This trip was done in 2023 but after reading many trip reports with (sorry to say this) yet another "US to Japan trip in J or F", I would like to add another kind of experience to this great forum which I have been enjoying for a long time.
I tried to do this report thing back in 2013 and failed badly to finish, so this time I´ll try to be a little bit smarter and write the whole thing before I post it.

Again: English is not my first language, so bear with be if there are some mistakes. As we say in Germany: Spelling errors have been added to entertain the reader.

A little background: In 2021 we went to Iceland, our first international trip since the Covid-Lockdowns. In 2022, we spent our "big holiday" in the eastern provinces of Canada. But somewhere between Iceland and Canada we watched some very interesting documentaries about Greenland, an (technically North American) autonomous territory of Denmark.
Formerly colonised and influenced by Norway, first documented in 1261, Greenland has been inhabited for the last 4500 years. After Norway and Denmark separated in 1814, Greenland became part of the Danish crown. In 1979 and again in 2008 two referendums gradually transferred more power to the local government.

Apart from that, the geology, the culture and, sadly, the effects of climate change have been topics of the documentaries we saw and which made us more and more interested in this part of the world. Plus: We were aware of a certain culinary speciality also available in Greenland. And a couple of months later our descision was made: We are going to Greenland in 2023.

But how?

There are indeed very less options getting to Greenland. There are currently 13 airports in Greenland with Kangerlussuaq (SFJ) and Nuuk (GOH) being served by international flights. Nuuk, tha capital of Greenland, is served by Icelandair and Air Greenland, the national carrier, from Iceland. Kangerlussuaq has a direct connection from Copenhagen and a seasonal from Billund by Air Greenland. Since we want to focus on the more touristy area around Ilulissat, we choose to fly from CPH to SFJ, stay there for a night and continue to Ilulissat (JAV).
By the way: Right now JAV is being rebuild 1 or 2 kilometers north of the current airport. The new Ilulissat airport will feature a 2200 meter runway to facilitate direct routes from international airports. Which will make Kangerlussuaq redundant and basically kill the town, since it mainly exists because the airport is the only one in Greenland where larger planes are able to land. Even in Nuuk there are only 737s or A320/A321s, Air Greenlands flagship plane, a brand new A330-800neo is not able to serve Nuuk.

Since we wanted to book a rather complex itiniary, we used a travel agency from Denmark: Topas Travel (https://www.greenlandbytopas.com/) which helped a lot. So, if you want to go there, please consider them.

Once the Greenland part was finalised, we planned everything around it. Firstly, we booked a flight from DUS to CPH with SAS and spent two nights in Copenhagen before flying to Greenland. After returning from there, we added a visit to the small Danish island of Bornholm, to which we would fly from Copenhagen and return by a combination of ferry and train. Then another two nights in Copenhagen and a train journey back to Germany and ... voila: Our trip was ready to start!



(Map created using the famous gcmap.com!)

It's fascinating how quickly the holiday starts once the planning is over and suddenly our suitcases were standing in the hallway of our flat, ready to go.



The first part was very easy: Take the tram to the nearest station and get on the local train to DUS.



Although we are based in CGN, DUS has become one of our most frequently used airports when it comes to international flights. As we are *A-Gold members of the Aegean Miles&Bonus programme, we have flown with SAS, LOT or Aegean from DUS on most of our long-haul flights in recent years. We try to avoid flying with LH or especially Eurowings most of the time.

So we know the way from the station to the SAS check-in even with our eyes closed. And we are still pleased that the shuttlecock, which has puzzled us again and again in recent years, is still hanging over the SAS/LOT check-in area.



CheckIn, Security, Lounge, Boarding - I will not bore you with the details. Without any incident we were airborne and enjoying the SAS Plus area.





SAS Plus means in fact only: You get a seat in front and a meal. Including a nice Mikkeller IPA.



The rest was as usual as every other intra-european flight and we landed in Copenhagen on time, collected our suitcases and made our way to the metro. Out hotel was in the inner city (or "Indre By") near the Nørreport station. No problem with the very easy to handle public transport of the Danish capital.





Our room in the 25hours Indre By was very nice, although a little bit on the "Hipster"-side design-wise.



Time to explore Copenhagen before never seeing the sun set for 9 days.