Churchill

Churchill sits where the boreal forest gives out onto the tundra beside Hudson Bay, and it is famous for a quirk of ice: the bay's currents mean the sea freezes here earlier than elsewhere, so each October and November polar bears converge on the coast to wait, having eaten little all summer. That concentration of hungry bears in one accessible place is why the town calls itself the polar bear capital of the world, and viewing is done from tundra buggies, high-wheeled vehicles that keep people safely above the animals. Summer brings something quite different: thousands of beluga whales come into the Churchill river estuary to calve and moult, and you can kayak or snorkel among them. In winter the aurora is overhead on most clear nights.

History

The Thule people, ancestors of the Inuit, arrived around the year 1000, and since before European contact the region has been home mainly to the Chipewyan and Cree. The first Europeans came in 1619, when the Danish expedition of Jens Munk wintered near the future town and only 3 of its 64 men survived; after an abortive attempt in 1688-89 the Hudson's Bay Company built the Churchill River Post in 1717, named after its governor John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, and between 1731 and 1741 it raised Prince of Wales Fort, a large stone fort at the mouth of the river, which drew furs from as far away as Lake Athabasca and the Rocky Mountains (Wikipedia, Churchill, Manitoba).

What's there

• Polar bears from a tundra buggy - the autumn gathering on the coast.
• Beluga whales - thousands in the river estuary in July, kayaked among.
• The northern lights - overhead on most clear winter nights.
• The tundra - the treeline giving out onto open ground and the bay.

When to go

October and November are the polar bear season and by far the busiest and priciest; July is beluga season; February and March are best for aurora. There is no road, so you fly from Winnipeg or take the two-day train, and everything must be booked many months ahead.

Things to know

It is expensive in a way that surprises people: no road means everything arrives by air or rail, and bear-season packages run into thousands. Accommodation is limited and sells out a year out. Bears walk into town, so there are rules about where you may walk and when, and they are not decorative. Weather routinely delays flights.

Nearby

Wapusk National Park lies south along the coast; Winnipeg is the air gateway.