Visiting Greenland in summer and how to prepare for the mosquito swarms

Visiting Greenland in summer is worth it, in my view, for anyone who wants wild landscapes without the crowds. It’s not for people who want settled weather, though. In June it can snow one day and be 20°C a few days later. I’d also romanticised the midnight sun a little: after a few days I couldn’t wait for ordinary darkness.

Quick factsby Milan Bez Mapy

When

June to August (I went around 21 June)

Weather

I had 2–9°C, sun, rain and even snow in the forecast

Midnight sun

in Sisimiut from about early June to 10 July

Northern lights

not visible in summer; the season runs roughly from September to March

Mosquitoes

from about mid-June to the end of August; a head net costs about €11 locally

Getting around

between towns only by plane or on the Sarfaq Ittuk ferry

What is Greenland like in summer? June 2026 was my first Greenlandic summer. I’d been to Greenland twice before: Nuuk in April 2023 and Ilulissat in April 2024. This time I flew to Sisimiut, about 40 km north of the Arctic Circle. From there I sailed to Aasiaat for Greenland’s National Day.

Within a few days I saw people swimming in the sea, snow on the hills and swarms of mosquitoes like nothing I’d ever seen. What surprised me most, though, was the sun. When I woke up at two in the morning, it was so bright it nearly burned my eyes out. Here’s the documentary I filmed in Greenland:

When is the best time to visit Greenland in summer?

Greenland’s summer is short. It lasts roughly from June to the end of August, and each month looks a little different. I arrived around 21 June, the longest day of the year. It’s also the day Greenlanders celebrate their National Day.

July and August are also the main tourist season, including on the Sarfaq Ittuk. Sisimiut is usually at its warmest in late July, yet even then the average daily high is only about 10°C.

Summer is also the most expensive time to go. My return flight from Copenhagen to Sisimiut cost €1,200, even though I bought it six months in advance.

Weather in Greenland in summer: 9°C, people swimming in the sea and snow

When I landed in Sisimiut, the sun was out and it was about 9°C. I walked from the airport into town along the bay. People were swimming off the beach, which I hadn’t expected at all. Resistance to the cold must run in Greenlanders’ blood. It doesn’t run in mine.

The next morning my phone said 4°C, and it was a lovely day for a hike. By midday up on the hill, though, it had quickly turned cold, and back in town that evening it was 8°C. The following day my phone forecast 2°C, grey skies and snow. Later it poured. The weather was grim on the boat to Aasiaat, while on the way back the sun was shining. So in a few days I had almost every kind of weather. That’s why I say Greenland in summer isn’t for people who need certainty. It can snow here, and it can also be 20°C.

Why is the coast so cold in summer? The towns sit by a cold sea with icebergs floating in it. Behind them lies a huge ice sheet that covers almost 80% of the island. The inland area around Kangerlussuaq is further from the sea, so summers there tend to be warmer and drier.

Where to see the midnight sun in Greenland and why the sun never sets

North of the Arctic Circle, the sun stays above the horizon for at least one day a year. The further north you go, the longer this lasts. Sisimiut is only about 40 km beyond that line, so the sun here doesn’t set from about the start of June to 10 July.

Nuuk, by contrast, lies about 260 km south of the Arctic Circle. There’s no midnight sun there, just very bright nights in June. Ilulissat, meanwhile, is far to the north, and the sun doesn’t set there for roughly two months. On my first evening my weather app showed no sunrise and no sunset. After a hike I stayed up until midnight, because I had a ‘date with the sun’. From a small hill in the centre of Sisimiut I watched it hang low over the horizon, but it never disappeared. The Inuit believed that the Sun and the Moon were siblings chasing each other across the sky. To me it felt more as if the sun wouldn’t let me go to sleep.

Is the midnight sun exhausting? My experience in Sisimiut

For the first few days the midnight sun made me euphoric. After a few days, though, it started to wear me out. At 11pm my body wanted to go to bed, but the sun was shining through the window as if it were midday. I kept feeling I ought to be doing something.

On my last evening, at 10.38pm, I was already blacking out everything I could. My eyes were tired, and I was looking forward to an evening walk in the dark back home. On top of that I had jet lag, since Slovakia was three hours ahead.

• Tip from Milan During the midnight sun, a bedroom you can make properly dark is a big advantage. Mine had blackout windows, and I still covered up everything I could in the evenings.

Can you see the northern lights in Greenland in summer?

No. The northern lights happen all year round, but you simply can’t see them in a bright sky. If the aurora is your main reason to go, a summer trip to Greenland makes no sense, and you’ll need to come at another time of year. The season runs roughly from late August or September to March, in the south and around the Arctic Circle into April, while in the far north it is shorter.

I saw a wonderful aurora in Kangerlussuaq on one of my April trips. The settlement lies inland, where the air is drier and clear nights are more common than on the coast. If you’d rather not go all the way to Greenland, Tromsø in northern Norway is closer. In November I saw one of the most beautiful auroras of my life there. I compare all the places in my guide to where to see the northern lights, and I write about the city itself in what to see in Tromsø.

Mosquitoes in Greenland in summer: why there are so many and what helped me

I knew Greenland had mosquitoes, but I had no idea there would be so many. On my first evening I went for a walk and came back knowing I’d have to buy repellent in the morning. Then, at the start of my hike, I walked through whole swarms of them. I’d never seen anything like it.

I couldn’t get hold of repellent anywhere in Sisimiut. What I did buy was a head net for 80 Danish kroner, about €11, sold in a perfectly ordinary household goods shop. I also bought an after-bite stick that looks like lip gloss. The net ended up as one of my most original souvenirs. It kept the mosquitoes off and shaded me from the sun at the same time. I’d left my sunglasses at Copenhagen Airport, you see.

Why are there so many mosquitoes in Greenland in summer? Melting snow and ice leave the tundra full of small ponds and bogs, where the mosquitoes hatch. They also have fewer natural enemies here, such as dragonflies, fish and birds, than they do back home in Slovakia. In the most visited parts of Greenland the mosquito season runs roughly from mid-June to the end of August. Unlike tropical species, though, they don’t carry malaria or dengue. They’re mostly just annoying.

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Greenland in summer is perfect for hiking, including the Arctic Circle Trail (ACT)

Summer is hiking season in Greenland. Most trails are clear of snow by then, and since the sun doesn’t set, there’s no need to hurry to beat the dark. From Sisimiut I hiked to a hut shaped like a flying saucer, known as the UFO.

The sign by the trail said 16.6 km there and back with 323 m of ascent. It looked easy. Over the whole day, though, I clocked up 50,000 steps, so I think I actually walked further. The hike was harder than I’d expected because of the rocky ground and the switchbacks. Along the way I also came to a waterfall I didn’t want to risk crossing, so I had to find a way round it.

For the last five hours I didn’t meet a soul. What fascinated me was the sign saying I could refill my water from any stream. The rounded boulders in the valley give away that a glacier once filled it. The ice broke them off the rock and pushed them along in front of it. The UFO itself is a hikers’ hut above the Kangerluarsuk Tulleq fjord. It originally stood near Sisimiut, and in the 1980s a helicopter flew it here. All I found inside was a visitors’ book, an emergency foil blanket and a pen. I left a message of my own too, but I’m keeping what it says to myself. Greenland in summer is full of surprises.

This is what I like most about Greenland: tourism hasn’t ruined it yet. Ever since I read Journey to the Centre of the Earth, I’d badly wanted to go to Iceland. Then Wizz Air started flying there, Iceland turned into a mass-tourism destination and I lost the urge. In Greenland you can go hiking and not meet anyone all day. I describe the whole hike in detail in my article on what to see in Sisimiut.

• Tip from Milan Next time I’d take better waterproof hiking boots. In summer the tundra is full of water, and by the end of the day my boots and socks were soaked through.

Icebergs, snow and flowers: what Greenland looks like in summer

Most people picture Greenland as an endless white landscape. In summer, though, the tundra turns green and comes into flower. In June I saw lots of flowers and snow on the hills at the same time. I also saw birds, and sled dogs near the town.

In summer the dogs just rest, because without snow they have nothing to pull. Sisimiut is the southernmost town on the west coast where Greenlanders are allowed to keep them. That’s because north of the 66th parallel people may keep only Greenland sled dogs, so that the breed doesn’t mix with others. I saw the most icebergs from the boat. On the way back from Aasiaat I started counting them out loud and got to 49 in one go.

Icebergs begin as snow that builds up on the ice sheet for thousands of years until its own weight presses it into ice. That ice slowly flows towards the coast, where chunks break off into the sea. According to the most widely held theory, the iceberg that sank the Titanic in 1912 also broke off in Greenland.

Getting around Greenland in summer: planes, the Sarfaq Ittuk ferry and delays

Not a single road links Greenland’s towns. You can only travel by plane or by boat. So here you don’t measure distance in kilometres, but in flights, hours at sea and whether anything takes off at all today.

From Copenhagen I flew direct to Nuuk, where a new runway for large aircraft opened in November 2024. I remember there was little more than a shed here in 2023. This time the new terminal reminded me a little of Bratislava Airport, with a long hall and shops. From Nuuk I continued to Sisimiut on a small propeller plane. On the way home I flew from Sisimiut to Kangerlussuaq, which took only 35 minutes. At Sisimiut Airport nobody checked me or looked in my luggage. I didn’t go through security until the flight to Copenhagen.

The other option is the Sarfaq Ittuk ferry. It runs almost all year, but it usually doesn’t reach Disko Bay, home to Aasiaat and Ilulissat, until May. I paid €400 for the return trip from Sisimiut to Aasiaat and slept in a shared cabin with seven other people. You’ll find the timetable and tickets on the website of the operator, Arctic Umiaq Line.

• Tip from Milan On a flight to Greenland, a window seat is a must in my book. Flying into Nuuk over glaciers and fjords is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever experienced on a plane.

My flight wasn’t delayed. On the way back, though, lots of other flights around Greenland were. As a result, several passengers missed their connecting flight to Denmark, and the airline rebooked them onto the next one. That’s how I came to fly from Kangerlussuaq to Copenhagen on an almost empty plane. The weather here changes plans from one minute to the next, and delays are common.

• Tip from Milan If I had an onward flight from Copenhagen, I’d leave plenty of time between the two.

Visiting Greenland in summer for National Day on 21 June

On the morning of 21 June I sailed into Aasiaat, a small island town of about 3,000 people. People with little flags were already waiting at the harbour, because it was Greenland’s National Day. Greenlanders celebrate it on the longest day of the year. Summer in Greenland means celebrations.

Ten minutes after getting off the boat, I joined the procession on the spur of the moment. I walked behind an old man who was carrying the Greenlandic flag to the church. After the service, people gathered in the local hall for coffee and cake. They cancelled the 11am seal hunt, which was a shame. At 1pm, though, there was a thank-you for the people who help the community, and at 2pm a free barbecue for everyone.

Google Translate came to the rescue too, even though it has only spoken Greenlandic for the last two years. Without it I wouldn’t have known whether to use the toilet marked Arnat or Angutit, in other words women or men. Everyone I met smiled at me. The children were playing, and I didn’t see anyone on their phone. It struck me that this is what Slovakia is missing. People back home no longer get together as a community, and everyone just does their own thing. I’m working on a separate article about the whole day.

What to pack for Greenland in summer and what I was missing

Over a few days the temperature ranged from 2°C to 9°C, with rain, sunshine and even snow in the forecast. These are the things I really needed in Greenland in summer, or wished I’d had:

• Waterproof hiking boots. Mine couldn’t cope with the waterlogged tundra.
• Sunglasses. I left mine behind in Copenhagen, and the sun shines all day and all night.
• A mosquito head net. I bought one locally for about €11.
• Repellent. I couldn’t find any in Sisimiut.
• An after-bite stick. I bought that locally too.
• Sun cream with SPF. The sun is strong north of the Arctic Circle, even when it isn’t warm.
• Cash. My host wanted 200 kroner (about €27) in cash for a late check-out.

How much does a summer trip to Greenland cost? My prices from June 2026

It isn’t cheap. To give you an idea, this is what I paid:

In Sisimiut I stayed on the ground floor of a family house, and the owner lived upstairs. He simply left the keys in the door, which fascinated me. One thing didn’t go to plan, though. I did my washing with what I thought was liquid detergent. Only at the second wash did I turn the bottle round and discover it was floor cleaner.

What to see in Greenland, where to go next and more of my tips

Once again, my summer trip to Greenland exceeded all my expectations. I say that after every visit. Next time I’d like to go to the far south, to the area around Qaqortoq and Nanortalik. That’s where Greenland’s only natural forest grows, in the Qinngua Valley. And one day I’d like to go all the way north too.

If you’re heading for the west coast, have a look at what to see in Sisimiut. Of all the places in Greenland, I liked Ilulissat and its Icefjord best. Nuuk, on the other hand, is the busiest city in the country. If you’re changing planes, I’ll tell you what to do in Kangerlussuaq. Before you go, it’s also worth getting to know typical Greenlandic dishes.

Greenland reminded me that you don’t always need more. Sometimes a community that sticks together and nature that makes you stop for a moment are enough. Greenland in summer has a special place in my heart.

Happy travels!