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While home to just 32,000, Fairbanks is the big city of the interior and cultural hub for the sparsely populated region. You can still go for the gold in Fairbanks, panning just like the early prospectors did. Get a glimpse into what you’ll experience on one of our Alaska shore excursions.
Hiking on Alaska Glacier Tours
On a flightseeing tour, soar by the impressive Mt. Edgecombe and fly up among the mountains and glaciers. For a more immersive adventure, visit nearby hot springs —like Baranof Warm Springs, where you’ll find a public bath and natural hot springs accessible by a short hike. This combo tour in Juneau includes both a helicopter tour and glacier trek. On this adventure, you'll check out the local terrain from above with a helicopter flightseeing experience. But the real action begins when you learn to climb up and rappel down glaciers using special equipment.
Skagway Sled Dog and Musher’s Camp
Featured on GOOD MORNING AMERICA -- travel back to the Ice Ages with Alaska's original glacier helicopter tour! Board a modern turbine-powered helicopter for a flight to the world-famous Mendenhall Glacier! Travelers to Alaska often wonder what it’s like to live in a small Alaskan town year-round. Your fun and informative local guide will take you to out-of-the-way places, like Svenson’s Extreme Dreams Art Studio. You’ll also visit the Hammer Museum—the world’s only museum dedicated to man’s first tool. Begin with an aerial overview of Misty Fjords National Monument and those granite cliffs.
A Taste of Haines
That said, you don't have to splurge for a big outing at every call. In Juneau, for instance, you can get an outdoor experience with a relatively inexpensive trip to the nearby Mendenhall Glacier. It's just 12 miles from the cruise ship docks and reachable by bus or taxi. The bus will set you back an astounding $45 per person, round-trip, which I find an intolerable gouge (but … it is what it is). If you have a few people, you're probably better off with a taxi, which runs around $35 each way.
Best Things to Do in Juneau
Denali National Park remains a wild kingdom, where animals large and small, roam free. View Dall sheep, wolves, caribou, moose and the mighty grizzly bear among many. And come summer, they are joined by more than 160 species of migratory birds.
I'm a budget traveler, and here are 10 ways I saved money on my Alaska cruise - Royal Caribbean Blog
I'm a budget traveler, and here are 10 ways I saved money on my Alaska cruise.
Posted: Wed, 14 Jun 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]
The simplest way to book an Alaska shore excursion is through your cruise line. You check a box on an online form before sailing or while on board, and — poof! They send a ticket to your room, and when you walk off the ship, a tour guide will be waiting for you.
Inside Passage Alaska Cruise
A local fisherwoman/"wilderness chef" will lead a demo on fish fileting, then bring you outside where you can learn to grill the day's catch over a large wood grill. While you listen and cook, nibble on salmon and halibut dishes, as well as local veggies. At the end, you'll have newfound culinary knowledge to take home as a souvenir. Plus, it leaves plenty of time for further exploration in Icy Strait Point. The boat used for this excursion has both inside and outdoor viewing areas. The trips last about four hours, including transfer time from your cruise ship to the whale-watching boat.
After a beautiful 20- or 25-minute floatplane ride, you’ll land on a remote beach. Take a short walk to the bear-viewing area, where you can watch these magnificent creatures for hours in their natural environment. A tour aboard a TEMSCO helicopter offers beautiful views of Alaska’s Capital City, and up-close exploration of Mendenhall, one of the state’s most accessible glaciers. Look out on alpine lakes, moraines, and crevasses before you land and check out the Juneau Icefield for yourself. This state is home to grizzly bears, polar bears, bison, caribou, moose, mountain goats, and more.
You'll begin this trip with a 35- to 40-minute bus ride to the remnants of the nearby ghost town of Dyea, which was Skagway's biggest competition during the gold rush days. It's now set within the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park as the site of a dog musher's camp. Once there, you'll board an all-terrain vehicle called a Unimog, which will take you up a rugged mountain road to where the mushers keep their dogs. People who know me know that I love talking about Alaska port towns. This isn't just because I spent more than two decades writing about Alaska and other cruise destinations for major newspapers.
Passengers on Seven Seas Explorer Alaska cruises can enjoy fresh-caught salmon at the Taku Glacier Lodge. Several Alaska cruises stop in Icy Strait Point, a remote area ideal for observing wildlife in their natural habitats. Take in Alaska's glaciers and ice fields from above during this Princess Cruises excursion. When cruising, taking a dedicated bear viewing tour is your best chance of seeing a bear. If you're an avid fisherman and your cruise itinerary also includes Sitka, fish there too! Sitka faces the open Pacific Ocean, so there's often a wider variety of species, including king salmon and halibut.
The Wilderness River Adventure is a great Haines shore excursion for wildlife enthusiasts. The excursion begins with a narrated bus ride along the Haines Scenic Byway. You then transfer to the glacially carved Chilkat River on a flat-bottom boat where you will traverse a remote section of the renowned Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. The goal of the guided boat ride is to spot as many bald eagles as you can (keep an eye out for nests in the trees) and -- if you're lucky -- bears, moose and other wildlife as well. Lunch is served in a heated pavilion, and staff also stoke a roaring campfire to help you beat the chill and relax.
If it's Alaska's famous humpback whales that you want to see, you'll want to book a whale-watching tour. The waters around Juneau are particularly known for humpback whales — so much so that the operator of this excursion offers a whale-sighting guarantee. For those with a hefty bankroll, this might be the ultimate Alaska shore excursion. Combining helicopter flightseeing over the seemingly endless Juneau Icefield with a landing on a glacier for dog sledding, it hits two of Alaska's most iconic experiences. Below, I've listed six of my all-time favorite Alaska shore excursions.
The grandeur of Alaska will thrill and delight you beyond expectation on this unforgettable multi-glacier flightseeing tour, where everyone enjoys a window seat. Explore the Juneau Icefield's most stunning glaciers by authent READ MORE... Come cruise with us in a fully enclosed and heated cabin onboard our mammal friendly boat on your way to the whales' playgrounds. Here you can experience a close encounter with these beautiful marine mammals for the ultimate READ MORE...
Once you arrive at the camp, you'll meet the dogs and their mushers, see where they live, get a quick tutorial in mushing, and then head out for a spin around the camp on a dog-pulled sled. It's also insanely expensive, as I know from firsthand experience. I once took my entire family of five on this excursion, dropping more than $2,000 in the process. That's a huge chunk of change for an outing that lasts three hours. That said, you can sometimes get discounts by calling a tour operator directly. I should also be clear that the towns themselves aren't devoid of attractions.
Explore more while spending less with Alaska Cruise Tours deals onboard our best cruise ships. Depart from the train depot for a thrilling 40-mile roundtrip train ride on the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. Visit Dredge Town, where you will enjoy an authentic barbecue lunch including ribs, chicken, and various side dishes. Experience a glimpse of the life of a prospector when you join a colorful cast of characters to learn the art of gold panning. Ride the current where the sparkling sea meets the emerald forest. In the coastal Southeast Alaskan town of Sitka, marine wildlife typically plays out on a big scenic backdrop.
Better yet, come experience Alaska’s breathtaking beauty for yourself. Hop on a TEMSCO helicopter for an Alaskan adventure combining aviation, sled dogs and massive glaciers. Get an amazing view of the gorgeous landscape surrounding Juneau, and then ride along as an energetic team of huskies tours you around the ancient, snow-packed Mendenhall glacier.
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