Churchill

Wapusk National Park

This huge national park is difficult to visit, owing to its remoteness, and the fact that it houses a polar bear colony! (Wapusk means white bear in Cree.) Other animals include the usual suspects in this area: foxes white and red, arctic hare, snowy owls, and a few grizzlies that have been moving into the southern reaches as the temperature warms. The visitor center is in Churchill's train station. There are only three reasonable ways to get out here: a helicopter tour through Hudson Bay Helicopters, or a tour through Frontiers North or Wat'chee Expeditions. See our Wapusk National Park page for details.

York Factory

Possibly the most important historic site in Northern Canada is this extraordinarily remote, decommissioned factory/office building, which was the headquarters of the Hudson's Bay Company. As its central base of operations, this white building was for over 100 years essentially the capital of Rupert's Land, which comprised the majority of present-day Canada! The initial settlement established in 1670 was at the mouth of the Nelson River just west, and moved to the present and extant site in 1684. Up until 1957 York Factory remained a northern trading post. Getting out there is not a simple affair, but can be done from Churchill as a day trip through Hudson Bay Helicopters (see below), for a rather steep price!

mid-July–30 Aug

Prince of Wales Fort

Built by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1717, Prince of Wales Fort is the most northerly stone fort in Canadian history, and is in good shape structurally, following a couple of restoration efforts in the 20th century. The restoration continues today, and if you time your visit right, you can watch stonemasons working on the structure using traditional 18th century methods. It was a complete flop of a fort, though, falling to the French in 1782 without so much as a defensive shot being fired, its small non-military force surrendering immediately to the vastly superior French force.

July–August (Beluga whale season), tours by request·Admission fee changes annually, and the Parks Canada's website admits not to knowing what it is!

Itsanitaq Museum

Formerly known as the Eskimo Museum, it has one of Canada's oldest collections of Inuit artifacts despite its small size (opened in 1944 by Catholic missionaries and still operated by the Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson), this museum has well detailed exhibits of all sorts of weird and interesting Inuit archaeological finds and sculptures. You will want well over an hour for the exhibits, and then some for the gift shop.

Jul-Oct: Mon 1PM-5PM, Tue-Sat 9AM-noon and 1PM-5PM; Nov-Jun Mon-Sat 1PM-4:30PM·Suggested donation $2

Cape Merry

An old cannon battery was set up in 1747 to protect the Hudson Bay Company's business on the Churchill River, rather stupidly, as the cannons there could be captured by an enemy and used to fire upon Prince of Wales Fort across the river. Nonetheless, it is a great scenic spot to look out on the bay and river and fort, with a genuine tundra ecosystem. The battery has been reconstructed with original stones found on location, with a single cannon left as a reminder of the site's history. Keep an eye out in bear season, as polar bears frequent the area when heading out onto the sea ice. It's not safe to walk from town, because of the bears, so take a taxi, get someone to give you a ride, or rent a car.

Lazy Bear Café

Cosy restaurant in the Lazy Bear Lodge, the only place in town with an espresso machine. Good selection of sandwiches. No alcohol.

Jun-Sep: 7AM-9PM daily; Oct-Nov 6AM-9PM daily·$15-40

Arctic Trading Company

Perhaps the coolest store in the Canadian North, this old wooden building has a wild selection, from local native artwork to a full-on polar bear suit. OK, so the polar bear suit (made in the 1950s) isn't for sale, and they're probably moving it to the Eskimo Museum, but there are a ton of other interesting animal products, from slippers to native-crafted pelt-art. You will almost certainly wind up buying something here, but the pleasure of browsing is reason alone to come.

Mon-Sat 9AM-6PM

MV Ithaca

Another wreck, this time a big 260-ft steamship that ran aground in this tidal flat in 1960 with 3,000 tons of ore in its hold (the crew all survived this wreck too). Locals took advantage of the ore bounty, stripping the ship down! It is possible to hike out to the wreck in the summer in low tide, but seek local advice first to make sure you will be safe. You get a great view from the helicopter.

Northern Images

A smaller and more focused store specializing in Inuit and local paintings, photography, sculpture, and other visual art.

May-Sep: Tue-Sat 9AM-5PM; Oct-Nov 8:30AM-8PM daily; Dec Tue-Sat

The Reef

The Seaport Hotel's restaurant has an excellent traditional breakfast, and quite good lunch and dinner. It's pretty quiet, and does tend to attract more tourists than locals, but don't let that discourage you—this is a solid option with really nice servers and a full bar. This is the only restaurant in town that is open year round.

Mon-Sat 7AM-10PM, Sun 8AM-10PM·$15-35

Churchill Creative Collective

Housed in a former Tundra Buggy, this is a small gallery housing arts and crafts exclusively made by locals. Cash only.

Most evenings

Liquor Mart

The liquor selection is pretty good here. The wine and beer a bit less so, but those are easy to get in the restaurants.

Jan-Jun: Tue-Sat 11AM-6PM; Jul-Sep Mon-Sat 11AM-6PM; Oct-Dec Mon-Sat 11AM-6PM, Sun noon-6PM

Tundra Inn Pub & Lounge

Breakfast is available only in bear season, and it's a pretty simple buffet (i.e., the other two restaurants have better breakfast). But dinner here is excellent, with some local oddities rolled into a menu of hearty carb-hugs, much needed at the end of a cold day. As the Tundra Lounge is next door, they have good beer and cocktails. No lunch.

Jun-Sep: Tue-Sat 4PM-midnight; Oct-Nov 6AM-midnight daily·$20-40

Northern Store

Ye olde general store is a place you'll almost certainly get to know, unless you are on a tour that takes care of everything. Groceries, some outdoor supplies (this is the only, limited option if you need winter weather gear that you forgot), DVDs, and some souvenirs. Things are more expensive this far north.

Mon-Thu Sat 10AM-6PM, Fri 10AM-8PM

Royal Canadian Legion Branch #227

Legion members and their guests only, but a good place to meet locals.

Wapusk General Store

Way at the other end of town from the rest of the gift shops is a cool old log cabin (built by the owner) with an Aboriginal-run gift shop (run by the same proprietors of the Wapusk Adventures dog-sledding tour). The more interesting stuff here are the jewellery and glassware.

Tue-Sat 10AM-5PM

Bazlik Jewellers

Another interesting gift shop with jewellery and watches, also with some especially useful stuff like camera batteries and memory cards. They will also repair broken cameras!

Goose Creek Observation Tower

It's only really worthwhile to come down this way if you rent a car, but it is a nice spot for a picnic in the summer. The observation tower looks out over Goose Creek towards the Churchill River, and is a good spot for birdwatching (it's also popular with aurora watchers).

Inukshuk

Inukshuk roughly translates to "representing a person" in Inuktitut, and is a predominant symbol of the Canadian North, in the form of a humanlike stone-cairn. While there are a few inukshuit in the area, this one is by far the most popular for its striking location on the shore of Hudson Bay, and is especially popular for aurora photography.

Miss Piggy

Filled with Coca-Cola and a snowmobile, this cargo plane crashed in 1979 (the crew survived), and has now become a tourist attraction. The odd name came from the rotund shape of the plane and the curious rumour that it did once transport a cargo of pigs. You will need a car to get you here. You're not really supposed to, but you can even go inside!

Tamarack Rentals

Same day rentals are almost always possible, and that is the way to go if you are trying to see the aurora (keep up to date on the space and local weather forecasts!) They will pick you up at the airport or train station, if you like. If you have a free day, a rental really is a good activity. Expect to spend at least $100 refuelling before returning. Remember to never lock the doors, so people can escape polar bears!

24-hour support, but try to reach them before 5PM for a same-day rental·SUVs: $95-125/day, passenger vans: $115-160

Great White Bear Tours

One of two options for tundra vehicles. The reservations people are disorganized and do not take reservations by phone on weekends. Take down names for a bit of extra security when booking. The tour itself, though, is every bit as good as the other company's.

$400 per day

Helicopter tours

Hudson Bay Heli

Hudson Bay Helicopters is the only helicopter operator in town. Their one-hour Animal Tour is by far their most popular option, and they often guarantee to see wildlife. Caribou and polar bears are the most exciting, since they are big enough to see easily! The Animal tour takes you out to Cape Churchill and Wapusk National Park, and you will see polar bears that no one else gets to see—it's a unique ecosystem to see from a helicopter, and it is worth the money. The tour will also take you over the town, by Miss Piggy and the shipwreck, and Prince of Wales Fort. Photography isn't fabulous from the helicopter, but really, you will want to spend your time looking out the window anyway. Minimum three people. In the summer months they also will offer a day-long charter down to York Factory (see above). Specialty tours require advance notice, but you can just walk up to the door and get on an Animal Tour. Advance payment is never required, as weather can spoil a trip.

Animal Tour: $500/person

Hiking

Nature 1st Tours

Hiking is a great way to get out of town, experience the different ecosystems, and spot wildlife (especially birds). Tour guides are experts, and will help you find Arctic hare, Arctic and red foxes, caribou, some 200 bird species, and even the occasional polar bear! They also do a cool walking tour of the tidal flats out to MV Ithaca.

May–August·$85 half day, $150 full day; children 6-12 years 50% off when accompanied by 2 adults; children under 6 free

Lazy Bear Arctic Crawler

Run by the Lazy Bear Lodge, this is the smallest operator with just one vehicle, and it usually is filled through their own package tour. It's worth giving them a call, though, if you are having trouble reserving the dates you want with the bigger companies.

$400 per day

Sea North Tours

Sea North is a dedicated tours-on-the-water company, with a bunch of different options for summer visitors. A really cool tour is the June Flow Ice Tour (which depends on sea ice conditions), which will take you on a two-hour animal spotting tour among the breaking ice, $105. The more standard tour, of course, is the July–August Beluga and Fort Tour, 2.5-3 hours in a Zodiac, $105 adults/$52.50 kids under 13. Kayak and standup paddleboard tours also run July–August at $160/person and $170/person respectively for three hours.

Tundra Buggy Adventures

Frontiers North Adventures

The original Tundra Buggy operator, which holds the most permits to operate in the Churchill Wildlife Management Area. They also operate the Tundra Buggy Lodge (see below).

$400 per day

Wapusk Adventures

Run by Dave Daley, the owner of Wapusk General Store (see below), this tour won the 2005 Manitoba Aboriginal Tourism Award. Dave is an active racer (and kind of an intense guy), still participating in the Hudson Bay Quest yearly, and also runs an outreach program to aboriginal kids interested in learning more about the heritage of dog sledding. The tour covers one mile.

$90/person

Blue Sky Expeditions

Run by the owner of Blue Sky B&B (see below), Gerald Azure. Discounts are available for B&B guests. The tour runs year-round, with 2 -mile runs during bear season and 5-mile runs otherwise. In the frozen months of Jan–March, you can also do a half day or even full 30-mile day tour, at $525 for two B&B guests.

$95/guest, $147/non-hotel guest

Snowmobiling

There is one guy in town, Mike Macri, who will do snowmobile tours, but only well after the river has frozen (usually December–April). If you are interested, and there is a lot of snow on the ground, it's worth giving him a call anyway, and you do not need to pre-book before arriving in Churchill.