Churchill, Manitoba is one of the most unique towns in Canada and is known as both the polar bear AND the beluga whale capital of the world. Because of Churchill’s northerly location in the subarctic tundra, there’s no roads leading here, meaning the only way you can get here is on a very expensive flight or a long train ride. 

This train has some unique features, including a dome car that’s perfect for watching the Northern Lights, and it holds the impressive title of being the Northernmost sleeper route in the entire Western Hemisphere! So if you’re looking for a unique way to get to this remote town, here’s everything you need to know about taking the train to Churchill, Manitoba, including insider tips to have the most comfortable and affordable experience possible. 

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How to get to Churchill, Manitoba

We actually wrote a whole article about how to get to Churchill, but, in a nutshell, you can either take a flight with Calm Air from Winnipeg or ride the Via Rail train, which departs from the city of Winnipeg and stops at about eight towns as it makes its way north.

There’s some pretty significant benefits to flying—namely, it only takes two and a half hours to fly from Winnipeg.

However, there are also some major drawbacks as well—when my husband, Justin, and I visited Churchill, it would have cost us around $2,240 CAD roundtrip per person for airfare. Yikes!

Accordingly, if you’re like us and on a bit more of a budget, the Via Rail train can be an excellent option, with roundtrip seats from Winnipeg as affordable as $365 USD per person. 

The biggest drawback about the train to Churchill is how long it takes—about 46 hours from Winnipeg. Due to the tracks being partially built on permafrost, the ride is quite bumpy and slow. In fact, the conductor told us that the train goes an average of just 15 miles per hour! 

Not scared off by the train yet? Let’s get into it! 

Insider tip: Many visitors mix and match their methods of transportation to and from Churchill. It’s especially popular to take the train up from Winnipeg and then fly down from Churchill. So don’t feel like you have to just stick to one or the other!

Where to Board the Train to Churchill

The Via Rail train departs from Union Station in Winnipeg every Sunday and Tuesday and, over the course of 46 hours, makes its way north to Churchill. 

Along the way, the train stops at eight towns—Portage La Prairie, Dauphin, Canora, The Pas, Pipun, Wabowden, Thicket Portage, and Thompson—as well as over 50 other stops upon request. You can find a detailed schedule here.

Most of these stops are under 10 minutes, but the one in Thompson is typically five hours. 

During this time, passengers that are already onboard can either stay on the train the entire time or get off to explore Thompson a bit. However, if you get off here, you must stay off the entire five hours, as the Via Rail staff uses this time to clean and perform maintenance the train.

Insider tip: If you’re already onboard the train, I’d suggest getting off here and stocking up on any snacks or food that you may need during your stay in Churchill at Walmart, which is about a 25 minute walk from the train station. Food in Churchill is EXTREMELY expensive and we actually found the grocery prices in Thompson to be way cheaper than in Winnipeg.  

Additionally, Thompson has proclaimed itself as the “Wolf Capital of the World” and features over 50 colorfully painted wolves and a 10-story wolf mural that are worth stopping at! 

Thompson is the northernmost place along the train’s route that you can drive that’s connected by roads to southern Manitoba. Accordingly, many passengers choose to drive the eight hours north from Winnipeg to Thompson and board the train to Churchill here, given that it cuts your time onboard down to just 16 hours. Plus, you can get a roundtrip ticket to Churchill for as little as $115 USD.

In addition to the Sunday and Tuesday service, there is also a train that departs from Thompson to Churchill every Friday.

Insider tip: Given the frequent maintenance to the train tracks and sharing the tracks with freight trains, it's not unusual for the train to have some serious delays—for example, on our ride back to Winnipeg, we wound up being on the train for over 56 hours!  

Accordingly, if you're headed to see beluga whales or polar bears in Churchill, I'd strongly recommend building in some buffer (ideally, a day!) before you schedule your wildlife tours. Most of the tours in Churchill are non-refundable so, if you miss a tour due to the train being delayed, you'll not only miss seeing the town's famed wildlife, but you'll also be out hundreds of dollars! 

Seating options on the train to Churchill, Manitoba

There’s a few different seating options aboard the train that you can choose from. 

Psssst… prices fluctuate, depending on the time of the year and demand. Accordingly, the prices I’ve cited below are based on my own experience and from poking around the Via Rail website and should merely be used as a reference point—please make sure to do your own price checks! 

Economy class

The vast majority of passengers aboard the train ride in economy seats. 

Economy seats are grouped into pairs. If you have a larger group, you can also swivel around a set of seats so that the two sets face one another.

Each seat is pretty wide, with plenty of legroom. Additionally, the seat back reclines a decent amount and there’s a footrest so you can extend your feet. They’re reasonably comfortable to sit in, but, having sat in them for 90+ hours roundtrip from Winnipeg to Churchill, I can definitely confirm that they’re not particularly comfortable to sleep in. 

Insider tip: If you’re on a train that’s not full, try to snag two rows of economy seats together. At night, you can swivel the row in front around to face the other row and raise the footrests to make a “bed” of sorts. 

Despite what I had read only, this arrangement isn’t particularly comfortable to fully lie down on—the footrests are elevated a few inches, so, if you’re laying down, your butt is considerably higher than the rest of your body. Still, it gives you more space to spread out and get a bit *creative* with how you sleep.   

Despite not serving as particularly nice beds, the economy seats have some other nice features, like two electrical outlets and tons of overhead luggage storage. 

Each of the two economy cars on the Churchill route also has a water dispenser and two shared bathrooms on board. You can see a full diagram of an economy car here.

Of course, the biggest benefit of economy seats is its price tag. Justin and I paid about $365 USD per person roundtrip for our seats from Winnipeg to Churchill during peak polar bear season—which is almost one-third less expensive as the next cheapest seating option! 

Sleeper class

There’s only one sleeper car aboard the line to Churchill so the seats are quite limited—six berths, eight single, three double, and one triple cabin. You can see a diagram of the train here (it’s the Chateau configuration) and check the specifications for berths and each kind of cabin here.

Sleeper seats come with some major perks that economy lacks—namely, your own personal bed(!!!)—and a shared shower.  However, unlike most sleeper class tickets on most Via Rail routes, they do not come with any kind of meal service while you’re onboard.

Due to the limited number of tickets available, sleeper class seats sell out extremely quickly during beluga whale season (end of June through August) and polar bear season (mid-October through mid-November). 

Accordingly, if you’re set on getting sleeper seats during these timeframes, I’d recommend setting an alarm for when the tickets go on sale ten months before the departure date, so you can be first in line for a ticket! 

Berth seats

Unlike cabin seats, berth seats are not enclosed. 

Rather, during the day, it’s a bench-like seat that faces another berth and, at night, they convert to a bunk bed. There is a nice, heavy curtain that you can pull over the berth at night for additional privacy and to block out light and noise. 

The biggest drawback to berth seats is that you don’t get your own electrical outlet. Berth passengers typically have to charge their devices using the outlet in the shared bathroom or, alternatively, by finding an open economy seat. 

Berth seats usually cost around $1,000 USD per person roundtrip during peak seasons. 

To be honest, they don’t particularly seem like a good value to me—they’re only marginally cheaper per person than a private cabin and don’t come with nearly as many perks that a cabin does (like a private toilet, sink, outlet, and temperature control). 

Cabins

Cabins are enclosed rooms, with sofa chairs during the day and very comfortable beds (at least, based on what we were told by other passengers!) at night. 

There’s definitely some cool benefits of having a cabin. You get your own electrical outlet, toilet, and sink, plus your own temperature control. It got super cold at night while we were aboard, so being able to control your own temperature sounds AMAZING.

The only downside is the price—during peak season, cabins cost around $1,200 per person roundtrip. Still, if you aren’t limited by budget, this sounds like an awesome way to get to Churchill!

Cars on the train to Churchill, Manitoba

The train to Churchill is fairly bare bones, with one “bag car” for luggage, two economy cars, one sleeper car, and a Skyline Dome car. 

The Skyline car was built in the 1950s and retains a lot of its nostalgic charm. It features a large lounge area towards the front, a galley where you can order food and drinks, a cafe-style dining area, and best of all, a “dome” section on its second floor, with panoramic windows that overlook the top of the train. 

To be honest, Justin and I weren’t exactly looking forward to our ride to Churchill, given the whole sitting-upright-for-two-days-straight thing. 

But the dome section absolutely MADE the entire train ride! We basically spent all of our time that we weren’t trying to sleep on that portion of the car, watching as the landscape changed from farmland to boreal forest to Arctic tundra. Additionally, we got to see some killer sunrises and sunsets from here and, best of all, a jaw-dropping display of the Northern Lights (which can be seen in northern Manitoba from August through April)!

Food aboard the train to Churchill, Manitoba

None of the Via Rail tickets to Churchill include any kind of meals while you’re aboard. 

There’s a limited selection of snacks, drinks (alcoholic and non-alcoholic), and light meals that you can purchase for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The meals are akin to what you’d be served on an airplane. 

Snacks and drinks were quite pricey—for example, a light domestic beer was around $7.50 USD and a cup of coffee was around $3.50 USD. 

Weirdly enough, the actual meals were pretty fairly priced, at around $9 USD, for an entree, piece of fruit, roll, granola bar, and drink.

Insider tip: Via Rail’s credit card machines often malfunctioned when we didn’t have cell service, which is the vast majority of the time aboard, so I’d suggest bringing along some cash! 

Given the limited and pricey Via Rail offerings, I’d strongly recommend packing and bringing along your own food in a small cooler. For example, we packed bagels for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and ramen for dinner. 

You won’t have access to a microwave or ice on the train, but there is a hot water dispenser for powdered coffee, tea, instant noodles or similar fare. I definitely wish we had brought instant coffee—we easily spent $20 on mediocre Via Rail coffee!

Additionally, there’s plenty of time while you’re in Thompson to walk to one of the restaurants in town and get a meal. 

I had heard that it was kind of a tradition to get a pizza delivered to the train before it departed the Thompson train station. So, we did just that and had an absolutely lovely time, chowing down on greasy pizza in the Dome Car while watching the sunset. 

Things to pack for the train to Churchill, Manitoba

• Cooler: As mentioned above, most passengers bring their own food aboard. Since there’s no ice available onboard or an easy way to dump melted ice in your cooler, I’d suggest bringing ice packs!
• Refillable water bottle: There’s handy water dispensers aboard the train.
• Instant coffee and creamer: So you don’t have to buy overpriced and disappointing coffee aboard!
• Reusable coffee cup: If you do happen to buy coffee aboard, you wind up getting a 50 cent per coffee discount by bringing your own reusable cup.
• Eye-mask: If you have an economy seat, there’s always some kind of lights left on aboard the train. Additionally, if you take the train in the summer, daylight can last up to 18 hours per day in Churchill! Accordingly, it’s nice to have something to block out the light while you’re trying to sleep.

• Warm layers: When we visited in October, the train got SO cold at night. I definitely wish I had brought extra layers or even a blanket to use while we were on the train.
• Inflatable travel pillow
• Earplugs
• Slip-on shoes: At some point of being on the train, almost all passengers take off their shoes at their seats and use shoes that are easy to slip on and off while they’re walking around the train.
  
  I exclusively brought hiking boots to Churchill, and it was super annoying to constantly be taking them on and off while I was at my seat. After the 100th time of untying my heavy boots, I eventually started running around the cars in just my socks, which you’re not supposed to do (your feet can get pinched by the moving floors in the vestibule). I REALLY wish I had brought some kind of sandals or other shoes that are easy to slip on and off.
• Entertainment: There is no Wifi onboard and limited cell service along the route, so bring enough stuff to keep yourself entertained, like books, board games, or downloaded movies or shows on your phone or laptop.
  
  We initially were quite worried about being bored on such a long train ride. However, on our ride up to Churchill, we had spectacular weather and a very social environment amongst the other passengers, so we spent basically the entire time taking in the views and chatting with other travelers from around the world. We both barely watched any of the YouTube or Netflix videos that we had downloaded on our phones to keep ourselves occupied.
  
  On the way back down to Winnipeg, though, the weather was rather dreary and everyone seemed a lot less chatty. Since I had assumed the experience was going to be similar to our ride going to Churchill, I barely downloaded anything to watch and wound up spending the majority of the train ride pretty bored.
  
  So learn from my mistakes and come with more than enough stuff to keep you entertained for 46 hours.

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Riding the train up to Churchill was definitey the most unique transit experience I’ve ever had—I hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Do you have any questions about the Via Rail train to Churchill? Let us know in the comments below!