Advertising: A Cheap Way To See Polar Bears In Churchill, Canada by Train
Someone was asking me a few months back if there is a more affordable way to visit Churchill to see the bears. Well here it is. This looks like a fun trip organised by Wildlife Trails that is set for November 2026.
This truly is a stunning opportunity. A cheap polar bear tour of Churchill that does not mean less time in town, less activities, or going outside of peak season. Action packed 6 days in Churchill with multiple Tundra Buggy tours and the chance to photograph polar bears on foot on our private 4X4 full day excursions for less than 5K (GB pounds). You might get lucky like Allan did last year with his group and see Aurora as you go dog sledding at night!
Full details are below for this trip that starts on November 11, 2026.
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JeffHigdon
This itinerary entails 2 very long nights on a bus. Winnipeg to Thompson is an 8-hour drive. It’s a good price, but people might not realize some of the distances involved, so I thought this was worth mentioning. It will also be dark for the train journey from Thompson to Churchill. Likely dark for the southbound train back to Thompson too (depending on schedule).
If anyone is looking into this, I would also ask if the two Tundra Buggy days are part of public day tours or for this tour group only. If they’re the regular day tours you will be on the Buggy with 40 people, if you have a group-only Buggy it will just be this group, so lots more space, more access to windows, etc. For the sake of transparency, I guide Churchill polar bear tours for Frontiers North Adventures and take people out on Tundra Buggies. Sandra’s wrong on which company is better, haha. That said, Great White Bear are fine. But FNA has been doing it longer and has more experienced drivers and guides. People call all the tundra vehicles Buggies, but that’s not accurate. GWB has Polar Rovers. Minor point, all the same. FNA is in the process of converting all Buggies to electric and on track to have the full fleet converted by 2030. The electric ones are way quieter than diesel, provide a smoother ride, and have more torque and power, and we’re finding them to be more dependable in the cold temperatures, in Feb-March aurora season in particular.
A nice thing about this UK-organized tour is you get a couple days of “road tours” in Churchill. They don’t go out where the Buggies do, but get you to see other areas around town so it will make for a good vatiety. The itinerary doesn’t specify who you’re out with, but there are some great operators and some not great operators. If you’re interested in this trip, I would ask who is doing the 4 x 4 road days and read reviews. Discover Churchill, noted by Sharon, is a good one.
I have a guide to Churchill drafted, which is a summary of the 19 or so trips I have guided plus mammal fieldwork I’ve done in the area. It will provide a summary of all your different Churchill tour options, from remote lodges to full-service escorted tours to DIY. I’ll get that on mammalwatching-dot-com at some point, hopefully after northern lights season – I’m heading back up to Churchill next week for aurora tours. Not much to see for key mammals this time of year, bears are on the ice except for denning females and belugas are on their wintering grounds. But there’s at least one Arctic fox around town that I will be keeping an eye out for. They are unfortunately getting harder and harder to find, as red foxes get easier.
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Sandra Stewart
That’s a good price, but we did it even cheaper!
7th – 21st Oct 2024, three of us went for two weeks to Canada.
We flew to Toronto, hired a car and spent 2 nights there. Viewed the falls, went on the Maid in the Mist, went birdwatching and also saw Striped Skunk and a Racoon, too.
We then flew to Winnipeg, hired a car and spent a few nights at Riding Mountain National Park. Had amazing sights of American Black Bear and a brief Elk, amongst other things. There’s also a part of the park where they have a Bison enclosure.
Stayed in an absolutely fantastic Airbnb, Bear’s Den – 10/10!
We booked our Calm Air flight (only airline) from Winnipeg to Churchill, where we had booked the Beluga Beach House on Booking.com .
We arrived in Churchill on the Monday and left on the Friday evening.
Monday afternoon – we took an hours helicopter ride out to Cape Churchill (£350) pp. This was absolutely superb and one of the highlights of our trip!
Tuesday – Great White Bear – tundra buggy. (By far the better of the two main tundra buggy companies and they cost the same). Full day.
Wednesday – 4 x 4 Discover Churchill Polar Bear Tours (where you can get out to photograph the bears. Great guides. This is not on the protected part of the tundra where the buggies travel. Full day, where you also get to see the polar bear jail and the iconic Miss Piggy!
Thursday – Frontier’s North – tundra buggy. Full day.
Friday – 4 x4 Discover Churchill Polar Bear Tours. Half day.
In total we saw 36 polar bears and one bear came within 5m of us on the tundra buggy. (no Arctic Foxes). We also had amazing aurora sightings during our time there.
Total cost of the ENTIRE trip including all 3 return flights, airport parking, all accommodation, car hire, national park fees, all activities in Churchill and all our food came to £4,600 per person.
Booking early is important. The Calm Air flight was the biggest part of the trip expense and was £1,000. Book Churchill accommodation very early – possibly January, as this books up quickly. In February, keep an eye on Calm Air flight releases and book. In March we booked the two tundra buggy days and one of the 4 x 4 drives. The helicopter ride and the half day 4 x 4 we booked last minute.
An adventure we highly recommend!