What’s so cool: The long days of summer, coupled with the warming touch of the midnight sun, bring the Arctic to life, flushing the tundra with gentians, saxifrages and other plants desperate to flower and set seed before the long, dark winter returns.
Seabirds, geese, Arctic foxes and caribou seize the moment to rear their young, but perhaps the most astonishing wildlife event during the Arctic summer is the annual gathering of thousands of beluga at the mouth of the Churchill River.
Zodiacs and kayaks get you eye-to-eye with these ‘white whales’, while hydrophones enable you to eavesdrop on their chirpy repertoire of calls.
North or South: Migrating to coastal waters to give birth, approximately 3,500 beluga move into the Churchill River basin in July and August from Hudson Bay – home to around 60,000 of these curious, almost friendly cetaceans.
Known as the accessible Arctic, Churchill in Manitoba province is easily reached by rail or air from Winnipeg.
Just as cool: During October and November, polar bears gather on the tundra around Churchill, waiting for Hudson Bay to freeze over so they can move on to the sea ice to hunt seals.
Dubbed ‘the polar bear capital of the world’, the town offers bear-watching safaris in giant-wheeled tundra rovers.