City Tours

Tours are approximately four hours longs and operated by locals for a truly authentic experience.  Tours are offered by English speaking guides. (Translators are available, upon request for an additional fee).  Shopping visits are limited to Northern establishments offering Northern products. Our tour is focused on learning as much as possible about Yellowknife history and meeting locals when we can. Transportation is provided in a 16-passenger luxury coach, with a washroom on board (minimum of eight guests required).  

For smaller or individual bookings, alternative vehicles are used. We do not have a minimum number of guests required to offer the tour. We can customize any tour, if you have particular interests, and or want change the duration of the tour, we can accommodate.  We know the locals and they know us so we are willing to organize tours that are geared to the reason you have decided to visit Yellowknife.  

Call 1-867-445-8405 email: tracy@bucketlisttour.com

We begin with a guided tour of the NWT Legislative Assembly Building, where you will learn about our consensus-style, non-partisan government, one of only a few in Canada.

Following the Legislative Building, we will make our way to the site of Giant Mine. Rich in the history of Yellowknife’s gold mining days. There is an outdoor museum available to view.  In wintertime a lot of the displays are covered in snow. We will provide history on board. Then we make a quick stop at YKEA and look for local treasures.

Next, we make our way to Buffalo Airway’s home of the popular TV series, Ice Pilots. We will visit the hangar filled with vintage aircraft.  Star of the show is Buffalo Joe McBryan, owner of the largest DC 3 ‘s and DC 4’s in North America. These are propeller operated WW2 legendary aircraft.

We will return to the downtown core and stop in at the NWT Diamond Center which purchases diamonds from two of our local mines.

We will the make our way to The Old Town / Latham Island and N’dilo. Travelling through suburban parts of the City and the downtown core.

We will first visit Ragged Ass Road, the same street immortalized by Tom Cochrane on his third album by the same name.  Then proceed to the Frozen Great Slave Lake (Winter Tour).  Great Slave Lake is the second largest lake in Canadian borders, the deepest lake in North America at 614 metres, and the tenth-largest lake in the world.  Here we will venture our way on the lake (Winter Tour) with a visit from some local friends.  Locations will vary. They will be unique, off the grid, filled with northern talents and stories. We will get a close up of our colourful, local houseboats and visit the Snow Castle.  Summer tours we will spend time around the lake.

Next is N’dilo, a small Dene community is located on tip of Latham Island, which is actually an isthmus extending from Yellowknife into Great Slave Lake.  The land was set aside for use by “status Indians” by the Government of Canada in 1947. The name was officially changed to N’dilo in 1991, which means “end of the island” in the local Dene dialect.

We will continue our tour with a stop at Yellowknife’s first bank (Bank of Toronto) a privately owned, historic log cabin.  Next is a photo stop at the popular Wildcat Café (open seasonally) followed by a stop at Bush Pilot’s monument. Yellowknife’s most popular lookout rises above Old Town, providing a stupendous view over Great Slave Lake, Back Bay and the northern reaches of the city.  The monument is high up on “The Rock,” and is accessed via a winding staircase to the top. It is dedicated to the bush pilots and engineers whose lives were lost as they flew the wilderness skies of the Northwest Territories.

Next Weaver and Devore, Yellowknife’s first Trading Store / Just Furs / and a local carver’s shop. Local artists will be invited to come with there art and offer direct sales to our guests.

Yellowknife:  Diamond Capital of Canada

Traditional Name:  Sǫ̀mbak’è (sawm-ba-k-ay)

Founded:  1934

Capital City:  1967

The second smallest capital city in Canada, Yellowknife has a big heritage in mining.  For decades it was the seat of one of the richest gold mines in the country. Today it holds the title of Diamond Capital of North America with three operating mines a few hundred kilometers north of the city.

Canada has ranked as high as third in the world in diamond production by value and sixth by weight because of the diamonds from these mines.  In 2010 a 78-carat diamond was discovered at the Ekati Diamond Mine. In 2018 that mark was eclipsed with the discovery of 95-carat diamond which sold for an estimated US $2.5 to $3 million dollars.

Located on the north shore of Great Slave Lake (the tenth largest in the world), Yellowknife is approximately 400 km (250 mi) south of the Arctic Circle.  It has been the economic centre of the NWT since the 1930’s. It is also central to the Dene people, a First Nation who inhabit the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada.

• Short term bookings:  3 days or less, payment in full is required at time of booking. Short term fully non-refundable 45 days prior.