Alaska is a vast place with a plethora of outdoor activities. It was difficult to decide which place to visit and what activities to do. I wanted to explore Alaska on our own, so was not looking for any cruises or organized trips. Most people visit Anchorage, Denali & Seward or take a cruise from Seattle. I wanted to minimize our time in a car/cruise/train and preferred to spend more time outdoors. After all the research we decided to fly to the Alaskan capital, JUNEAU.
Flights
The biggest expense for Alaska is air tickets. On average flights to Alaska costs $600 – $650. It was a one-week trip, and we spent 2 nights in Seattle at our friend’s place (just to avoid long layovers and see another city on our way to Alaska).
Where to Stay
This was the easiest thing to plan. As Juneau was our base, we booked DRIFTWOOD hotel near Juneau downtown for our stay. The best thing about this hotel, it has a shuttle which will pick you up and drop you at the airport/ferry terminal. The location was also perfect as it is near downtown and everything is accessible by walk. Our stay at this hotel was comfortable. I would highly recommend this hotel if you are staying in Juneau for few days.
Day 1 – Travel Day
It was a travel day. We landed at 9:30 pm in Juneau (happy to see extended daylight). Juneau is a small airport and it took us 5 minutes to collect our luggage. Our hotel shuttle came to pick and we were in our hotel room by 10:00 pm. We had dinner and slept as we planned an early start next day.
Day 2 – Tracy Arm Fjord
The sun was up & shining by 4:00 am. Juneau’s weather is rainy most of the time, but fortunately, we had the sun on the first day of our trip. We booked a full day boat tour from Juneau to Tracy Arm Fjord (http://www.adventureboundalaska.com/). For more details please read the detailed blog on Tracy Arm Fjord.
Day 3 – Ice Caves
Today was a hiking day and we hiked the Ice Caves. It is a full day activity and would highly recommend if you are in Juneau. We went to famous Red Dog Saloon for lunch and then headed to West Glacier trailhead for hiking. For all the hiking details, please read the detailed blog here.
Day 4 – Explore Juneau
After an exhausting hike, we wanted to have a leisure day. We bought the tickets for Mt. Robert Tram($30 per person). It was a cloudy day, so we couldn’t enjoy a clear view of Juneau from the top. When a cruise ship arrives in Juneau, Robert tram gets packed with all the tourists. If you are taking the helicopter ride in Juneau, I would skip Robert tram.
We rented a car for one day and visited Shrine of St. Therese, Eagle Beach, Auke Bay & Sandy beach. Ended our day with wine & dinner in a local pub in downtown.(Picked our rental car from airport).
Day 5 – Icefields with Floatplane
The helicopter ride is an expensive activity (minimum $300) and there are multiple options available like ride with Dog sledding, ride with a salmon feast, ride with a landing & walk on glaciers etc. As we had our close encounter with glaciers during our hike & boat ride, we just wanted to see it from the air. We went to a local tour operator (sit in Four Points, Sheraton) and decided to go for a Floatplane ride. It was a one-hour ride over 5 glacier icefields. We opted for floatplane as it will give a similar experience as helicopter ride with little less money ($210 inclusive of all taxes). I would highly recommend everyone to take a helicopter/floatplane ride in Alaska. It’s a whole another experience when you see things from above.
