Information for Polar Bear Exploring

How to get there: You can take the train to Churchill from Winnipeg on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Price is $141 Canadian one way, plus an additional $60 to $216 Canadian one way for sleepers. The trip takes two days, one night. Call Via Rail at (800) 361-3677. Or you can fly Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday on a super-saver fare of $260-$443 Canadian per person, round trip. Call Canadian Airlines at (800) 426-7000.

Best time to go: Early October to mid-November. Peak season for seeing large numbers of bears is late October and the first week of November.

Tours: Joseph Van Os Photo Safaris, P.O. Box 655, Vashon Island, Wash. 98070, (206) 463-5383. Package group tours run from six to 10 days and cover transportation from Winnipeg, lodging, all meals and three to five days of tundra tours for $1,895 to $2,055 per person. The same trip with an overnight camp stay is $2,695 per person.

Day-trips: Three companies in Churchill offer day tundra trips: Tundra Buggy Tours Ltd., P.O. Box 662, Churchill, Manitoba, ROB OEO, (204) 675-2122; Churchill Wilderness Encounter, General Delivery, Churchill, Manitoba R0B 0E0, (204) 675-2248, and Northern Expeditions, Box 614, Churchill, Manitoba, (204) 675-2793. Day-trips average $125 a day.

Going solo: Most people visit Churchill as part of a group tour, but visitors can come on their own. However, space in both the day buggies and camp is booked a year ahead. Though it may be possible to find room at the last minute, it’s a gamble.

Clothing: If you’re coming to see the bears, bring warm clothing. Zero-degree temperatures are not uncommon, and though the tundra buggies are heated, the back viewing platforms are open. Include a down parka, wool hat, warm pants and glove liners so you can operate your camera. Take twice the film you think you’ll need.

More information: Schedule at least a day for town activities. North Star Tours offers a city tour for $25 Canadian per person that explores abandoned military bases, informs passengers about constructing buildings on permafrost, points out how locals “bear-proof” outlying homes with doors of nails, visits the “jail” where bears that wander into town are kept, shows how bears are airlifted by helicopter from the jail, visits Cape Merry, tours the Eskimo Museum and more.

Other points of interest? The Park Canada exhibit of early fur-trading stores; shops such as Northern Images with Eskimo carvings at an affordable price, and The Town Centre, with everything from a hockey rink and swimming pool to the local high school, library and a cafeteria that serves the cheapest and often best food in town.