Churchill
Canada
A town of under a thousand on Hudson Bay with no road in, where the polar bears wait on the shore for the sea to freeze
Photo by Robert Sachowski on Unsplash
Photos by Eduardo Bergen, Charlotte Collins, Enlightening Images and Enlightening Images on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Canada
July to August for the belugas, October to November for the polar bears, and February to March for the aurora
Climate month by month
The next sixteen daysOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 70mm in Aug
Where it is
58.77°N, 94.17°W Open in Google Maps
Things to do
A week easily- Book the tundra vehicle and the room for bear season close to a year ahead, because both sell out
- Go out among the belugas by kayak or Zodiac in high summer, when thousands come into the river
- Give the aurora several nights in late winter, when the sky is darkest and coldest
- Take the train once, at least one way, for the forest giving way to tundra
- Cross the river to Prince of Wales Fort in summer with the Parks Canada boat
- Walk to the wreck of the Miss Piggy cargo plane with someone who knows where the bears are
Churchill travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Canada
Very expensiveCards are taken almost everywhere. Manitoba adds its own 7% sales tax to the 5% GST, at the till. Everything arrives by train or plane, so food and drink cost well above Winnipeg prices, and the bear-season tours are priced as the once-in-a-lifetime thing they are — book them, and the room, close to a year ahead.
ATMs & cards
The bank in town is an RBC branch with a machine, open short weekday hours. Bring a card that works and a little cash from Winnipeg; the private machines elsewhere in town add their own fee.
Avoid these
- private machines in shops and hotels, which add their own fee
Use these instead
- RBC, the branch in town
The bank keeps short weekday hours. Manitoba adds 7% provincial sales tax to the 5% GST at the till.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Canada
SafeThis is one of the few towns where a large predator walks the streets. In bear season do not walk at night, along the shore or past the edge of town, and never on the rocks by the bay; the Polar Bear Alert line is 204-675-2327 and is for a bear in town. Off-season the cold is the risk, at minus thirty for months with wind off the bay. Wildlife sightings depend on the ice and the year, and nobody can promise the bears, the whales or the lights.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (6 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
- Kelsey Boulevard — the main street, by day
- The town centre — by day, in a group
Worth more attention
- Walking at night in bear season, anywhere — this is the rule the town lives by
- The shoreline rocks and the edge of town, where the bears are and where the warning signs stand
- The cold and the wind off the bay in winter, which takes minus thirty well below that
- Cape Merry — on the open rocks at the river mouth, where bears come ashore — go with a guide in bear season
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Canada visa rules
Travel authorisation requiredup to 180 daysC$7
An eTA is required to fly to Canada and is valid five years. It is not needed if you are arriving by land or sea. Apply only through the canada.ca site — C$7 is the whole fee.
Other passports
No visa neededup to 180 days
Visa required in advanceC$100
A visitor visa, applied for online with biometrics.
How to get it: Apply for the eTA at canada.ca; most are approved within minutes but some are held for days, so do it well before booking anything non-refundable.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: travel authorisation
Electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA)RequiredCAN$7
Before you book, ideally. Most are approved in minutes.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- a credit or debit card
- an email address
Valid five years or until the passport expires. Anyone flying in needs one; driving across does not.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Travel tipsHealth & emergencies all of Canada
Good but costlyRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
Excellent, and expensive for visitors — there is no reciprocal arrangement with most countries, and an emergency admission runs to thousands of dollars. Travel insurance with a high medical limit is essential. In the Rockies, mountain rescue is coordinated by Parks Canada and is not billed, but the helicopter and hospital that follow are.
Wildlife and weather rather than illness. Carry bear spray on trails and know how to use it. Hypothermia is possible in any month at altitude, and snow closes passes well outside winter.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
DecentArctic char, caribou and bison on short menus, in a handful of restaurants that fill completely in bear season. Book dinner when you book the room. Groceries come up on the train and cost accordingly.
Travel tipsGetting around
Car needed- BoltNot here
No ride-hailing. Tour operators collect from where you are staying, and a local taxi is booked by telephone.
Time zone and your working day
America/Winnipeg — 1 hour behind you
7 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — 10:00–17:00 your time, 09:00–16:00 theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 10:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 10:00–18:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
eSIM
A data eSIM for Canada, installed before you fly and working the moment you land:
Works here
Works hereRevolutIn the app
Must-see
Travel tipsNearby day trips
Travel tipsSay a few words
Canadian English
- A one-dollar coinA loonieLOO-nee
- A two-dollar coinA toonieTOO-nee
- A knitted winter hatA toquetook
- The last item takenThe last one, sorry
4 more phrases
- A rural cottageA cabin, or a chalet in the Rockies
- Right? / Agreed?Eh?ay
- Bear sprayBear spray — carry it, actually
- Washroom, not toiletWhere’s the washroom?
The language is English; the vocabulary occasionally is not.
Travel tipsReligion
Christian majority, and secular
Christian by heritage with a fast-growing share reporting no religion. Indigenous spiritual traditions are recognised, and their sites carry protocols worth respecting.
Travel tipsDo's and don'ts
Do
- Queue properly, hold doors, and apologise reflexively — it really is the norm
- Tip 15-20% in restaurants and for taxis; staff wages assume it
- Carry bear spray on Rockies trails and know how to use it
- Take note of which province you are in — rules on alcohol, cannabis and driving differ
Don't
- Do not assume Canada is a variant of the United States; it lands badly
- Do not approach or feed wildlife, and never get between a bear and its cubs
- Do not underestimate distances — the Rockies are far bigger than the map suggests
- Do not litter or leave food out at a campsite; it is both a fine and a genuine danger
Where to stay in Churchill
No Holistay rentals in Churchill yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Churchill on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Churchill YYQ
10 minfrom the airport· 7 km as the crow flies
10 min to town.
Also worth pricing: Winnipeg YWG — where every flight north and the train start — Churchill is a connection from here.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
