Qaanaaq is the northernmost city in the world. Rovaniemi may not have its features, but it could certainly accommodate Santa Claus and the elves of our fairy tales.
Located in Greenland, it has 600 residents who live on this northern tip of the globe. Of course, both weather and environmental conditions are extremely difficult for this and a trip to the northernmost city on the planet requires serious preparation for everything!
The temperature in Winter is -20 to -28 degrees Celsius which means practically you don't go there in the winter months. The best option to go to is July when the weather is noticeably better but remains drier. From 2 to 7 degrees Celsius indicates the thermometer in July and that temperature makes Qaanaaq accessible to non-Eskimos. The weather shows that everything there is marginal and that is why it is a travel destination for those who want to see and feel the limits of the human body!
The town is home to some beachfront homes on a beach somewhere to the west and about in the middle of Greenland. There is a hotel, a restaurant and a mini market, there are no trees, no cars and the roads are… dirt roads. But there is an airport not big enough just to land and take off small passenger aircraft.
Electricity is powered by an oil-powered station and melted by ice. Although all this is enough for the "hospitality" of tourists, it is not so. The catering is done twice a year by the sea and that is enough to realize that the city is operating on a self-sufficient basis and that they are not generous in frozen Greenland. Life is very difficult, as long as one thinks that the toilet does not use running water because it freezes. Fish and seal meat are the staple food, while heating is always a question mark.
Getting to Qaaanaaq is not an easy affair, though for Greenland there are several travel agencies that organize tours from Denmark, to which Greenland belongs, and from Iceland. Usually from Copenhagen the first goal is to reach Nuuk, the capital city of Greenland, and then start a journey sometimes by air or sea to the north from city to city and from settlement to settlement to reach the northern city of Qaanaaq.
It is definitely a special journey, a real adventure with risk. The ultimate destination rewards you because nothing you see and live is common in our everyday lives.
