What to do in Aasiaat, Greenland I An Outsider´s Perspective

What to do in Aasiaat, Greenland I An outsider´s perspective, or rather a person from Nuuk.. ;-)

About Aasiaat:
Aasiaat, a small town of 3.000 people lying in the Disko Bay area and actually placed on a small island! The name Aasiaat means “Spiders”, not sure why?

And people here rely on fishing for shrimp and snowcrabs, shipbuilding, tourism and professional fishermen/hunters.

The town is very spread out and is basically one long main road, with houses connected by staircases. Staircases is their thing here and in case you need some glute activation spending a couple days here will have you covered.

Being a person who works professionally with construction and maintaining properties, I must say the construction sector here also is quite busy and definitely employing quite a few people.

Not that it shows, the construction companies are busy, judging from the maintenance of the buildings, the houses could need some paint and just be taken care of.

Comparing this town to the capital Nuuk, you can tell fewer money are circulating, which is seen on the prices of the houses and the fact, that no mortgage company would give you a loan for a house here..

What can you do here:

For my little week here, I have been doing these things, bear in mind it changes during the season of what you actually can do.
But you can do the following:

1. Going to the gym fitness GL an almost nationwide gym chain has a pretty good gym and it is not very crowded, which I really like
2. Walking around town, seeing small cute houses, sometimes amazing staircases and really pacing down from any stress
3. Going on whale safaris as Aasiaat is supposed to be a good spot for humpbackwhales
4. Aasiaat Midnight Marathon in june. Basically run during midnight as there is sun all the time. Even in may I sleep like crap due to lots of daylight during night.
5. Visit the 2 supermarkets and two convenience stores and get almost anything you want, except the vegetables are a little blah..
6. Joining the locals for a beer or dance at Nanuaraq the local disco, placed in the city centre.

There was a skilift before, not as great as Vail, Colorado, but a close second. Unfortunately due to lack of interest and the combination of bad placement and climate change, makes the skilift not run anymore.

The ice melts away too fast now, as the design was ment for you to ski down to the water.

Good and bad:

1. Good thing is you feel safe. Unlike travelling to ex. Some parts of Egypt, Africa etc, where you feel a little unsafe when having camera and phone out. Aasiaat does not feel unsafe.
2. Internet is pretty stable as a seabound fibercable is located here, providing a steady stream of netflix and chill.
3. Accessible by airplane and ferry, so getting in and out is pretty convenient

1. Not much to do. It definitely doesn’t feel like a touristy town as options for tourists are pretty limited.
2. Eating out is on your own risk. As far as I know, there are only 3 places to eat out. One is a café, a burger place and a thai dining which also doubles as the disco Nanuaraq.
3. A lot of run down/empty houses, which gives you a vibe of “come on man, do something about that”.. But it must boil down to a lack of financing and generally not caring about the homes and instead getting a boat…

All in all, would I recommend going here?

I guess it depends, what you are looking for. If massive icebergs, good dining and more touristy options are your thing, definitely go to Ilulissat instead.

Luckily im going there next week, so stay tuned!

But, if you want to experience a town where life is slower paced, lots of staircases and a “real” Greenlandic working town, I would say Aasiaat is alright to spend a few days in.

Would you go here? Comment down below!

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