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A polar bear among snowy dwarf willows near Churchill, Manitoba, looking back over its shoulder

Sample journey · 6–8 days

Churchill, where the polar bears wait for the ice

Winnipeg, Churchill, the Hudson Bay tundra & the Churchill River estuary

Photo: Dan Bolton / Unsplash

Illustrative journey ideas — not bookable packages. No prices, dates or accommodation are implied.

Churchill is a few hundred houses between the tundra, the last of the boreal forest and Hudson Bay. Every autumn the polar bears, having spent the summer on land, gather along the coast and wait for the bay to freeze again so they can return to the ice to hunt seals. In those weeks tall vehicles built for this ground cross the tundra, and from their windows the bears are seen from a few metres away: calm, curious, sometimes two of them sparring in the snow. In summer the same shore is quite different: thousands of belugas gather in the Churchill River estuary, and the tundra flowers.

This is a short journey but a concentrated one: a night in Winnipeg, five in Churchill and another in Winnipeg before the flight home. We'd build it around one of two seasons, the autumn bears or the summer belugas, because they're different trips with different clothes and rhythms. Churchill is small and simple, with few places to stay, so this is a costlier journey planned well ahead; in return it offers something hard to find elsewhere: wild animals on their own terms rather than to a timetable.

The route

The journey

  1. Winnipeg
  2. Flight to Churchill
  3. Churchill town
  4. The tundra (autumn) or the Churchill River estuary (summer)
  5. Prince of Wales Fort
  6. Winnipeg
  1. The Winnipeg sign at The Forks, with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and downtown behind

    01Days 1–2 · Winnipeg

    Where two rivers meet

    The journey begins in Winnipeg, in the middle of the Canadian prairies, where the Red River meets the Assiniboine. After the long flight, an evening walk at The Forks, the old trading place at the confluence, where people have met, traded and travelled for thousands of years. The next morning it's worth visiting Qaumajuq, the Inuit art centre of the Winnipeg Art Gallery, which holds one of the world's largest collections of contemporary Inuit art and makes the best introduction to the north you're about to see. Nearby is the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, its glass tower visible from far away. In the afternoon, the flight north, over lakes and endless forest that thins little by little until it becomes tundra. No road reaches Churchill: most travellers fly, and the slower alternative is a train journey of about two days from Winnipeg, so we plan this leg together with the whole journey.

  2. A stone inukshuk on the Hudson Bay shore at Churchill

    02Days 2–3 · Churchill

    A town on the bears' path

    Churchill is a handful of streets, fewer than a thousand residents who mostly know each other and signs reminding you that bears live close by: doors are often left unlocked, and nobody walks beyond the edge of town. The first day is for the town and the Itsanitaq Museum, which holds Inuit carvings in stone, bone and ivory, some of them centuries old. The shoreline rocks with their inuksuit, the stone markers of the Inuit, show where the town ends and the bay begins. Nearby, on the rocks of Bird Cove, the Ithaca rusts away, a freighter driven ashore by a storm more than sixty years ago. In the evening it's worth talking about life in the north with local guides: Inuit, Cree, Dene and Métis communities live here, and their stories, like their places, we visit with local guides, on their terms.

  3. A polar bear walking across snow and stones on the Hudson Bay coast near Churchill

    03Days 4–6 · The tundra (autumn)

    The weeks of the bears

    On the autumn journey (roughly October to November), three days belong to the tundra. Each day a tall, heated vehicle with an open rear deck rolls slowly along old tracks between ponds and dwarf willows into the protected area east of town. The bears usually rest along the coast, saving their strength until the ice; young males sometimes spar, and mothers with cubs keep their distance. How many you see and how close depends on the weather, the ice and the bears themselves: seasons vary, and nothing is guaranteed. Arctic foxes, willow ptarmigan and, with luck, a snowy owl often appear between them. For something rarer, a few nights in a lodge out on the tundra itself, where bears sometimes walk below the windows and the morning begins with no transfer at all.

  4. A white beluga surfacing in the grey-green water of the Churchill River estuary

    04Days 4–6 · The Churchill River estuary (summer)

    A summer with the belugas

    On the summer journey (roughly July to August), the same days belong to the water. At that time thousands of belugas, the white whales, come into the Churchill River estuary to feed, calve and shelter from predators in the shallow, warmer water. On the first day, a small boat among them, with belugas surfacing close by and a hydrophone lowered into the water so you can hear the whistles and chirps that earned them the name sea canaries. The next day, kayaks or paddleboards with a guide: curious belugas often come close of their own accord. On the third, a boat across the river to Prince of Wales Fort, the Hudson's Bay Company's 18th-century stone fortress, and a walk across the flowering tundra. Polar bears are sometimes near the shore in summer too, so beyond the town we always go with a guide.

  5. Green northern lights above the tundra as the sun sets on the horizon near Churchill

    05Days 7–8 · Churchill & Winnipeg

    The last northern night

    Churchill lies beneath the auroral oval, so on clear nights, especially in autumn, the sky often turns green: sometimes just a faint arc above the horizon, sometimes rippling bands across the whole sky. Any evening here may end with stepping outside in a warm jacket, and the last is no exception. On the final morning there's time to walk the shore, call into a small shop selling local makers' work or go back to the museum. Then the flight back to Winnipeg, a last night in the city and, the next day, the journey home. If the northern flight is delayed by weather, as happens here, this night in Winnipeg becomes the buffer that protects the onward flight. Those who would like longer can stretch this day into one more night in Churchill.

Experience highlights

  1. 01

    Bears on the tundra

    In autumn, polar bears on the coast, seen from a tall tundra vehicle as the bay freezes.

  2. 02

    The sea canaries

    In summer, belugas around your kayak and their voices through a hydrophone.

  3. 03

    Art of the north

    Qaumajuq in Winnipeg and the Itsanitaq Museum in Churchill: Inuit carving from the ancient to the contemporary.

  4. 04

    Aurora over the bay

    On clear nights, green light above the tundra, especially in autumn.

First, we listen. Then, we explore what's possible.

Make it your own

  • Shorter

    In the six-day version, Churchill has three nights: one for the town and two for the bears or belugas. That leaves less margin for bad weather, so we'd suggest at least four.

  • A rarer stay

    Instead of nights in town, a lodge on the tundra in autumn, or a remote coastal lodge north of Churchill where experienced guides lead walks on foot. Places are very few, so these are planned a long way ahead.

  • Both seasons

    In late July and August it's sometimes possible to see both belugas and bears summering on the coast: a gentler, warmer version of the journey, though there are usually fewer bears than in autumn.

  • With western Canada

    From Winnipeg the journey can continue to the Rockies or the Yukon, and a summer trip can be combined with the bears of the British Columbia coast.

Practical considerations

  • Bear season is roughly October to November and beluga season roughly July to August; the exact weeks vary each year with ice and weather, and sightings are never guaranteed.
  • Autumn in Churchill is often cold and windy, so warm layers, a hat and gloves are essential; summer is cool, and the tundra has plenty of mosquitoes.
  • Churchill can't be reached by car, and flights and stays are limited in season, so we plan well ahead and leave a margin for weather.
  • Polar bears are dangerous predators: we never walk beyond the town without a guide and always follow local rules. We check current advice before you travel.

General guidance only. Seasons, weather and wildlife are never guaranteed, and travel requirements are always worth checking before you go.

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