Having made your way to Toronto Airport, check in at your group hotel near the airport for an overnight stay. Please visit the Aurora Expeditions hospitality desk to collect your luggage cabin tags and speak with the ground operations team, who may have information to share with you about pre-embarkation procedures and the charter flight to Nuuk tomorrow. Receive Aurora Expeditions cabin tags for your luggage. Please clearly label the tags with your name and ship cabin number.

After breakfast at the hotel, board your charter flight to Nuuk, Greenland, where the vessel Sylvia Earle awaits. After boarding, there is time to settle into your cabin before the important safety briefings. This evening, meet your expedition team and crew.

Greenland’s second-largest town, Sisimiut, is located approximately 54 kilometers (33.5 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, meaning that during the summer, you can experience the midnight sun here. The town is famous for the old blue church with a gate made of whalebone. In the cozy museum next door to the church, you can find an excellent reconstruction of an Inuit turf house and exhibits of local history and early life in Greenland.

Sisimiut offers hiking trails with various degrees of difficulty. The more accessible trails take you through the town, its outskirts, and into the mountains, where you can find spectacular vantage points.

Approximately 4,500 years ago, the Saqqaq culture arrived from Canada and settled there. They lived here for about 2,000 years, after which they mysteriously disappeared from the area. The Dorset culture came around 500 CE and stayed until the 1200s when the Thule culture replaced them, and today, most of the population of Sisimiut are descendants of the Thule culture.

Known as the 'birthplace of icebergs,' this region produces some of the most dazzling icebergs in the Arctic. Hike past the husky sled dogs to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Icefjord and stand in awe at its immensity. Sermeq Kujalleq, also known as Jakobshavn Glacier, is the most productive glacier in Greenland and throughout the entire Northern Hemisphere. It produces 20 million tons of ice daily, floating into the Ilulissat Icefjord and Disko Bay. Conditions permitting, enjoy a zodiac cruise at the mouth of the fjord and kayak through sea ice and icebergs. An optional 90-minute helicopter over the ice fjord is a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Optional helicopter flight (90 minutes): this excursion is the only way to get close to the gigantic glacier. The 12-seater helicopter departs from Ilulissat Airport, sweeping over hills, lakes, and ice fjords. Land on the mountain at Kangia, in the middle of the preserved area, to revel in the incredible surroundings. On the return flight to Ilulissat, fly above the glacier's edge with breathtaking views of the massive icebergs drifting in the fjord. The views of some of the enormous icebergs that become stranded on a moraine underneath the water just outside the town offer a fantastic finale to this excursion. Please note that this excursion requires a minimum of 8 passengers to operate.

This compelling island has more in common with Iceland than Greenland. While most of the interior is mountainous and glaciated, its beautiful shorelines boast black sandy beaches, unusual basalt columns, hot springs, and dramatic lava formations. The Zodiac cruise in Disko Bay features fascinating geology. It is also a hotspot for marine life, including humpbacks, fins, minkes, and bowhead whales.

The experts entertain you with informative talks about wildlife, geology, and epic tales of early explorers such as Franklin and Amundsen. Reaching the coast of Baffin Island, you may encounter Greenland’s famous icebergs. Keep an eye out for humpback, sei, sperm, fin whales, and various species of seals, such as ring and harp seals.

The east coast of Baffin Island features hidden bays that are feeding grounds for bowhead whales and where glaciers calve into the sea. Sail along inlets and fjords surrounded by towering mountains that feature impressive geology. You may visit Home Bay, Sillem Island, John Ford Fjord, Sam Ford Fjord, and Scott Inlet. Conditions permitting, you can go ashore at Pond Inlet and be treated to a warm welcome from the local community.

Covered with mountains, icefields, cliffs, snowfields, and glaciers, Bylot provides nesting habitat for large numbers of thick-billed murres and black-legged kittiwakes. A total of 74 unique species of arctic birds thrive on this island. Due to the richness of the wildlife and the beauty and diversity of the landscapes in the area, a large portion of the island was also included in the Sirmilik National Park, established in 2001. You plan to sail along the coastline of Bylot Island, where you hope to enjoy the scenery and outstanding birdlife.

You are now in the high Arctic at almost 75° north latitudes. Here, nutrient-rich waters support abundant wildlife, giving the area the moniker ‘wildlife superhighway’ of the Arctic. Devon Island is the largest uninhabited island on Earth and features stunning geology, with flat-topped mountains and glacial valleys, giving it its unique character. You hope to visit Dundas Harbour to enjoy walks on undulating tundra and perhaps some birdwatching. Other possible places that you might see include Croker Bay and Maxwell Bay. A dilapidated Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost and remnants of a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post can be found here. In the bay, walruses are often present.

Beechey Island, where you plan to land, is at the western end of Devon Island. Named after Frederick William Beechey, the island is one of Canada’s most important arctic sites and is a designated Canadian National Historic Site. During the Franklin expedition of 1845–46, Franklin attempted to sail through the Northwest Passage with HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, with perilous results—three of his men are buried here. Roald Amundsen landed at Beechey Island in 1903, during the first successful voyage by ship to transit the Northwest Passage from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean fully.

Your options for the following days are heavily dependent on unpredictable sea ice. You may attempt to cross the Bellot Strait if conditions allow you to sail Prince Regent Sound, search for wildlife, and perhaps visit historic Fort Ross, an abandoned Hudson’s Bay trading post. You may also visit Prince Leopold Island, which features magnificent vertical cliffs. Around the low-lying Tasmanian Islands, you may encounter similar pack ice that halted Franklin’s expedition in 1845. If conditions allow, you might enjoy a walk at historic Cape Felix on King William Island and learn more about Franklin’s ill-fated expedition.

Prince Leopold Island, Port Leopold

On the southern side of Lancaster Sound, opposite Beechey Island, lie the towering bird cliffs of Prince Leopold Island, the most important bird sanctuary in the Canadian Arctic, with approximately 500,000 birds nesting in pairs in the summer. Ringed seals are often spotted on the sea ice. Nearby Port Leopold is a historic site where British explorer James Clark Ross wintered in 1848 while searching for the missing Franklin expedition. The ruin of a century-old Hudson’s Bay trading post can be found there, and polar bears often lurk nearby. The shallow gravel beds attract beluga whales, which molt in this part of the Arctic each summer.

The following are places you hope to visit:

Coningham Bay

Across from Victoria Strait, Coningham Bay lies on the shores of Prince of Wales Island. This is a polar bear hotspot where the majestic creatures come to feast on beluga whales that are often trapped in the rocky shallows at the entrance to the bay. It is not unusual to find the shoreline littered with whale skeletons—and very healthy-looking polar bears!

King William Island

Remains attributed to the Franklin expedition have been found at 35 locations on King William Island and the nearby Adelaide Peninsula. South of Cape Felix, in Victoria Strait, you hope to get close to where the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror were abandoned in 1848.

Your experienced expedition team will create your day-by-day itineraries based on sea ice and weather conditions. Apart from Franklin, other heroic explorers, including Amundsen, explored this territory, and you may visit the same places as early explorers. You hope to meet the resilient locals who make the exceptionally far north their home.

In your Zodiacs, plan to explore the coastlines, bays, and hidden estuaries of the region and delight in the autumn colors shown during this changing season. Hold your breath as you near the geological wonder evocatively known as the 'Smoking Hills,' where the stench of sulfur rises from below the earth. Where it's possible to land, stretch your legs on hikes to explore the region's dramatic landscapes of hills, valleys, cliffs, and canyons.

Below are some of the places in the area that you may visit:

Cambridge Bay

The administrative and transportation hub of the region, Cambridge Bay, is the most significant stop for passenger and research vessels traversing the Northwest Passage. It unofficially marks the midpoint for voyages of the Northwest Passage. Zodiac ashore to explore this Inuit settlement located in the high Arctic. Enjoy a walk through the village, where you can visit the local church and visitor center and support the local community by purchasing locally made handicrafts. You plan to visit the ancient archaeological sites of the Pre-Dorset, Dorset, and Thule people in the old town. Wildlife abounds in this area, and you might see caribou, musk oxs, and seals. The tundra is ablaze with wildflowers, and birds, including jaegers, ducks, geese, and swans, visit the area in large numbers.

Johansen Bay, Edinburgh Island

Edinburgh Island is a small and uninhabited island in Canada's Nunavut region. The scenery consists of colorful flowering shrubs, beaches tinged in stunning ochres, and surrounding cliffs shaded in rich, deep tones. You hope to enjoy a Zodiac excursion within an estuary at the northeast end of Johansen Bay and up the river towards the lake. A possible walk to a lookout overlooking the lake offers spectacular views over lakes, seas, and mountains. Wildlife frequents the area, including Caribbeans, reindeer, arctic foxes, hares, and peregrine falcons.

Jesse Harbour, Banks Island

Located in the north of Canada's Northwest Territories, Banks Island, the fifth largest island in Canada, is home to approximately 60 percent of the world's population of Lesser Snow Geese. Arctic foxes, wolves, polar bears, caribous, musk oxs, and many other birds are also found here. Grizzly bears are occasionally spotted, and bowhead whales are often seen offshore. The dramatic cliffs on the southeast coast feature colorful yellow, white, and red quartzites, while the west coast is characterized by long, sandy offshore bars. Nelson Head cliffs feature ancient Precambrian rock almost 2 billion years old.

Smoking Hills, Franklin Bay

The smoking hills in Canada's Northwest Territories have been smoldering, sending gas plumes across the landscape, for centuries. Technically, sea cliffs, you would be forgiven for thinking that the multicolored, fiery natural phenomenon is the set of an apocalyptic movie depicting the end of the world. The smoke is caused by layers of combustible, sulfur-rich lignite (brown coal) that ignite and emit sulfurous gas into the air when exposed to erosion and landslides, which also create a dazzling coloration of the rocks.

Excitement builds as you sail the Beaufort Sea. Whether you are out on deck or in the comfort of one of the observation lounges, watch as the captain navigates the state-of-the-art vessel through these waterways, which are frozen for most of the year. Keep a close watch for marine wildlife, including Beluga whales often seen here. At Prudhoe Bay, you say farewell to Canada and enter the United States.

As you sail westwards to Nome, along the northern coast of Alaska, where the U.S. and Russia are only 100 km (60 miles) apart, separated by the Bering Sea, there is ample time to reflect on your adventures while scanning the water for marine life. You Hope to get permission to ship cruise close by Point Hope, Little Diomede, and King Islands in Alaska.

In Nome, farewell your expedition team and crew after sharing a once-in-a-lifetime voyage. After disembarking, transfer to the airport for a charter flight to Anchorage for an overnight stay. 

Transfer to the airport for your onward journey.