Churchill

The "Polar Bear Capital of the World": see polar bears from a tundra buggy in late autumn, swim with belugas in summer and watch the northern lights in winter.

Churchill lies in northern Manitoba, Canada, at the mouth of the Churchill River on the western shore of Hudson Bay. Home to fewer than 1,000 people, it has no road connection to the outside world: you arrive either by plane from Winnipeg (about 2.5 hours) or on the VIA Rail train (about two days). It is famous as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World": from mid-October to mid-November, hundreds of polar bears gather on the coast waiting for the bay to freeze, and visitors ride tundra buggies into the Churchill Wildlife Management Area for close-up views — the most reliable place on earth to see wild polar bears. In July–Aug tens of thousands of beluga whales pour into the Churchill River estuary, and you can see them by boat or kayak, or even swim with them; at the same time you can cross the river to visit 18th-century Prince of Wales Fort. From January to March, clear skies far from light pollution make it a great place for the northern lights, with aurora courses offered by the Churchill Northern Studies Centre, and in February–March you can watch mothers and cubs emerge from their dens in Wapusk National Park. In town are the Itsanitaq Museum of Inuit art, the Parks Canada visitor centre, the Miss Piggy plane wreck and the wreck of the MV Ithaca. Accommodation and tundra buggy spots are extremely limited during bear season and usually need booking a year ahead; a guided tour is the easiest option. When walking outside town, always heed polar bear warnings and never go out alone at night. Winter temperatures can drop below −30°C, so bring proper cold-weather gear. Plan on 3–5 days.

Top sights

• Churchill Wildlife Management Area & Tundra Buggy Tours – Ride a giant tundra buggy deep into the coastal tundra for close-up views of wild polar bears waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze.
• Churchill River Beluga Whales – In summer, tens of thousands of beluga whales flock to the Churchill River estuary. You can go out by boat or kayak, or even suit up in a d…
• Prince of Wales Fort – A star-shaped stone fort built by the Hudson's Bay Company in the 18th century, on the opposite bank of the Churchill River mouth, now a Ca…
• Cape Merry Battery – An 18th-century gun battery site on the east bank of the Churchill River mouth, with views across the river to Prince of Wales Fort and fre…
• Itsanitaq Museum – An Inuit art museum founded by the Catholic Church in 1944, housing hundreds of stone carvings, bone carvings and archaeological artefacts.
• Churchill Northern Studies Centre – An Arctic research station about 23 km east of town, offering learning holidays focused on the aurora, polar bears and birds, and featuring…
• Miss Piggy Plane Wreck – The wreck of a C-46 cargo plane that made an emergency landing on rocks near the airport in 1979, nicknamed "Miss Piggy" for its vast cargo…
• Wapusk National Park – One of the world's largest polar bear denning areas, reachable only by small plane or specialist tour, where mother bears and cubs emerge f…
• Polar Bear Holding Facility – Known as the "polar bear jail", this facility holds bears that wander into town before they are flown back out onto the ice by helicopter…
• MV Ithaka Shipwreck – A cargo ship that ran aground on the shallows at Bird Cove in 1960; its rust-red hull standing on the intertidal zone is one of Churchill's…
• Churchill Station & Parks Canada Visitor Centre – The terminus of the Hudson Bay Railway, housing the Parks Canada visitor centre, which covers polar bears, the fur trade and Indigenous his…

Where to eat

• Tundra Pub – The number one ranked pub restaurant in Churchill on Tripadvisor, famous for its Borealis Burger and featured on the Fo…
• Lazy Bear Cafe – The restaurant on the first floor of the Lazy Bear Lodge, famous for northern ingredients like Arctic char, elk, and bi…
• The Reef Restaurant (Seaport Hotel) – A year-round restaurant inside the Seaport Hotel, one of the few places in Churchill serving three meals a day during t…

Itineraries

• Winnipeg to Churchill Polar Bear Tour – Fly from Winnipeg to Churchill in late autumn and ride a Tundra Buggy to see polar bears on Hudson Bay.