An Arctic summer cruise

Don't expect any snow and ice on a summer cruise around the north of Canada's Hudson Bay, says Juliette Jowit in the Observer. True, this is the Arctic – but so far from the North Pole that the thaw is more or less complete by June, with the underlying "granite rock and raw tundra" exposed. The region's delicate flora should make up for any disappointment on the snow front: on Coats Island, you'll see "purple saxifrage, yellow Arctic poppies, white cottongrass, blush-pink thrift and burning orange lichen". And the big animals are out in force: polar bears, caribou, beluga whales, walrus and musk ox – which will only approach if you huddle together with fellow passengers, as if you were a single creature. An 8-night cruise with Cruise North (001 416 789 3752) costs from $5,245 excl. flights. ·