La baie de Disko et le fjord glacé d'Ilulissat

The Ilulissat Icefjord, at the heart of Disko Bay, covers an area equivalent to 66,000 football pitches: 6 km wide and around 55 km long, and it keeps growing as the glaciers retreat due to climate change. There's no need to downplay the fact that this gallery of enormous ice sculptures puts on an impressive show. But just as most of an iceberg lurks beneath the water, invisible to the untrained eye, the Ilulissat Icefjord is far more than simple natural beauty. It tells the deep story of the planet's history and offers a lesson in humility at a time when climate change is so widely debated.

For most things in life, it's best to start with the big picture, and the Ilulissat Icefjord is no exception. This icefjord, one of the northernmost UNESCO World Heritage sites, is a vast gathering of icebergs that have broken off one by one from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier. We recommend getting your first overview from a helicopter or small plane flight, to truly grasp its scale.

After taking in the full aerial panorama of the Ilulissat Icefjord, we suggest coming down to water level to examine in detail the different parts that make up the whole. The ice is at its most beautiful during the “golden hour”, and in the land of the midnight sun, that happens late in the evening. After dinner, set off on a midnight cruise through the fjord and watch as the icebergs shift from white and blue to shades of orange and red under the midnight sun.