A Trip to the Polar Bear Capital of the World
Recently returned from Churchill in Northern Canada.
While a more common way to travel there is on a group tour, with proper planning, it is possible to do it as an independent traveler.
Even better, you can even use your miles to travel from Winnipeg to Churchill – 15K miles + $165 in taxes/fuel surcharges vs. over $1K (yes, this short flight is super expensive because there’s only one airline that flies there).
The “Bear Season” runs roughly from mid-October through mid-November: that’s when the bears are most active as they get ready to head into the ice. That’s also when the tundra buggy/polar rover tours run – they take people into the protected area, where bear sightings are more frequent and you can get closer to the bears. However, everyone we met there highly recommended a summer visit, late Jul/early August, for the belugas, wildflowers in bloom, hiking, kayaking, and YES, even bears. We were told about 95% of summer visitors get to see the bears, there are not as many tourists, and the prices are much lower.
When in Churchill, be sure to not miss dog sledding, whether it’s on an actual sled, or a wheeled version if there’s not enough snow. Our hosts run a dog sledding operation, and we got to spend lots of time with their dogs.
You also have a fairly good chance to witness Northern Lights. We weren’t so lucky and just missed them by a day. Here's a photo of a mural depicting them (lots of amazing murals around town):
I’d recommend at least 3 days “on the ground”, but probably a bit more if you go in the summer.
