15-night Alaska Inside Passage Cruise

Juneau is one of America's most beautiful state capitals, with the looming summits of Mt. Juneau and Mt. Roberts providing a gorgeous backdrop. Once part of Alaska's Gold Rush, the city boasts natural and manmade attractions. Downtown is filled with many vibrant buildings, including must-see St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox Church, which houses artwork and artifacts dating back to the 18th century. From the bright mural in Marine Park to the carvings in House of Wickersham, downtown is filled with Alaska's own unique brand of culture and architecture. Often hailed as Juneau's most impressive sight, nearby Mendenhall Glacier is approximately 12 miles long and 1.5 miles wide. See the glacier on a float trip or a "flightseeing" adventure, or hike up one of its trails for a closer inspection. For a bird's-eye view, the Mt. Roberts Tramway offers a short, six-minute trek to the top of Mt. Roberts, 1800 feet above the city. If wildlife is your passion, scenic Admiralty Island has the world's highest concentration of brown bears.

Destination Guide

Alaska's heritage comes alive in the handcrafted artistry of the Tlingit Indians and in the lively performances of the Chilkat Dancers, with their brightly painted tribal masks. Get a glimpse of the town’s gold-rush history in local museums. Visit the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve—Haines boasts the world’s largest concentration of the magnificent birds, drawn to the area by the salmon-rich waters. Take a boat trip on Lake Chilkoot or a glacier country flightseeing trip.

Destination Guide

This "Gateway to the Klondike" watched as fortune-seekers headed to Chilkoot and White Pass Trails during Alaska's Gold Rush. Today, feel like a prospector in Skagway, as you walk along its rustic boardwalks and frontier-style storefronts. This cozy town offers a pleasant respite from the hustle and bustle of most cities. With classic cars and one of the oldest narrow-gauge railroads in the world, the city retains the flavor of days gone by and remains an important link to Alaska's history. A stroll down Broadway is a must. Highlights include Arctic Brotherhood Hall. Other buildings like the Trail of '98 Museum, Corrington's Museum of Alaskan History and the Alaskan Wildlife Adventure and Museum present different facets of prospecting times. Before hitting famous Chilkoot Trail, there are other well-marked trails to try. Hiking to Lower Dewey Lake is an easy, 20-minutes, and there are more adventurous trails to remote Sturgill's Landing, Upper Dewey Lake and Devil's Punchbowl. The White Pass Scenic Railway and Eagle Preserve Wildlife Quest provide additional options.

Destination Guide

Spread across an impressive 3.2 million acres in southeast Alaska, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve offers an inspirational glimpse of what Mother Nature does best. The head of Glacier Bay is Tarr Inlet, where scientists have found exposed rock believed to be more than 200 million years old. The Tarr Inlet is home to Grand Pacific Glacier, an active body of ice slowly making way toward Margerie Glacier, which it last touched in 1912. Johns Hopkins Inlet is home to no less than nine glaciers. Framed by rocky slopes stretching skyward more than 6,000 feet, these wondrous bodies are eclipsed only by mighty Mount Fairweather, which at more than 15,300 feet is the highest point in southeast Alaska. In northeast Glacier Bay, the snow-covered Takhinsha Mountains feed active Muir Glacier. The brilliant blue glow of a calving glacier and the thunderous roar of ice crashing into the water below are sights and sounds to remember for the rest of your life. With such diverse landscape, the park provides a variety of habitats for animals.

Destination Guide

The deep, cold waters of Frederick Sound abound in krill, the favored food of humpback whales - and visitors are likely to see whole pods of the gentle giants, their spume visible for miles against the forested backdrop of Admiralty Island. Learn all about breaching, diving, bubble feeding and fliper-flapping, often through up-close observation.

Petersburg owes just about everything to the fishing industry. From its Tlingit origins as a fish camp, Petersburg has grown into one of the busiest Alaska seafood centers. It got its modern start when Peter Buschmann, a Norwegian immigrant, arrived in the 1890s and founded the Icy Strait Packing Co. cannery, a sawmill and a dock by 1900. He shipped halibut and salmon and ice from the handy LeConte Glacier -- the continent's southernmost tidewater glacier. Shrimping is also important to the Mitkof Island town of 3,200. The state's first shrimp processor was founded in 1916 as Alaska Glacier Seafoods and now is known as Petersburg Fisheries, a part of Icicle Seafoods. More than a thousand people are employed by the processing industry. To keep the salmon engine running, the state runs the Crystal Lake Hatchery. Scandinavian heritage is celebrated each May during Little Norway Festival. Petersburg is a town so picturesque it was used as the prototypical fishing town in the movie "Ice Palace".

Destination Guide

Wrangell, a hidden jewel in the heart of the Tongass National Forest, is the third oldest community in Alaska and the only community to be ruled by 4 nations: the indigenous Tlingit nation, Russia, Great Britain and the United States. The island is rich in native heritage as evidenced by the rock carvings at Petroglyph Beach as well as the totems seen around town. Walk in the steps of John Muir amidst historic buildings that will take you back to the unhurried pace of yesterday, and enjoy the beauty of the Stikine River and the surrounding wilderness.

Destination Guide

Ketchikan is known as "Alaska's First City" because it's the first major community travelers come to as they travel north. The city is built on steep hillsides and is billed as salmon capital of the world. A quaint village, the town is three miles long and three blocks wide. With fishing boats sailing in and float planes ascending from the water, this seaside town is bustling with activity. With the world's largest collection of totem poles, Totem Bight State Historical Park offers insight into various native cultures of the Pacific Northwest. These wood-carved creations tell colorful, intricate tales – often showing a family history or depicting a local legend. Ketchikan has many options for adventure of relaxation, including mountain bike tours, sea kayaking, seaplane riding, or strolling down the boardwalk of Creek Street, Ketchikan's most famous section with a historic cable car and quaint boutiques. Blessed with an abundance of hiking trails, Ketchikan offers many breathtaking vistas, including the panoramic, 360-degree view from the top of Deer Mountain.

Destination Guide

Imagine being confronted with a myriad of mysterious channels. Following each fjord to the interior, encounter massive mountain ranges, towering cliffs, tumbling waterfalls, virginal forests of two-hundred foot tall spruce, while whales, bears, seals, salmon, eagles and other wildlife. Always they were stopped by an inevitable face of ice - glaciers pushing inexorably downward to meet the sea. What must have been a mapmaker's nightmare is today cherished as the continent's last great untouched wilderness, harbouring the world's largest temperate rain forest. An Eden of the North to captivate the every modern-day explorer. The string of islands of the Inside Passage create a protective barrier to the open sea running from the Washington State/Canadian border and the bottom of Vancouver Island all the way up to the top of Chichagof Island, where the Gulf of Alaska begins its curve westward, offering a supremely serene cruising environment in some of the most dramatic surroundings on earth.

Destination Guide

The deep, cold waters of Frederick Sound abound in krill, the favored food of humpback whales - and visitors are likely to see whole pods of the gentle giants, their spume visible for miles against the forested backdrop of Admiralty Island. Learn all about breaching, diving, bubble feeding and fliper-flapping, often through up-close observation.

Located on Fidalgo Island, between Seattle and Vancouver BC, Anacortes is a vibrant port town. Within walking distance you'll discover casual cafes to elegant dining, unique to sophisticated shopping as well as, and art galleries and antique shops. Anacortes' unique location offers something for everyone. Enjoy outdoor excursions including, kayaking, sailing, hiking, crabbing and whale watching tours.

One end of the "Sea-Tac" (Seattle-Tacoma) megalopolis, industrial Tacoma, Washington, 30 mi/50 km south of Seattle, rates a visit to see the Washington State History Museum. Wander the restored downtown, especially Union Station, before going to the Museum of Glass—you can't miss the gigantic silver cone jutting over the waterfront. Cross over the 500-ft-/155-m-long glass bridge designed by Dale Chihuly. Afterward, visit the dramatic Tacoma Art Museum in its sleek stainless-steel sheath.

For some nice-weather walks, go to Point Defiance Park, which juts into Puget Sound, and the neighboring zoo and aquarium.

Visitors to Tacoma may notice a familiar sight. The original Narrows Bridge, which was built in 1940, has been featured on many television programs and in many publications. This bridge is often shown twisting and turning like a corkscrew in a 40-mph/64-kph wind. Only four months after its completion, the bridge bucked so violently that it ripped apart. Portions fell into the water. A replacement bridge was finished in 1950, and another span was added in 2007 to alleviate the severe traffic overflow.

Destination Guide

One end of the "Sea-Tac" (Seattle-Tacoma) megalopolis, industrial Tacoma, Washington, 30 mi/50 km south of Seattle, rates a visit to see the Washington State History Museum. Wander the restored downtown, especially Union Station, before going to the Museum of Glass—you can't miss the gigantic silver cone jutting over the waterfront. Cross over the 500-ft-/155-m-long glass bridge designed by Dale Chihuly. Afterward, visit the dramatic Tacoma Art Museum in its sleek stainless-steel sheath.

For some nice-weather walks, go to Point Defiance Park, which juts into Puget Sound, and the neighboring zoo and aquarium.

Visitors to Tacoma may notice a familiar sight. The original Narrows Bridge, which was built in 1940, has been featured on many television programs and in many publications. This bridge is often shown twisting and turning like a corkscrew in a 40-mph/64-kph wind. Only four months after its completion, the bridge bucked so violently that it ripped apart. Portions fell into the water. A replacement bridge was finished in 1950, and another span was added in 2007 to alleviate the severe traffic overflow.

Destination Guide