Best time to visit Kangerlussuaq

Greenland · Europe

All twelve months scored on daily temperature, rainfall, humidity and holiday crowding.

The year in Kangerlussuaq

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Sweet spot
Good
OK
Avoid
Busy

Good for

Hiking Jul–Aug · fair Jun

Go in Jul or Aug — 16C max, 8 rainy days. May is the next best.

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Month by month

Month	Max °C	Rain days	Humidity	Sun h/day	Verdict	Why
Jan	-14°	2d	75%	1.0h	avoid	bitter cold: -14C daily max
Feb	-17°	1d	75%	4.6h	avoid	bitter cold: -17C daily max
Mar	-11°	1d	76%	8.2h	avoid	bitter cold: -11C daily max
Apr	-2°	2d	77%	10.3h	avoid	bitter cold: -2C daily max
May	6°	4d	67%	12.2h	good	6C max, 4 rainy days
Jun	13°	8d	64%	12.4h	goodbusy	busier than usual
Jul	16°	8d	66%	12.6h	sweet spot busy	busier than usual
Aug	14°	8d	69%	10.3h	sweet spot busy	busier than usual
Sep	7°	6d	73%	7.5h	ok	7C max, 6 rainy days
Oct	0°	4d	73%	4.7h	avoid	bitter cold: 0C daily max
Nov	-8°	3d	77%	1.8h	avoid	bitter cold: -8C daily max
Dec	-11°	2d	77%	0.1h	avoid	bitter cold: -11C daily max

Rain days are the days with at least 1 mm of rain, as a weather station counts them.

Weather read at the settlement: ten years of ERA5 and ERA5-Land reanalysis, through Open-Meteo's open data.

A busy month is a crowded one, not a bad one — usually it is crowded because the weather is good. It is flagged rather than scored down, and crowds alone never make a month “avoid”: that is reserved for weather worth skipping.

How busy it gets

Busiest from June to August; quietest in February, March, April, May and November.

Then and now

Kangerlussuaq's December days now average -11.1°C, 4.0°C warmer than in 1981–1990. 4 of 12 months are clearly warmer.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
1981–90	-18.4°	-18.5°	-13.1°	-4.4°	6.0°	13.7°	16.3°	13.0°	6.1°	-4.0°	-10.4°	-15.1°
2017–26	-14.0°	-16.5°	-10.6°	-1.7°	6.5°	13.0°	16.4°	14.1°	6.8°	-0.5°	-7.6°	-11.1°
Change	+4.5°	+1.9°	+2.5°	+2.7°	+0.4°	-0.7°	+0.2°	+1.2°	+0.7°	+3.5°	+2.8°	+4.0°

The average daily high, month by month, for the nearest ERA5 grid cell. Bold is a clear change; grey is within the ordinary spread between years. Every destination, ranked.

Getting there

How far Kangerlussuaq is depends on where you set off from — the months above do not.

Before you go

Cost of living	moderate — prices run about 77% of the United States' (World Bank, 2025)
Currency	Danish krone
Languages	Greenlandic
Plugs	Type C and E and F and K, 230 V
Driving	On the right
Calling code	+299
Travel advice	No advice against travel — UK Foreign Office, updated 2026-08-11
Health	UK Foreign Office health advice

Facts from Wikidata (CC0), the UK Foreign Office (Open Government Licence) and the World Bank, refreshed 2026-10-10. The advisory is written for British travellers; entry rules depend on your passport.

Being there

On arrival

Paying — Greenland uses the Danish krone. Most hotels, taxi companies, restaurants and shops take cards, but carry some kroner in cash, above all in small towns and settlements. Cash machines, Kangerlussuaq's among them, take Visa and Mastercard with a PIN, and some may be out of service at weekends. Foreign money is rarely accepted: a few souvenir shops take foreign notes.
UPI, for visitors from India — Not accepted for paying here; bring a card that works abroad.
Tipping — All prices include tips. If a restaurant or a guide served you well, a tip is appreciated, and how much is up to you.

Getting around Kangerlussuaq

The settlement spreads along both sides of the runway. A town bus calls at each stop about every 30 minutes, Monday to Saturday from 05:48 to 19:00, with a stop just outside the airport across from the souvenir shops; tickets are cash only, DKK 12, and change is given. For a taxi, the airport lists Taxa Kangerlussuaq, +299 58 57 59; or ask your accommodation for a transfer. A direct flight from Copenhagen runs in part of the year; otherwise fly to Nuuk and on to Kangerlussuaq, about 50 minutes.

Apps — Maps: Google Maps.

There is a bus that drives a circular route around town, there are two buses each hour. Tickets 12 kr. More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Kangerlussuaq, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Open in Google MapsKangerlussuaq on the map

Help

Emergency — 112 (any emergency).
TravelCharika is not an emergency service: we cannot call for help or send anyone. Numbers can change; if one fails, ask someone local or your hotel.

Put together by hand from the sources listed, checked 10 October 2026. Apps, cards and rules change, so check before you rely on one.

Sources (13)

Kangerlussuaq in pictures

Isunnguata Sermia in summer 2010 (5) — i

Chmee2/Valtameri, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kangerlussuaq, Greenland — i

Quintin Soloviev, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Kangerlussuaq town (Quintin Soloviev) — i

Quintin Soloviev, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

What Kangerlussuaq is like

Kangerlussuaq (also called Sondrestrom) is a settlement on the west coast of Greenland near the end of a fjord of the same name. Its Danish name is Søndre Strømfjord, and until the early 1990s was home to a U.S. military base known as Bluie West Eight. More on Wikivoyage

Worth seeing: Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights). Kangerlussuaq is located under a spot known for strong auroral activity. Visitors during the winter months should be able to see spectacular displays of the Aurora Borealis at night. More on Wikivoyage
Worth doing: Excursions (Depart from the parking lot at the airport; book in the souvenir shop). It is often possible to do the short excursions while you wait for a connecting flight. More on Wikivoyage
Getting in: As with most settlements in Greenland, ground transportation is very limited. Hiking maps of the area from Sisimiut to Kangerlussuaq are available from Scanmaps and small huts are placed strategically along the route. More on Wikivoyage
Staying safe: Kangerlussuaq is a very small settlement and as such has virtually no crime. Care should be taken when hiking through certain areas during hunting season (try not to look like a caribou or musk ox). More on Wikivoyage

From the Wikivoyage article on Kangerlussuaq, written by travellers and licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the full article has far more. The numbers above are measured; this is experience.

Around Kangerlussuaq

Nearby

Kind of place

Wildlife

Kangerlussuaq is in Greenland, Europe. Distances are great-circle, so a short one can still be a long way round.

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