The Alaskan Experience

Planning Your Trip: How to Get There

Planning a big trip to Alaska? If you are a big adventurer like me, you will enjoy every second of your trip. I made this trip with my family and kids, so the activities suggested here vary depending on who is on the trip. Since we had kids with us, we wanted to make our stay pretty comfortable so we took a cruise up to Alaska.

Charter boats are neat because you can choose where you go, but you would need to organize a group. The ferry system is extensive, but of course, this means that you would spend most of your time along the coastline.

Cruise ships have set itineraries. If you are considering an Alaskan cruise experience, you will encounter a wilderness like no other from your cruise ship. There are pristine landscapes and indescribable natural wonders throughout the whole trip. I truly fell in love with the scenery.

Planning Your Trip: What to Do

First, you should choose your destinations—or multiple destinations.

Southwest Alaska is where the Aleutian Islands begin, and a great place to learn about indigenous cultures. The community of Bethel has a traditional native dance festival and is an administrative spot for 50 neighboring native villages. The Aleutian island chain stretches over a thousand miles west, and includes charming native fishing villages. Fishing here is an important industry.

If you’re looking for cultural excursions here, check out towns like Sitka and Skagway, which exhibit Russian influences, including the iconic onion-dome churches. There are numerous native heritage sites, including Tlingit cultural sites such as the totem pole parks. Juneau, Alaska’s capital city, is here also, next to the Mendenhall Glacier.

If you are looking for wilderness sites, Southwest Alaska is more rugged and less accessible. There are incredible opportunities to spot bears and birds. Not to mention, there are active volcanoes here. Now, this is what I really loved. We were able to get a good view of the magnificent Augustine Volcano. Sadly, since our kids were with us, we did not get to go visit it. The water makes it pretty rough to get there, so smaller boats have a really hard time getting there. So if you want to get there you will need to find a small airplane to fly you in. I have read and heard that mountaineering and hiking are extremely enjoyable. Rough, but very enjoyable.

Many travelers try skiing, both alpine and cross-country, as well as snowboarding, dog-sledding, and ice fishing outside of Anchorage. Travelers also like to wander the Kenai Peninsula, the “halibut fishing capital of the world” and Seward, which is the entry to Kenai Fjords National Park, with its glaciers, mountains, and barren rock formations. Prince William Sound, on the eastern side of the peninsula, has excellent whale watching including humpback, orca, and grey whales.

If you want to go close to the Arctic, check out the Far North. In the Interior region, you can find North America’s tallest mountain, Mt. McKinley, and the small city of Fairbanks. Northern Lights are prominent in Fairbanks’ skies during the winter.

The Inside Passage, also known as Southeast Alaska, is comprised of a collection of islands and fjords between the Alaskan mainland and the lower 48 states.

Planning Your Trip: What to Bring

Your Alaska adventures may get you a little dirty in the outdoors. This may require having more changes of clothing than you’d expect. One way to save space in your suitcase is by using natural remedies for your hair products. Grocery stores offer apple cider vinegar, avocado oil and onion juice for hair. These are a few things you can buy in the town you’re staying in order to pack lighter.

Although you’ll have your regular size suitcase, it would be wise to bring a small backpack to bring with you during your daytime adventures. Because there’s so many hikes and other outdoorsy things to do, you’ll want to have an easy way to bring along food and small equipment such as a hammock or first aid kit.

Planning Your Trip: When to Go

In winter, the land is cloaked in almost 24 hours of darkness. It is a good time to see Alaska’s winter festivals, as well as the Northern Lights, or the Yukon Quest sled dog race. However, we wanted to enjoy a bit of warmer weather so we went in July.

Temperatures are temperate, and the sun is out above the Arctic Circle all day between mid-May and mid-September. The high point of the season is April to September when most people take cruises. August is a good time to take a hike when the ground is drier and the bugs are not as bad. If you are looking on hiking the Augustine Volcano, this is the best time to do it.