Yellowknife

Aurora tours, Old Town and the Bush Pilots Monument over three nights

Plan three nights in Yellowknife so at least one aurora tour gets a clear sky. Book a tour for the first night and keep two as back-ups; tours leave around 10pm and return after 1am. By day, walk Franklin Avenue down to Old Town and climb the rock stairs to the Bush Pilots Monument for the view over the bay.

Night one. Arrive in the afternoon, check in and book an aurora tour for the first clear night, keeping the next two free as back-ups.

Day two, morning. Sleep in, then walk down Franklin Avenue to Old Town. Climb the stairs up the bare rock to the Bush Pilots Monument for the view over Yellowknife Bay, the houseboats and Latham Island. Wander past the float-plane docks and have lunch at Bullock's Bistro.

Day two, afternoon. Walk back up to the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre beside Frame Lake for Dene and Inuit culture, bush flying and the gold mines. It closes on Mondays. Next door, the Legislative Assembly offers tours of its round chamber.

Day three. In winter, try dog sledding or snowshoeing on the lake, then rest before another night out under the sky. In March, add the Snowking castle on the bay. In summer, drive the Ingraham Trail east past Prosperous and Prelude Lakes, with canoe launches and short rock-top hikes, or take a boat or float plane out onto Great Slave Lake.

Last evening. Dinner at the Gold Range Bistro on 50th Street, then one more look at the sky.

Great Slave Lake whitefish at Bullock's Bistro and the Wildcat Café

Yellowknife's signature food is fresh fish from Great Slave Lake. Bullock's Bistro, a cramped 1930s log cabin in Old Town, cooks the day's whitefish, lake trout or pickerel pan-fried, grilled or battered, and the log-built Wildcat Café is the other classic. Many cafés close by mid-afternoon, so plan your main meal out at lunch.

Commercial fishermen bring in whitefish, lake trout and pickerel, and Bullock's Bistro, a cramped 1930s log cabin in Old Town, cooks whatever came off the boats that morning, pan-fried, grilled or battered, alongside game dishes. Expect a wait and shared elbow room.

The Wildcat Café, a log building from 1937, is the town's most photographed restaurant. It opens in summer only, and its operator and menu change from time to time, but the shared tables and gold-rush décor stay the same. Bannock, the Dene fry bread, turns up at festivals and cafés, sometimes with jam or as a base for a bison burger.

In New Town, the Gold Range Bistro on 50th Street is a no-frills diner with a local crowd and a plate-sized egg roll that everyone orders once. For coffee, Barren Ground roasts its own on 52nd Street, and Birchwood Coffee Kǫ̀ on 49th Street does a good weekday lunch. Opening hours are short by southern standards: many cafés close by mid-afternoon, so plan your main meal out at lunch.

Snowking's Castle, solstice light and dressing for -40

Visit Yellowknife from mid-November to early April for aurora and winter festivals, or around the June solstice for near-endless daylight. January averages about -22C by day and -29C at night, cold snaps pass -40C, and winter is very dry, with about 15 mm of precipitation a month, which keeps many aurora nights clear.

The climate swings harder here than almost anywhere a tourist goes in Canada.

Winter visitors should dress for standing still. Wear a thermal base layer, a fleece and an insulated parka, windproof trousers over long johns, and boots rated for deep cold. Mitts beat gloves; thin liners let you work a camera. Many aurora operators rent parkas and boots. Keep spare batteries in an inside pocket.

March is the sweet spot for many: days lengthen, highs climb to about -11C, and the Snowking Winter Festival builds a castle of snow on frozen Yellowknife Bay, hosting concerts and events inside its walls all month. By May the ice breaks up and highs reach 10C.

Summer is a different place. July averages 22C with long, warm evenings, and near the June solstice it never gets properly dark, so there is no aurora. Folk on the Rocks brings a music festival to Long Lake in July. The lights return in late August, when open water reflects them and nights are mild; August and September are also the wettest months, at about 44 mm.