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Capital city of the Northwest Territories, Canada
Photo: Daniel Case, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Yellowknife is the capital city of the Northwest Territories, on the North Arm of Great Slave Lake, on Yellowknife Bay. Yellowknife is the main entry point for visitors to NWT. Many tourists come to experience the Northern climate and traditional lifestyle, and to see the Northern Lights.
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The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre houses the territorial museum and archives. It exhibits natural history, Indigenous history, industries in the Northwest Territories and local Yellowknife history.
A 297-seat performance hall in Yellowknife that opened on May 3, 1984. It is the only performing arts centre in the Northwest Territories.
This otherwise undistinguished short unpaved residential street is known for its name, which started as a joke among prospectors about their lack of success one season, far beyond Yellowknife. Before you get a signature souvenir sign or T-shirt from one of the many shops in town that sells them, you might want to walk down the actual street and take a picture of the official sign, now that the city has finally acknowledged its existence, so you can confirm to people you tell the story to back home that, yes, this street actually exists.
Sitting on top of a hill in the Old Town, this monument gives tribute to bush pilots who opened up Northwest Territories, delivered food & medicine and transported people.
Taxidermied animals in various poses. Exhibit includes grolars (polar bear and grizzly bear hybrid), muskox, wolverine and wood buffalo.
You can go on a guided tour of the hangar of the family-run airline that was showcased in reality television show Ice Pilots NWT. Featuring a fleet of vintage aircraft from the World War II era (DC-3, C46, Electra and others), the hangar is the place where technicians keep these old warbirds flying. You might even come across one of its DC-3 which participated in the D-Day campaign by dropping paratroopers over Normandy.
Fly in wilderness lodge on Great Slave Lake in day trips or overnight. Main activities: fishing, bird watching. Aurora packages.
Dogsled tours. Kennel owned and operated by World Champion dog racer, Grant Beck. Winter activities: Aurora by dog sled, traditional dogsled tours and learn to drive your own dogteam experience. They also offer overnight dogsled adventures. November 1 - mid May. Summer and fall activities: Aurora tours and dogsled on wheels. August 1 - October 31.
Local café with great ordinary food and lots of good people where the locals eat. Famous for their plate-sized eggroll.
Features a different menu every year, depending on which local restaurant wins the contract to run it. Relaxed dining with shared tables in a Gold Rush atmosphere. It was built in 1937. It is a popular eatery and tourist attraction, operating in the summer only, in one of the city's oldest buildings.
Relaxed, cramped, extra-casual bar and restaurant in circa 1930s cabin. The menu features fish, game, and salads. The fish is as fresh as this morning, and the seemingly hectic grill manages to produce fine results with it. Big portion size. Don't expect anything fancy in service or presentation, but you'll enjoy the lively and authentic atmosphere. Make sure your wallet is well-stocked before coming: a simple plate of fish and chips and a bottle of self-serve beer costs between $40 and $50.
Traditional Ethiopian food.
In the new town. Famous for wood oven pizzas.
Panini and ice cream.
Cafe with locally roasted coffee.
Good lunch menu with a variety of drink options.
Best-known drinking establishment in Yellowknife. Weekends feature country-and-western music in an atmosphere that can only be experienced, not described.
Somewhat in the tradition of an English pub.
Only micro-brewery in the territory and their pub serves food and many of their northern-named beers on tap. They have won awards for their Kicksled Cream Ale.
Strip club. Allowed to bring food in. Often has exotic dancers
A drinking establishment with live DJ, dance floor and golf simulator.
Private bedrooms and one suite.
Has on-site restaurant and art gallery shop.
Private room, cabin or suite.
Suite and apartment-style hotel.
Not to be confused Chateau Nova Hotel (which is owned by the same company). Nova Inn has 80 rooms and suites.
Architecturally undistinguished from the rest of Yellowknife's boxy, modernist 1970s buildings, the Explorer stands out by standing on the highest spot in the centre of town. Northern Canada's largest hotel has hosted three generations of the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II, on their visits to the city, as well as other prominent personages. This level of comfort comes with a fitness centre, two business centres, the Traders Grill restaurant and Trapline Lounge. Complimentary parking and free airport shuttles are provided. It will not, however, come cheap.
141 rooms and suites with Wi-Fi, flatscreen TV, A/C, kitchenettes, sauna room and fitness room. Complimentary parking and free airport shuttles are provided. Quarry Restaurant steakhouse open 7AM-2PM and 5-9PM, Quarry Lounge open 11AM-10PM.
Gym, free Wifi and airport shuttle.
The centre also has a small selection of exhibits about the history of diamond mining in the Northwest Territories.
Get aviation-themed souvenirs from Buffalo Airways, the airline that still uses DC-3 and other World War II era warbirds in revenue service for cargo delivery to northern remote communities and as waterbombers.
Sells Indigenous stone carvings, seal skin scarves, bison hide wallets and other souvenirs. Friendly and chatty owner.
By train
Railways have not been built to Yellowknife, and passenger rail service is not available in the Northwest Territories at all; the nearest freight railway reaches to the town of Hay River on the south…
By car
Yellowknife is at the end of Northwest Territories Highway 3 (Yellowknife Highway).
By boat
Yellowknife is on Great Slave Lake. Boating to and in Yellowknife is private (ferries are used at some highway river crossings in the territory, however).
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Yellowknife · Regional · YZF
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