Alaska
By ship, by rail, by road: there is more than one Alaska, and the trip that suits you may combine them.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by a wide margin, and most of it has no roads. What visitors come for is the scale of the place: glaciers that reach the sea, the highest mountain in North America, forests, fjords and wildlife going about its business with few people nearby.
There are two very different ways to see it. A cruise follows the coast of the south-east, through sheltered channels to small ports and tidewater glaciers. A journey by land goes into the interior, by rail and road, to Denali and beyond. Each shows you something the other cannot, which is why many people do both in one trip.
Auria Travel is an independent UK travel agency, and we arrange holidays to Alaska by sea, by land or as a combination of the two: cruises and cruise-and-land holidays from the cruise lines, escorted tours from tour operators, and tailor-made journeys that join the parts together, often with time in Canada.
How Auria can help you travel in Alaska
The first question is usually how much of your time to spend at sea and how much on land, and there is no single right answer. Tell us what matters most to you, whether that is glaciers, wildlife, the journey itself or simply seeing somewhere so different, and our travel professionals will explain what each kind of trip does well.
If a cruise, or a cruise with a land tour from the same cruise line, already does what you want, we will help you compare ships, routes and what is included, and book it for you, with flights and a hotel before you sail. If an escorted tour by land is the better fit, we will find it and book that.
Many Alaska holidays have several parts made by different companies: a flight, a hotel in Vancouver or Anchorage, a cruise, a train, a lodge, a flight home from somewhere else. This is where we can do the most. We can put the trip together so that each part meets the next: the ship’s arrival and the train’s departure, the transfer between port and station, the nights in between.
Where it helps, we work with trusted local experts in Alaska for the arrangements on the ground: transfers, a rail journey, a stay at a wilderness lodge, a day’s guided walking or a flight over the mountains. Those are run by the people who know them, and our part is to choose well and see that the pieces fit. A week’s cruise from Vancouver and back may need none of it, and we will say so.
Ways to see Alaska
- Cruises
- A week or more through the Inside Passage, usually sailing from Vancouver or Seattle, with calls at ports such as Juneau, Skagway and Ketchikan and a day among the glaciers.
- Cruise and land
- A cruise that begins or ends in Alaska itself, joined to several days inland by rail or coach to Denali. Cruise lines sell these as one holiday, and they can also be put together to order.
- Small ships
- Far fewer passengers, with the ability to go into narrower inlets and to spend longer watching wildlife.
- Escorted tours
- A planned route by coach and rail with a tour manager, hotels and many excursions included.
- Rail and road
- The Alaska Railroad links Anchorage with Seward, Denali and Fairbanks in the summer months. A hire car or a motorhome opens up the Kenai Peninsula and the highways of the interior.
- Wilderness lodges
- A few nights somewhere remote, often reached by small plane or boat, for bear watching, fishing or simply the quiet.
Tailor-made Alaska, and Alaska with Canada
Alaska lends itself to trips of more than one part, and the parts do not all have to come from one company. Planning around your brief lets you choose the cruise you want, add the land stay you want, and travel between them in the way you prefer.
Canada is the natural companion. Many Alaska cruises start or finish in Vancouver, so time in the city, in the Rockies or on a rail journey can be added at either end. Not every Alaska holiday includes Canada, and none has to.
Cruise, then Denali
A one-way cruise north, followed by the train inland for a few nights near Denali National Park, and a flight home from Anchorage or Fairbanks.
The Rockies and the Inside Passage
A week in Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper, a rail journey or a drive to Vancouver, then a cruise to Alaska and back.
Alaska by land
Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula for its fjords and marine life, then north by rail to Denali. No ship at all.
A lodge at the end
A cruise or a tour, with two or three nights at a wilderness lodge added for wildlife.
Vancouver first
A few days in Vancouver and on Vancouver Island before you sail, to get over the flight and see the city properly.
Combines well with: Canada
Places and experiences
What the coast and the interior each have to offer.
The Inside Passage
The sheltered sea route along the south-east coast, between forested islands and the mainland. Most of its towns have no road to the outside world: Ketchikan, with its wooden waterfront; Juneau, the state capital; and Skagway, a gold-rush town at the head of a fjord.
The glaciers
Rivers of ice that end in the sea, where pieces break away into the water. Glacier Bay National Park has no road to it and is seen from the water; Hubbard Glacier and the fjords near Juneau are other places ships go. Which glaciers you see depends on the itinerary, so it is worth checking.
Denali
The highest mountain in North America, in a national park of tundra, rivers and wildlife. Private cars can go only a short way in, and park buses carry visitors further. The summit is often hidden by cloud, so a clear view is a matter of luck.
The Alaska Railroad
Trains with large windows run in summer between Anchorage, Denali and Fairbanks, and south to Seward on the coast. It is a way of travelling that is also a day’s sightseeing.
Wildlife
Whales, sea otters, sea lions and eagles along the coast; bears, moose and caribou inland. Nothing can be promised, but boat trips and guides who know the area improve the chances, and the time of year matters.
The Kenai Peninsula
South of Anchorage and reached by road or rail: the fjords and glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park, seen by boat from Seward, with fishing towns and mountain scenery along the way.
- Anchorage
- The largest city and the usual gateway for a land trip, with mountains on one side and the sea on the other.
- Fairbanks and the north
- The city of the interior, the northern end of the railway and, in the darker months, somewhere people go in the hope of seeing the northern lights.
- Flights over the mountains
- A small plane or a helicopter over the glaciers and peaks, sometimes landing on the ice. The weather decides whether it goes.
When to go
Alaska’s visitor season is short. Most cruises, trains, park services and lodges run from about mid-May to mid-September, and outside those months a great deal is closed. Within the season each part has its own character, and the weather can be wet and cool at any time, so layers and a waterproof are part of the packing.
- May and early June
- The start of the season: snow still on the mountains, long days, fewer visitors and often lower prices. Some services inland are only just opening.
- Mid-June to August
- The warmest and busiest weeks, with the longest days and everything running. Ships, trains and lodges are at their fullest.
- September
- Autumn colour on the tundra, darker nights and quieter ports. The season winds down during the month and the weather becomes less settled.
- Winter
- A different kind of trip, centred on Fairbanks and the interior, for snow and the possibility of the northern lights. The cruise season is over.
Planning your trip
Alaska is straightforward to travel in, but its size and its short season shape every plan.
- Sea, land or both
- A cruise shows you the coast and the glaciers. The interior, with Denali, has to be reached by land. Seeing both takes around two weeks.
- Round trip or one way
- A round-trip cruise from Vancouver or Seattle is the simplest. A one-way cruise, north or south, ends in Alaska and is the kind that joins up with a land tour.
- Distances
- Anchorage to Denali is most of a day by train, and Denali to Fairbanks several hours more. Juneau cannot be reached by road at all. Allow for travelling days, and enjoy them.
- Adding Canada
- Because so many cruises use Vancouver, a few days in the city add little to the journey, and a week more gives you the Rockies.
- Flights
- Most people fly to Vancouver or Seattle for a cruise, or to Anchorage, with a change on the way, for a land trip. Flying into one city and home from another often saves a day.
- Booking ahead
- The season is short, and the choice of cabins, lodges and rail seats narrows early. For the summer, the autumn before is a sensible time to start.
Related holiday types
Thinking about Alaska?
Tell us whether you picture yourself on a ship, on a train or both, what you most want to see, roughly when you would like to travel and who is going. If Canada is on your list as well, say so. We will suggest how to divide your time and which kind of trip would suit you.
