Northwest Passage: Self-Launched Arctic Expedition (Canadian High Arctic & Greenland)

Fly independently into Reykjavik Keflavik International Airport (KEF). Book your own flights — typical returns from London are £200–£350 with Icelandair or easyJet. Stay at a central Reykjavik hostel or guesthouse. Spend the day exploring the city: walk up to Hallgrímskirkja church, stroll the Laugavegur shopping street, and visit the Reykjavik City Museum (free or ~£5). Grab dinner at one of the many casual fish restaurants near the Old Harbour.

🚌Flybus from Keflavik Airport to Reykjavik city centre — ~£20 one way

🛏Kex Hostel or Loft Hostel Reykjavik — dorm from £30/night, private room from £80/night

• →Self-guided walk to Hallgrímskirkja church
• →Explore Laugavegur street and the Old Harbour area
• →Visit the National Museum of Iceland (£8 entry)
• →Dinner at a harbour-side fish restaurant

Take a morning flight from Reykjavik (RKV Domestic Airport) to Nuuk, Greenland. Air Greenland operates this route; book directly at airgreenland.com — expect fares of £350–£550 one way. On arrival in Nuuk, explore this colourful capital city set against the Sermitsiaq mountain backdrop. Visit the Greenland National Museum (free–£5) to get context on Inuit culture before boarding your independently booked expedition vessel in the afternoon. All meals are included aboard ship from this evening.

🚌Air Greenland flight Reykjavik–Nuuk, ~£350–£550 (book direct at airgreenland.com)

🛏Aboard your independently booked Arctic expedition vessel

• →Morning flight Reykjavik to Nuuk (Air Greenland, book direct)
• →Visit Greenland National Museum
• →Walk the colourful colonial Old Town (Kolonihavn)
• →Board expedition vessel and attend safety briefings

Set sail from Nuuk eastward across the Davis Strait toward Baffin Island. Spend the day on the outer decks scanning for seabirds — great black-backed gulls, black guillemots — and marine life. Attend onboard lectures by expedition naturalists (included with your vessel booking). Cross the Arctic Circle at 66°33′N. Use the ship's observation lounge and onboard amenities between briefings. All meals included aboard ship.

🚌Ship sailing Davis Strait — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Wildlife spotting from outer decks (seabirds, marine mammals)
• →Attend onboard polar expert lecture series
• →Cross the Arctic Circle
• →Relax in the ship's observation lounge

Arrive at Qikiqtarjuaq ('Qik'), a small Inuit hamlet north of the Arctic Circle on Broughton Island. Go ashore via Zodiac (included with vessel). Visit the community, browse local Inuit art and traditional handicrafts — parkas, boots, carvings. Hike up to the hilltop for sweeping coastal views and spot inukshuks. Look for ringed and harp seals between ice floes in the surrounding waters.

🚌Zodiac tender to shore — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Zodiac shore landing at Qikiqtarjuaq hamlet
• →Browse and purchase local Inuit art and handicrafts
• →Hike to hilltop viewpoint over the community and iceberg-filled bay
• →Wildlife spotting: ringed and harp seals, migratory birds

Cruise north along the mountainous east shore of Baffin Island to Isabella Bay — one of Canada's most important bowhead whale feeding areas. Launch Zodiacs to explore the bay at water level. Bring binoculars and keep watch for bowhead whales (the world's longest-lived mammal, up to 200 years). Optional sea kayaking may be available here through the vessel's paddling programme (typically included or available for a small supplement of ~£20–40).

🚌Ship and Zodiac — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Zodiac cruise through Isabella Bay
• →Bowhead whale watching
• →Optional sea kayaking/paddleboarding (vessel supplement ~£20–40)
• →Birdwatching from outer decks

Explore Icy Arm Fjord — a rarely visited fjord cutting 80km deep into northern Baffin Island, accessible only by water in summer. This is one of the most remote and spectacular wilderness experiences on the planet. Watch for polar bears, Arctic foxes, walrus, seals, and cliff-nesting seabirds. Launch Zodiacs for a sea-level cruise among towering cliffs and glaciers. Optional sea kayaking available.

🚌Ship and Zodiac — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Zodiac cruise through Icy Arm Fjord
• →Wildlife spotting: polar bears, walrus, Arctic foxes, kittiwakes
• →Optional sea kayaking among glacier faces
• →Photography of cliff landscapes and glaciers

Enter Tallurutiup Imanga (Lancaster Sound) — the gateway to the Northwest Passage. Go ashore at Dundas Harbour on Devon Island to visit the ruins of an abandoned Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost. At Croker Bay, take a Zodiac cruise close to calving glaciers and watch for walrus in the waters. Listen to onboard historical presentations about the Franklin Expedition in the evening.

🚌Ship and Zodiac — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Shore visit to abandoned RCMP outpost at Dundas Harbour
• →Zodiac cruise at Croker Bay glacier
• →Walrus spotting
• →Evening lecture: History of the Franklin Expedition

Go ashore at Beechey Island, maintained by Parks Canada as a National Historic Site. Walk to the graves of three Franklin Expedition officers — John Hartnell, William Braine, and John Torrington — who perished here in 1845–46. Guided interpretation by the vessel's onboard historians brings the tragedy to life. The island's plateau rises 244m above sea level with sweeping views across Lancaster Sound. A humbling and unforgettable experience.

🚌Zodiac shore landing — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Shore landing at Beechey Island National Historic Site
• →Visit graves of Franklin Expedition crew members
• →Hike up to the island plateau (244m)
• →Historian-led interpretation of the Franklin Expedition

Zodiac cruise at the base of Prince Leopold Island's dramatic cliffs — home to hundreds of thousands of nesting seabirds including thick-billed murres, northern fulmars, and black guillemots. This Important Bird Area is one of the Arctic's greatest wildlife spectacles. Afterwards, visit Port Leopold on Somerset Island — the ruins of a Hudson's Bay Company trading post dating to 1937, historically linked to the search for the Franklin Expedition.

🚌Ship and Zodiac — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Zodiac cruise beneath Prince Leopold Island bird cliffs
• →Seabird colony spotting: murres, fulmars, guillemots
• →Visit ruins of Port Leopold Hudson's Bay trading post
• →Photography of Arctic coastal landscapes

A scenic sailing day as the vessel repositions southward from Lancaster Sound along the east coast of Baffin Island. Spend time on deck taking in jagged coastal spires, sweeping tundra, and seabird life. Catch up on onboard lectures by glaciologists and Arctic naturalists. A good day to use the ship's spa, write up your journal, or review your wildlife photography.

🚌Ship sailing southward — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Scenic deck time along the Baffin Island coastline
• →Attend onboard lecture: Arctic glaciology or Indigenous Arctic history
• →Wildlife spotting from outer decks
• →Relax and review photography

Explore Sam Ford Fjord — one of the world's most spectacular big-wall landscapes, with sheer granite cliffs rising 457m straight from the sea. A traditional Inuit hunting ground, this fjord narrows to under 3km wide as it winds 110km inland. Zodiac cruise among the cliff walls and look out for Arctic foxes onshore and polar bears on the ice. Optional sea kayaking available for paddlers.

🚌Ship and Zodiac — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Zodiac cruise through Sam Ford Fjord
• →Photography of 457m granite cliff faces
• →Wildlife spotting: Arctic fox, polar bears
• →Optional sea kayaking (supplement ~£20–40)

A full day at sea as the vessel crosses back east across the Davis Strait toward the west coast of Greenland. Attend the day's schedule of expert presentations — setting the context for the Greenland leg of the journey. Scan the open ocean for fin and minke whales. A restful, contemplative day at sea in the high Arctic.

🚌Ship sailing Davis Strait — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Onboard expert lectures: West Greenland ecology and Inuit culture
• →Whale watching from outer decks
• →Relax in observation lounge
• →Photography of open Arctic ocean

Arrive at Ilulissat in Disko Bay — home to the UNESCO-listed Ilulissat Icefjord. Walk the town's boardwalk to the elevated overlook above Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, one of the world's fastest-moving glaciers, which calves enormous icebergs into the fjord. Explore the colourful town itself: visit the Knud Rasmussen Museum (birthplace of the great Arctic explorer, ~£8) and browse the inner harbour where icebergs drift among fishing boats.

🚌Zodiac tender ashore — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Boardwalk hike to Ilulissat Icefjord UNESCO viewpoint
• →Visit Knud Rasmussen Museum (~£8)
• →Explore Ilulissat town and inner harbour
• →Photography of icebergs and fishing boats

Continue exploring the Disko Bay region, with Zodiac excursions among icebergs, visits to Greenlandic fishing settlements, and optional hikes across the tundra. Look for humpback and minke whales feeding around the bay. The long Arctic summer daylight allows for extended evening excursions and photography in remarkable golden light.

🚌Ship and Zodiac — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Zodiac cruise among Disko Bay icebergs
• →Visit a local Greenlandic fishing settlement
• →Tundra hike with Arctic wildflowers and cotton grass
• →Whale watching: humpback and minke whales

Final full day of Arctic exploration, sailing the dramatic West Greenland coastline. Final Zodiac excursions, birdwatching, and wildlife spotting. Attend a farewell recap presentation with the expedition team. In the evening, the ship heads toward Kangerlussuaq for disembarkation tomorrow.

🚌Ship sailing toward Kangerlussuaq — included in vessel booking

🛏Aboard expedition vessel

• →Final Zodiac excursion in West Greenland
• →Birdwatching and wildlife spotting
• →Farewell lecture and expedition recap with naturalist team
• →Evening photography as ship sails toward Kangerlussuaq

Disembark at Kangerlussuaq. Book your own flight from Kangerlussuaq (SFJ) to Calgary (YYC) — Air Greenland flies to Copenhagen (CPH) with onward connections, or charter arrangements may be available via the vessel operator. Budget for a connecting flight via Copenhagen or Ottawa. On arrival in Calgary, check into a budget hotel or hostel for the night. Celebrate your Arctic adventure with dinner out in Calgary.

🚌Air Greenland/SAS/Air Canada flight Kangerlussuaq–Calgary (via hub), ~£500–£900 — book at airgreenland.com or skyscanner.net

🛏HI Calgary City Centre Hostel — dorm from £25/night, private room from £70/night

• →Disembarkation at Kangerlussuaq
• →Flight from Kangerlussuaq to Calgary (via Copenhagen or Ottawa) — book independently
• →Arrive Calgary — check in to hostel/budget hotel
• →Celebratory dinner in Calgary

Enjoy a final breakfast at your Calgary hostel. If time permits before your onward flight, explore Calgary's vibrant Beltline neighbourhood, visit the free Peace Bridge over the Bow River, or browse the Calgary Farmers Market. Head to Calgary International Airport (YYC) for your flight home. Book your return flight independently — London Heathrow (LHR) is well-served from YYC with British Airways and Air Canada, typically £450–£800.

🚌Taxi or Calgary Transit to YYC Airport (~£15–35). Return flight to London ~£450–£800 — book at ba.com or aircanada.com

🛏N/A — fly home

• →Final breakfast in Calgary
• →Optional: explore Calgary Beltline neighbourhood and Peace Bridge
• →Optional: visit Calgary Farmers Market
• →Fly home from Calgary International Airport (YYC)