If you really want to get away from it all and intimately entwine yourself with the stillness and silence of a remote landscape but don’t have the budget to fully fund your escape, you’re in luck. Hotels.com is running a promotion that offers you free accommodation in a cosy hotel in one of the most remote settlements on earth.
Ittoqqortoormiit is one of the world’s most remote communities. Image by Hotels.com
Ittoqqortoormiit, Greenland is the remotest inhabited settlement in the western hemisphere. It’s also one of Greenland’s best kept secrets. Founded in 1925 by Inuit settlers, today it has a population of roughly 450 people spread out among a scattering of colourful wooden houses. There are no cars or buses for transport; getting around requires huskies and sleds.
Ittoqqortoormiit has a population of just 450 people. Image by Hotels.com
As Ittoqqortoormiit is so remote, it’s blessed with an abundance of natural beauty. It’s nestled between two national parks; there’s Northeast Greenland National Park to the north (home to musk oxen, polar bears and walruses) and Scoresby Sund to the south – the largest national park and fjord system on earth.
While you’re in Ittoqqortoormiit you can enjoy a number of activities such as dog-sledding, hiking, snowshoeing, touring the hot springs, kayaking, and boating or fishing in the Arctic Ocean. You’ll also witness the spectacle of the Northern Lights which can be seen in autumn, winter and spring months just by looking up at the sky. You might even spot seals or travelling narwhals (often dubbed the ‘unicorn of the seas’ because of their horns) at the shores of the peninsula.
Mountain view of Ittoqqortoormiit. Image by Christoffer Collin/Hotels.com
The island is frozen nine months a year and you’ll be visiting in March where early spring temperatures range from -4°F to zero (-20°C to -17). Not too balmy. To get there, it takes a minimum of two planes, a jaw-dropping helicopter ride and a bumpy ride on the back of an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), making the journey an adventure in its own right.
You’ll be staying in Ittoqqortoormiit Guesthouse, an intimate and cosy space with just seven rooms. It’s also the only hotel in the town. To get there, all you have to do is book a room with Hotels.com before 31 December and pay 1% of the room rate. The average room rate per night is US$103 (€91/£80) so 1% will work out at just over a dollar. The promotion is available for stays in March so you’ll need to be quick as those seven rooms will book up fast.
Ittoqqortoormiit Guesthouse has just seven rooms. Image by Hotels.com
Flights and transport aren’t included and will cost you around US$573 (€504/£449) one-way from Iceland. The flights go out twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, from Akureyri, Iceland’s second-largest airport.
If you want to get off the grid to an Arctic location that’s just opening up to the world, visit Hotels.com, choose to pay online and enter the code ‘REMOTE’ to redeem the offer.
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