Northern Canada

Northern Canada is a vast area comprising mainly uninhabited wilderness, dissected by rivers and strewn with lakes, much of it north of the Arctic Circle. Yukon Territory is the most accessible with a limited road network, but Nunavut and the Northwest Territories are accessible almost exclusively by air. We offer expedition style cruises in the far north, including the Northwest Passage and Baffin Island.

YUKON

The remote and mysterious Yukon relives the era of the Gold Rush with its wooden buildings and historic sites. In Dawson City see a Can-Can show at Diamond Tooth Gerties Gambling Hall, where you can still play roulette and black jack. Kluane National Park and Reserve contains over 2,000 glaciers and has the largest non-polar icefield in the world. This UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to the surging Lowell Glacier and countless Dall sheep, caribou and solitary grizzly bears roaming alpine clearings.

Whitehorse is the capital of Canada’s Yukon territory. To the south are the basalt cliffs of Miles Canyon, site of a former gold rush town. From the canyon, the Yukon River Loop Trail winds north past the Whitehorse Fishway fish ladder toward the S.S. Klondike, a restored sternwheeler that once plied the Yukon River.

NUNAVUT

Nunavut is a massive, sparsely populated territory forming most of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its islands have expanses of tundra, craggy mountains and remote villages accessible only by plane or boat. It's known for its indigenous Inuit people's artwork, carvings and handmade clothing. Inuit art is displayed at the Museum in the capital, Iqaluit, on Baffin Island.

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

The Northwest Territories are bordered to the east by Nunavut, to the west by the Yukon and to the south by the north-eastern corner of British Columbia, as well as the entire northern borders of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Geographical features include Great Bear Lake, the largest lake entirely within Canada, and Great Slave Lake, the deepest body of water in North America at 2,014 ft.

The city of Yellowknife lies on the north shore of Great Slave Lake, with views of the northern lights in fall and winter. Exhibits at the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, by Frame Lake near downtown, highlight the area’s human and natural history.

Inuvik is located two degrees above the Arctic Circle, known as the ‘Land of the Midnight Sun’ and can be visited on organised tours.