Athens
Madeleine
In her element planning active, adventurous itineraries off the beaten path. Also the one to call for group travel.
Some parts of Canada get the northern lights up to 240 nights a year. This is one of them.
Most people who plan an aurora trip pick somewhere convenient and hope. The Northwest Territories work differently — Yellowknife sits directly under the auroral oval, in a dry climate with clear skies most of the winter, which is why serious aurora photographers go there rather than to Iceland or Norway.
It’s also a genuine wilderness destination in summer, when the sun barely sets and the rivers open up. Two very different trips, and neither is the sort of thing you should book without someone who knows the operators.
Where to go
Three places worth building a trip around
A territory larger than most countries, with a population smaller than Athens.
Yellowknife
Under the auroral oval
The base for most northern lights trips, and one of the most reliable viewing spots anywhere on earth. Heated viewing lodges, dog sledding, and a small city with more character than its size suggests.
Nahanni National Park Reserve
One of the first UNESCO sites
Canyons, hot springs, and Virginia Falls — twice the height of Niagara. Reached by float plane, paddled by people who’ve waited years for the trip. Genuinely remote in a way few places still are.
Great Slave Lake
The deepest lake in North America
Fishing lodges, houseboats, and midnight sun paddling in summer. In winter it freezes hard enough to drive on — ice roads are a real part of life here.
Endless ways to experience it
What kind of trip north are you after?
Northern lights
The main event, from late August through April. We’ll build in enough nights that one cloudy stretch doesn’t cost you the trip.
Midnight sun
Above the 60th parallel the summer sun barely sets. Paddling, fishing, and hiking at hours that feel impossible.
Indigenous experiences
Dene and Inuvialuit communities share traditions, food, and land knowledge directly — some of the most meaningful travel in Canada.
Dog sledding and winter
Sledding, snowshoeing, ice fishing, and driving on a frozen lake. Cold done properly, with the right gear and the right guides.
Paddling and fishing
Wild rivers, remote lodges, and fish that grow to sizes people don’t quite believe. Fly-in access to most of it.
Adding Alberta or the Yukon
Getting this far north is the hard part — so it’s often worth pairing with the Rockies or a Yukon leg while you’re up here.
Who you’ll work with
Pick the office nearest you.
All four of our advisors plan northern Canada. Which one you work with is usually just a question of which office you’d rather walk into.
Dunwoody
Leslie
Planning trips since 1990, including Alaska and the far north. Ask her about the history nobody told you to look for.
Dunwoody
Steve
Left a career as a chiropractor for a year-long trip around the world. Far-flung is his default setting.
Tuscaloosa
Stella
She builds trips around local life and culture rather than the tourist checklist — which is the right instinct this far north.
Go deeper
More on northern Canada
Region guides, lodges, and current offers — kept up to date through our relationships with colleagues around the world.
Ready when you are.
Tell us roughly what you have in mind and we’ll take it from there.
