CANADA // No road goes to this wee town on the tundra beyond the tree zone, at the very edge of Hudson Bay. Only a lengthy train or plane ride will get you to Churchill. It's worth the effort, though, for the extraordinary experiences that await. First up: polar bear spotting. Churchill, as it happens, is right in the bears' migration path. About 900 of the snowy beasts hang out here, waiting for the bay to freeze and hunting season to begin. Tundra buggies head out in search of the animals, which sometimes prowl close enough for you to lock eyes. Then there are beluga whales. Some 3000 of the glossy white creatures summer in Churchill River, and you can kayak among the chirpy pods. Not wowed enough yet? The Northern Lights let loose with shimmering green-yellow abandon from October to March. Add in the town's Inuit art and culture, its lonely forts and Cold War missile sites and its backdrop of endless subarctic majesty, and you've got a destination like no other.