Churchill

Understand

Origins The earliest inhabitants of the region were the Thule people, the proto-Inuit, who arrived around 1,000 BCE before moving north in search of colder pastures, leaving the territory principally to the Chipewyan and Swampy Cree aboriginal groups. See Indigenous cultures of North America.

The first European camp here was a Danish expedition in 1619. The cold got to them; the three of 64 who survived the winter set sail for home as soon as the ice would permit. The town as we know it finds its roots in the history of the Hudson's Bay Company, which in 1717 established a year-round trading post just north of the modern-day town across the Churchill River, joining in the fur trade in northwest America, largely through deals with the tundra-dwelling Chipewyan. Owing to English worries about potential French aggressors, the post was moved south in the 1730s to a massive stone star fort, Prince of Wales, which is very visible from the town, being just across the river. In 1782 the French Hudson Bay Expedition arrived and captured the badly outnumbered civilian fort garrison without a shot, raided the supplies, but failed in the attempt to demolish this rather well constructed fort. The Governor Samuel Hearne, one of Canada's great explorers, returned the next year and set up shop once more. The same French expedition also took York Factory, 200km to the south, then the capital of the Hudson Bay Company and today uninhabited. The trading post and river were named after John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (an ancestor of Winston Churchill), who was governor of the Hudson's Bay Company in the late 17th century. Over the centuries, the fur trade waned, and Churchill might have disappeared, were it not for the ambitious attempts by provincial governments to secure a northern port in central Canada (motivated by the desire to break the monopoly of the Canadian Pacific Railway on grain exports). After more than a decade of construction across the northern forests, the

Getting there

There are two ways to get to Churchill: airplane and train. The economy seats on the train make for four nights of uncomfortable sleeping, but are cheap. The expensive sleeper cars are much more stylish, and allow you to enjoy the long-distance train experience watching the ecosystemic change out the windows as you travel north. Or, you can catch the train into Churchill and then take a nice quick, painless flight back when you're weary of your travels. A viable solution for those who would like to get to Churchill faster, while not spending a lot of money is flying from Winnipeg to Thompson, and then taking the train from there. The airport in Thompson is not within walking distance of the train station, but there are plenty of bored taxi drivers to help you.

By plane

Airport 1 Churchill Airport (YYQ IATA).

Airline Calm Air, toll-free: +1-800-839-2256. A regional airline operating flights in Manitoba and Nunavut. (updated Apr 2022) Travel time directly to Churchill from Winnipeg is 2.5 hours. Calm Air also offers seasonal flights from Thompson a few times a week. If you are connecting through Winnipeg to get to or from Churchill, allow plenty of time between flights. As you will have to leave the secure area, collect your baggage (if you have any), check in at the airline desk and go through security. Since the tiny Churchill Airport has no security screening, passengers arriving in Winnipeg exit straight into baggage claim.

Ground transportation The airport is about a ten-minute taxi ride from town. Most hotels will pick you up if you ask ahead of time. Some package tours use chartered flights from Winnipeg, in which case the tour company takes care of all the logistics.

By train

2 Churchill Station (XAD IATA), 1 Mantayo Seepee Meskanow. (updated Oct 2023) VIA Rail Canada, toll-free: +1-888-842-7245. Operates a route two days per week between Winnipeg and Churchill with stops in Portage la Prairie, Dauphin, Roblin, Kamsack, Canora, Hudso

Getting around

It's quite easy to walk within the city limits on your own. It takes about 10 minutes to walk from one end of town to the other. It's also possible to rent a car in Churchill, and there are several taxi drivers who tend to hang out around the airport and train station. Car rental isn't at all popular with tourists, even the ones who aren't on package tours, but taking out an SUV is actually a great idea. If you think there's a good chance of seeing the aurora on a given night, rent a vehicle and drive it out of town at night! You'll be away from the lights of the town, and you'll have a mobile heating device/bear escape pod to keep you safe. If you have a day's worth of downtime from your various activities, you can just drive around the passable roads and go bird-watching, find the downed plane, head down through the woods to the observation tower, up to Cape Merry, or create your own wildlife photo tour. Expect the rental to run around $100 and the gas refill before returning to run around... $100 more.

See

Beyond the wildlife and landscapes, there is actually a fair amount of interesting stuff to see there. The historic Hudson's Bay Company settlements are perhaps the most interesting, but are impossible to visit during the winter months (and York Factory is hard to reach even when it's possible). Aside from Cape Merry, that is, which along with the Itsanitaq Museum is an easy and highly recommended sight to see. If you have a car and a free day, head south of the city to the observation tower and east of the city to see Miss Piggy up close.

1 Cape Merry (The northern tip of Churchill, past the port). An old cannon battery was set up in 1747 to protect the Hudson Bay Company's business on the Churchill River, rather stupidly, as the cannons there could be captured by an enemy and used to fire upon Prince of Wales Fort across the river. Nonetheless, it is a great scenic spot to look out on the bay and river and fort, with a genuine tundra ecosystem. The battery has been reconstructed with original stones found on location, with a single cannon left as a reminder of the site's history. Keep an eye out in bear season, as polar bears frequent the area when heading out onto the sea ice. It's not safe to walk from town, because of the bears, so take a taxi, get someone to give you a ride, or rent a car. 2 Itsanitaq Museum, 242 LaVerendrye Ave, ☏ +1 204-675-2030. Jul-Oct: M 1PM-5PM, Tu-Sa 9AM-noon and 1PM-5PM; Nov-Jun M-Sa 1PM-4:30PM. Formerly known as the Eskimo Museum, it has one of Canada's oldest collections of Inuit artifacts despite its small size (opened in 1944 by Catholic missionaries and still operated by the Diocese of Churchill-Baie d'Hudson), this museum has well detailed exhibits of all sorts of weird and interesting Inuit archaeological finds and sculptures. You will want well over an hour for the exhibits, and then some for the gift shop. Suggested donation $2. 3 Goose Creek Observation Tower (South of the city following the right turn