For those who are interested, here is an approximate breakdown of our individual costs for the Churchill trip, from Winnipeg to Churchill and back. This was for one person
Hotel in Winnipeg $100 (2 nights, coming and going, right beside the bus station.)
bus to THompson $ 95 (75% discount for seniors 'companion')
B&B in Thompson $100 (2 nights, coming and going)
Train to Churchill $180 (as seniors, your 'companion' went for free)
Berths approx. $140 (meals were included).
B&B in Churchill $250 (this was for five nights)
dog sled tour $ 90
Two bear tours $520
taxis (approx) $ 35 (to and from bus and train stations and airport in winnipeg)
total cost of transportation and accommodations and tours: roughly $1500. A considerable difference from the $5,000 and upwards that people were paying for their tours...I don't have all the receipts, so this is kinda guesswork, and WaltzingMatilda may have some corrections or additions. It would have been considerably more expensive to do it on one's own.
Thanks for the information. A few years ago I did the Vilnius to Vladivostok on the Trans-Siberian for $155 CND one way (rail only with sleepers). Couldn't believe that some tourists are paying up to $5000 US for basically the same trip. Only difference was that I bought my tickets at each stop myself and left when I wanted to. Regarding Churchill, I imagine $5000 would be the amount that some Japanese tourists might pay. I'm a Canadian and I would never pay that amount of money to go up there. Hack, I could float around Asia for a long time during the winter on the same amount of cash the Japanese blow in a few days of cold Churchill.
With five days in churchill, you have to figure about ten days over all...WAY over my normal budgetting, but definitely a once in a lifetime thing. pj, most of the tourists were Americans, some Canadians, and some Europeans. I saw very few Asians at all.
Hey, thanks for the budget info. This information is pure gold. I for one did not know that you could hire a bear tour outside of a package. That makes a huge difference in price. I had no idea that you could do this trip so inexpensively. Do you mind naming names and telling who you used for the bear tours and the B&B? If you don't want to kill the golden bargain by posting it in public, would you mind terribly if you could send me a private message? I do have another traveler that I'm pretty sure would be up for something like this, at that price! In fact, I might have two possibilities, because I think my husband might be interested in this, in addition to my travel buddy. We're not seniors so can't get that discount but, jeez Louise, it's still way better than the packages.
I need to look up the dates for the bear season. Is it mid October to mid November? How far enough in advance did you set up tours and accommodations?
It is possible I could get free air tickets for two as far as Winnipeg. Too soon to do a search but they have decent award coverage of Canada.
I will be leaving for Madagascar in a few days but I guess it is never too early to be thinking about the next trip.
hi peachfront.... i have made several postings on this branch... check this one for the place we stayed
ooops..forgot to say. We booked last February. We would have preferred November, but it was totally booked. You MUST book your accommodations first, then the tours, and then the transport. the earlier the better. The season is October and November. Some places are booked up two years ahead by the tour companies. We chose White Bear Tours because it was a bit cheaper than the other one ($40). Also be prepared that these are this year's prices... they may go up a bit next year, but if you book well in advance, you get the price they quoted. the b&b in Thompson was Northern Lights B&B take a look here.
PJ, I think the difference is that there are no wild polar bears running loose in Vladivostok. If there were, they'd probably charge more!
Is there a road to Churchill and is a November drive up by car possible? We did a similar trip to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska
but drove there and found it to be no problem. In later August the tundra was already in autumn colors andwas fantastically
beautiful
The tours wanted many hundreds of dollars per person just for the trip in a bus. We drove up in mid-August passing herds
of caribou, waterfowl in abundance, bears (none polar), moose, arctic fox, ptrarmigan, dall sheep, and more. We found
accommodation at $75-$100 US per night for two. Meals for $12-$18 even including a decent bufffet in the "town" of Coldfoot.
The tourist information office in Fairbanks said not to drive as the road was so terrible but found it no problem and the most
difficult part of the trip was washing of the mud that dried onto the car once we were back in Fairbanks.
Has anyone done the drive up to the Great Slave Lake and the Arctic Coast via Mac Kenzie River Valley?
socal... there is NO road to Churchill. The tundra is undrivable, and there is very little in the way of forest. Mostly it is miles and miles of soggy looking ground, spotted with ponds, puddles and lakes. Building a road would not only be an ecological disaster, it would cost millions in upkeep as the ground is so unstable.
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