Qassiarsuk is a sheep farming settlement of a few dozen people on the green side of a fjord in southern Greenland, and for a few years around the year 1000 it was the centre of European Greenland. The Norse chieftain Erik the Red, banished from Iceland for killing, arrived here in the 980s, built a farm that he named Brattahlíð, and became the leader of a colony that would eventually number several thousand. His son Leif, called the Lucky, sailed from here to the shores of North America.
You can see the story laid out on the grass. A modest replica of the small church that Erik's wife Thjodhild is said to have asked for stands beside the ruins of the farm, built of turf with a tiny window, and a long reconstructed Norse longhouse shows what living quarters looked like. A bronze statue of Leif stands on the hill. Greenland's Norse settlements vanished in the fifteenth century, and nobody knows exactly why, though colder climate and the decline of trade with Europe are thought to have played a part.
What strikes visitors even more is the setting. The Tunulliarfik fjord is wide, glittering and filled with icebergs that have floated down from the great ice sheet, and the hills are covered in dwarf birch and willow, and in July the farmland glows green. Summer days are very long, and the light is clear and cold. Midges can be fierce on still days, so a head net is worth the weight.
The ride question needs a straight answer. There are no roads linking Greenland's towns, and Qassiarsuk has no road out, so this point is reached by a short boat crossing from Narsarsuaq, where the airport grew from an American wartime base. Gravel tracks around the settlement are enough for walking and some cycling, and the practical way to visit is as part of a larger journey by plane and boat. Narsarsuaq has a small hotel, a museum and a few places to eat, but supplies are limited and prices high, so do not plan on improvising.