Armed with his 1899 Appleton's Guidebook to Alaska, Michael Portillo begins his journey amid the snow-capped mountains and ice-cold inlets of the Kenai Peninsula. Show more

Michael Portillo explores the remote former goldrush settlement of Talkeetna, where he gets a taste of the pioneering spirit of early 20th-century prospectors and settlers. Show more

Arriving in Skagway by seaplane from railwayless Juneau, Michael Portillo heads for Dyea and the Chilkoot trail, which the first gold prospectors hiked 100 years ago to the Klondike. Show more

Michael Portillo explores British Columbia. He discovers how two superpowers nearly came to war over a pig and joins the Royal Canadian Navy to firefight on board the frigate HMCS Regina. Show more

Michael Portillo boards one of the world’s most famous trains, the Rocky Mountaineer, to cross the backbone of the North American continent from Kamloops to the spa resort of Banff. Show more

Michael Portillo begins a new journey on the tracks of the Ocean line to explore Canada’s maritime provinces en route to Quebec City. Show more

Michael Portillo travels on the Ocean train from Nova Scotia to New Brunswick. Along the way, he investigates the world’s biggest tide at Hopewell Rocks and admires its rock formations and caves. Show more

Michael Portillo explores the province of Quebec, taking the fabulously scenic Charlevoix train along the north bank of the mighty St Lawrence River to La Malbaie. Show more

Michael Portillo strikes west across Manitoba into the province of Saskatchewan. Michael discovers how a middle-class British boy transformed himself into an influential indigenous naturalist. Show more

Following his 1899 Appleton’s guide, Michael explores a glossy, glassy, oil-rich Edmonton, second city of Alberta. Show more