Whitehorse Holidays

Best time to visit Whitehorse

The best time of year to travel to Whitehorse depends on what you want to do and see. The city has four distinct seasons, each with its own unique advantages and disadvantages:

If you're interested in winter sports or viewing the northern lights, then the best time to visit is during the winter months (November to April). However, keep in mind that the winters can be very cold and snowy, with temperatures often dropping below -30 degrees Celsius.

If you're looking for more mild weather, then the best time to visit is during the summer months (May to September). The summers in Whitehorse are warm and sunny, with average temperatures ranging from 15 to 25 degrees Celsius. This is a great time to enjoy the city's many outdoor activities, such as hiking, camping, and fishing.

If you're interested in seeing the fall foliage, then the best time to visit is during the fall months (October to November). The leaves change colour during this time of year, creating a beautiful display of reds, oranges, and yellows. However, keep in mind that the weather can be unpredictable during the fall, so it's important to pack for all types of weather.

Discover Whitehorse

Yukon’s capital city, Whitehorse, sits proudly between river and mountain and is a great base for your adventure into the wilderness. The city was founded by gold-rush stampeders in 1898 as they made their way up the Yukon River in search of their fortunes, and it was named after the White Horse Rapids nearby. Now it’s a busy city with a friendly, small-town feel, boasting several museums and attractions, a good range of shops and restaurants, and stunning scenery on its doorstep.

With excellent connections, Whitehorse can be easily reached by plane, road or even cruise ship. Its downtown sits on the edge of the Yukon River and is an interesting mix of heritage and modern buildings, housing a good selection of shops, restaurants and services. 

Of course, one of the prime reasons to visit Whitehorse is for its beautiful, untouched wilderness and you don’t need to go far from the city to see this. The wide range of wildlife to spot includes grizzly bears, and the Yukon Wildlife Preserve to the north of the city also has Canadian animals such as moose, bison, arctic foxes and mountain goats to spot on foot or by car.

During the winter months the days are short and cold but there is still plenty to do, from both downhill and cross country skiing to bathing in the delightful steaming waters of the Takhini Hot Springs. It is also the perfect time to watch out for the mesmerising light shows of the Aurora Borealis.

Whitehorse has a little of everything in the vein of arts and culture, shops and restaurants, history, tours and activities; and it promises a whole lot of something amazing when it comes to vast unspoilt landscapes just waiting to be explored.

Things to do on Whitehorse holidays

Whitehorse is a small city in a big, wild province, and you can’t visit the Yukon without exploring some of its pristine surroundings, whichever season you visit. Whether you are looking for challenging hikes, overnight canoeing excursions, thrilling white-water rapids and mountainous biking trails, or a more sedate pace of adventure such as flight-seeing tours, 4x4 trips into the mountains and lakeside relaxing, the wilderness is waiting.

The downtown area sits on the edge of the Yukon River and is an interesting mix of heritage and modern buildings, housing a good selection of shops, restaurants and services. You can take a walking tour around the city to see some of the more distinctive buildings, such as the marvellous three-storey “sky-scraper” made of logs, the restored White Pass & Yukon Route railway building and the Old Log Church. The city has a strong arts community and there are many galleries and open studios in town as well as regular live music events, festivals and performances.

There are several downtown museums and attractions, from the fascinating MacBride Museum - with exhibits on the gold rush, natural history and geology - to the Transportation Museum and the Beringia Centre, which takes you on a journey back to the Ice Age. The historic ship SS Klondike, a beautiful sternwheeler boat, now permanently berthed to the south of the downtown area has been painstakingly restored and is now open as a museum during the summer months, providing a real insight into the gold rush era.