Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Copenhagen: How We Did It in One Trip
Greenland - not the greenest
Trip at a glance: Two weeks | Newark → Nuuk → Copenhagen → Faroe Islands → Copenhagen → London → Orlando | Best June–August | Family of four
I want to start by acknowledging something. If you searched for this itinerary and found your way here, you've probably already spent an hour down a rabbit hole that left you more confused than when you started. Every article sends you somewhere slightly different. Half of them are about Iceland, which isn't even on your list. The flight connections look like a puzzle. You're not sure if you need two weeks or three. You don't know where Nuuk fits relative to Ilulissat or whether the Faroe Islands even have a real airport.
That overwhelmed feeling is normal. This trip is genuinely complicated to piece together. I know because we did it, and I do this for a living, and it still took real effort to route correctly.
So let me walk you through it — what we actually did, how we got there, and what you need to know if you're thinking about doing the same.
Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and Denmark: Why This Itinerary Makes Sense
All three are part of the Kingdom of Denmark. That sounds like a geography trivia answer, but it matters practically: Copenhagen is the hub that connects all of them. Once you understand that, the routing stops feeling random and starts feeling logical. A Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Denmark itinerary isn't three separate trips stitched together — it's one trip with a coherent spine.
We flew Newark to Nuuk to start. From Nuuk we flew to Copenhagen. Copenhagen to the Faroe Islands. Back to Copenhagen. Then London to Orlando on the way home. Six flights for a family of four, and I'll explain how we got them all on points another time — but the short version is we used the 10x Travel program, didn't pay cash for a single flight, and the last leg home was in first class. The whole thing cost us around four thousand dollars in taxes on what would have been an eighteen thousand dollar trip. One day I'll write the full breakdown because it's worth knowing.
But the flights are the scaffolding. Here's what's actually inside them.
Getting to Greenland from the US: The Part Nobody Knows About Yet
As of summer 2025, United Airlines flies nonstop from Newark (EWR) to Nuuk (GOH) twice a week on a Boeing 737 MAX. The flight is about four and a half hours. This is new — for most of the last two decades, getting to Greenland from the US meant connecting through Reykjavik or Copenhagen and adding a full day to your travel. Now it's shorter than flying to London, and United has confirmed the route returns June 2026. If you're not near Newark or traveling outside the June-to-September window, Icelandair connects through Reykjavik year-round, and SAS flies direct from Copenhagen.
Nuuk is Greenland's capital, about 20,000 people at the mouth of a massive fjord system. We didn't spend much time there because most people aren't going to Greenland for the capital. We flew north on Air Greenland to Ilulissat, and that's where everything got strange and beautiful.
Here's the thing about Greenland that doesn't fully register until you're there: there are no roads between cities. None. You fly or you take a boat. There's no driving from Nuuk to Ilulissat. It's not that the road is bad — the road doesn't exist. That alone tells you what kind of place this is.
Ilulissat sits next to the Icefjord, a UNESCO World Heritage Site where the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier calves constantly into Disko Bay. The icebergs are enormous in a way that photos genuinely don't prepare you for. We did a boat tour through the ice. We hiked the Icefjord trail in something approaching daylight at 11pm because it was June and the sun doesn't go down. Our boys — 12 and 15 — were not bored. That's the best review I can give a place.
Greenland - It’s what you’re imagining.
Nuuk to Copenhagen: The Civilizational Whiplash is Real
Flying from Ilulissat back to Nuuk, then on to Copenhagen, is one of the stranger transitions you can make in travel. You land in one of the most design-forward, bike-friendly, well-functioning cities in the world a few hours after standing next to an iceberg. It takes a minute to recalibrate.
We gave Copenhagen a few days, and I'd argue it deserves them. The Nyhavn waterfront is the famous photograph, and yes it looks like that in person, but the better version of Copenhagen is the neighborhoods. Frederiksberg, Vesterbro, the areas around Torvehallerne market. Good food is not hard to find here.
Copenhell Metal Festival - Not for everyone, just us.
We also went to Copenhell for a day. If you don't know it — it's a heavy metal festival held every June on the outskirts of the city, and it's one of the better-run festivals I've seen anywhere. Joe has wanted to go for years. The boys were into it more than I expected. It was loud, it was crowded, it was absolutely nothing like the Icefjord, and somehow that was exactly right. Not everything on a trip has to be a landscape. Sometimes you just want to stand in a field with ten thousand people and listen to something loud together. Copenhagen is a city that can absorb that kind of detour without blinking.
Flying to the Faroe Islands: How the Connection Actually Works
There are no nonstop flights from the US to the Faroe Islands — that's just the current reality as of 2026. The connection you want is Copenhagen to Vágar Airport (FAE) on either Atlantic Airways or SAS. Both fly it regularly and the flight is about two hours. This is actually the cleanest part of the routing because Copenhagen is already on your itinerary.
The Faroe Islands have one airport, on the island of Vágar. You land, you get a rental car, and you start driving. That's really how it works. The 18 islands are connected by tunnels, bridges, and occasional ferries, and the entire chain is small enough that you can cover serious ground in a week.
Faroe Islands - Cliffs of Insanity
Tórshavn is the capital — walkable, genuinely charming, with turf-roofed buildings in the old Tinganes district and restaurants worth planning around. Book ahead if you want the better meals. But the reason people come to the Faroes is the landscape outside the city. Lake Sørvágsvatn sits so high above the ocean that from a certain angle it looks like it's floating above it. The island of Mykines has puffins nesting in the cliffs from May through August, and the hike to the lighthouse is one of those trails you think about afterward. Gásadalur has a waterfall that drops straight off a cliff into the sea. Joe photographed all of it. I mostly just stood there.
The weather in the Faroes does what it wants. You can be in full sun and walk around a bend into thick fog. Build flexibility into your days and don't over-schedule the hiking. The islands reward wandering more than rigid itineraries.
Back to Copenhagen, Then London, Then Home
We flew back to Copenhagen for one night as a buffer before the transatlantic leg. It's tempting to cut this out and save money, but with families and connecting flights and weather in the North Atlantic, a buffer night is insurance worth buying.
Copenhagen, Denmark
Our final stretch was Copenhagen to London, London to Orlando — in first class, on points. The kids thought we'd lost our minds when they saw the seats. Joe and I had a drink at 35,000 feet and agreed this was the right trip to figure out.
What This Trip Actually Costs (Honest Version)
If you're booking everything in cash: budget $7,000 to $12,000 per person depending on season, accommodations, and how much of Greenland's domestic air network you use. Greenland is expensive — Ilulissat especially, food and lodging and tours all run high. The Faroes are mid-to-high range. Copenhagen scales to however you want to live in it.
June through August is the window. Long days, accessible trails, boat tours running, puffins on Mykines. Book Greenland tours as early as you can. The good ones sell out months in advance.
If you're thinking about doing this on points, it's possible — we did it — but that conversation is longer than this article.
What a Travel Planner Actually Does on a Trip Like This
The routing we did — six flights across four destinations, domestic Greenland legs, weather-dependent connections, a metal festival detour, first class home — is not something most people want to piece together alone. And I don't say that to be discouraging. I say it because the reason I do what I do is exactly this: trips that look impossible until someone who does this every day maps them out for you.
I know which Greenland tour operators are worth booking. I know which Faroe Islands accommodations fill first and which restaurants need a two-month-out reservation. I know the routing that holds and the one that looks fine on paper and falls apart when the weather hits.
That's the job.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Denmark itinerary take? Two weeks is the minimum to do all three without feeling rushed. We did Greenland in five nights (including domestic flights), the Faroe Islands in four nights, and Copenhagen in four nights split across the beginning and end of the trip. You could compress it to ten days but you'd be cutting Greenland short, which isn't worth it.
Do US citizens need a visa for Greenland, the Faroe Islands, or Denmark? No visa required for any of the three. Denmark is part of the Schengen Area, so your standard 90-day tourist allowance applies. Greenland and the Faroe Islands are both part of the Kingdom of Denmark but sit outside Schengen — which means they don't count against your 90 days. Your passport needs to be valid for at least three months beyond your travel dates.
Can you fly directly from the US to the Faroe Islands? Not reliably as of 2026. The practical routing is to fly into Copenhagen first and connect on Atlantic Airways or SAS to Vágar Airport — about a two-hour flight. Some travelers route through Reykjavik instead, which also works. Either way, plan for Copenhagen as your gateway.
What's the best time of year for this trip? June through August. The midnight sun in Greenland is surreal, the puffins are on Mykines in the Faroe Islands through August, and Copenhagen in summer is as good as a city gets. June also lines up with Copenhell if that's of interest, which for us it was. Shoulder seasons in May or September are quieter and cheaper but you lose some of the long daylight and a few seasonal tours stop running.
Ready to Plan Yours?
Head to jess.travel and let's talk through it. You tell me your timeline and your starting point, and I'll tell you what's actually possible. We'll build the version of this Greenland, Faroe Islands, and Denmark itinerary that fits your life — whether that's the full two-week run we did or something tighter built around one or two destinations.
This trip exists. It's not as hard as it looks. You just need a plan.
