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Route Planning Where to go, when, what are the interesting places to see
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  #1  
Old 19 Jul 2010
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Iceland-->Greenland-->Canada

Hello everyone,

New to the forum and already asking stupid questions I know but just bear with me on this one.

We're planning on a trip with a buddy for next summer to ride from Iceland to Greenland and onwards to Canada. Is there a ferry/boat connections between those three and where could I find more info about them - fees, schedule? Or is trying to talk our way into a cargo ship our best shot? I did the search forum but couldn't find any recent info.

Thanks!
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  #2  
Old 19 Jul 2010
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Iceland-Greenland-Canada

Was looking at similar trip a couple of years ago,there was no ferry links between them then.Try ferry finder on the net,also lonely planet guidebook or similar would have up to date info on travel to such places.Good luck
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  #3  
Old 19 Jul 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFugitive View Post
..... to ride from Iceland to Greenland and onwards to Canada.
Ummm. One doesn't normally "ride" Greenland, simply because there are no roads there in the normal sense. Same with arctic Canada.

Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFugitive View Post
Is there a ferry/boat......
No. Whether or not you can make your way onto a cargo boat of some sort--doubtful, but perhaps possible--bear in mind that summers are brief and will probably be over before you complete your trip.

Hope that helps.

Mark
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  #4  
Old 19 Jul 2010
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Thanks for the info, I'll try the ferry finder. I'm sure you CAN drive in Greenland, at least to some extent. There has to be some roads, or trails at least. We would be there in the summer so it shouldn't be that bad. Besides, I'm Finnish so the cold is not an issue with me.
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  #5  
Old 19 Jul 2010
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Originally Posted by TheFugitive View Post
Thanks for the info, I'll try the ferry finder. I'm sure you CAN drive in Greenland, at least to some extent. There has to be some roads, or trails at least. We would be there in the summer so it shouldn't be that bad. Besides, I'm Finnish so the cold is not an issue with me.
Finnish .. you already starting Autumn already ?, When i had a look on google maps I'm sure there were some roads .. I also looked at this .. there are some awesome trips you can take on container boats, sadly most can't guarentee that you and your vehicle will be on the same boat !
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  #6  
Old 20 Jul 2010
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Do you have the url for the container ship people ?

Cheers
Pete
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  #7  
Old 20 Jul 2010
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Originally Posted by horacebat View Post
Finnish .. you already starting Autumn already ?, When i had a look on google maps I'm sure there were some roads .. I also looked at this .. there are some awesome trips you can take on container boats, sadly most can't guarentee that you and your vehicle will be on the same boat !
Nah mate. I don't live in Finland anymore but I heard it's really hot there at the moment.

Container boat would do just fine.
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  #8  
Old 20 Jul 2010
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Check out companies similar to the following:

laterlife-container-ship-travel
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  #9  
Old 20 Jul 2010
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You may want to confirm the viability of road travel in Greenland before you get too far into your planning, according to Wikipedia, there are only 90 miles of road in the whole country half of which is paved, with only 2 towns having a road connection. Even the Greenland website states:

"Local transport

No trains and no roads between the towns
In Greenland there are no roads connecting the towns, so all transport takes place by plane or by ship. The Arctic climate, which at times can be extreme, places great demands on safety during transport, demands which Greenland’s transport companies satisfy in full. When travelling over shorter distances outside the towns the local population use their own boats, dogsleds or snowmobiles."

Greenland - Local transport - Official Greenland Travel Guide
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  #10  
Old 20 Jul 2010
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Originally Posted by steved1969 View Post
You may want to confirm the viability of road travel in Greenland before you get too far into your planning, according to Wikipedia, there are only 90 miles of road in the whole country half of which is paved, with only 2 towns having a road connection. Even the Greenland website states:

"Local transport

No trains and no roads between the towns
In Greenland there are no roads connecting the towns, so all transport takes place by plane or by ship. The Arctic climate, which at times can be extreme, places great demands on safety during transport, demands which Greenland’s transport companies satisfy in full. When travelling over shorter distances outside the towns the local population use their own boats, dogsleds or snowmobiles."

Greenland - Local transport - Official Greenland Travel Guide
Yeah, I've read the Wikipedia site as well. I saw a documentary about Greenland not too long ago. It was about how they are starting to cultivate the land, I think. Anyways, to me the terrain looked perfectly ride-able. Arctic tundra, or whatever. You wouldn't need roads on a enduro bike anyways. Isn't that kind of the whole point anyway? One hazard I do worry about is the local fauna, polar bears etc.
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  #11  
Old 20 Jul 2010
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Originally Posted by horacebat View Post
Check out companies similar to the following:

laterlife-container-ship-travel
Thanks for the link!!! That looks really promising!
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  #12  
Old 15 Aug 2010
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Originally Posted by TheFugitive View Post
Yeah, I've read the Wikipedia site as well. I saw a documentary about Greenland not too long ago. It was about how they are starting to cultivate the land, I think. Anyways, to me the terrain looked perfectly ride-able. Arctic tundra, or whatever. You wouldn't need roads on a enduro bike anyways. Isn't that kind of the whole point anyway? One hazard I do worry about is the local fauna, polar bears etc.
Arctic tundra is generally impassable in the summer because it is full of bogs. It looks nice and flat with little vegetation, but the surface is just a big swamp. That is why winter roads are the only time vehicles can transverse the tundra. I have rode motocross bikes on the tundra and it did not go very well or very far - would have been much easier riding an ice road in -50C!! Best of all, if you should even happen to get your bike more than a kilometer into the tundra before it gets stuck, the summer flies and mosquitoes will devour you.
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Old 16 Aug 2010
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No one is going to force you to listen to those who've been there.....but I've been there, and you can't ride very far unless the tundra is frozen. Trust me, or find out for yourself. And it's true that there are few roads--they're not needed, not wanted, and impractical to build with such a low population density in such problematic terrain. I did manage to ride a mountain bike from Kangerlussuak out onto the Inland Ice on a road which was apparently built by Volkswagon for a car commercial, but that was by far the longest road in the country, and most of it was over glacial ice.

Insisting that "There have to be roads or tracks...." won't serve you very well. On the other hand, you won't get far enough from wherever you start to run into any polar bears. They don't survive very long when they wander near human settlements.

Oh yeh, the bugs. Heh heh heh.

enjoy,

Mark
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  #14  
Old 31 Aug 2010
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I lived in Greenland from '96 to '99 and I have been to almost all the towns on the West coast and the South. Believe me when I say that driving between any two towns on a motorcycle in the summer is close to impossible.

The arctic tundra, you talk about, is a rare sight. You will have to cross mountains and extremely rocky terrain.

It is true that some farmers have started to grow potatoes and other stuff, but only at the southern tip of the island, and it is still largely experimental. Here is an article about it from the June edition of National Geographic: Changing Greenland - Viking Weather - National Geographic Magazine

If you really want to cross Greenland, I suggest skiing across the icecap. It's been done loads of times before. If you want to travel by MC, then Greenland is just not your country.

best regards

Christian

Last edited by chrisDK; 31 Aug 2010 at 17:44.
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  #15  
Old 31 Aug 2010
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This must be a troll!!

Have you ever heard of the 2km thick snowcover, called the inland ice, that covers 95% of Greenland ? AND there are lots of mountains and fjords,

There is not one road, connecting two towns in Greenland

IF there are paths, they are dogsled paths.

in summer boats are used for local transport and in winter, dogsleds and snowmobiles.

You can fly by plane and then drive around town and continue by plane to Canada.

The longest trip you can take in the third largest town Illulisat, is 14km, remember that dogsleds have the priority in all Greenland.

What is your proposed route ?
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