Its confirmed we are going on a rail cruise, rail portion 1st. I received some excellent suggestions for things to do in a previous Vancouver post, that's where we will end up.
Looking for ideas on some free days:
Fairbanks
Denali
Anchorage/Seward
Skagway
Juneau
Ketchikan Looking into a salmon trip
Watching with great interest, wife and I interested in a similar trip
I'm a bit of a cruising fanatic. Although I've only been on 9 cruises so far, by far the most mindblowing was my Alaskan cruise. I'm pretty confident I could do that one every year the rest of my life and never get tired of it.
Unfortunately the one I did didn't have a rail portion, but doing one of those is very high on my list of future traveling. That being said, as far as Juneau goes, my absolute highest recommendation would be taking one of the helicopter flights that lands on one of the glaciers (believe it was Mendenhall). It was pricey, but worth every single damn penny. It was so beautiful, and it was like walking around on the surface of another planet. Got to drink glacier water directly out of the glacier. I can't wait to do it again, but no idea when that will be. Next cruise is to Hawaii in October.
If your ship is going to go up one of the fjords, you want a balcony. On the itinerary we were on, we spent the whole day going up Tracy Arm Fjord and back down. I spent the whole day on our balcony just in awe of how beautiful it was.
We toured Alaskan Brewing Company in Juneau, if you're a beer person I'd recommend it.
'Nobody ever called the fire department because they did something intelligent'
Fairbanks - Chena Hotsprings, Granite Tors. Less time - tube the river that goes through town. Eat at the Turtle Club.
Denali / Talkeetna - flight tour of Denali and the AK range, must do! Jet boat tour up the Talkeetna River.
Anchorage - hike Flat Top, rent bikes and cruise the Coastal Trail. Anchorage has a great paved trail system (w/ a homeless problem). Mountain biker? Great single track at Kincaid park and on the Hillside. Couple of BJJ gyms in town if you need to train. If weather is bad a nice short hike 30mins out of town is the Eklutna Canyon Waterfall. Better yet rent kayaks and hit Eklutna Lake or rent mountain bikes and ride around the lake - beautiful area w/ camping available. Anchorage has a very nice rock gym if u climb indoors.
Food Anchorage - tourist trap staple is the Moose’s Tooth, Decent pizza, expect a ridiculous wait. Bear Tooth theatre and pub is good. Halibut Sandwich - Momma O’s. Fried Chicken and milkshakes - Lucky Wishbone. Drinks at the speakeasy above the Willowaw. Best meal in town will be had at Marx Bro’s, bring your wallet. Great mid priced food - Glacier Brewhouse.
If you can make it to Girdwood, take a tram ride at Alyeska to the top. Good hike in G-wood is Winner Creek to the hand tram.
Seward - fishing charter, hike around Exit Glacier, 26 glacier day cruise.
AK is big and rugged, best way to see it is by the air. Followed by boats and ATV’s...if your trying to cover ground in limited time.
Get bear spray (or a .44) and small jingle bells if hiking Winner Creek, Eklutna Lake or Mtn Biking.
On our cruise, we did these 3 shore excursions and I would recommend them all:
Juneau Mendenhall Glacier Guided Walk via Helicopter Tour
Skagway Jet Boat Adventure to Haines
Ketchikan Lighthouse, Totems & Eagles Excursion
I booked through the cruise line, so no idea about this website, but it has good descriptions.
We also did a Salmon Bake in Juneau that the Salmon lovers raved about.
Knee shot hit all the high points of a week or two visit to South Central Alaska. I would add a couple things. The Denali Brew Pub has decent food and a bunch of locally brewed beers in Talkeetna. Chair Five is a decent place to eat in Girdwood, and if you have time the Double Musky is top notch.Originally Posted by KneeShot
We've done two Alaska cruises, and we've only done one excursion; it's such a mindlblowing experience we haven't felt it necessary to pay for stuff to keep us occupied.
The one that we did do was in Skagway, a White Pass Railway tour. They have some that go there and back, and you never get off in Canada, so there's no passport hassle, and some that go into Canada and you need your passport. Skagway is an interesting town, the population explodes during cruise season, most of the stores and their staff move in for the summer.
OTOH, my sister and cousin did a whale watching trip in the Tracey Arm Fjord, and the tour operators said that they had never seen so many whales giving such a spectacular show so close. From what they said, the crew were so excited that they figured it wasn't just hype.
My favorite souvenir was from the Alaska Brewing gift shop in Juneau (where you catch the shuttle to the brewery tour), a silicone pint glass, with "sippy cup" lid.
Yep, a travel beer pint "glass."
Really, the scenery is so spectacular that we enjoy just walking the waterfront and laughing at the over-priced tschotchkes (sp?) they try to sell tourons.
The Tongas Trading Post has multiple "gift" shops in Ketchikan, go to the big one and shop where the locals go to stock up for hunting/fishing/camping.
Last edited by Drang; 12-01-2019 at 11:10 PM.
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