Here, people do not curse the rain: they live with it. Prince Rupert, set on Kaien Island about forty kilometres from the Alaska border, ranks among the wettest cities in Canada, and this perpetual humidity has magnificent compensations: a rainforest of saturated green, mists clinging to the coastal mountains and, when the sky breaks open, rainbows so frequent that the city has made them its nickname. The ship docks at the Northland terminal, whose gangway adjusts itself to the strong North Pacific tides; you step ashore with no shuttle or tender transfer.

Cow Bay, the neighbourhood on stilts

About ten minutes' walk along the shore, Cow Bay has kept its wooden buildings set on stilts above the water, inherited from the days when cows really were landed here for the area's first dairy. The neighbourhood plays along with the joke: fire hydrants and shop fronts sport black and white spots. You stroll between galleries, artists' studios and cafés where smoked salmon comes in every form, while floatplanes take off from the harbour and fishermen unload their catch a few steps from the terraces.

A longhouse for ten thousand years of history

The most memorable stop of the port call is a cedar longhouse facing the harbour: the Museum of Northern British Columbia. Its collections span millennia of presence by the peoples of the Northwest Coast, the Tsimshian first, but also the Haida, Nisga'a and Tlingit: transformation masks, ceremonial headdresses, engraved silver jewellery and carved poles. The visit sheds light on the rest of the voyage, since the waters ships ply in the Inside Passage are first and foremost the ancestral routes of these peoples. The museum shop sells works by artists from the region, a sure bet for a meaningful purchase.

The forest within reach of a trail

To experience the rainforest from the inside, the Butze Rapids trail starts about six kilometres from downtown: a loop of about five kilometres beneath giant cedars and thick moss, leading to an astonishing phenomenon, tidal rapids that reverse with the ebb and flow. Taxis and local shuttles cover the short trip. In town itself, the Sunken Gardens occupy a former excavation transformed into a sunken garden, a peaceful, flower-filled stop behind the courthouse.

Grizzlies and humpback whales

Prince Rupert also serves as a gateway to some of the most serious nature excursions on the coast: humpback whale watching in the strait and, above all, in season, outings to the Khutzeymateen grizzly sanctuary, Canada's first protected area dedicated to this animal, where bears feed in the estuary grasslands. Spaces are limited and go early: inquire as soon as you book your cruise if the experience appeals to you.

Good to know before going ashore

• Terminal at the foot of downtown; Cow Bay about 800 metres away along a flat path.
• A raincoat is essential, whatever the season or the morning weather.
• Museum: allow an hour and a half; opening hours vary out of season.
• Wildlife excursions: booking before departure is strongly recommended.

As the ship heads back into the Inside Passage, the city often disappears into a scarf of mist, as if closing the door to its forest behind you. Prince Rupert makes no sunny promises; it offers something more lasting: the feeling of having approached an ancient, damp and living world that existed long before ships and will no doubt outlive them.