Classic Polar Bears

Day 1. Depart London [D]

Depart London for Winnipeg, flying via Toronto. On arrival you will be met and transferred to the elegant Hotel Fort Garry.

Day 2. Churchill [B, L, D]

After breakfast you transfer to Winnipeg airport for the flight to Churchill. On arrival you head out to the tundra to spend the evening bear-viewing before returning to Churchill for the night. Your stay in Churchill will be at one of the small hotels in the town, all of which are clean and comfortable.

Day 3 & 4. Polar Bear-viewing [B, L, D]

Polar Bears are surely the most beautiful of the world's bears. Standing nearly two metres tall at the shoulder and weighing an average of 600 kilogrammes, the males are powerful and fearless. They are expert hunters with a highly acute sense of smell?. they can detect a scent 32 kilometres away! They have no natural enemies and no fear.

Churchill, the 'Polar Bear Capital of the World', is the only human settlement where Polar Bears can be observed in the wild and it lies right in the bears migratory path. Our tours here are planned for October and November, at the time of the annual migration towards the Cape Churchill area. The bears generally spend the summer along Churchill's coastline not hunting, but conserving energy and trying to stay cool - they will have been here since mid-June. As winter approaches they begin to move towards the Cape which is where the sea freezes over first and as soon as the ice is thick enough, the bears head north where they spend the winter hunting.

Our Polar Bear trips go out on the tundra in specially designed 'Polar Rovers' with heaters and toilet facilities on board. Lunch and refreshments are provided on board too in order to maximise your bear-viewing day. During Days 3 and 4, you will enjoy a full day trip and a half day trip aboard the tundra buggies, giving you the best possible opportunity to see the remarkable wildlife of the area. In addition to bears you may see Arctic Fox, Caribou, Snowy Owls and Ptarmigan, and with a maximum group size of fifteen, in a vehicle that can accommodate up to double this number, you will have ample room for viewing and photographing the bears. Half a day of dog-sledding is also included.

You return to Churchill in the late afternoon with time to relax before dinner and evening presentations. Under the cover of darkness you need to turn your eyes towards the sky since the Northern Lights are spectacular in this area, with the highest intensity of Arctic auroral activity said to occur over this region.

Day 5. Winnipeg [B, L or D]

After some free time to pick up last-minute crafts and souvenirs, transfer to the airport for your flight back to Winnipeg where you spend a final night at the Hotel Fort Garry.

Day 6. Homeward [B]

After breakfast, transfer to Winnipeg airport in time for your flight back to the UK.

Day 7. Arrive home

The price is also provided for our 8-day (London to London) Classic Polar Bear trip which has an extra night in Churchill, allowing enough time for a full-day tour of the historic town of Churchill. You may also have the opportunity to visit Cape Merry where Arctic Fox and Hare tend to appear and also visit the local sled dogs, where Polar Bears can often be seen interacting with the dogs.