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Greenland

Sisimiut (Holsteinsborg), Greenland

Sisimiut: Colonial Houses, Saqqaq Roots, and the Coastal End of the Arctic Circle Trail

Sisimiut lies about 75 km north of the Arctic Circle on Greenland's west coast, and its harbor is the northernmost in the country that stays free of ice all year. Sled dogs here are working animals, usually kept on chains, so admire them from a distance and ask their owner before you touch any dog.

Good to know

What Cruise Travelers Should Know About Sisimiut

Your ship will tell you whether it ties up in Sisimiut's harbor or brings you ashore by tender. Most of what visitors want to see lies along one road that rises from the harbor, and a town bus runs a loop through Sisimiut, stopping at each point about every 20 minutes.

  • Sisimiut is Greenland's second-largest town, with 5,582 people in 2020, and the seat of Qeqqata municipality.
  • Cash machines accept Visa, Mastercard and American Express, among other cards.
  • Between June 3 and July 9 the sun does not set, and the coast here is known for fog, so bring layers whatever the month.

Sisimiut on Your Own

Sisimiut is small enough to explore on foot, and walking is how most people get around. Spend the morning in the old colonial quarter near the harbor, use the town bus or a taxi for the hills, and keep an eye on the clock.

  • The old quarter: Most of the historic buildings near the harbor now belong to Sisimiut Museum, which runs them as an open-air museum. The Blue Church of 1775 stands here, entered through a gate made from a whale's jawbone.
  • Near the old church: Zion's Church, a red-painted wooden church of 1926, sits on a rocky outcrop close to the Blue Church. The Taseralik Culture Centre, in the east of town beside Lake Nalunnguarfik, has a café and changing exhibitions of Greenlandic art.
  • A ride if you want one: Take the town bus, or call a taxi by phone.
  • Getting back on time: All-aboard is usually about 30 minutes before sailing, and your ship posts the exact time. A ship will not wait for passengers touring on their own.
  • Watch the clock: All-aboard is given in ship's time, which may not match local clocks or your phone. West Greenland keeps UTC−2 in winter and UTC−1 in summer.

Getting Around Sisimiut

Walking covers most of town, though the main road climbs fairly steeply from the harbor. A bus, taxis and rental bicycles fill the gaps, and boats are the usual way to go farther.

  • The town bus covers most of Sisimiut on its loop.
  • Taxis serve the town and the airport, which lies about 4 km northwest of the center at the mouth of the bay.
  • No road links Sisimiut to another town. A rough track for all-terrain and four-wheel-drive vehicles opened to Kangerlussuaq in 2025, but it is not a day trip.
  • Boats run to the fjords and old settlements nearby, and in winter dog sleds and snowmobiles are used as well.

What to Eat in Sisimiut

Greenlandic cooking has long been built on fish, seabirds and marine mammals, with Danish influences added since colonial times. Shrimp is Sisimiut's own industry, and the town's Royal Greenland plant is the country's largest fish processing plant.

  • Suaasat: The national dish is a soup made from seal, whale, reindeer or seabirds, often with onions and potatoes and thickened with rice or barley.
  • Mattak: The raw skin of narwhal or beluga, sometimes served with blubber, is a traditional Inuit specialty.
  • From the land: Reindeer and musk ox are both on Greenlandic menus, and musk ox can be served as tartare.
  • Shrimp and fish: Shrimp, halibut, cod and salmon are the fish the town lives on, and smoked fish is a common Greenlandic dish.
  • Greenlandic coffee: It is an after-dinner drink of coffee, whiskey, Kahlúa and Grand Marnier topped with whipped cream, and it is set alight before you drink it.
  • For a picnic: The Brugseni and Pisiffik supermarkets are in the main part of town.

Tipping in Greenland

Prices in Greenland already include service. A tip for good service at a restaurant or from a guide is welcome but never required.

  • Restaurants and guides: A tip is a thank-you for good service, not an expectation.
  • Currency: Greenland uses the Danish krone (DKK). Carry some kroner in cash, especially in small towns; some souvenir sellers accept foreign notes but not coins.

Colonial Architecture, Ancient Archaeology, and Arctic Trail Country

Sisimiut's colonial past is still standing near the harbor, where the museum looks after the old buildings and tells the story of the people who lived here for thousands of years before them. Taseralik, the town's culture center, hosts touring theater troupes and concerts.

  • Sisimiut Museum: Founded in 1986 in the old colonial house known as Gammelhuset, it has since taken over most of the historic buildings around it. Exhibitions cover the Saqqaq culture, the hunting grounds of Aasivissuit–Nipisat, the town's change from a hunting place to an industrial center, and its boatbuilding.
  • The Blue Church: Bethel Church, built in 1775, is the oldest surviving church in Greenland and now serves as an exhibition space.
  • Zion's Church: The red wooden church of 1926 seats 400. When it was enlarged in 1984, the choir and altar were cut away and moved back about 10 m before the two parts were joined.
  • Taseralik Culture Centre: Opened as Greenland's second culture center after Katuaq in Nuuk, it hosts touring theater troupes and concerts, and Sisimiut Culture Day on November 21.
  • Craft workshops: In a warehouse on the harbor, local makers work in reindeer antler, musk ox horn, walrus tusk, soapstone and sealskin, and visitors are welcome to look in.
  • World Heritage: Sisimiut lies just outside Aasivissuit–Nipisat, the Inuit hunting landscape between the ice and the sea that UNESCO listed in 2018.

From Saqqaq Hunters to Arctic Circle Town

People of the Saqqaq culture reached this coast from Arctic Canada about 4,500 years ago, and Dorset and Thule peoples followed. Denmark founded the trading post of Holsteinsborg here in 1764, and in the 20th century it became Greenland's leading center for catching and processing shrimp.

  • About 2500 BC: Saqqaq hunters settled the coast of western Greenland. Excavations on Nipisat Island, north of today's town, recovered more than 70,000 animal bone fragments and 1,000 Saqqaq artifacts.
  • About 500 BC: The Dorset people arrived in a second wave of migration from Canada.
  • From about 1250: Thule people, the ancestors of today's Inuit, hunted along this coast, wintering in communal stone houses near the sea and moving inland in summer to hunt caribou.
  • 1720s and 1730s: A whaling station that Hans Egede's Bergen Company set up on Nipisat Island was burned by Dutch whalers, who dominated these waters until a series of battles in 1738 and 1739.
  • 1764: The General Trade Company founded the trading post of Holsteinsborg, named for the first chairman of the Danish College of Missions. It became a center of the trade in reindeer skins.
  • 1775: Bethel Church, now the Blue Church, was built.
  • 1801: A smallpox epidemic killed 400 of the town's people.
  • 1924: A salt works of 1914 was expanded into a fish factory, the first in Greenland, and the country's first boatyard followed in the early 1930s.
  • 2009: Sisimiut became the seat of the new Qeqqata municipality.
  • 2018: The hunting landscape of Aasivissuit–Nipisat, stretching from Nipisat Island to the ice sheet, joined the UNESCO World Heritage List.
  • To learn more ashore: Sisimiut Museum, on Jukkorsuup aqq. in the old colonial quarter, covers the Saqqaq settlements, colonial trade and the town's industrial years.

Sisimiut with Children and Families

Sisimiut suits families who like being outdoors, with a compact old quarter, a mountain to climb and boats on the bay. Dress children for wind and cold even in summer, because the coast is often foggy and the average high in July and August stays just under 10°C.

  • Younger children: The museum's reconstructed turf house shows how a Greenlandic family lived around 1900, and its boat exhibition has old Greenlandic boats. The town bus saves small legs on the hill.
  • School age: The craft workshop on the harbor, where makers work in antler, horn and soapstone, is open to visitors. The small dark-sand beach halfway along the airport road is popular in summer.
  • Teenagers: Palasip Qaqqaa, the 544 m twin summit behind the airport, is a popular hike of a few hours, which fits only a long port day. Ask whether the heated open-air swimming pool, built on stilts so its warmth does not thaw the permafrost, is open.

Accessibility in Sisimiut

Sisimiut is built on rocky outcrops, and its main road climbs fairly steeply from the harbor, so expect hills everywhere. Ask your ship whether you land at a quay or by tender, and whether the tender can take a wheelchair.

  • A town bus loops through most of Sisimiut.
  • Hiking paths beyond the town are mountain trails.
  • The coast is known for fog, so allow for wet surfaces.

Shopping in Sisimiut

For souvenirs, buy from the people who make them: carvers and sealskin workers sell from small workshops by the harbor and shops along the main street. Know your own country's rules before you buy anything made from marine mammals.

  • What is made here: Local workshops and shops sell carved tupilaks, jewelry, sealskin goods and Greenlandic minerals.
  • Where to look: Souvenirs are sold at the artisans' workshop on the harbor, at a shop that specializes in sealskin and Greenlandic minerals, and in the town's hotels.
  • Before you buy sealskin or tusk: The United States bans the import of all marine mammal products, and the European Union bans seal products except those from Inuit hunts, so ask for paperwork and check your home rules first.

Coastal Landscapes and Wildlife Near Sisimiut

Sisimiut's beach is a small stretch of dark sand on the road to the airport, and the land around the town is wide valleys and mountains. In summer, boats run out to old settlements and to look for whales.

  • The town beach: A small beach of dark sand lies halfway along the road to the airport, and in summer it and the skerries off the coast are popular with local people.
  • By boat: Summer trips include whale watching and visits to Assaqutaq, a settlement that has been abandoned, and to the World Heritage area.
  • From above: On a clear day the 544 m summit of Palasip Qaqqaa looks out over most of the coast of Qeqqata.
  • The Arctic Circle Trail: This hiking route of about 160 km runs inland from Sisimiut to Kangerlussuaq, near the edge of the ice sheet. Most hikers take 7 to 10 days, so on a port day you will see only its first stretch.
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