We visited far Northern Canada last September. Flew from Michigan to Edmonton the first day. No way to make connections as far north as we were going in one day. Stayed at the Nisku Inn near YEG - average rooms and a nice restaurant.

Next day we flew Canadian North Airlines to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, with stops enroute at Yellowknife and Norman Wells. Inuvik is @ 50 miles south of the Arctic Ocean (Beaufort Sea) coast. It's a "large" community by arctic standards - population of about 3,000 - it's the regional government/services center. Stayed two nights at the Iglu Inn - basic but clean, and good food. We were supposed to be there only one night but the weather wouldn't allow our bush plane to leave as scheduled.

Finally we took a bush plane (Twin Otter)140 miles into the tundra where we spent a week with an Inuit family exploring the wilderness and wildlife. Saw lots of caribou, moose, wolves, waterfowl, and one day a sow grizzly with two cubs. Temp's were around 50 in the afternoon, 30's at night. We stayed in a "trappers cabin" - warm and dry but I couldn't say much more about it Of course our water came from the river (drank it straight for 8 days with no problems ^ ),and electricity was limited to a small generator for lights at night. The northern lights were out most nights. We ate whale skin, dried fish, caribou, goose. Shared stories and comraderie with our hosts. All in all an great experience!!!!

For anyone looking for an adventure Northern Canada is awesome and beautiful. This was our fifth trip to the arctic and I'll be saving up to go again in 2-3 years.

From one extreme to the other, now will have to get ready for trips to the Caribbean and Key West this winter

Wow, that sounds amazing - thanks for sharing!

arctictraveler,

thank you for the report ^

I've been seriously considering a trip to the north of Canada for a while. However, the obvious problem with that is the cost of doing it. I will be going to Canada (from Finland) again in January (last time was this month), and could look further into this.

I've got a couple of questions and maybe you'd have some ideas:
(i) How much are flights to these "more interesting" destinations served by e.g. First Air?
(ii) Is buying flights online the cheapest way to get tickets?
(iii) Have you got any good links with further info?
(iv) What would be the best destination for a first time traveller in northern parts of Canada?

thank you
okko

okko,

1. Flights to the arctic are fairly expensive. Edmonton-Inuvik was about 850.00 US. A couple years ago Winnipeg-Baker Lake was about 900.00.

2. Most of our arctic flights have been purchased online or by phone direct wiith the airlines. A lot of the connections simply can't be bought through engines like Orbitz or Expedia. The primary airlines north are First Air and Canadian North. Both serve many destinations, but sometimes there's only one option. For example parts of Nunavut are served only by Calm Air(out of Winnipeg).

3. For links, google "nunavut tourism", "northwest territories tourism", etc. You'll find their visitors/tourism websites. They'll mail you some nice brochures, maps etc upon request. Same for individual towns such as Yellowknife, Inuvik, Iqualuit.

4. Where to go is a good question. Yellowknife is a great place to visit - a larger town (17,000?), but you can do a lot of things based from there (up to the barrenlands, on Great Slave Lake, etc). A trip some people like is to get to the Yukon, then drive the Dempster Highway to Inuvik. Then take a flight to Tuktoyaktuk for a taste of a very small Inuit community. Other than Yellowknife, the communities are very small with limited amenities. Usually one hotel, one store, in many the only restaurant is a the hotel. Order the visitors guides and study them. Then decide what you'd like. Some options will require the services of an outfitter, and/or an expensive flight by bush plane. The primary towns we've been out of have been Yellowknife, Inuvik, and Baker Lake. If you have any more questions feel free to ask

arctictraveler,

thank you for your reply and advice, I appreciate it ^

1. Yes, from what I've seen (in the net) the prices are very high. I'd say at the moment (i.e. during early 2006) this sort of a trip is cost-prohibitive as I have Longyearbyen lined up first.

2. This is what I thought as well. I was just wondering about it as I couldn't find any decent fares on their (First Air/Canadian North) web-sites - apparently cheaper fares do not exist.

3. Good idea, thanks.

4. Wow, a lot of options as I thought. I reckon you can't really go wrong as all the options appear to be very exotic.

Thank you again, I might send you a PM later on when I start planning my next visit to Canada.
okko