Northwest Passage – Across the Top of the World (Alaska to Greenland) (2027)

Nome is a seaport used by freighters and cruise ships, located on the southern side of the Seward Peninsula in Norton Sound, Alaska, just 250km across from Siberian Russia. It was a small Inupiat Eskimo settlement until the discovery of gold in 1898 brought over 20,000 fortune seekers, but most left after 10 years, and today there are approximately 4000 residents with half being Native Americans. Interestingly, Nome is the finish line of the annual Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race covering over 1680km across the wilderness from Anchorage. Read more about Nome, USA

Herschel Island lies 5 km N of the coast of the Yukon Territory in Arctic Canada, close to the border with Alaska. In 1987, Herschel Island Territorial Park was created by the Government of Yukon and the Inuvialuit, in order to protect the island’s natural and historic resources. Most of the island is composed of level to gently sloping stable uplands, vegetated by cotton grass, ground shrubs and wildflowers. Read more about Herschel Island, Canada

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Ulukhaktok (aka Ulukhaqtuuq, Holman) lies 460km north of the Arctic Circle on the west coast of Victoria Island, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The small hamlet has a population of around 500. Hunting, trapping, and fishing are major sources of income. Read more about Ulukhaktok, Canada

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Situated on the SE coast of Victoria Island - part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago - Cambridge Bay is the largest stop for passenger and research vessels traversing the Arctic Ocean’s Northwest Passage. The area is the location of traditional hunting and fishing. Archaeological sites, such as the remains of a nearby Dorset culture stone-longhouse, are often found. Read more about Cambridge Bay, Canada

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Gjoa Haven meaning "lots of fat", referring to the abundance of blubbery sea mammals in the nearby waters, is a hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle. It is the only settlement on King William Island. The name Gjoa Haven was named after the ship of polar explorer Roal Amundsen. Read more about Gjoa Haven, Canada

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Beechey Island is located in the Wellington Channel of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. The island is best known for being the place where members of Sir John Franklin’s party searched for the Northwest Passage in 1845-46. Read more about Beechey Island, Canada

Dundas Harbour is an abandoned settlement on the southern coast of Devon Island, Canada’s 6th largest island. Dundas Harbour lies on the eastern shore of the harbour of the same name, and is situated 880 km north of the Arctic Circle. Croker Bay is immediately to the west. Read more about Dundas Harbour, Canada

Pond Inlet is a small, modern, attractive Inuit community (population 1550) located on northern Baffin Island above the 72nd parallel. The town is particularly picturesque hamlet, surrounded by massive icecapped mountains, dozens of glaciers, ice floes and explorable ice caves. No wonder Pond Inlet is considered one of Canada's "jewels of the North". Read more about Pond Inlet, Canada

Ilulissat (the Kalaallisut word for "Icebergs"), the third largest settlement in Greenland, is located on its west coast 200 km north of the Arctic Circle. It is a most popular tourist destination in Greenland on account of its proximity to the picturesque Ilulissat Ice fjord 3km to the south, named a World Heritage Site in 2004. Giant icebergs calved from the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier flow into Disco Bay thence David Strait, and ships have to navigate between these mountains of ice. Read more about Ilulissat, Greenland

Sisimiut is a town in central-western Greenland, located on the coast of Davis Strait, approximately 320 km north of Nuuk, and about 42km inside the Artic Circle (April 2017). It is the administrative center of the region and the second-largest town in Greenland. As the northernmost year-round ice-free port in the country, it is an important shipping hub for outlying settlements. Read more about Sisimiut, Greenland

Evighedsforden (‘Everlasting Fjord’; also Kangerlussuatsiaq Fjord) in SW Greenland lies just below the Arctic Circle along its 90 km length. The fjord flows in a deep canyon into the Davis Strait, with a water depth of 700m. Its feed-in glaciers drain the Maniitsoq ice sheet. Read more about Evighedsforden, Greenland

Nuuk is the capital and largest city of Greenland, as well as being the northernmost capital in the world, though 2 degrees south of the Arctic Circle. It’s a place where the old and the new are united in a unique and dynamic way. The missionary Hans Egede founded Nuuk in 1728 as the very first town in Greenland. Read more about Nuuk, Greenland