Yellowknife Tours: Aurora Hunting, Dog Sledding & Arctic Adventures
Yellowknife sits directly under the auroral oval, which is why the lights show here up to 240 nights a year while the rest of the world waits for a solar storm. The tours below are the ten trips actually worth booking: aurora hunts that chase clear sky, dog teams, snowmobiles, city history and ice fishing on the deepest lake in North America, with real ratings and live dates.
Picked and checked with Thomas Beaulieu, Yellowknife guide & northern lights specialist
Local operators rated up to ★ 5.0, across 1,143 Viator & GetYourGuide reviews. Free cancellation on most tours.
Local Yellowknife operators1,143 real Viator & GetYourGuide reviewsRatings 4.5 to 5.0Free cancellation on most tours
Which Yellowknife tour is best?
For most visitors the guided aurora hunting tour is the best all-round Yellowknife tour: about four hours at night, a small group, hotel pickup, and a crew that drives to wherever the sky is clearest instead of hoping the cloud opens above one spot. It holds 4.8 stars across 399 Viator reviews. Fill the daytime with dog sledding, a snowmobile run, a city tour or ice fishing, then go back out for the lights.
The best Yellowknife tours at a glance
Start with the night that brought you here. The aurora hunt below is the most-reviewed northern lights trip in the city, and the lodge version suits anyone who would rather wait warm than chase. Then jump to a category for dog sledding, the city, or the ice.
Likely to sell out on Viator
Best for most visitors: a guided night hunt that drives to wherever the sky is clearest, instead of waiting under one fixed patch of cloud
Northern Lights Hunting Tour with Hotel Pickup (about 4 hours)
4.8across 399 Viator reviews
Small group (up to 16) with a professional photographer on board, so you go home with real aurora photos of yourself, free
Chases clear sky across three viewpoints outside the city glow, with hot coffee, tea and cookies between stops
Picks up from every hotel and B&B in Yellowknife; free cancellation up to 24 hours before
Live price on the listing shown for your date and currency at booking
The rating is Destination NWT's current Viator figure; check the listing for today's price.
Northern lights under the auroral oval
The aurora is the reason Yellowknife exists on most travel maps. The city sits beneath the band where auroral activity concentrates, so the lights come out on calm nights when places like Iceland or southern Canada see nothing, and a strong solar storm is a bonus rather than a requirement. Three bookable trips cover the three ways to do it: hunt by van, wait at a heated lodge, or make a two-night project of it in a cabin. The northern lights tours page compares all three, and our guide to the best months for the aurora settles the timing question.
The guided hunt with a photographer, the heated lodge with the chase option, and a two-night cabin package with airport transfers. This is the money night; book it first.
One booking that covers two nights of hunting and viewing, a heated cabin or glass tipi, soup on the ice and airport pickup. The near-guarantee play: most visitors who stay three nights see the lights.
Honest answer: not always. When a tour earns its price (mobility, photography, cloud-dodging) and when standing on a frozen lake by yourself works fine.
Winter days: dog sledding, city streets and the ice
The lights run on a night schedule, which leaves the short bright day open. These are the three daytime categories, each with its own page and real listings.
Run a husky team the Dene way, meet the kennel, or take a beginner snowmobile onto lake ice with heated handlebars. The snowmobile run is the biggest seller in the city.
Drop a line through Great Slave Lake ice from a heated hut, then eat your catch cooked on the spot. One trip is run by a 100% Indigenous-owned operator with Dene storytelling.
Which Yellowknife tour fits your trip?
The honest way to pick: book the aurora first, then match the daytime to how cold you want to get. This table is the whole decision on one screen.
Heated huts on Great Slave Lake, gear included, lunch cooked on the ice
Flying in first? Our guide to getting to Yellowknife covers the direct flights from Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver, and where to stay sorts the hotels the pickups actually serve.
When to take a Yellowknife tour: two aurora seasons
Yellowknife has two separate aurora windows, split by the midnight sun. Autumn trades deep cold for open water and reflections; winter stacks the aurora on top of dog sledding, ice roads and the frozen lake. From mid-April to late July the sky simply never gets dark enough, so no honest operator sells aurora tours then.
Months
Aurora?
What runs
What it feels like
Mid-Aug – early Oct
Yes, autumn season
Aurora hunts, cabin package, city tours
Mild nights, lights over open lakes, no deep cold yet
Mid-Nov – early Apr
Yes, main season
Everything: aurora, dog sledding, snowmobile, ice fishing
Deep cold, frozen lake, longest dark nights, peak demand
March
Yes, and bright days
All winter tours + the SnowKing snow castle festival
The sweet spot: strong aurora odds, longer daylight, festival month
Mid-Apr – late Jul
No, midnight sun
City tours, summer fishing on the big lake
Close to 22 hours of light around the solstice; the aurora waits
The month-by-month detail, including why March often beats December, is in the best-time guide. Cold-weather kit is covered in what to wear at minus 30: parka rental exists, so you do not need to buy an arctic wardrobe.
What guests say after the aurora hunt
Real reviews from the flagship hunting tour's Viator and Tripadvisor listings, quoted word for word. Long ones are trimmed with [...], never reworded.
Prompt pickup and great experience! Wilson was very enthusiastic and informative and took some pictures for us, which we received the same day. Got lucky to see the lights during this tour!
Michelle · Apr 2026 · Viator
While it was a very cloudy night and we were not fortunate enough to see the northern lights, our tour guide (Wilson) and driver made every effort to keep looking. We felt very safe and even enjoyed some hot chocolate and cookies on the bus.
Vashti · Mar 2026 · Viator
The guide Luke was awesome, our kp was 0.0 but he continuously checked the forecast and ensured that we get a great view of the Aurora. Highly Recommended
Swagata · Apr 2026 · Viator
I live in NWT but I still joined this tour for the experience. Most of tourists are from China, Korea and Japan and Europe. We were in a bus and we hop from 1 spot to three other areas where Northern Lights are visible. The lady guide was very conversant. She took good pictures for us, provided us some snacks and coffee along the way. [...]
Richard · Jun 2026 · Viator
He drove us to three different lakes in a real chase of the northern lights and we did get to see them! The group was small (only 5 of us in a minivan), which made the experience feel personal and relaxed. He also prepared hot chocolate and brought cookies. [...] it felt like a genuine aurora adventure led by someone who truly cared about making the experience special. Highly recommended!
Sherpa61043557661 · Apr 2026 · Tripadvisor
We had a fantastic experience on this tour! Our guide, Wilson, was funny, knowledgeable, and made the whole night enjoyable. He also took amazing photos of us with the aurora borealis, which we really appreciated. The vehicle was comfortable and provided a warm place to relax whenever we needed a break from the cold. Highly recommend!
City and dog sledding tours start in town or with hotel pickup; aurora tours drive out the Ingraham Trail past Madeline and Prelude Lakes; ice fishing sets up on Great Slave Lake, the deepest lake in North America at 614 metres.
Yellowknife tours: common questions
What is the best tour in Yellowknife?
For a first visit, the guided aurora hunting tour: about four hours at night with hotel pickup, a small group, and a crew that drives to clear sky, rated 4.8 across 399 Viator reviews. If you are traveling with kids or would rather stay warm, the lodge-based aurora tour is the better fit. Daytime, the snowmobile adventure is the most-reviewed trip in the city.
Do I need a tour to see the northern lights in Yellowknife?
Not strictly. On a clear, active night you can see the aurora from a dark spot at the edge of town. A tour earns its price by driving you out of the city glow, chasing gaps in the cloud, keeping you warm for hours, and photographing you under the lights. On short trips that flexibility is usually the difference between seeing them and not.
How many nights do you need in Yellowknife for the aurora?
Plan at least three nights in season. NWT Tourism's published figure is a 98 percent chance of seeing the aurora at least once over a three-night stay, because a single night can always be clouded out. The two-night cabin package exists precisely to stack the odds without booking each night separately.
How much does a Yellowknife tour cost?
Tours are priced per person and vary by season, so we do not print fixed figures: the live price shows on each operator's Viator or GetYourGuide listing for your date. Budget extras where noted, like the NWT fishing licence on ice fishing trips, which is mandatory and not included.
Can you see the northern lights in Yellowknife in summer?
No. From roughly mid-April to late July the sky over Yellowknife never gets dark enough, with close to 22 hours of light around the June solstice. The viewing seasons run mid-August to early October and mid-November to early April, and every honest aurora operator sells only inside those windows.
How cold does it get on winter tours?
Properly cold: December to March nights regularly sit far below minus 20. Operators are built for it, with heated vans, heated huts, warm lodges and arctic clothing rental in town, so the cold is manageable if you dress for it. Our what-to-wear guide covers the exact layers.
Why trust these Yellowknife tour picks
These picks come from Thomas Beaulieu, a Yellowknife-based guide and northern lights specialist who has guided international visitors here since 2022 and has, by his own count, hosted more than a thousand travelers. Every rating, duration and inclusion is checked against the operator's own current Viator or GetYourGuide listing, not copied from other blogs. We are an independent guide, not a tour operator and not the local company Yellowknife Tours Ltd, and we earn a disclosed commission if you book through our links, which never changes what you pay.
Ready to stand under the lights?
Book the aurora hunt first, then build the days around it. Live dates and prices are on each operator's official listing.
