited island, a barren and frozen place that is used by NASA scientists to carry out research on the practicalities of missions to Mars. The chilly waters off the coast support species including bearded seals, harbour seals and humpback whales, and if you’re lucky you may even spot polar bears.

28 August to 30 August - At sea

31 August

Arriving in Nuuk

Greenland’s capital and largest town, Nuuk is positively cosmopolitan compared to the rest of this remote and isolated country. The setting amongst mountains and fjords is striking, and attractions include the Greenland National Museum and the picturesque Old Harbour.