The Yukon: Self-Drive Tour in Canada's Backcountry

Sixteen nights through the Yukon, self-drive with the flights included, with a flightseeing landing on an icefield in the middle of it.

Vancouver takes the first night, then Whitehorse for four, with the Beringia centre, the SS Klondike paddle steamer in dry dock, the MacBride Museum, optional rafting on the Yukon River and a narrow gauge railway journey over the White Pass into Skagway, which is the line the stampeders’ supplies went up.

The car is collected at Whitehorse. Mayo follows for a night on the Silver Trail, then Dawson City for three, the centre of the 1897 Klondike rush, where the streets are still unpaved, gold was first struck on Bonanza Creek in 1896 and a preserved dredge can be toured. A guided trip runs up the Dempster Highway into Tombstone Territorial Park. Tok in Alaska comes next over the Top of the World Highway, then Kluane National Park, with a light aircraft landing on the largest non-polar icefield in the world beside Mount Logan, the highest mountain in Canada.

Flights, fully insured car hire with unlimited mileage, the named activities, all the accommodation and round-the-clock support while travelling are included, and the price is quoted per person. Seventeen days is what this route needs, given the distances and the fact that almost everything on it is seasonal. The window is roughly June to early September: the Top of the World Highway is gravel and closes for winter, and the flightseeing is weather dependent. Late August onwards also brings the chance of northern lights, which is worth knowing when choosing dates.