Nunavut Getting there & around

Getting there & around

Ditch the car. Nunavut is basically roadless, so the only way to get here is via (impoverishingly pricey) flights. Iqaluit has nearly daily arrivals from Montréal and Ottawa aboard First Air (800-267-1247; www.firstair.ca) and Canadian North (800-661-1505; www.canadiannorth.com) starting at $1500 return. Both airlines serve Iqaluit from Yellowknife for about $1800 return.

Rankin Inlet is linked to Winnipeg by Calm Air (800-839-2256; www.calmair.com), Kivalliq Air (877-855-1500; www.kivalliqair.com) and First Air starting at $1300 return. Cambridge Bay is accessible from Yellowknife on First Air and Canadian North for about $1100 return.

Smaller communities are reached by air from three hubs. From Iqaluit, First Air and Kenn Borek Air (867-252-3845; www.borekair.com) serve the High Arctic and Baffin Island. From Rankin Inlet, Calm Air and Kivalliq Air cover the Kivalliq region. From Cambridge Bay, First Air and Canadian North cover the Kitikmeot region.

IQALUIT

Nunavut’s seat of government, Iqaluit (ee-kal-oo-eet), is Canada’s culture-clash capital, at once futuristic and primeval, worldly and Third Worldly, utterly bizarre and tediously banal. Unlike the territory’s parochial villages, this is a boomtown of Johnny-come-latelies: Ottawa paper-pushers and grunts from Newfoundland, plus Inuit professionals and politicians from around the Arctic. Many of these Inuit walk in two worlds (as the cliché goes), wearing sealskin vests over tailored suits and yammering into cellphones about whale-hunting.

The dusty, debris-strewn townscape of Iqaluit, with its moon-base buildings and tangle of above-ground pipes, is perversely fascinating for a while, and there are some sights, restaurants and shops worth a stop. However, real life here takes place on the land, and most visitors head out of town, hiking along the Sylvia Grinnell River or taking a boat tour toQaummaarviit Historic Park.

Most flights from outside the territory land here and flights to the smaller Baffin communities depart from here. First Air serves all communities on the island, plus Resolute and Rankin Inlet. Kenn Borek Air operates services to fewer destinations but is often cheaper. Canadian North goes to Rankin.

Iqaluit is compact and thoroughly walkable. Even the airport is an easy stroll from downtown, about half a kilometer along Mivvik St. The city is also awash with cabs that charge $6 to anywhere. Expect to share: drivers often load to capacity before making drop-offs. Try Pai-Pa Taxi (867-979-5222).