Silversea Expeditions: Sisimiut, Greenland

It’s day fourteen on our Silversea Expeditions cruise, and today, we visit Sisimiut, Greenland.

Sisimiut, Greenland’s second-largest town, is situated on the west-central coast near the mouth of Amerloq Fjord. With a population of about 5,520, it’s a modern fishing port that beautifully blends Inuit and Scandinavian cultures. The town’s history stretches back to 1764 when Danish settlers arrived, though Inuit peoples had inhabited the area for thousands of years prior.

Known as Greenland’s adventure capital, Sisimiut offers a plethora of outdoor activities, including dog sledding, skiing, hiking, and fishing. It holds the distinction of being the northernmost ice-free port in Greenland and serves as a major fishing hub. The town’s landscape is dotted with colorful wooden houses, showcasing a mix of traditional and modern architecture.

Sisimiut Harbor

Cultural enthusiasts can explore the Sisimiut Museum, housed in colonial-era buildings, which offers a deep dive into the area’s rich history. The town also plays host to exciting events such as the Arctic Circle Race and the Arctic Sounds music festival. Sisimiut’s unique combination of natural beauty, cultural heritage, and modern amenities makes it a captivating destination for those venturing to Greenland.

It was cloudy the day we visited Sisimiut, so I purchased a stock photograph of the town (upper right) so that you might get a better sense of the place.

The photograph of the harbor is my photograph as we ventured out on our morning tour of the city.

Our guide was a young resident of the community. As she told her story about living in this tiny, remote Arctic village, we were all mystified as we tried to imagine living there.

While she was knowledgable and undoubtedly well-educated, certainly due to Greenland’s Danish influence, it boggled our minds as we tried to imagine this place through her eyes.

For example, what must it be like to live in a land where the sun does not set in the summer months and, conversely, hardly rises in the winter?

Sisimiut experiences a phenomenon known as the midnight sun, or polar day, during the summer months. From June 3 to July 9, the sun does not set below the horizon, providing 24 hours of daylight. Conversely, while Sisimiut does not experience a true polar night (24 hours of complete darkness), it does have periods of extended twilight during the winter.

The winter solstice, occurring around December 21, marks the shortest day of the year in Sisimiut. However, even on this day, Sisimiut still receives some daylight:

• Sunrise: Around 10:54 AM
• Sunset: Around 2:20 PM
• Total daylight: Approximately 3 hours and 26 minutes

As we continued our journey throughout the village, our final stop was the Sisimiut Museum.

The Sisimiut Museum, located near the harbor in historical buildings, specializes in Greenlandic trade, industry, and shipping. It showcases artifacts from ancient Saqqaq cultural settlements, offering insights into the region’s 4,000-year-old history. The museum features collections of tools, domestic items, and art, including an 18th-century kayak and a reconstructed peat house, providing a comprehensive view of Greenlandic culture and history.

Greenlandic Cuisine

While this was all very interesting, the museum’s buffet of local foods, which we were able to sample, drew the biggest crowd.

The dried minke was similar to jerky, the musk ox sausage was delish, and the seal soup, commonly called suaasat, was my favorite. I enjoyed the lamb sausage, but it was a little too fatty for my taste. The dried cod was like cardboard, but as you chewed it, it became more flavorful and palatable. The dried fish with the eyeballs is called ammassat and is simply a small dried fish called a capelin. It was similar to the smelt we used to eat in Michigan. Lastly, the whale blubber is also minke whale, but locally called mattak. Mattak was a source of Vitamin C and helped prevent scurvy.

We enjoyed our visit to Sisimiut and will fondly look back on the experience for years to come. Oh, and I’d like some more suassat, please. 🙂

Note: the photographs with blue skies are not mine. I purchased them from Adobe Stock to share with you. 

Stay tuned for more of our exciting adventures as we report experiences from our 14-day Arctic cruise with Silversea Expeditions.

For more information or to book an exciting Silversea Expedition cruise, please call Roaming Boomers Travel Services at (480) 550-1235 or use our convenient online information request (click here), and we’ll reach out to you.

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This article was written with the aid of Perplexity AI. Roaming Boomers Travel Services is an independent affiliate of Cadence and a Virtuoso® member. CST#201120-40