There are few places on earth as breathtaking as Greenland when viewed from the clouds. Its 10,000-foot-thick ice shelf, towering granite mountains, and stunning fjords provide spectacular scenery for the island's avian residents and those lucky enough to fly above it on a clear day.

Just about every visitor to the world's largest island arrives by plane and enjoys these rarified pleasures. One can fly from Baffin Island, Canada, with First Air. Or one can fly in from Copenhagen on SAS or from Iceland, via Grønlandsfly, Atlantic Air, and Iceland Airlines. Most visitors land at the main airport in Kangerlussuaq, on the west coast. They also can land at Narsasuaq, further south. Both were former air fueling stations built by the U.S. armed forces during World War II, when Greenland was a strategic fueling depot for flights heading to the European theater. Today, the traffic is in tourists.

Inside Greenland, flying is a practical -- if not the only -- way to get between distant points. The local air service, Greenland Airlines (Grønlandsfly), offers a variety of planes and helicopters that should be used to glimpse Greenland's stunning scenery. (See my Greenland transport page for more details.)

On a personal note, a trip over Greenland in July 1997 first exposed me to Greenland's beauty. I saw fjords and ice sheets that sparked a fire I couldn't put out. A year later, I found myself on the land below my airplane window. It was an itch well worth scratching.

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Greenland's Fjords

Greenland's fjords are a spectacular site from an airplane window. (This view, from a July 1997 flight, inspired this photographer to return again, and again.)

Near Eriksfjord, Greenland

As a plane flies over Greenland's southwest fjords, the extreme terrain comes sharply into focus.

Where Ice Meets The Sea

If Greenland's ice were to melt, the world's oceans would rise nearly six meters.

Mountains and Ice

Greenland's icecap covers most of the island, rising to 10,000 feet above sea at places.