Greenland vs Iceland: Two Arctic Countries, One Very Different Trip

Greenland and Iceland are neighbours in the North Atlantic, separated by just 300 kilometres. They share Viking history, Arctic wildlife, and glacial scenery. But in terms of what it actually takes to visit each one, they could not be further apart.

Iceland has paved roads connecting the whole island, geothermal spas within an hour of the airport, and a tourism industry that has been running for decades. Greenland has no roads between its towns, a population of 55,000 spread across an island bigger than the European Union, and the kind of emptiness that is genuinely hard to find anywhere else on the planet.

The right choice depends entirely on what you are looking for. This guide covers the key differences — so you arrive informed, not surprised.

1. Scale and position

Which island is bigger — and does it matter?

Iceland covers around 103,000 square kilometres — roughly the size of Kentucky. That is large enough for dramatic contrasts within a single day’s drive, but compact enough to circumnavigate by road in a week. The Ring Road is 1,332 kilometres long and passes through every major region of the country.

Greenland is in a different category altogether. At 2.17 million square kilometres, it is the world’s largest island — about 20 times the size of Iceland and larger than Mexico. Most world maps distort its size due to the Mercator projection, but the scale becomes real when you realise that most of the interior has never had a human visitor.

Size shapes the experience directly. In Iceland, more distance means more variety. In Greenland, more distance often means inaccessibility — which is either a drawback or the whole appeal, depending on your perspective.

Two islands in the same ocean — a closer look at their position

Iceland sits on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, the tectonic boundary between the North American and Eurasian plates. That geological position drives all of its volcanic activity, its geysers, and its geothermal heat. Technically part of Europe, it sits just south of the Arctic Circle.

Greenland lies mostly to Iceland’s northwest, with its landmass spreading across both sides of the Arctic Circle. Despite its cultural links to Europe through Denmark, it is geographically attached to the North American tectonic plate. The two islands are separated by the Denmark Strait. At their closest, the gap is around 300 kilometres — a three-hour flight from Reykjavík to Nuuk.

2. Weather and seasons

How cold is cold? A realistic comparison

The Gulf Stream keeps Iceland significantly milder than its latitude suggests. Reykjavík winters hover around 0°C — comparable to New York or Copenhagen, not Siberia. Summers reach an average of 12°C on the coast, with warmer spells inland. Rain and wind are far more common nuisances than extreme cold.

Greenland runs colder across the board. Coastal towns in the south see summers of 10–20°C, but most of the island stays well below freezing from October through April, and the vast interior ice sheet never thaws. There is one counterintuitive advantage: Greenland’s air is very dry. Low humidity means that 5°C in Greenland often feels less biting than 5°C in Iceland or Scandinavia.

Neither country is a serious cold-weather challenge if you pack correctly. What differs is the consequence of bad weather: in Iceland, you wait an hour and conditions change. In Greenland, a storm can cancel your helicopter or postpone a boat for two days.

Which months work best for each country?

Greenland’s accessible season runs from June to August. That window brings long days, open fjords, and wildlife above the waterline — whales, musk oxen, Arctic foxes. The midnight sun in July and August means the landscape holds a low golden light at 2 a.m. that photographers specifically travel to catch.

Iceland has no bad season. June to August offers the midnight sun, open highland roads, and the busiest trails. September to April flips to short days, snow, and the aurora borealis. If the northern lights are the main goal, that winter window delivers the best odds — our Iceland northern lights tours run from late August through April with flexible itineraries.

Greenland’s own aurora season actually starts earlier than Iceland’s, running from August. Because most of Greenland has almost no artificial light outside of Nuuk, a clear night in any direction produces an unobstructed sky. Our Greenland northern lights tours combine aurora evenings with icefjord excursions during the shoulder months.

3. Ice, fire, and everything between

Greenland’s landscape: ice on a geological scale

Between 79 and 90 percent of Greenland is buried under an ice sheet that in places reaches three kilometres deep. It is the second largest mass of ice on Earth after Antarctica, and parts of it are over a million years old. Hiking on the Russel Glacier or crossing a section of the ice sheet on foot puts you on terrain that pre-dates human civilisation by an enormous margin.

Around the coast, glaciers carve down to the sea and calve icebergs into fjords. The Ilulissat Icefjord — a UNESCO World Heritage Site — is one of the most productive iceberg sources in the world. The country’s coastline runs for 44,000 kilometres, the longest in the world, threading through glacial inlets where structures the size of office towers drift silently past.

What Greenland does not have, apart from a narrow green strip in the south, is the landscape variety that Iceland offers. The scenery is on a single dominant theme: ice, rock, ocean, and sky. For many travellers, that focus is exactly what makes it worth the journey.

Iceland’s landscape: variety within arm’s reach

Iceland packs a geologically unusual range into a relatively small space. The country sits on an active volcanic zone; eruptions have occurred in recent years, and the landscape reflects centuries of lava flows, ash fields, and subsurface heat. Drive the south coast and you move from black sand beaches to waterfalls to glacier tongue to volcanic plain inside an afternoon.

Geothermal activity produces the hot springs and geysers that have become central to the Iceland travel identity. The Blue Lagoon is the most famous; dozens of smaller pools, some unmarked, are scattered across the interior and highlands. At Thíngvellir National Park, the visible rift between two continental plates runs through a lava field you can walk across.

The key difference in practical terms: Iceland’s most dramatic landscapes are mostly roadside. Pull over and you are there. Greenland’s most dramatic landscapes require a boat, a flight, or a multi-day hike.

4. History and what the names actually mean

The naming story behind both islands

Both names have Viking origins, and both were chosen under circumstances that make them technically misleading.

Iceland got its name from Hrafna-Flóki, an early Norse visitor who arrived during a harsh winter and saw ice drifting in the fjords. He left the following spring and named the island accordingly. The irony is that Iceland is considerably greener and milder than the name suggests — the interior highlands are dramatic, not glacial, and the coasts stay ice-free year-round.

Greenland was named by Erik the Red around 985 AD, reportedly as a deliberate marketing strategy to attract settlers from Iceland. He had spent three years surveying the island during his exile and established his settlement on the southern coast — which is, in fact, genuinely green in summer. Whether the name was honest enthusiasm or calculated spin has been argued for over a thousand years.

From Viking colonies to two separate nations

Iceland was settled by Norse explorers from the late 9th century. Ingolfur Arnarson, credited as the first permanent settler, arrived in 874 AD and made his home on the site of modern Reykjavík. The island developed its own parliament — the Althingi, founded in 930 AD at Thíngvellir — making it one of the oldest continuous legislative assemblies in the world. Iceland became fully independent in 1944, while Denmark was under German occupation.

Greenland’s Viking settlement, established by Erik the Red, lasted around 500 years before disappearing in the 15th century under circumstances that still divide historians. The leading theories involve the cooling climate of the Little Ice Age, crop failure, and possible conflict — but no definitive answer has emerged. The Inuit population, descendants of the Thule people who migrated from Alaska around 1000 AD, proved far better adapted to the conditions and now make up over 90 percent of Greenland’s population. Greenland remains part of the Kingdom of Denmark, with self-rule since 2009, but its official name — Kalaallit Nunaat — is Greenlandic, not Danish.

5. Culture and daily life

Iceland: a Nordic country shaped by sagas and geology

Icelandic culture runs deep on Old Norse foundations. The language has changed so little over a thousand years that a modern Icelander can read a medieval saga in the original without much difficulty — a fact that linguists find remarkable and that Icelanders take as a point of quiet national pride. Folklore about the húlfufólk (hidden people) is taken seriously enough that infrastructure projects have occasionally been rerouted to avoid disturbing supposed sites of significance.

Reykjavík punches well above its size. A city of around 130,000 people hosts a music scene, restaurant culture, and nightlife that regularly outperforms far larger capitals. Festivals including Iceland Airwaves and Secret Solstice draw international visitors specifically for the cultural programme.

Greenland: Inuit traditions at the centre of everything

Greenland’s culture is primarily shaped by its Inuit population and the landscape they have inhabited for centuries. In many smaller communities, hunting and fishing remain central to daily life — not as heritage performances but as practical necessities. Qajaq (kayak) building, dog sledding, and harpoon techniques are passed down as working skills.

The official language, Kalaallisut, was restored as the primary language in 2009 after decades of Danish dominance. Its influence on English is broader than most people realise: kayak, igloo, and anorak all come from Inuit languages. Nuuk, the capital, has a National Museum that covers both Inuit history and the Norse settlement period, and is worth a full half-day.

6. Activities and highlights

Greenland: what the journey is actually for

Greenland rewards effort. The activities that define a trip here are not incidental — they are the reason people come:

• Walk on the Greenland Ice Sheet, terrain that has been frozen for over a million years
• Cruise the Ilulissat Icefjord and watch icebergs calve directly into the water
• Dog sled across the winter interior — still one of the primary modes of transport in northern settlements
• Paddle a kayak through Arctic fjords among floating ice, on routes first used by Inuit hunters
• Track polar bears, musk oxen, and humpback whales in their natural ranges
• Visit remote Inuit communities where modern infrastructure sits alongside centuries-old traditions
• Bathe in the Uunartoq hot springs — an open natural pool at around 38°C, with icebergs drifting past in the fjord
• Watch the aurora borealis from Nuuk itself, without driving anywhere, thanks to almost zero light pollution

Our Greenland tours cover the main gateways — Nuuk, Ilulissat, and the southern fjords — with winter itineraries from one week upwards.

Iceland: what you can cover in a week on the road

Iceland’s road network makes it one of the most self-drive-friendly countries in the world. Most of the highlights are accessible without a guide, and a flexible itinerary means you can stop whenever something catches your attention:

• Drive the Ring Road over seven to ten days, taking in all four corners of the island
• Follow the Golden Circle in a single long day: Thíngvellir, the Geysir field, and Gullfoss waterfall
• Soak in geothermal pools from the Blue Lagoon to wild natural pools in the highland interior
• Hike on glaciers and descend into ice caves carved inside the Vatnajökull ice cap
• Walk the black sand beach at Reynisfjara, where basalt columns rise from the Atlantic surf
• Snorkel in Silfra, a fissure between two tectonic plates, in water cold enough to require a drysuit
• Follow puffin colonies in the Westfjords or whale-watching boats out of Husavík
• Spend a winter night watching the northern lights from a countryside guesthouse

Browse the full range of options on our Iceland self-drive tours page, from short city breaks to two-week self-drive packages.

7. Flights, airports, and getting around

Arriving in Iceland: straightforward from most of the world

Keflavík International Airport (KEF) sits 40 minutes from Reykjavík and handles daily direct flights from across North America and Europe. Icelandair operates from more than 20 US airports. Once you land, car rental desks are available immediately in the arrivals hall, and you can be on the Ring Road within an hour of touching down.

Iceland’s road network covers the whole country. The Ring Road is fully paved and accessible in a standard car for most of the year. Highland F-roads, which open in June, require a 4x4 but give access to some of the most remote parts of the interior. No other transport is needed unless you choose it.

Arriving in Greenland: possible, but requires planning

Greenland’s first international airport opened in Nuuk in 2024, a significant upgrade from the previous situation where most visitors flew via smaller regional airports. Icelandair operates several weekly flights from Reykjavík to Nuuk, Air Greenland connects from Copenhagen, and United Airlines runs seasonal service from New York. Weather delays are a real factor — build slack into any itinerary.

Once inside the country, there are no roads between towns. Moving between settlements requires a boat, a small Air Greenland aircraft, or a helicopter. This is neither cheap nor spontaneous — connections need to be booked in advance, and cancellations due to wind or fog are common. Most first-time visitors find that an organised tour removes most of this friction.

Cost: both expensive, one more so

Both countries rank among the more expensive travel destinations globally. Greenland typically runs higher: the flight alone costs more, accommodation options are fewer and less competitive, and guided activities carry a premium for remoteness. Iceland offers a much wider spread at every budget level, from hostel campervan trips to high-end lodge itineraries.