Greenland

Greenland & The Arctic (Lonely Planet Travel Guides)

Kayak past towering icebergs, dog-sled frozen tundra to picture-postcard villages, marvel at the midnight sun or dancing northern lights – Greenland and the Arctic are the perfect backdrop to an unforgettable experience. Whether you crave quiet solitude or bold adventure, this inspiring and practical guide takes you to the heart of the cold north.

Exploring Made Easy – slumber in colorful cottages, dine on reindeer or sail the coast in style, with our extensive, practical listings

Plan Your Adventure – inspiring itineraries for exploring the Arctic Circle, from Lapland to Deadhorse, Nuuk to the North Pole

Get Beneath The Surface – topical coverage of cultural and environmental issues affecting the region, with chapters on indigenous peoples and Arctic research projects

Amazing Endeavours – from Norse voyages to legendary explorers, storybook adventures uncovered in our dedicated history and exploration chapters

The First Crossing of Greenland

Across Greenland on Skis - an intriguing account of the first successful crossing of Greenland. Though it's been noted that Peary wanted to be the first to cross Greenland, Nansen beat him to it.

As early as 1882, Nansen began to consider plans for a journey across Greenland, the world's largest island. The interior of this barren land had remained completely unexplored, and in scientific circles of the time the most diversified and remarkable theories were held on conditions there. Nansen was keen to ascertain for himself what the country was like and felt that skis were the most suitable means of progression in these inhospitable regions - the aeroplane was, of course, still many years in the future. He had made a public announcement of his intentions in 1887, and in 1888, together with five companions, he put his plan to the test - and triumphed.

Lonely Planet Iceland, Greenland & the Faroe Islands (Lonely Planet Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands)

From Antarctica to Zimbabwe, if you're going there, chances are Lonely Planet has been there first. With a pithy and matter-of-fact writing style, these guides are guaranteed to calm the nerves of first-time world travelers, while still listing off-the-beaten-path finds sure to thrill even the most jaded globetrotters. Lonely Planet has been perfecting its guidebooks for nearly 30 years and as a result, has the experience and know-how similar to an older sibling's "been there" advice. The original backpacker's bible, the LP series has recently widened its reach. While still giving insights for the low-budget traveler, the books now list a wide range of accommodations and itineraries for those with less time than money.

Journey north with Lonely Planet and discover wonders for travelers of any budget. LP's Iceland, Greenland & the Faroe Islands contains more than 100 maps; details on food and accommodations; advice on trekking routes and organized tours; notes on Arctic phenomena, flora, and fauna; extensive transportation details; plus useful arts and culture sections. The author's intriguing sidebars range from pieces on "Puffin Release" and "Wild Island Cuisine" to "Plutonium Peril in Pituffik." --Kathryn True

Pack your bags for an unparalleled polar experience. Whether it's raving in Reykjavik, dogsledding in Disko Bay or fishing in the Faroes, this value-packed guide to one of the world's final frontiers will guarantee you make the most of the midnight sun.

• 106 detailed maps, including hiking routes
• extensive listings of places to say, eat and be entertained
• Icelandic, Greenlandic and Faroese language sections
• all the transport options from ice breakers to bicycles

This Cold Heaven : Seven Seasons in Greenland

From the acclaimed chronicler of open spaces, Gretel Ehrlich, comes a stunning and lyrical evocation of a practically unknown place and people. Beginning in 1993, Ehrlich traveled to Greenland, the northernmost country in the world, in every season--the four months of perpetual dark (in which the average temperature is 25 degrees below zero), the four months of constant daylight, and the twilight seasons in between--traveling up the west coast, often by dogsled, and befriending the resilient and generous Inuits along the way. Greenland, unlike its name, is 95 percent ice--a landscape of deep rock-walled fjords, glaciers, narwhal whales swimming among icebergs the size of football fields, walruses busting through oceans of shifting ice. In the far north, the polar Inuit--the "real heroes"--still dress in bear and seal skins, and hunt walrus, polar bears, and whales with harpoons. The only constant is weather and the perilous movements of ice, the only transport is dogsled, and the closest village may be a month and a half-long dogsled journey away. The people share an austere and harsh life, lightened with humor and the fantastic stories of Sila, the god of weather, Nerrivik, the goddess of waters, of humans transforming themselves into animals, and interspecies marriages. Interwoven with Ehrlich's journey is the even more remarkable story of Knud Rasmussen, the founder of Eskimology, an Inuit-Danish explorer and ethnographer who took some of the most hazardous and brilliant expeditions ever, including a three and a half-year, 20,000-mile adventure by dogsled across the polar north to Alaska. Like Rasmussen, Ehrlich learns that the landscape of Greenland is "less a description of desolation than an ode to the beauty of impermanence." Alternately mind-expanding, gripping, and dreamlike, This Cold Heaven is a revelation. --Lesley Reed

For the last decade, Gretel Ehrlich has been obsessed by an island, a terrain, a culture, and the treacherous beauty of a world that is defined by ice. In This Cold Heaven she combines the story of her travels with history and cultural anthropology to reveal a Greenland that few of us could otherwise imagine.

Ehrlich unlocks the secrets of this severe land and those who live there; a hardy people who still travel by dogsled and kayak and prefer the mystical four months a year of endless darkness to the gentler summers without night. She discovers the twenty-three words the Inuit have for ice, befriends a polar bear hunter, and comes to agree with the great Danish-Inuit explorer Knud Rasmussen that “all true wisdom is only to be found far from the dwellings of man, in great solitudes.” This Cold Heaven is at once a thrilling adventure story and a meditation on the clarity of life at the extreme edge of the world.

Greenland Ventures

Visitor's Guide to Iceland & Greenland (Visitor's Guide to Holland)

Lonely Planet Iceland Greenland and the Faroe Islands: A Travel Survival Kit

Denmark, Greenland and Faroes National Road Map (Red Cover)

Driving to Greenland

Peter Stark's Driving to Greenland delivers the many voices of winter with a crystalline clarity. Intensely personal and often electrifying, Stark's collection of essays, now in paperback, share a love for winter with an acute eye for its scientific virtues as well as the grandness of ice and snow. Following the autobiographical introductory essay, "A Life Built on Snow," 11 essays are divided among three sections: "The Way Down: Winter Sports," "The Road North: Arctic Travel," and "On the Surface: Snow and Ice." In "The Way Down," Stark relates his hair-raising adventures--experiments, really--ski-jumping, luge-running, taking on the frightfully steep Aztec run at Aspen, and skiing with World Extreme Skiing Champion Doug Coombs. Writings in "The Road North" evoke a strong sense of place, as Stark hops into a VW bus and heads for Greenland, explores the duality of Iceland's fire and ice, and paddles into the legacy of the sea kayak. "On the Surface" brings the collection nicely to a close with an intimate, and at times magical, sense of wonder. Of midnight ice-boating, Stark writes, "You're released from friction as well as sprung from time and space, aware only of raw speed--a slender projectile wrapped in the scream of the wind and the roar of the runners."

Within these covers Stark relates life's lessons learned at the brink, often at high speeds, as he slips, regains an edge, and rights himself again and again. An elegant and wise book. --Byron Ricks

This essay collection showcases Stark's infatuation with snow and ice, winter sport, and arctic travel.

Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands (Lonely Planet Travel Survival Kit)