Planning Your Alaska Adventure

You're planning to visit Alaska! Congratulations. The allure of a trip to Alaska will not diminish any time soon. If you get the urge and opportunity to visit, its a great idea to make it happen. When planning a trip to Alaska, the options can feel overwhelming. I've complied this list to help show you the main areas to consider for your first few visits.

What areas do you want to see?

Alaska is huge. Before planning a trip, it's a good idea to think about the general areas you want to see on your first visit. This will help you drill down to specific activities. For a week long trip it is possible to visit a few areas/regions, however you should keep in mind that many areas can take hours to get to. To view a map with all these locations you can navigate to this google map. You will most likely be flying in to Anchorage or Juneau. This guide focuses on Anchorage as the access point.

Areas of Alaska and distance from Anchorage:

• Denali National Park - ~4-5 hr drive 

• Seward & Kenai Fjords National Park- ~2.5-3.5 hr drive 

• Homer - ~4-5 hr drive 

• Valdez - ~5-6 hr drive 

• Wrangle - St. Elias National Park - ~4.5-5.5 hr drive 

• Fairbanks - ~6-7 hr drive or 1 hr flight

• Katmai National Park - Flight, times vary. Can fly from anchorage or other cities. 

• Lake Clark National Park - Flight from Homer, times vary. Typically drive to Homer or Kenai to catch a flight.

• Cordova - ~45 min flight 

What activities do you want to do?

We’ve found that the tours and paid experiences really are worth it here. It helps to have a guide show you around. Many of Alaska’s most unique locations cannot be accessed by car or even on foot, so paying for an organized trip via small plane, helicopter, or boat is often the only way to access these places. There are however plenty of ways to explore and enjoy Alaska on a budget (free things listed below this section). I’m including links to the companies we used, however these aren’t necessarily the best or cheapest options, just what we happened to do. 

Paid Experiences

1. Helicopter Tour 

   1. We went in December out of Valdez with VS Helicopters $375 /person for 1hr. There should be options for heli tours out of most cities in Alaska. 

   2. Helicopter Tours, Private Charters, and Utility Services | VSHelicopters

2. Multi-species Ocean Fishing Charter 

   1. We went in August out of Homer. August is the end of the season for them so it’s your last chance in the year.  Cheapest way to bring the fish home is to check your cooler on the way back (checked baggage). 

      Big Dan’s Fishing Charter, multi species trip $600 /person 8 hours 

      Big Dan's Fishing | Fishing Charter in Homer Alaska| Home

3. Flight to Lake Clark National Park & Bear Viewing 

   1. We went out of Homer via Alaska Bear Adventures. 

      $885  +tax/person 5-7hours - they gave us a 50% discount because we only ended up seeing one bear. But it was still really cool. You could also get a bear viewing tour to Katmai National Park

      Alaska Bear Viewing Tours in Katmai National Park

4. Ice Climbing on Exit Glacier 

   1. We went with Exit Glacier Guides which are out of Seward. 

      $219 +tax /person 

      https://www.exitglacierguides.com/content/alaskas-premier-guiding-hiking-outfitter

5. Denali non-narrated transit bus

   1. ~$35 /person 4.5 hours + park entrance fee $15/person

      Really cool way to experience the park. You can hop off the bus at any time to go explore and just jump on any bus heading back

      Bus Tours - Denali National Park & Preserve (U.S. National Park Service)

6. Kenai Fjords Cruise (Seward, Alaska)

   1. Major Marine Tours - 6hr $199/person 

      Out of Seward. Options for wildlife viewing and going out to see the glaciers within the Kenai Fjords National Park

      Alaska Cruise Tours of Kenai Fjords | Major Marine Tours

7. Portage Glacier Cruise

   1. 1 hr cruise to see the glacier. $45 through Gray Line Alaska 

      https://www.graylinealaska.com/portage-glacier-cruises/

8. Dog Sled Tour (winter only) 

   1. $169

      Alaska Mushing School | Go Dog Sledding Near Anchorage, Alaska

9. Chena Hot Springs

   1. If you book hotel stay access to hot springs included. Note this is out of Fairbanks which is about an 8hour drive north of Anchorage. You could also fly from anchorage to fairbanks and then pay for the shuttle to Chena. 

      Pool House - Chena Hot Springs Resort

Free/Low Cost Experiences

1. Hike/view Hatcher Pass

2. Hike Rabbit Lake 

3. Hiking Byron Glacier 

4. Ice Skate at Potter Marsh (November-December)

5. Hike Slaughter Ridge 

6. Hike Eklutna Lake 

7. Eagle River Nature Center

   • Short east hikes with wildlife viewing opportunities 

8. Alaska Native Heritage Center

   1. Winter admission 23-24 $5

9. Anchorage Museum

   1. Admission is free on the first friday evening of each month 6-9pm

Other Interesting Spots: Activities: shopping, food, music etc

• Shopping

  • Alaska Fur Exchange 

• Food: The 26 Essential Restaurants in Anchorage

Other things to consider that I haven’t tried yet:

• Guided Packrafting (Packrafting is super popular in Alaska)

• Guided kayaking

• Snow-machining (winter)

When can you visit?

If your primary goal for visiting Alaska is to see the Northern Lights, then you certainly aren't visiting in June. The sun parely dips over the horizon making it too bright to see the aurora. You'll want to make sure and plan a trip over the winter months.

Day Light: 

Alaska Vacations & Travel Advice from Trusted Alaskans | ALASKA.ORG

Packing List 

• Water bottle 

• Clothing

  • 🥾 hiking boots + waterproof shoes or rain boots 

  • 🧥 Rain Jacket 

  • 👖 Rain pants (water resistant)

  • 🧢 Hat(s) (beanie, sunhat)

  • 🧤 Gloves

  • 🧣Warm layers

  • ☀️lighter layers for 60 degree sun

  • Base layer / long underwear (something that gives you extra warmth.)

• 🧴 Sunscreen

• Mosquito gear: head net and something to cover you arms and legs (light long sleeved shirt and pants)

• Something you feel pretty in for going out to restaurants 

• Activity specific gear - camping, ice skating, trail running, packrafting etc