Polar bears are the main attraction in Churchill, where about a thousand of the animals gather each year.

Churchill

Manitoba, Canada

Churchill 

No paved roads lead directly into the tiny town of Churchill, Manitoba, on the remote, southwestern shores of Hudson Bay, so you'll have to arrive by train or plane to see the area's most famous seasonal residents—polar bears. From July to November, about a thousand migrate to Churchill, earning it the nickname the "polar bear capital of the world." Here, the planet's largest land carnivores spend the summer and await winter, when the

bay freezes and they can perch on the ice and hunt for ringed seals. Summertime also brings thousands of migrating beluga whales to the town's coast—another reason to visit."Nowhere else in the world can you have interactions with beluga whales that you can

have here in Churchill," says Michael Goodyear, former executive director of the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. "During the summer there's literally thousands of beluga whales in the estuary." In fact, the whales, which start migrating here after wintering in the high Arctic, outnumber Churchill's human population of around a thousand three to one. The sheer wealth of wildlife overwhelms. Says tour guide Neil Mumby, "The term 'bucket list' is used a lot here."

About Churchill

Churchill, population 1,000, is currently accessible only by air. Unfortunately the rail line, which was built over permafrost and muskeg in 1929 and required a crew of 3,000 to complete, was washed out in spring floods in 2017. Calm Air, Kivalliq Air run regular

scheduled air service from Winnipeg, Thompson and Gillam year-round. In summer, white beluga whales surface and plunge in the blue-green waters of the Churchill River. You'll be talking distance of the most vocal whales in the world. More than 3,000 beluga whales come in early July to feed and calve. Seals can also be seen in the harbour and caribou are frequently sighted along the coast. Visitors are awestruck upon seeing the haunting beauty of our aurora borealis (northern lights). Blue, green and white in colour, they swirl and dance in the still northern sky with performances that can be seen on clear nights. According to legend, the northern lights will dance their way down to earth if you whistle at them. Why not give it a try? Churchill is a birdwatchers' paradise-some 250 species of birds including the rare Ross Gull, nest or pass through on their yearly migrations. Bird Cove is an excellent spot for bird-watching. The wreck of the Ithaca, caught in a windstorm in 1960 while carrying nickel ore from Rankin

Inlet to Montreal, is at the western tip of the cove. Akudlik Marsh and Harbour Board Ponds are also very good spots for birdwatchers. On the tundra, lichens and miniature shrubs and flowers bloom each spring and fall. A short distance inland are patches of taiga (subarctic) forest, with black spruce, scattered white spruce and a thick mat of lichens. Twin Lakes is an island of boreal forest rising out of the surrounding subarctic tundra. Established in 1957, the Churchill Rocket Research Range is a National Historic Site located at the geographic centre of northern light activity. The skyline of the area is unique with the shapes of four launchers from which more than 3,000 rockets were fired into the atmosphere. Trilobite Beach is a fossilized tropical beach nestled below the billion year old cliffs of Churchill quartzite. Four million years ago, this was the shoreline of

a warm tropical sea located near the equator. The world's largest trilobite fossil, 72 cm long, was excavated in 1998. 

why visit Churchill?

As I mentioned above, Churchill is a pretty unique location. It's basically in the middle of nowhere on the sub-Arctic tundra, but has some seriously (namely 3) unique draws that make it absolutely worth the money and hassle to visit.

Swim with belugas

During the months of July and August each year, the Churchill River becomes the prime congregation spot for pods of playful and curious beluga whales traversing in from Hudson Bay. Thousands of these gentle giants can be spotted in the waters around Churchill during

the summer months, and visitors can interact with them via zodiak tours, kayaking, and even snorkeling/swimming.

View polar bears in the wild

Churchill is also known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World, because, in the fall (October-November), there are actually more polar bears in and around Churchill than regular residents. During the cold winter months, the big white bears are out on the Arctic sea ice. But, once the ice begins to melt in the spring and summer, they return to the mainland in the far north of Canada. In the autumn, it just so happens that the ice on Hudson Bay near Churchill is some of the first ice to begin freezing, thereby being the target for the region's polar bears so they can get back on the ice to hunt as soon as possible. For 6-8 weeks in the fall, then, Churchill becomes one of the only human settlements in the world from which people can observe polar bears in the wild.

Watch the Northern Lights dance

Lastly, Churchill claims to be one of the best places on earth to view the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights. South of the Arctic Circle, Churchill is positioned perfectly beneath the

auroral oval, where the dancing green lights are most active and able to be seen. Thanks to cold, crisp, and long winter nights and very little light pollution in the surrounding tundra landscape, going to Churchill in the off-season guarantees you a very good chance (75% or better) of seeing the Lights. As you can see, the “why visit Churchill?” question is incredibly easy to answer. No matter what time of year you want to visit, there's some unique and once-in-a-lifetime-type experience to have in Churchill.
Churchill on a budget

So now that you totally want to go to Churchill, too, I'm sure you're wondering how to do it

without having to book a tour that costs thousands of dollars, right?

Well, the bad news is that, in some instances, these expensive tours actually ARE the best and cheapest way to experience Churchill. In polar bear season, for example, the population in Churchill increases by roughly tenfold, and you won't find ANY cheap options. Seeing polar bears in the wild is the sort of once-in-a-lifetime experience that people WILL pay money for, and there's simply no way to avoid that. If, however, you'd prefer to visit Churchill during beluga season or during the winter to see the Northern Lights, there ARE some ways to save a little bit of money:

Take the train

There are no roads leading to Churchill, meaning that driving up to this part of the Great

White North is not an option. You can drive as far north as Thompson and then catch a flight or the train to Churchill from there. You can also fly from Winnipeg, but as there are only a handful of flights to/from Churchill each day on tiny little planes, you can bet that you'll pay a premium for such a flight (like, we're talking at least $1,000 roundtrip). The most adventurous option would be to take the train all the way from Winnipeg on Via Rail Canada, which is a 2-day journey that can cost as little as $300-$400 roundtrip — for an economy coach seat, which you will have to sleep in for two nights. There are also sleeper cabins on the train, though they obviously are pricier.

Stay in the hostel

Churchill actually does have ONE hostel in town, run by the same couple that runs the Tundra Inn hotel. The hostel called the Tundra House — is located in a cozy house that's

been renovated to serve the hosteling crowd. The hostel is an HI and YHA recognized property, and offers small dorms as well as private rooms. The dorms start at $32 per night if you're an HI or YHA member, and private rooms run around $75 per night. All the expected amenities  linens, wifi, cable TV  are available, and an Australian couple I ran into in Churchill said that the Tundra House was one of the most “homey” hostels they've ever stayed in. The only downside is that the hostel is NOT open during polar bear season. If you can't afford the list price for a Frontiers North or similar adventure in Churchill, there are shorter and cheaper packages you can book  many of them through the Tundra Inn. For example, a

2-night beluga package (with accommodation and tours included) starts at $693 per person, and a 2-night Northern Lights package (similar to the tour I experienced, but just shorter) starts at $630 per person.

There sadly are no cheap/shorter polar bear packages available… if you want that experience, I'm afraid you'll just have to pay for it!

Night

The northern lights, according to an Inuit legend, are the ancestors playing football with a walrus skull. In Norse mythology, the glimmering lights are the spears, armor and helmets of

the Valkyries. There are countless stories around the world of these otherworldly lights that hang like fluorescent curtains in the night sky, and the real phenomenon behind the northern lights, or aurora borealis, is just as awe-inspiring. High-energy particles stream out from the sun toward Earth and collide with gases in the atmosphere to create the brilliant green, yellow and purple bands of light. Churchill, Man., is one of the best places in the world to see this amazing display. Situated beneath the Auroral Oval, a band of activity in the atmosphere circling each of Earth’s poles, Churchill sees the northern lights an impressive 300 days per year, with the best chances of seeing them from January to April. Here are some of the best ways to view the northern lights in Churchill.

VIA Rail Dome Car  
Discover the romance of the rails on VIA Rail’s Tundra Train (top), where a glass-domed observation car lets passengers gaze at the aurora borealis at night, and panoramic views reveal the picturesque landscape during the day. The train runs from Winnipeg to Churchill and passes through three distinct biomes as it journeys north: the sprawling plains, boreal forest and subarctic tundra. Guests may even catch a glimpse of the northern lights from the window of their private sleeper accommodation.

Aurora Lounge  
Take in the northern lights from panoramic wall-to-ceiling windows in the Aurora Lounge,

the newest train-car style lounge from Frontiers North Adventures located at the edge of Churchill’s boreal forest. Once the lights really start to dazzle, snap a photo from the rooftop observation deck. Food lovers will enjoy the Northern Lights and Winter Nights package, which includes an evening at RAW:churchill (above), a transparent pop-up restaurant within the walls of a 300-year-old fort. Enjoy a meal prepared by one of Canada’s top chefs as the northern lights dance overhead. frontiersnorth.com

Aurora Domes  
Natural Habitat Adventures offers two options for northern lights gazers. Aurora Domes are bubble-like structures made of clear Plexiglass positioned in complete darkness outside of town. Guests relax on sofas in the dome or step up to the upper level for an unimpeded

circular view of the night sky.

Aurora Pod  
The Aurora Pod, the second offering on tours by Natural Habitat Adventures, is the newest innovation in accessibility and luxury. Custom built by Great White Bear Tours, the heated structure features a geometric glass construction and comes equipped with reclining chairs for a comfortable, 360-degree view of the northern lights. Located just outside Churchill, photographers have the option of enjoying the dancing lights from inside the Aurora Pod or capturing the spectacular display in the open air.

Learning Vacation
Astronomers and physicists have long visited Churchill to study space, so there’s no better place to learn more about this amazing phenomenon than one of the aurora borealis

learning vacations offered by the Churchill Northern Studies Centre. During the five-day stay at the centre, guests can marvel at the aurora borealis from a heated viewing dome while an instructor explains the science behind it.

Its the Churchill Manitoba, Canada. so u can travel this place.