Home to just 450 residents, Ittoqqortoormiit (formerly known as Scoresbysund) in eastern Greenland is the most remote inhabited community in the western hemisphere.
Founded in 1925 by a team of Inuit settlers, this tiny town is nestled between the world’s biggest national park, Northeast Greenland National Park, and the glaciers and towering fjords of Scoresby Sund.
Ittoqqortoormiit is frozen for nine months a year, and its temperatures often creep towards the minus 4 °F (20 °C) mark. It was mapped for the first time in 1822 by English Arctic explorer William Scoresby.
The settlement with the brightly painted wooden buildings has just one cozy lodging (Ittoqqortoormiit Guesthouse), a pub serving delicious drinks one night a week, one grocery store, a couple of small convenience stores and a post office.
If you are the adventurous kind, Ittoqqortoormiit is an epic bucket list destination for hunting, hiking, kayaking, and snow sledding with dogs or… wolves. Its remote location makes it perfect for spotting the famous Northern Lights. This tiny town is also surrounded by all sorts of wildlife such as halibut, narwhals, walruses, polar bears, reindeer, and musk oxen.
Wondering when to visit? Due to its harsh weather, visitors usually reach Ittoqqortoormiit during spring, however, this is still not an easy feat. You first have to fly into Reykjavik, Iceland. After that, you need to join the boarding crew of a smaller plane and then fly to Akureyri, another Icelandic town, where you will have to spend the night. The next day, a third plane will get you to Constable Point airport in Greenland, where a helicopter will wait for you to finally transfer you to the remote land of Ittoqqortoormiit.