AT A GLANCE
Why go?
Uunarteq—better known by its Danish name Kap Tobin—is a small ghost settlement on the coast of eastern Greenland, about 7 km south of Ittoqqortoormiit, the one of the most remote communities on Earth. Founded by hunting families in 1926 and abandoned in the mid-1980s when its weather station shut down, the cluster of wooden houses now sits quietly above the sea, kept alive mainly as summer cottages for people from the nearby town.↗↗↗
For travellers using Ittoqqortoormiit as a base, Uunarteq makes a striking half-day excursion: an evocative Arctic ruin with real history, the warmest geothermal springs in Greenland nearby, and the raw tundra coastline of the Scoresby Sound region stretching all around.↗↗
A village that the ice and the weather station outlasted
Kap Tobin began in 1926 when a few hunter-fisher families settled here on the rocky coast south of what was then Scoresbysund. For years it was a humble outlying bygden, but life changed in 1947 when a telegraph and weather station went up. The station employed around twenty people, and with their families the community swelled to roughly a hundred and twenty, complete with its own grade school.↗↗
The same station that gave the village its boom also sealed its fate. When the weather operations wound down—closed in the early 1980s—the settlement was slowly emptied, and the last family moved away to Ittoqqortoormiit in 2004. Today most of the houses are owned by residents of the nearby town, who use them as cottages and storage year-round, so the place feels less like a dead ruin than a village in permanent, quiet retirement.↗↗↗
Hot springs and ancient Inuit ruins
The landscape around Kap Tobin holds more than recent history. Just nearby are the warmest springs in Greenland—geothermal sources reaching the low 60s in Celsius, a remarkable trickle of heat in a tundra climate where the average annual temperature sits well below freezing. In a region defined by ice and cold, steaming water rising from the rocks is an unexpectedly surreal sight.↗↗↗
The springs area is also fringed by the remains of an earlier Inuit settlement, testament to the long human history of hunting along the Scoresby Sound fjord system long before the 20th-century colony arrived. Together the abandoned houses, the warm springs and the old village ruins give the walk a layered, time-collapsed quality that you rarely find in such a remote corner of the world.↗↗
Visiting from Ittoqqortoormiit
Uunarteq is reached most naturally from Ittoqqortoormiit (Scoresbysund), the small town a few kilometres to the north that serves as the gateway to this entire coast. The walk between them follows the tundra shoreline and makes an achievable excursion, with the broad fjord, sea ice and the mountains of the Northeast Greenland National Park forming the backdrop. The region is renowned wildlife country—polar bears, muskoxen, seals, walrus and narwhal all range through these waters and hills.↗↗
This is genuinely wild Arctic terrain, so practical caution matters. Polar bears come near the settlements more often as sea-ice conditions shift, and visitors are advised to travel with local knowledge, a rifle, and the guidance of experienced guides rather than heading out alone. Local tour operators in Ittoqqortoormiit arrange excursions and expedition logistics.↗↗
Getting to the edge of the world
Ittoqqortoormiit is often described as one of the most remote settlements on the planet. Reaching it involves a flight to Iceland and a connection onward to the regional airport at Nerlerit Inaat, then a helicopter transfer into town—a journey that itself frames Uunarteq as a destination at the very margins of the inhabited Arctic.↗↗
What makes it special
A little planning goes a long way
- Base yourself in Ittoqqortoormiit and reach Uunarteq as a guided coastal excursion of a few kilometres south; book through a local tour operator for logistics and safety briefings.↗↗
- Treat polar bear safety seriously in this region—travel with a rifle and experienced local guides rather than alone on the open tundra.↗
- Plan around weather and flight connections: access depends on Iceland links and helicopter transfers, which can be disrupted, so build spare days into your itinerary.↗↗
About this guide
Compiled with AI assistance from the sources below; this is not a first-hand visit. Place details collected October 5, 2026. Hours, access and ratings can change; confirm with the venue before visiting.