Challenge yourself with an extraordinary winter trip to Greenland. Take a dogsled trip from Kangerlussuaq to Sisimiut. Traveling by dogsled you admire the 10 – 12 strong husky dogs in front of our sled, working in their natural environment.

Wear yourself out when walking up steep hills behind the sled and enjoy the true comfort of hot soup and your sleeping bag after a long day in this cold, yet beautiful, arctic landscape. You will be crossing frozen fjords and lakes and you will drive over mountains. Nights will be spent in huts or tents depending on location and weather conditions.

Prepare yourself for low temperatures and very little comfort – in return you will get a genuine arctic travel experience for life.

The 50-kilometre long Ilulissat icefiord is filled with enormous icebergs produced by the most productive glacier at the Northern Hemisphere. 4,000 people and at least 5,000 sled dogs live in Ilulissat, beautifully situated at the mouth of the icefiord, since 2004 a UNESCO World Heritage site.

In February, March and April the dogsled is the main vehicle for excursions while sailing tours is the obvious choice from May to November. Helicopter tours to the glacier in the icefiord are available all year round.

It’s up to you if you stay in Ilulissat Youth Hostel or in Hotel Arctic during your six days/five nights in Ilulissat. You also have the option of two extra days at hostel or hotel in Kangerlussuaq - close to the Greenland Ice Cap, in an area inhabited by more than 5,000 musk oxen. We offer this tour from early February to late October. Departure every Thursday from Copenhagen.

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Your choices for what you choose to bring on an Arctic trip depends on your style of travel, your budget, the time of year, and your anticipated activities. If you’re traveling independently, you’ll likely need to bring more than someone on an organized tour.

Some Arctic locations, like Inuvik or Tuktoyaktuk, permit travel with your own vehicle. In addition to cash, traveler’s checks and visa/passport information, almost everyone — unless you’re staying in hotels and eating in restaurants every night — will need to bring a sleeping bag, water bottles, toiletries, matches, maps, reading material, and a light. Given the variety of weather possibilities, warm layered clothing is essential any time of year.

Summer Arctic Travel

Clothing

Windproof/waterproof shell jacket (with hood)
Windproof/waterproof shell pants
Sturdy hiking shoes
Thick wool and/or fleece insulating sweater or pullover
Wool and/or fleece pants (cotton kills when wet- no jeans!)
Wicking synthetic t-shirts
Quick-dry nylon hiking shorts
Thermal underwear (polypropylene or similar material)
Several pairs of thick polypro and/or wool socks
Heavy wind and waterproof gloves
UV protective sunglasses

Outdoor Equipment

Sleeping Bag, pref. synthetic with -20 temp rating
Sturdy, easy to use freestanding tent pref. with vestibule & ground sheet
Light multi-fuel cookstove with wind protection
Cooking pots and utensils
Detailed topographical maps
Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman
Water purification tablets and/or filtration devices
Compass with magnetic declination figures
GPS
First aid kit
Light weight backpack for daytrips or full backpack for overnight hiking trips
Plastic bags or ziplocs to keep things dry
Insect repellent (Lemongrass and DEET-based)

Spring/Fall/Winter Arctic Travel

Clothing

Windproof/waterproof shell jacket (with hood)
Windproof/waterproof shell pants
Arctic parka rated to -40 from -60
Arctic bib insulated pants rated from -40 to -60
Sturdy hiking shoes
Duffel pack boots rated to 40-60 below
Thick wool and/or fleece insulating sweater or pullover
Wool and/or fleece pants (cotton kills when wet- no jeans!)
Wicking synthetic t-shirts
Quick-dry nylon hiking shorts
Thermal underwear (polypropylene or similar material)
Several pairs of thick polypro and/or wool socks
Thin polypro liner socks
Heavy wind and waterproof gloves
UV protective sunglasses
Ski goggles
Windproof face mask

Outdoor Equipment

Sleeping Bag, pref. synthetic with -40 to -60 temp rating
Sturdy expedition tent pref. with vestibule & ground sheet
Multi-fuel cookstove with wind protection
Cooking pots and utensils
Detailed topographical maps
Swiss Army Knife or Leatherman
Water purification tablets and/or filtration devices
Compass with magnetic declination figures
GPS
First aid kit
Light weight backpack for daytrips or expedition backpack for overnight hiking trips
Plastic bags or ziplocs to keep things dry

If the Yukon is the far north at its most accessible, the Northwest Territories (NWT) is the region at its most uncompromising. Just three roads nibble at the edges of this almost unimaginably vast area, which occupies a third of Canada’s landmass - about the size of India - but contains only 60,000 people, almost half of whom live in or around Yellowknife , the territories’ peculiarly overblown capital. Unless you’re taking the adventurous and rewarding Dempster Highway from Dawson City across the tundra to Inuvik , Yellowknife will probably feature on any trip to the NWT, as it’s the hub of the (rather expensive) flight network servicing the area’s widely dispersed communities.

Otherwise most visitors are here to fish or canoe, to hunt or watch wildlife, or to experience the Inuit aboriginal cultures and ethereal landscapes. More for convenience than any political or geographical reasons, the NWT was formally divided into eight regions . From 1999 a new two-way division has applied, the eastern portion of the NWT having been renamed Nunavut , a separate entity administered by and on behalf of the region’s aboriginal peoples. One effect has been the renaming of most settlements with Inuit names, though in many cases the old English-language names appear in much literature. Nunavut and the “old” western NWT issue their own tourist material, and you should obtain a copy of their respective Arctic Travellers’ Nunavut Vacation Planner and Explorers’ Guide brochures. These summarize accommodation options, airline connections, many of the available tours - costing anything from $50 to $5000 - and the plethora of outfitters who provide the equipment and backup essential for any but the most superficial trip to the region.

This website is dedicated to northern travel and arctic adventure, focusing on Alaska, Canada’s Yukon Territories (YT), Northwest Territories (NWT) and Nunavut, Greenland and Russia’s Siberia.

19 years ago I made my first trip into the Canadian Arctic. I stayed for 15 months and my life was transformed forever. I’ve built this site in the hopes that others will be inspired to travel to the north and that the information I’ve compiled will make trip planning easier for you than it was for me.

Find out what to bring.

Although much of Canada still has the flavour of the “last frontier”, it’s only when you embark on the mainland push north to the Yukon that you know for certain you’re leaving the mainstream of North American life behind. In the popular imagination, the north figures as a perpetually frozen wasteland blasted by ferocious gloomy winters, inhabited - if at all - by hardened characters beyond the reach of civilization. In truth, it’s a region where months of summer sunshine offer almost limitless opportunities for outdoor activities and an incredible profusion of flora and fauna; a country within a country, the character of whose settlements has often been forged by the mingling of white settlers and aboriginal peoples . The indigenous hunters of the north are as varied as in the south, but two groups predominate: the Dene , people of the northern forests who traditionally occupied the Mackenzie River region from the Albertan border to the river’s delta at the Beaufort Sea; and the Arctic Inuit (literally “the people”), once known as the Eskimos or “fish eaters”, a Dene term picked up by early European settlers and now discouraged.

The north is as much a state of mind as a place. People “north of 60″ - the 60th Parallel - claim the right to be called northerners , and maintain a kinship with Alaskans, but those north of the Arctic Circle - the 66th Parallel - look with light-hearted disdain on these “southerners”. All mock the inhabitants of the northernmost corners of Alberta and such areas of the so-called Northwest, who, after all, live with the luxury of being able to get around their backcountry by road. To any outsider, however, in terms of landscape and overall spirit the north begins well south of the 60th Parallel. Accordingly, this section includes not just the provinces of the “true north” - Yukon and parts of the western Arctic and Northwest Territories - but also northern British Columbia , a region more stark and extreme than BC’s southern reaches.

Yukon Territories (YT)

Yukon Territories travel listings

Northwest Territories (NT) Travel

Northwest Territories travel listings

Nunavut (NU) Travel

Nunavut travel listings

Northern British Columbia (BC) Travel

British Columbia (B.C.) travel listings

Canada Cruises

If the Yukon is the far north at its most accessible, the Northwest Territories (NWT) is the region at its most uncompromising. Just three roads nibble at the edges of this almost unimaginably vast area, which occupies a third of Canada’s landmass - about the size of India - but contains only 60,000 people, almost half of whom live in or around Yellowknife , the territories’ peculiarly overblown capital. Unless you’re taking the adventurous and rewarding Dempster Highway from Dawson City across the tundra to Inuvik , Yellowknife will probably feature on any trip to the NWT, as it’s the hub of the (rather expensive) flight network servicing the area’s widely dispersed communities.

Otherwise most visitors are here to fish or canoe, to hunt or watch wildlife, or to experience the Inuit aboriginal cultures and ethereal landscapes. More for convenience than any political or geographical reasons, the NWT was formally divided into eight regions . From 1999 a new two-way division has applied, the eastern portion of the NWT having been renamed Nunavut , a separate entity administered by and on behalf of the region’s aboriginal peoples. One effect has been the renaming of most settlements with Inuit names, though in many cases the old English-language names appear in much literature. Nunavut and the “old” western NWT issue their own tourist material, and you should obtain a copy of their respective Arctic Travellers’ Nunavut Vacation Planner and Explorers’ Guide brochures. These summarize accommodation options, airline connections, many of the available tours - costing anything from $50 to $5000 - and the plethora of outfitters who provide the equipment and backup essential for any but the most superficial trip to the region.

Traveling abroad? It’s important you know your passport, visa, and health requirements, which vary by destination. Make sure you get all the information you need well in advance of your trip.

As of January 8, 2007, passports will be required for all U.S. citizens traveling to or from the United States via air or sea, to or from Canada, Mexico, Central and South America, the Caribbean, and Bermuda
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As of January 1, 2008, passports will be required for all U.S. citizens traveling to or from the United States via land as well as air or sea, regardless of destination.

If you have booked a flight, hotel, rental car, vacation package, or cruise, visit the CIBT Web site for detailed information on travel requirements for the countries you’re visiting, and for those you pass through en route. This site provides online ordering for passports and visas, including rush replacement of lost or stolen passports, and a 24-hour customer support telephone number.

For more information on travel requirements, contact the U.S. embassies of the countries you’re visiting. A complete list of U.S. embassies worldwide can be found at the Department of State Web site.

No other region in North America possesses the mythical aura of Alaska ; even the name - a derivation of Alayeska , an Athabascan word meaning “great land of the west” - fires the imagination. Few who see this land of gargantuan ice fields, sweeping tundra, glacially excavated valleys, lush rainforests, deep fjords and occasionally smoking volcanoes leave unimpressed. Wildlife may be under threat elsewhere, but here it is abundant, with Kodiak bears standing twelve feet tall, moose stopping traffic in downtown Anchorage, wolves prowling through national parks, bald eagles circling over the trees, and rivers solid with fifty-plus-pound salmon.

Alaska’s sheer size is hard to comprehend: more than twice the size of Texas, it contains America’s northernmost, westernmost and, because the Aleutian Islands stretch across the 180th meridian, its easternmost point. If superimposed onto the Lower 48 (the rest of the continental United States) it would stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and its coastline is longer than the rest of the US combined. All but three of the nation’s twenty highest peaks are found within its boundaries and one glacier alone is twice the size of Wales.

A mere 600,000 people live in this huge state - over forty percent of them in Anchorage - of whom only one-fifth were born here: as a rule of thumb, the more winters you have endured, the more Alaskan you are. Often referred to as the ” Last Frontier ,” Alaska in many ways mirrors the American West of the nineteenth century: an endless, undeveloped space in which to stake one’s claim and set up a life without interference. Or at least that’s how Alaskans would like it to be. Throughout this century tens of thousands have been lured by the promise of wealth, first by gold and then by fishing, logging and, most recently, oil. However, Alaska’s 86,000 Native peoples , who don’t have the option of returning to the Lower 48 if things don’t work out, have been greatly marginalized, though Native corporations set up as a result of pre-oil boom land deals have increasing economic clout.

Traveling around Alaska still demands a spirit of adventure, and to make the most of the state you need to have an enthusiasm for striking out on your own and roughing it a bit. Binoculars are an absolute must, as is bug spray; the mosquito is referred to as the “Alaska state bird” and it takes industrial-strength repellent to keep it away. On top of that there’s the climate , though Alaska is far from the popular misconception of being one big icebox. While winter temperatures of -40°F are commonplace in Fairbanks, the most touristed areas - the southeast and the Kenai Peninsula - enjoy a maritime climate (45-65°F in summer) similar to that of the Pacific Northwest, meaning much more rain (in some towns 180-plus inches per year) than snow. Remarkably, the summer temperature in the Interior often reaches 80°F.

Alaska is far more expensive than most other states: apart from two dozen hostels there’s little budget accommodation, and eating and drinking will set you back at least twenty percent more than in the Lower 48 (perhaps fifty percent in more remote regions). Still, experiencing Alaska on a low budget is possible, though it requires planning and off-peak travel. From June to August room prices are crazy; May and September, when tariffs are relaxed and the weather only slightly chillier, are just as good times to go, and in April or October you’ll have the place to yourself, albeit with a smaller range of places to stay and eat. Ground transportation , despite the long distances, is reasonable, with backpacker shuttles ferrying budget travelers between major centers. Winter , when hotels drop their prices by as much as half, is becoming an increasingly popular time to visit, particularly for the dazzling aurora borealis.

Alaska Cruises

European Russia stretches from the borders of the states of Belarus and Ukraine to the Ural mountains, over 1000km east of Moscow; even without the rest of the Russian Federation, it constitutes by far the largest country in Europe. It was also, for many years, one of the hardest to visit. Today Russia is far more accessible, and although visas are still obligatory and accommodation often has to be booked in advance, independent travel is increasingly an option. Nonetheless, Moscow and St Petersburg remain the easiest places to visit, and these are covered below. For the adventurous, travel further afield can be booked through various agencies in Russia and abroad, and there are an increasing number of Web sites offering advice and travel services for the less standard routes.

Moscow and St Petersburg are mutually complementary. Moscow , the capital, is hugely enthralling. It is not a beautiful city by any means, and is a somewhat chaotic place. However, Moscow’s central core reflects Russia’s long and fascinating history at the heart of a vast empire, whether in the relics of the Communist years, the Kremlin with its palaces and churches of the tsars, the wooden buildings still tucked away in backstreets, or in the massive building projects of the mayor, Yuriy Luzhkov, which have radically changed the face of the centre.

By contrast, Russia’s second city, St Petersburg , is Europe at its most gracious, an attempt by the eighteenth-century tsar Peter the Great to re-create the best of Western European elegance in what was then a far-flung outpost. Its position in the delta of the River Neva is unparalleled, full of watery vistas of huge and faded palaces. St Petersburg has not been revamped anywhere near as much as Moscow, which many consider a good thing, and it preserves a unity and stability lacking in the capital.

You will not be bothered by the so-called Russian mafia in either city, but, as in any other big city, you should beware of petty crime.

Moscow
St. Petersburg

The Cassiar and Alaska highways converge at Watson Lake , a weather-beaten junction that straddles the 60th Parallel and marks the entrance to the Yukon Territory (YT), perhaps the most exhilarating and varied destination in this part of the world. Taking its name from a Dene word meaning “great”, it boasts the highest mountains in Canada, wild sweeps of forest and tundra, and the fascinating nineteenth-century relic, Dawson City . The focus of the Klondike gold rush, Dawson was also the territory’s capital until that role shifted south to Whitehorse , a town booming on tourism and the ever-increasing exploitation of the Yukon’s vast mineral resources.

Road access is easier than you might think. In addition to the Alaska Highway, which runs through the Yukon’s southern reaches, the Klondike Highway strikes north to link Whitehorse with Dawson City. North of Dawson the Dempster Highway is the only road in Canada to cross the Arctic Circle, offering an unparalleled direct approach to the northern tundra and to several remote communities in the Northwest Territories. The Yukon’s other major road is the short spur linking the Alaskan port of Skagway to Whitehorse, which shadows the Chilkoot Trail , a treacherous track taken by the poorest of the 1898 prospectors that is now a popular long-distance footpath.

Combining coastal ferries with the Chilkoot Trail makes an especially fine itinerary. Following the old gold-rush trail, the route begins at Skagway - reached by ferry from Prince Rupert - then follows the Chilkoot to Whitehorse, before heading north to Dawson City. From there you could continue up the Dempster Highway, or travel on the equally majestic Top of the World road into the heart of Alaska. However, many people coming up from Skagway or plying the mainland routes from British Columbia head to Alaska directly on the Alaska Highway, to enjoy views of the extraordinary and largely inaccessible mountain vastness of Kluane National Park , which contains Canada’s highest peaks and most extensive glacial wilderness.