Tuktoyaktuk on the Beaufort Sea

Tuktoyaktuk lies on the edge of the Beaufort Sea and combines an Arctic landscape with special insights into culture and local traditions. Large, ice-covered hills, known as pinguryuaq, give the area its distinctive character. If you choose a vacation destination not just for a single attraction, but also want to learn about the landscape and local history, you’ll find plenty of reasons to explore the area here.

Landscape and travel in the North

The pinguryuaq are a striking feature of the landscape. Their name invites curiosity about their shapes, which differ from an ordinary hilly landscape: they are large, ice-covered hills. For travelers who also consider the area around their destination when choosing a vacation rental, Tuktoyaktuk is a place where the landscape is part of the appeal of the trip.

The Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway officially opened in November 2017. It allows road travelers to drive all the way to Tuktoyaktuk and the Arctic Ocean. It is also the only public highway in North America that leads to the Arctic Ocean. This makes the drive itself a notable part of getting your bearings: the road leads to a town on the edge of the Beaufort Sea. Visitors can also see the well-known “Arctic Ocean” sign in Tuktoyaktuk.

Inuvialuit culture and local history

Tuktoyaktuk remains a traditional whaling community. A large coin monument honors Inuvialuit culture and history. Those interested in the town’s cultural heritage can include this monument among their discoveries, rather than viewing Tuktoyaktuk only as the end point of a road trip.

Other distinctive attractions include an authentic reconstructed sod house and the ship Our Lady of Lourdes, which is on display in Tuktoyaktuk. The reconstructed house and the displayed ship offer different ways to explore the town. Together with the coin monument, they provide a range of options for travelers who count culture and history among their vacation interests, alongside the landscape.

Arts, crafts and local food

The Pingo Market at Kitti Hall sells local art and handicrafts. The listed opening hours apply in summer. If you want to visit the market, take this seasonal schedule into account when planning. The market gives handicrafts a place of their own among the things to discover in Tuktoyaktuk.

Another place to find local food is Grandma’s Kitchen, a food truck at Front Beach. It offers traditional Aqpik jam and dried fish. These specialties are quite different from the landscape and cultural attractions and add another culinary dimension to the trip. When deciding which experiences matter to you, you can also consider local arts, crafts and food.

What travel interests suit Tuktoyaktuk?

Choosing a vacation rental in Tuktoyaktuk can go hand in hand with deciding what you want to focus on during your stay: the ice-covered pinguryuaq, the drive along the Inuvik-Tuktoyaktuk Highway, Inuvialuit culture and history, or the arts, crafts and food mentioned above. Families can weigh these interests together and choose different priorities, without every discovery having to involve the same kind of outing. Travelers chiefly seeking the distinctive landscape will focus on different details than those interested in the sod house, the coin monument or local food.

If you’d like to explore more places, you can also find Sachs Harbour here.

For the regional travel overview: Northwest Territories.