Northern Tales Travel Services Inc. — Attraction in Whitehorse

I had an incredible time with Northern Tales and cannot recommend them highly enough. I did the 4-night aurora package and some day trips, and I was fortunate enough to see the lights twice, the second time with a pristinely clear sky with great visibility of the Milky Way.

The first thing I’d like to say is that the guides were absolutely wonderful. They are all super friendly, knowledgeable about the Yukon and the local area, and very well organised. They really made the whole experience great and went out of their way to make sure everything was going well.

The aurora viewing site is about a 30-minute drive from the hotel and the transfer is included. At the viewing site, there are several cosy cabins and walled tents heated by wood burning stoves with snacks and hot drinks provided. There are tripods, and the guides will help with camera/phone settings if you need it. The guides take great photos of you with the lights if you want with good quality cameras, which is all included in the cost of the tour.

I rented winter clothing through them too, which was essential and kept me warm. Strongly recommend bringing base layers, wool socks and a warm neck gaiter too for when the temperature gets really low (we saw -32C).

The hotel (Best Western Gold Rush Inn) is comfortable and perfectly situated downtown near a bunch of good bars and restaurants.

There is a Whitehorse city tour included in the package. This was a really nice way to see the town including some interesting landmarks like the MacBride Museum, the Kwanlin Dün Cultural Centre, S. S. Klondike, and the visitor information centre, where the guide gives a small, interesting talk about the history of the Yukon and Whitehorse.

Through Northern Tales, I also booked a tour of the Yukon Wildlife Preserve and a half-day dog sledding tour with Elevation Dog Sleds.

The wildlife preserve is a must-see, and the guide was again very knowledgeable about the animals and their environment. There is also a combo tour to visit the Eclipse Nordic Hot Springs spa. I wasn’t able to book onto this, but the guide for the wildlife preserve tour dropped me off at the hot springs after the tour and I made my own way back by taxi. The hot springs are also well worth a visit, especially when it’s a cold day as you are able to be outside in the hot water even with air temperatures well below freezing.

Dog sledding with Elevation was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone who has some basic fitness and balance as you sometimes have to jump off and help the dogs by pushing the sled up small hills. The trail we went on was awesome, the dogs were well cared for and the people running Elevation were again great.

In summary, Northern Tales are an absolutely brilliant company and anyone going to Whitehorse should definitely book some...

Highly recommend!

They are located in the Best Western where they book your stay. They offer guided day trips and guided aurora viewing. They also organize various retreats with local cabin vendors. They're very responsive.

We had a wonderful time and saw the Northern Lights with them five nights in a row. The Aurora viewing setup they have is 30-min outside of town at a hunting lodge with two small camps next to each other. Each camp has the same things: two small canvas hot tents with gas stove, wood burning stove, outhouse, fire pit. There's a large field to view the Aurora unobscured. They provide tripods for cell phones & cameras.

Pro tip:

bring sausages + buns to cook over the fire. They provide marshmallows to cook over the fire, but graham crackers and chocolate would be nice to bring too

GoPros with night vision and the ability to do a 2.5hr time lapse creates a wonderful video of the Aurora. Otherwise cellphones on night sight / astrophotography modes work great too.

bring layers, especially extra heavy socks. It gets cold

YakTraks are helpful if its icy. The viewing field for us had some big icy spots

apparently the Aurora is very hit or miss (we were told ~50% of folks don't see it). Plan to go close to the equinox and on a clear night when the moon is nowhere near full, ideally during the suns 11-year solar flare cycle peak. Keep an eye on the solar flares of the sun as that's what drives the Aurora & keep an eye on the various kp index forecasts

don't setup near the guide doing group photography. The people and their flash will ruin your pictures

don't overbook your days. Lots of folks canceled most of their day excursions because they were too tired from staying up late aurora watching.

don't skip a night you booked because you already saw it. It's totally different each night & so variable

The demographic changes each night and is very international. Sit around the campfire & chat to folks

opt for the "cosy cabin" add-on package. It's a 55 acre lake-side retreat & we got the entire place to ourselves with a guide for part of a day to drop us off, give us a snowmobile tour & take us ice fishing. It's called Fox Bay Retreat and it's an hour outside of town (30-min north of the Northern Tales viewing area). Amazing...

Where to begin when describing such a singular experience? Our entire family (20+ people) decided on the Yukon for a reunion trip organized by Northern Tales, and the adventure exceeded our imagination. The owners, Emily & Aaron, are hospitable beyond measure. They're so knowledgeable about the history of the Yukon/Whitehorse and display a passion for hosting that is unmatched. They and their wonderful staff ensured each day's itinerary was seamless. Our group's ages ranged between 2 yrs old up to 70+ yrs young, and the events were curated to accommodate us.

We saw the Aurora twice! Our guide Esteve made the nightly viewing tours a true pleasure as he took pictures and cracked jokes, while we sipped hot chocolate and ate snacks. They took us to visit the nature reserve, where we saw awe-inspiring wildlife in its natural habitat. Our guide, Andrew, displayed exceptional respect and understanding of the local fauna. Following the nature reserve, the NT team brought us to a hot spring spa to relax and take in breathtaking mountainous backdrops. My personal highlight was the drive to Alaska. Words can't capture the beauty you'll experience. The vistas are jaw-dropping, Carcross desert is pristine, and the sweeping landscapes on either side of you as you drive to the border are picturesque. As a side note - the food in Whitehorse is very good (especially seafood). We had sushi a number of times that rivalled restaurants back home in Toronto.

Being a bunch of city-dwellers from big cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Ottawa), we weren't sure what to expect up North. I can say, without a doubt, that the experience is life-changing. Our country is full of natural magnificence, and we have Northern Tales to thank for this transformative journey.

This is a bucket-list trip and you HAVE to do...