The challenge with Alaska is that photos and words don't really work on it. The scale of the mountains, the glaciers, the coastline — it's so far outside most people's reference frame that it has to be experienced to land properly. I've taken groups there for cruises, corporate retreats, adventure trips. Every time, it's the thing they talk about most afterward.
Fly over Denali — the mountain that redefines scale
Denali, at 6,190 meters, is the highest peak in North America. From the road it's impressive. From a small plane banking around its flanks — Alaska Range spreading in every direction, glaciers running off its shoulders — it becomes something else. Talkeetna Air Taxi and K2 Aviation both run flightseeing tours from Talkeetna, three hours north of Anchorage. This is the best $250 I can point anyone toward in Alaska.
Cruise the Inside Passage on a small ship
Alaska is one of the world's great cruise destinations. The mega-ships are fine. A small-ship expedition cruise — 10 to 100 passengers versus 3,000 — goes where the large ships can't: narrow fjords, remote villages, close to calving glaciers. Lindblad and UnCruise Adventures run excellent small-ship Alaska itineraries. Your naturalist guides know these waters. You'll kayak, watch bears fishing for salmon from 30 meters, hear ice calving off a glacier face. Categorically different experience.
Take the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Fairbanks
The Alaska Railroad's Denali Star runs Anchorage to Fairbanks through landscape you can't access by road. The Goldstar dome car has panoramic windows and an outdoor viewing platform. At Hurricane Gulch you cross a trestle over a canyon 91 meters deep. At Denali, if the mountain is clear, the views are something. Do this in one direction and fly or drive the other — it adds a dimension to Alaska that nothing else provides.
Spend a morning at Kenai Fjords National Park
From Seward, three hours south of Anchorage on the road system, boat tours run into Kenai Fjords National Park: tidewater glaciers, sea otters, puffins, orcas, humpbacks. One of the most wildlife-rich coastal environments in North America, accessible from the road. Major Marine Tours runs a reliable full-day trip. If your group wants more, kayaking from the water taxi drop-off to remote campsites is excellent — requires planning ahead.
Eat king crab in Juneau — bought from the docks
Juneau's waterfront has crab boats that sell directly to the public. Buy a whole Dungeness or king crab, warm it at one of the waterfront stands, take it to a picnic table overlooking Gastineau Channel. Fraction of the restaurant price, better than most of what I've eaten in formal Alaska dining. Paired with local halibut fish and chips from a dock stand, this is the Alaska meal I think about.
Alaska changes people in a way that few destinations do. I've watched hard-to-impress executives go quiet for the first time all week when they saw a humpback breach. That's what it does. If it's on your list, stop putting it off.
From the Trip
Written by
Jenn
Founder of Memorable Travel & Adventures. Jenn has personally traveled to every destination in this journal. She plans trips to all of them.
