# Scoresby Sund: A Photographer’s Guide to East Greenland

URL: https://jvn.photo/scoresby-sund-photography-guide/
Last updated: 2026-11-01

> I've sailed Scoresby Sund three times since 2024. How to get there, when the fjords open, the route through the ice, your odds of seeing polar bears, the drone rules and what it's like to go ashore in Ittoqqortoormiit.

Less than 24 hours into my first trip to Scoresby Sund, the captain called me over. “We may have a polar bear.” An hour earlier, one of the other sailboats had spotted a white-yellow shape lying on a rock by the water. By the time we got close, the bear had slipped into the sea and was swimming towards an iceberg. It climbed out, walked behind a hole in the ice, looked straight through it as if it were posing for us, and then stayed up there for so long that I filled **an entire memory card**.

That was August 2024. I’ve been back in **2025 and 2026**, and this guide is what I’d want to know before going: how you get there, when the fjords open, the route we sail, what you’ll photograph and how to fly a drone there without breaking the rules. Let’s dive in!

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133270″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The polar bear I met less than 24 hours into my first trip to Scoresby Sund, looking straight through the hole in the iceberg. August 2024.*

Table of Contents

- Scoresby Sund At A Glance
- Is Scoresby Sund Really the Largest Fjord System in the World?
- How Do You Get to Scoresby Sund?
- When Is the Best Time to Photograph Scoresby Sund?
- What Is the Route Through the Fjords?
- What Is Life On Board Like, And Will You Get Seasick?
- Will You See Polar Bears in Scoresby Sund?
- What Else Lives There?
- What Gear Works in Scoresby Sund?
- What To Wear And Pack For Scoresby Sund
- Can You Fly a Drone in Scoresby Sund?
- Ittoqqortoormiit: The Village at the Mouth of the Fjord
- Frequently Asked Questions
- My Verdict
- Join Me in Scoresby Sund

## Scoresby Sund At A Glance

- **Where:** Greenland’s east coast. You’ll also see it written Scoresbysund, and in Greenlandic it’s Kangertittivaq.

- **Getting there:** charter flight from the domestic airport in Reykjavík to Constable Point (Nerlerit Inaat), a little under two hours, then by boat. There are no roads in.

- **Season:** from mid-July, once the ice lets boats in, until the end of September.

- **How long:** a week on the water. Our trips run eight days and seven nights.

- **What you’ll photograph:** icebergs, glacier fronts, basalt and rust-red cliffs, and wildlife: polar bears if you’re lucky, musk oxen, arctic hares and foxes ashore, seals and the occasional whale.

- **Connectivity:** effectively none once Constable Point is behind you.

## Is Scoresby Sund Really the Largest Fjord System in the World?

It’s widely described as the largest fjord system on Earth, and [the numbers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scoresby_Sound) explain why: one main inlet about 110 kilometres long, branching into fjords that cover roughly 38000 square kilometres, the longest reaching around 350 kilometres inland. Peaks of 1.5 kilometres are common, and some rise **2.5 kilometres** straight out of the water. Even after a week in what is, relatively speaking, one small corner of it, we kept seeing completely new geology.

Ittoqqortoormiit, the **only village within a 650 kilometre radius**, sits at the mouth of the fjord. More on it below.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1291005″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The remains of what must have been a magma intrusion at Red Island in the back of the fjord system. These two geological features are quite uncommonly seen together.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1290020″ image_size=”full” max_width=”50%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*A sunlit peak above a glacier that flows down into the fjord.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133293″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*A flat-topped peak on the Bear Islands, lit by the last light of the evening.*

## How Do You Get to Scoresby Sund?

By air, then by boat. We start at the domestic airport in downtown Reykjavík and take a **charter flight to Constable Point**, also known as Nerlerit Inaat. The flight takes a little under two hours.

Landing at Constable Point, it’s immediately clear you’re in the middle of nowhere: a muddy airstrip, a few buildings and, when we landed in 2024, three sailboats waiting for us. On the short walk down to the improvised pier we’d already seen an arctic fox. From there it’s people and luggage into the boats and away. There are no roads into the fjord system and no scheduled way in for visitors, so **however you go, you’ll be on a boat**.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133268″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Tilvera, the sailboat that was our home for the week in 2024.*

## When Is the Best Time to Photograph Scoresby Sund?

The window is short. The area only becomes accessible from **mid-July**, and you can sail it **until the end of September**, before it starts freezing over again. Earlier in the summer the sea ice often hasn’t cleared enough to get deep into the fjords.

**I like late August.** The sun sets again after the midnight-sun months, so you get real sunsets and long twilight, and by then the ice has usually opened up.

In 2024 we had exactly one moody morning. The rest of the week was blue skies and the flattest water I’ve ever seen, and I’m not going to lie: I grumbled about those blue skies. The sunsets made up for it.

2025 was much the same, apart from one stormy day with **really atmospheric clouds**, which was great. 2026 was a different story: **two days below zero**, the ocean even began to freeze overnight once, snow covered the highest peaks, and one morning we **woke up to snow**. Pack for both.

And yes, you can see the aurora out there. We had a great display of the **northern lights** once in 2026, on our final night near the airstrip.[image_with_animation image_url=”1133274″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Sunset over Iceberg City at Red Island.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133264″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The one moody morning we had in 2024.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133265″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*And one of the sunsets that made up for all those blue skies.*

## What Is the Route Through the Fjords?

**The route changes every trip**, depending on where the ice lets you go. This is the loop we sailed in August 2024 aboard Tilvera. Neither Andy Mumford, who co-led that trip with me, nor I had been before, so our brief to the crew was simple: **our goal is photography, you know the area, we trust you**. They picked well.

Stop |
What’s there |
What I photographed |

Sol glacier |
A glacier outlet on the southern side, reached by sailing through the first night |
Icebergs and the glacier front, and our first drone flights from a moving boat |

The southern shore |
Thick layers of columnar basalt |
The basalt, in the only moody light of the week |

Fønfjord and Milne Land |
Narrow, iceberg-filled passages as you circle the island |
Icebergs up close from the deck |

Red Island (Rødeø) |
“Iceberg City”, where icebergs run aground and stay until they melt |
Cruising between the bergs at sunset, then landing to fly the drones |

Rødefjord |
Glassy water and more giant icebergs under rust-red cliffs |
Reflections, and one enormous iceberg near our anchorage |

Øfjord and the Bear Islands |
Long, pointed ridges like a dragon’s spine sticking out of the water |
Telephoto work on the big peaks, and our last sunset |

The run home |
Through the night to Ittoqqortoormiit, then back to Constable Point |
A walk through the village |

In 2026 we **roughly kept the same loop around Milne Land**, but spent far more time in **Vikingefjorden**, because of the bears and the glacier.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1291009″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*An incredible sunrise on the Bear Islands during my last photo expedition to the area.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133263″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Columnar basalt on the southern shore of Scoresby Sund.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133278″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Icebergs reflected in glassy water under a pink sky in Iceberg City.*

**Travelling on a sailboat means slow travelling.** If there’s an interesting iceberg or an animal, you stop, or you circle it. We helped the crew hoist the sails, took turns at the wheel and kept an ice watch through the night to keep clear of the bigger bergs. One evening an iceberg calved nearby and we ended up completely enclosed in slush ice, with the barbecue still going on deck.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133303″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The barbecue kept going on deck while the slush ice closed in around us.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1290027″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*One morning we woke up expecting a nice sunrise but we were met with fresh snow falling from the sky instead. That still gave us the opportunity to capture incredible images like this old basalt formation.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1290023″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*In 2026, we had a chance to photograph some of the beautiful autumn colours that began to appear towards the end of the season.*

## What Is Life On Board Like, And Will You Get Seasick?

I sail on Ocean Sherpa now, and she’s the boat for 2027. In 2024 it was Tilvera. On Ocean Sherpa the cabins are shared between two people, and each has a bunk bed, a closet, a washing basin and a private shower. The toilets are shared, three of them between the six cabins forward. Almost all of your waking time goes in the saloon, in the wheelhouse or out on deck.

Seasickness has rarely been an issue. The area is usually very calm and the ocean is largely flat. **Only once in three trips was it challenging**, when we had headwinds on the way back to the airport, and that lasted about five hours. What helped was being in the wheelhouse and being outside.

One more tip if you’re prone to motion sickness: turn on Vehicle Motion Cues on your iPhone (Settings, Accessibility, Motion). It also works on MacBooks with Apple silicon.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1272346″ image_size=”full” max_width=”75%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Ocean Sherpa, the boat I sail on now.*

## Will You See Polar Bears in Scoresby Sund?

**Possibly, but there’s never a 100% guarantee.** These are wild animals after all! However, I’ve seen them on **all three trips**, and 2026 was the best yet. Before the first trip I’d read in the Icelandic papers that more bears were being sighted that year because the sea ice had come much further south than usual, so I knew it could happen. I just didn’t expect it **within a day**. I’d seen a polar bear in the wild once before, in Svalbard in 2019.

The 2024 bear is the one at the top of this guide. Only when we went through the images afterwards did we realise it had been **hunting a seal** none of us had even noticed. In 2025 it was a bear swimming through slush ice, stopping every now and then to float and sniff the air for seals. And in 2026 we saw **five polar bears in Vikingefjorden**. On our first night there, **a mother and cub** came down to the shoreline to have a look at us.

**We never chase them**, from the boat or otherwise. We keep our distance and let the bear decide what happens next.[image_with_animation image_url=”1133316″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*My favourite image of the 2024 bear, sniffing the air on top of the iceberg. Canon EOS R5 and RF 100-500mm.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133266″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The 2024 bear hunting a seal along the shoreline, far below the cliffs.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1199459″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The 2025 bear swimming through the slush ice, stopping every now and then to sniff the air for seals.*

## What Else Lives There?

More than you’d expect in a place this bare. There are **musk oxen** and **arctic hares** on the slopes, **arctic foxes** (the first one met us at the airstrip), and **seals** and the occasional **whale** in the water. None of it is guaranteed, and a week in Scoresby Sund is about the ice and the light first, but 2026 still gave us some **great musk ox encounters**.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1290983″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*During a hike, we encountered a herd of musk ox deep in Rypefjorden and got the most amazing images with the autumn colours.*

## What Gear Works in Scoresby Sund?

**Bring more reach and more width than you think you’ll need.**

- **Telephoto:** my [Canon EOS R5](https://jvn.photo/go/eosr5) with the [RF 100-500mm](https://jvn.photo/go/rf-100-500mm) did the heavy lifting in 2024, both for the polar bear and for the flat-topped peaks around the Bear Islands. I’d want something in the 100-400mm range or longer again.

- **Ultra-wide:** the [RF 14-35mm f/4](https://jvn.photo/go/rf-14-35mm) was absolutely key for the sunsets over Iceberg City, when the whole sky lit up.

- **Drone:** a [DJI Mavic 3 Pro](https://jvn.photo/go/mavic3pro) in 2024 and a [Mavic 4 Pro](https://jvn.photo/go/mavic4pro) in 2025 and 2026. For the big icebergs the drone beat the zodiacs, because flying over them doesn’t break up the reflections on the water the way a boat does.

- **Spare memory cards.** See the polar bear.

*This article is not sponsored in any way. Some of the links in this article are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133304″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*My Canon on the Bear Islands, with Tilvera moored behind.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1290026″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Looking straight down into a blue pool inside an iceberg, from the drone.*

## What To Wear And Pack For Scoresby Sund

It’s very similar to Iceland towards the end of summer, except that on a boat it can feel colder. **Dress in layers.** The warmth of the ship is never far away, whether that’s the saloon, the wheelhouse or the deckhouse, so you can add or take off a layer as you go.

What catches people out is standing still on deck, or sitting in a zodiac, waiting for the light. In 2026 we had two days below zero, and one morning it snowed. Bring boots with a good grip as well: the hikes can be slippery and uneven, and you board the zodiacs by a small wooden ladder on the side of the boat.

My full list is in my article on [the outdoor apparel and photography gear you need on a photo workshop](https://jvn.photo/outdoor-apparel-photography-gear-photo-workshop/).

[image_with_animation image_url=”1291512″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The group on the tundra, all dressed in layers.*

The ice spiral that won the **Snow & Ice category at ILPOTY 2024** formed so close to the shore that I had to improvise the composition to keep the land out of the frame. It’s a three-shot bracketed vertical panorama from the Mavic 3 Pro.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133277″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*The ice spiral that won the Snow & Ice category at ILPOTY 2024. A three-shot bracketed vertical panorama from the Mavic 3 Pro.*

## Can You Fly a Drone in Scoresby Sund?

Yes, within the rules.

**Greenland doesn’t issue its own drone licence, and an EU certificate doesn’t carry over.** You fly under the Danish regulation **BL 9-4**: a maximum of **100 metres** above ground level, **150 metres** clear of built-up areas, and **no recreational flying inside towns** at all. If a trip takes you into Northeast Greenland National Park, flying there needs **a permit in your own name**, and most requests don’t succeed.

In practice we **launch and land straight off the deck**, often while the boat is moving, because deep in a fjord there’s rarely anywhere else to set a drone down. The first flights at Sol glacier doubled as a lesson for everyone who’d never flown from a moving boat before. One evening the sunset was so good that I flew the drone back to a large iceberg **2.5 kilometres** away, just to get that shot.

I’ve written separately about [the drone rules in Greenland](https://jvn.photo/flying-a-drone-in-greenland/) and [flying a drone from a boat](https://jvn.photo/flying-a-drone-from-a-boat-safety-best-practices-key-dangers/) if you want the details.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1188342″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*A 2025 sunset in Scoresby Sund, shot with the Mavic 4 Pro.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1133269″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Flying from the deck: Tilvera alongside an iceberg.*

[image_with_animation image_url=”1291006″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*A top down capture of the side of a beautiful blue iceberg near Bear Islands during my last expedition in 2026.*

## Ittoqqortoormiit: The Village at the Mouth of the Fjord

Ittoqqortoormiit is the only village within a 650 kilometre radius. It sits on the north shore where Scoresby Sund meets the Greenland Sea, and **every one of my three trips has gone ashore there** on the way out. The Danish name is Scoresbysund, which is why you’ll see both on maps.

### What Does Ittoqqortoormiit Mean?

In East Greenlandic it means roughly **“the people who live in the big houses”**.

### How Many People Live There?

**About 326**, according to [Statistics Greenland’s 2026 figures](https://stat.gl/publ/en/GF/2026/pdf/Greenland%20in%20Figures%202026.pdf). You’ll see anything from 324 to 500 quoted online, because many pages still use numbers from ten or twenty years ago. In 2006 it was still over 500.

### Why Is There a Village Here at All?

It was **founded in 1925**, when Denmark resettled Inuit families from Tasiilaq, around 800 kilometres to the south, under the explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen. The motive was partly political: Denmark and Norway were arguing over East Greenland at the time, and a settlement strengthened the Danish claim. Hunting is still part of life there, alongside the jobs that keep a village running: the school, the shop, the hospital and the helipad.

### How Do You Get to Ittoqqortoormiit?

**There’s no road in or out.** Most visitors fly from Iceland to **Nerlerit Inaat (Constable Point)**, about 40 kilometres away across the fjord, and cover the last stretch by **Air Greenland helicopter**. In summer you can also arrive by ship, which is how I’ve done it every time. In 2025 it was decided to **build an airport in the village itself**, paid for by Denmark, which would do away with the helicopter leg. I haven’t seen an opening date yet.

### What’s It Like to Go Ashore?

We go ashore **by zodiac**, landing at either the main pier or a smaller harbour, depending on the waves and the swell. From there we walk around and have a look at the village. It’s only a very small taste of what life is like in such a remote and harsh place, but it’s a taste you don’t get anywhere else on the trip. Now and then we meet some of the locals, and some of them are quite chatty.

I’ll be honest: **villages aren’t really my cup of tea to photograph**, so my camera mostly stays pointed at the ice and the landscape around the fjord mouth. This view of some houses on the outskirts is the one village picture I kept.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1291513″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Houses on the outskirts of Ittoqqortoormiit.*

### Can You Fly a Drone in the Village?

**Not recreationally.** Greenland’s rules keep drones at least 150 metres from built-up areas, so the village itself is off limits. Out on the water at the fjord mouth, the usual rules above apply.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### Where Is Scoresby Sund?

On Greenland’s east coast, where it opens into the Greenland Sea. You’ll also see it written Scoresbysund, and its Greenlandic name is Kangertittivaq. Ittoqqortoormiit, the only village, sits at its mouth.

### How Do You Get to Scoresby Sund?

Take a charter flight from the domestic airport in Reykjavík to Constable Point (Nerlerit Inaat), which takes a little under two hours, and continue by boat. There are no roads in.

### When Is the Best Time to Visit Scoresby Sund?

Between mid-July and the end of September, when the ice lets boats in. I like late August, when the sun sets again and the ice has usually opened up.

### Can You See Polar Bears in Scoresby Sund?

Possibly, but there’s no guarantee. I’ve seen them on all three of my trips, including five polar bears in Vikingefjorden in 2026.

### Can You See the Northern Lights in Scoresby Sund?

Yes, once the nights get dark again. I saw them on my 2026 trip, on our final night near the airstrip at Constable Point.

### What Are the Drone Rules in Scoresby Sund?

Greenland doesn’t issue its own drone licence and an EU certificate doesn’t carry over. You fly under the Danish regulation BL 9-4: a maximum of 100 metres above ground level, 150 metres clear of built-up areas and no recreational flying inside towns.

### What Does Ittoqqortoormiit Mean?

In East Greenlandic it means roughly “the people who live in the big houses”.

### How Many People Live in Ittoqqortoormiit?

About 326, according to Statistics Greenland’s 2026 figures.

### How Do You Get to Ittoqqortoormiit?

Fly from Iceland to Nerlerit Inaat (Constable Point), about 40 kilometres away, and take the Air Greenland helicopter for the last stretch. In summer you can also arrive by ship.

## My Verdict

Scoresby Sund sat high on my [bucket list](https://jvn.photo/why-iceland-should-be-on-your-photography-bucket-list/) for years, and it easily made my top three trips of 2024. Three trips in, it’s **the scale** that stays with me, and **the polar bear on that iceberg**. I’m going back in 2027.

[image_with_animation image_url=”1291007″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*A lovely panorama taken on our arrival at the anchorage at Bear Islands. The sharp spire is called Grundtvigskirken and towers above Øfjord.*

## Join Me in Scoresby Sund

The [East Greenland Photo Expedition 2027](https://jvn.photo/photo-workshops/east-greenland-photo-expedition-2027/) runs from 25 August to 1 September 2027, aboard Ocean Sherpa, with the charter flight from Reykjavík included, and it’s now sold out, but you can [join the waitlist](https://jvn.photo/photo-workshops/east-greenland-photo-expedition-2027/#jvnw-signup). All my Greenland trips are on my [Greenland photo workshops](https://jvn.photo/photo-workshops/greenland/) page. Further south on the same coast, I’m also co-leading [a workshop around Tasiilaq with James Popsys](https://jvn.photo/photo-workshops/east-greenland-james-popsys-2027/) from 6 to 13 September 2027.

Want the full story of that first trip? Read my [August 2024 Scoresbysund trip report](https://jvn.photo/eastern-greenland-exploring-the-solitude-of-scoresbysund/).

[image_with_animation image_url=”1291008″ image_size=”full” max_width=”100%” max_width_mobile=”default” animation_type=”entrance” animation=”None” animation_movement_type=”transform_y” hover_animation=”none” alignment=”center” img_link_large=”yes” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” image_loading=”default”]

*Ocean Sherpa, the boat we sail on in 2027, at anchor among the icebergs in Vikingefjorden in 2026.*

## What Previous Participants Shared About Their Experience