Experience the best of Nuuk

Nuuk lies on the coast of the Labrador Sea at the mouth of Nuup Kangerlua, a great fjord system, with the pyramid peak of Sermitsiaq rising across the water. It was founded as Godthåb in 1728 by the missionary Hans Egede, whose statue stands on a hill above the old colonial harbour. The Katuaq cultural centre has curved wooden walls that echo the northern lights, and the national museum displays the Qilakitsoq mummies, some five centuries old.

Boats leave the harbour for the fjord, which branches deep inland toward the Greenland ice sheet, and humpback whales are regular visitors in summer. Trails climb the hills above town, and old settlements stand on islands in the fjord. Winter brings snow to the hills and short, cold, clear days.

Greenlandic food draws on the sea and the tundra: cold-water prawns, halibut, cod, dried fish, reindeer and musk ox, and suaasat, a traditional soup of meat and onion. A kaffemik is a gathering with coffee and cakes at a family's home. Summer nights stay light, winter is dark, and the northern lights show in autumn and winter.