CA · Northwest Territories · 62.45°N 114.37°W

yellowknife

Northern lights, colourful Old Town houses and the wide shore of Great Slave Lake.

Best time
Late August–September have dark nights without the deep cold, with the aurora reflected in the lakes; February–March pair aurora nights with snow activities and longer days. Midwinter is brutally cold, and May–July are too bright for the lights.
How long
4–5 nights
Getting there
Fly with two stops, first via an Asian hub and then Vancouver, Calgary or Edmonton, about 22–27 hours all in. The airport is 10 minutes from town. Yellowknife is 14 hours behind KL, 15 from November to early March. Malaysians need a Canadian visitor visa, or just an eTA if flying in with a valid US visa or a Canadian visa held in the last 10 years.
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CA · Northwest Territoriesyellowknife62.45°N 114.37°Wgowherelah.com
Dear group chat,Northern lights, colourful Old Town houses and the wide shore of Great Slave Lake.— gowherelahTo: whoever’s drivingYellowknifeCA, Northwest Territories
KLyellowknife
≈ 12,115 km from KL, as the crow flies
The Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Yellowknife, NT, Canada, seen from across an inlet of Frame Lake that separates it from City Hall, Fireweed Studio and the surrounding Capital Park

Photo: Daniel Case · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photos: Wikimedia Commons, credited on each.

Yellowknife is a small northern city sitting right under the band where auroras are most frequent, which makes it one of the best places on earth to see the northern lights. Between nights under the sky, there's an Old Town of float planes and houseboats on Great Slave Lake.

Makan

  1. Arctic charA northern fish somewhere between salmon and trout.Map ↗
  2. WhitefishFresh from Great Slave Lake, usually pan-fried.Map ↗
  3. BannockSimple fried or baked bread, a staple of northern Indigenous cooking. Ask what it's fried in.Map ↗

Things to do

  1. Aurora viewingTours drive out of town to heated cabins or lakeshores away from the lights. Three or four nights give you good odds.Map ↗
  2. Old TownWooden houses, float planes and houseboats along the lakeshore.Map ↗
  3. Bush Pilot's MonumentA short climb up a rock outcrop for views over Old Town and the lake.Map ↗
  4. Great Slave LakeThe deepest lake in North America: frozen hard for dog sledding and ice roads in winter, open for boat trips in summer.Map ↗

Good to know

  • Book an aurora tour that lends parkas, boots and mitts in winter; it can drop below -30°C.
  • Halal is very limited, so bring supplies from Edmonton or Vancouver, or sort out meals with your tour company.

Last checked October 2026. Things change, so check opening times, fees and transport before you go.