Alaska & Canada Arctic Trips
North America's far north offers glaciers, wildlife, aurora, and vast wilderness. These curated Alaska and Canada trips include national parks, polar bear viewing, and mountain regions with day-by-day plans.
Common questions
What are the best Alaska trips for aurora and mountains?
Denali & Fairbanks combines interior Alaska with aurora viewing. Kenai Fjords and Katmai focus on wildlife and glaciers. All are listed on Cold Tourism with itineraries.
When should I visit Churchill for polar bears?
Late autumn (October–November) is peak season. The Churchill trip on Cold Tourism is timed for polar bear viewing on the tundra.
Are Canada Arctic trips only in winter?
No. Cold Tourism lists summer trips to Banff, Gros Morne, Cape Breton, and Tombstone Yukon as well as winter wildlife itineraries.
Curated trips (12)
Banff & the Rockies
- Country: Canada
- Region: Banff, Alberta
- Suggested stay: 6 nights
- Est. price: ~$2,600 / person
Frozen turquoise lakes, powder slopes, and evergreen forests under enormous skies. Ski or snowshoe by day, then soak in hot springs as the peaks turn pink at dusk. Adrenaline and easy scenic days in one trip.
- Fly into: Calgary (YYC)
- Day 1: Transfer to Banff, walk town + Bow Falls
- Day 2: Ski Lake Louise or Sunshine Village
- Day 3: Snowshoe frozen Johnston Canyon
- Day 4–6: Ice-walk, wildlife, Upper Hot Springs
- Est. total: ~$2,600
Denali & Fairbanks
- Country: USA
- Region: Interior Alaska
- Suggested stay: 6 nights
- Est. price: ~$2,900 / person
The Interior sits under the auroral oval, so the lights are almost a nightly event. Mush a dog team, thaw out in Chena Hot Springs, and take in the sheer scale of Denali, North America’s highest peak.
- Fly into: Fairbanks (FAI)
- Day 1: Aurora orientation, first night watch
- Day 2: Dog mushing + ice art park
- Day 3: Chena Hot Springs + aurora
- Day 4–6: Denali viewpoints, wildlife spotting
- Est. total: ~$2,900
Churchill Polar Bears
- Country: Canada
- Region: Manitoba
- Suggested stay: 5 nights
- Est. price: ~$4,200 / person
The self-styled polar bear capital of the world, reachable only by air or rail. Roll across the tundra in a purpose-built buggy to watch bears up close, then look up at night for aurora over Hudson Bay.
- Fly into: Churchill (YYQ), via Winnipeg
- Day 1: Town orientation, gear briefing
- Day 2–3: Tundra-buggy polar bear safari
- Day 4: Dog sledding + aurora night
- Day 5: Free morning, depart
- Est. total: ~$4,200
Gros Morne National Park
- Country: Canada
- Region: Newfoundland
- Suggested stay: 6 nights
- Est. price: ~$2,700 / person
A UNESCO park where ancient seabed mountains meet glacier-carved fjords. Summit Gros Morne itself, walk the otherworldly orange Tablelands, and boat the landlocked Western Brook Pond between towering cliff walls.
- Fly into: Deer Lake (YDF)
- Day 1: Rocky Harbour, Lobster Cove Head
- Day 2: Tablelands + Green Gardens trail
- Day 3: Western Brook Pond fjord boat
- Day 4: Gros Morne Mountain summit hike
- Day 5–6: Coastal trails, fishing villages
- Est. total: ~$2,700
Cabot Trail & Cape Breton
- Country: Canada
- Region: Nova Scotia
- Suggested stay: 5 nights
- Est. price: ~$2,300 / person
One of the world’s great coastal drives loops the Cape Breton Highlands. Hike the Skyline Trail along ocean cliffs at sunset, watch for whales and moose, and follow surf-battered headlands between Acadian villages.
- Fly into: Halifax (YHZ)
- Day 1: Drive to Cape Breton, Baddeck
- Day 2: Skyline Trail at golden hour
- Day 3: Franey + Middle Head hikes
- Day 4: Whale watching, Pleasant Bay
- Day 5: Coastal drive back, depart
- Est. total: ~$2,300
Tombstone Territorial Park
- Country: Canada
- Region: Yukon
- Suggested stay: 6 nights
- Est. price: ~$3,100 / person
Jagged black granite peaks rise over golden tundra in the Yukon’s far north. Hike in to Grizzly Lake beneath the spires, watch for caribou and bears, and camp under a sky that barely darkens in high summer.
- Fly into: Whitehorse (YXY)
- Day 1: Klondike Highway to Dawson City
- Day 2: Dempster Highway into Tombstone
- Day 3–4: Grizzly Lake backcountry route
- Day 5: Interpretive + ridge day hikes
- Day 6: Return to Whitehorse, depart
- Est. total: ~$3,100
Kenai Fjords National Park
- Country: USA
- Region: Kenai, Alaska
- Suggested stay: 5 nights
- Est. price: ~$2,700 / person
Tidewater glaciers, sea otters, and breaching whales out of the fishing town of Seward. Hike the Harding Icefield Trail beside Exit Glacier and cruise a fjord full of ice, puffins, and orcas.
- Fly into: Anchorage (ANC)
- Day 1: Rail or drive to Seward
- Day 2: Harding Icefield Trail hike
- Day 3: Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise
- Day 4: Kayak Aialik / Resurrection Bay
- Day 5: Return to Anchorage, depart
- Est. total: ~$2,700
Wrangell–St. Elias & Kennecott
- Country: USA
- Region: Alaska
- Suggested stay: 6 nights
- Est. price: ~$3,000 / person
The largest national park in the US — bigger than Switzerland. Base at the historic Kennecott copper mill, hike out onto the Root Glacier in crampons, and disappear into a roadless mountain wilderness of ice and peaks.
- Fly into: Anchorage (ANC)
- Day 1: Drive the McCarthy Road
- Day 2: Kennecott mill town history walk
- Day 3: Root Glacier ice hike
- Day 4: Bonanza Mine trail climb
- Day 5–6: Backcountry day + return
- Est. total: ~$3,000
Katmai & Brooks Falls
- Country: USA
- Region: Alaska
- Suggested stay: 5 nights
- Est. price: ~$3,600 / person
Watch brown bears pluck leaping salmon from the falls at one of the planet’s great wildlife spectacles. Fly in by floatplane, walk the ash-filled Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, and stand feet from Alaska’s giants.
- Fly into: Anchorage → King Salmon
- Day 1: Floatplane to Brooks Camp
- Day 2–3: Bear viewing at the falls platforms
- Day 4: Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes hike
- Day 5: Fly out, depart
- Est. total: ~$3,600
Bowron Lakes Canoe Circuit
- Country: Canada
- Region: British Columbia
- Suggested stay: 7 nights
- Est. price: ~$2,800 / person
A 116-km loop through ten lakes and seven portages in the Cariboo Mountains — one of the world’s great canoe circuits. Moose at dawn, mirror lakes at dusk, and a week of pure backcountry paddling through British Columbia wilderness.
- Fly into: Vancouver (YVR) → Quesnel
- Day 1: Bowron Lake registration + launch
- Day 2–6: Circuit: lakes, portages, camps
- Day 7: Final lake crossing, return
- Est. total: ~$2,800
PEI Coastal Bike
- Country: Canada
- Region: Prince Edward Island
- Suggested stay: 5 nights
- Est. price: ~$1,800 / person
The Confederation Trail and red-cliff shoreline loop Prince Edward Island in a week of easy coastal riding. Spring brings wildflowers along the dunes, empty beaches, and lobster suppers in fishing villages at day’s end.
- Fly into: Charlottetown (YYG)
- Day 1: Charlottetown, bike fit + harbour
- Day 2–4: North shore red cliffs + dunes
- Day 5: Cavendish coast, depart
- Est. total: ~$1,800
Bay of Fundy Coast Hike
- Country: Canada
- Region: New Brunswick
- Suggested stay: 5 nights
- Est. price: ~$2,200 / person
The highest tides on Earth expose sea caves and red sandstone at low water, then swallow the beach whole six hours later. Hike the Fundy Trail, sea-kayak the Hopewell Rocks at slack tide, and walk the ocean floor beneath towering cliffs.
- Fly into: Moncton (YQM)
- Day 1: Fundy National Park orientation
- Day 2: Dickson Falls + coastal trail
- Day 3: Hopewell Rocks tidal walk
- Day 4–5: Fundy Trail Parkway hikes
- Est. total: ~$2,200