Your most frequently asked, and answered, questions.
What kind of clothing should we wear?
“There is no bad weather; only inadequate clothing.”
If you’re travelling to Yellowknife outside of the summer or early fall, you’ll need to pay special attention to what you’ll wear. It’s important that you layer properly, and you focus more on insulation than water proofing.
You should start with good base layers tight against your skin, avoiding cotton. Layer with synthetic fabrics or wool that will keep you warm and dry, even if they get wet (because you will inevitably sweat while you’re getting dressed).
Above your base layer, try to layer sweaters without hoods (hoods will create uncomfortable bulk around your neck, because I’m assuming you don’t want to pull 3 or 4 different hoods up over your head).
Immediately beneath your windproof shell or parka should be a down or synthetic padding jacket and leggings to trap all your body warmth.
Your poor little toes and fingers
It’s essential you don’t wear cotton socks or too many pairs of socks. Have a thin, light synthetic sock against your skin with a thick woolen sock overtop. Don’t pull your socks tight - keep them a little loose to create warm air pockets and to allow for good circulation. Your boots should be insulated and have a thick rubber sole.
Mittens will be warmer than gloves, and you’ll probably want a liner glove on your hands inside your mittens. Have enough space so you can curl your fingers into the palm of your hand inside your mitten for warmth.
Please remember to bring a toque or beanie. You’ll want to be able to pull it down over your ears (so you can stop listening to me at will), and your parka or outer shell should have a hood that you can pull up slightly in front of your face to shelter you from any wind.
Don’t forget a balaclava or warm scarf.
Should we rent winter clothing?
My Backyard Tours and Yellowknife Vacations offer full winter clothing rentals.
Depending on the time of year you’ll be travelling to Yellowknife and how comfortable you feel with the winter clothing you already own, the decision to rent winter clothing is a very personal one.
You can view temperature norms for Yellowknife, but understand we will be out in the countryside generally during the coldest hours of the night, and also more exposed to winds.
My Backyard Tours recently changed ownership, but they continue to offer the same high quality winter clothing for rent that they always have. Yellowknife Vacations rents very similar, quality winter clothing sets as well.
Our flight arrives after 21:00, can we still make your tour?
With both WestJet and Air Canada currently offering late night arrivals into Yellowknife (YZF) between 21:00-midnight, it’s of course not a perfect situation to try to take advantage of your first night in Yellowknife for aurora chasing.
Tour departures from the city will generally be between 21:00 and 22:00. This will vary night to night based on the time of year, auroral activity, and weather. Early fall and late spring tours will depart closer to 22:30.
If you are arriving late, we can make arrangements together if you wish to chase the aurora the night of your arrival.
Should your flight be delayed within reason, I’ll do my best to accommodate you and get us some time out together on your arrival night still. Any extreme delays that force us to cancel tour will be treated as a last minute cancellation however.
What if we have to use the washroom while on tour?
Definitely make sure you go just before pick-up, before you begin getting dressed in your 9 warm layers.
Generally, washrooms will not be available while we are on tour. Some highway pullouts do have outhouses, and territorial parks do have outhouses as well, however they may be locked during the winter, and aren’t going to be particularly comfortable in the extreme cold.
On rare occasions, we may pass Yellowknife airport during our night where washrooms are available, but this should not be relied upon.
Do you have any tips for photographing the aurora?
More than a few, and even if you consider yourself nothing more than a phone camera photographer, some surprises may await you.
With some basic understanding of, and a little practice with, anything from your android phone camera, to your point and shoot, or brand new mirrorless camera, you may just surprise yourself with what you can achieve. It’s easier than you think.
Have a read through this small guide I've written for you.
Do you have any hotel or B&B recommendations?
Yellowknife has several comfortable hotels in safe and convenient locations downtown, and you will find a number of Airbnbs scattered throughout downtown as well out in more residential neighbourhoods like Range Lake.
The Explorer Hotel is by far and away the most charming and cosy hotel in town, with higher floors providing gorgeous views over town and the lake.
The Chateau Nova is a newer, more modern, but fairly soulless hotel right beside the Explorer. The Nova Inn, halfway between old town & downtown Yellowknife, used to be the old Days Inn & Suites and has been given a light refresh now under the Nova umbrella.
Accommodation in Yellowknife books far, far in advance during peak seasons (September and March-ish).
What else can we do in Yellowknife?
I first fell in love with Yellowknife on February 25th of 2011, all of about 15 seconds after our WestJet 737 touched down on a runway covered in blowing snow.
It was the aurora which brought me here, so much more that made me fall deeply in love with it here, and it was the aurora which ultimately brought me back home to Yellowknife after fleeing the Northwest Territories for the Yukon for 3 years during Covid.
While the aurora is likely your focus, there’s more to Yellowknife than just sleeping your days away, and you’ll find so much of what I love about the city and the countryside in a small guide I’ve written for you here.
