Alaska's Inside Passage: Juneau, Sitka and Skagway by Ferry

1. Day 1: Arrive in Juneau

   Juneau International Airport to your hotel downtown

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Welcome dinner
   • Stay in Juneau
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Juneau International Airport (JNU), about 15 km from downtown, by mid-afternoon if you can. No road links Juneau to the rest of North America: everything and everyone arrives by sea or air, which is why this trip moves by ferry and small plane. A driver meets you and takes you to a central hotel near the waterfront, under the steep slopes of Mount Juneau and Mount Roberts. In the early evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing: how the ferry timetable shapes the week, what to wear on the boats, and what to expect from the weather, which can change several times in a day. Then we walk to a welcome dinner together, with local seafood in season. If you arrive early, the Alaska State Museum and the Sealaska Heritage Institute's Walter Soboleff Building, with its Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian art, are both a short walk from the hotel.

   Included

   • Pick-up at Juneau International Airport (JNU)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner

   Optional experiences

   • Alaska State Museum
   • Walter Soboleff Building (Sealaska Heritage Institute)

   Free time: Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Day 2: Mendenhall Glacier and the whales of Auke Bay

   Juneau to Mendenhall Glacier, then Auke Bay and back

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Juneau
   Day 2 details

   Several thousand cruise passengers can be in Juneau on a summer day, and most of them reach Mendenhall Glacier by mid-morning. So we leave right after breakfast and are at the visitor centre when it opens, with the lake, the blue ice and Nugget Falls still quiet. Walk the short Photo Point trail with the guide, or the flat path of about 1.3 km to the foot of Nugget Falls, where the glacier is right beside you. Late morning we drive to Auke Bay, a few minutes away, and board a small whale-watching boat for about three hours in the channels where humpback whales feed through the summer. The crew also look out for orcas, Steller sea lions, harbour seals and bald eagles. Lunch together back in town, then the afternoon and evening are free: ride the Mount Roberts Tramway, walk the boardwalk along the cruise docks once the ships leave, or rest before tomorrow's long day on the water.

   Included

   • Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center at opening, with the Photo Point trail
   • Walk to Nugget Falls with your guide
   • Whale-watching boat from Auke Bay, about 3 hours
   • Lunch in Juneau

   Optional experiences

   • Mount Roberts Tramway
   • Juneau Icefield flightseeing, with or without a glacier landing (weather dependent)

   Easier option: Stay at Photo Point and the visitor centre instead of walking to Nugget Falls.

   More active option: Walk the East Glacier Loop trail, about 5 km through rainforest with views down onto the glacier, while the others go to Nugget Falls.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free

   Activity: About 3 km on flat, mostly paved paths at the glacier. Dress warmly for the boat.

   

3. Day 3: A full day up Tracy Arm

   Juneau by boat to Tracy Arm and the Sawyer glaciers, and back

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Juneau
   Day 3 details

   Today is a full day on a small day boat, about eight hours, from the Juneau waterfront south along Stephens Passage to Tracy Arm, a fjord about 50 km long with granite walls that rise straight from the water and waterfalls pouring down them. Small icebergs drift in the channel, often with harbour seals hauled out on them, and the captain picks a way through towards the two Sawyer glaciers at the head of the fjord. If the ice lets us, we sit off the face of the glacier and watch and listen for calving. When ice blocks the arm, the boat goes into neighbouring Endicott Arm to Dawes Glacier instead, which is just as dramatic. On the way out and back there is a good chance of humpback whales, mountain goats on the cliffs and black bears on the shore. Lunch is on board. We are back in Juneau late in the afternoon, and the evening is free.

   Included

   • Tracy Arm full-day boat to the Sawyer glaciers (Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier when ice blocks Tracy Arm)
   • Lunch on board

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: A long seated day with little walking. The air near the glaciers is cold even in July: bring a hat, gloves and a waterproof layer.

   

4. Day 4: The Alaska ferry to Sitka

   Juneau (Auke Bay terminal) by Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Sitka

   • Drive about 45 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Sitka
   Day 4 details

   This is the day the whole trip is built around. The Alaska Marine Highway sails from Juneau to Sitka only on certain days of the week, and its times shift because the ships wait for slack tide to pass Sergius Narrows, a tight channel in Peril Strait. We date each departure so this is a daytime sailing and confirm the exact times with your final itinerary. After breakfast we drive to the Auke Bay terminal, about 22 km north of downtown, and board as foot passengers. The crossing takes most of the day: down Chatham Strait, then into Peril Strait, a winding passage between forested islands where whales, eagles and sea lions are often close to the ship. Find a seat in the forward lounge or the covered solarium on the top deck, with the guide pointing things out. Lunch is in the ship's cafeteria. A short drive takes us from the Sitka terminal into town, where the evening is free on the harbour.

   Included

   • Transfer to the Auke Bay ferry terminal
   • Alaska Marine Highway ferry from Juneau to Sitka through Peril Strait
   • Lunch on board
   • Transfer from the Sitka ferry terminal to your hotel

   Free time: Evening free in Sitka

   Activity: Sailing time varies with the tide and the ship; the times for your dates are in your final itinerary.

   

5. Day 5: Sitka: Tlingit and Russian history, raptors and sea otters

   Around Sitka, then a small boat on Sitka Sound

   • Drive about 30 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Sitka
   Day 5 details

   Sitka is the old heart of Russian America and, long before that, a Tlingit town, Sheet'ka. We start early on the totem trail in Sitka National Historical Park, a walk through rainforest past tall carved poles to the site of the 1804 battle between the Kiks.adi Tlingit and the Russians. From there it is a short walk to the Sheldon Jackson Museum, with its collection of Alaska Native objects, and to the Russian Bishop's House, completed in the 1840s and one of the few Russian colonial buildings left in North America. We pass St Michael's Cathedral and climb Castle Hill, where Alaska was handed to the United States in 1867. After lunch in town we visit the Alaska Raptor Center, which treats injured bald eagles, owls and hawks. Late afternoon a small boat takes us out on Sitka Sound to find sea otters, which raft up in the kelp beds, along with whales and sea birds. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Sitka National Historical Park and the totem trail with your guide
   • Sheldon Jackson Museum
   • Russian Bishop's House
   • St Michael's Cathedral (outside) and Castle Hill
   • Lunch in Sitka
   • Alaska Raptor Center
   • Sea otter and wildlife boat on Sitka Sound, about 2 to 3 hours

   Optional experiences

   • A Tlingit dance performance in Sitka, on the days one runs

   Easier option: Skip the climb up Castle Hill and wait in a cafe on Lincoln Street.

   Free time: Evening free

   Activity: About 4 km of easy walking in town and on the park trails.

   

6. Day 6: Fly to Skagway over Lynn Canal

   Sitka by air to Juneau, then by small plane up Lynn Canal to Skagway

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Skagway
   Day 6 details

   Going from Sitka to Skagway by ferry means going back through Juneau and a second long sailing, so today we fly. A scheduled flight takes under an hour from Sitka to Juneau, and a small plane carries us on, about 45 minutes, up Lynn Canal, one of the deepest fjords in North America, with glaciers spilling off the mountains on both sides and Haines below. If the Lynn Canal ferry has a daytime sailing that fits your dates, we may take it instead. Skagway sits at the head of the fjord, and in 1897 and 1898 it was the gateway for tens of thousands of stampeders heading for the Klondike goldfields. After lunch the guide walks you down Broadway, where the false-fronted wooden buildings of the gold rush are kept by Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, and into the park's visitor centre in the old railway depot. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Flight from Sitka to Juneau
   • Small-plane flight from Juneau to Skagway
   • Lunch in Skagway
   • Walk through Skagway's historic district and the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park visitor centre

   Free time: Evening free in Skagway

   Activity: The small plane has a baggage weight limit; pack one soft bag. If weather grounds it, we take the ferry.

   

7. Day 7: The White Pass railway and the Chilkoot Trail

   Skagway by train to White Pass summit and back, then Dyea and the Chilkoot Trail

   • Drive about 1 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Skagway
   Day 7 details

   In the morning we ride the White Pass and Yukon Route, a narrow-gauge railway built in 1898 to carry the gold rush over the Coast Mountains. It climbs about 870 m in roughly 30 km from the sea, on ledges blasted from the rock, over trestles and through tunnels, past Bridal Veil Falls and Dead Horse Gulch over the Canada border to the summit of White Pass in British Columbia, then comes back down. Because the train enters Canada, everyone needs a passport on board. The round trip takes about three and a half hours. The train timetable follows the cruise ships, so ops choose the departure with the most room. After lunch we drive about 15 km to Dyea, the old rival town, and walk the first miles of the Chilkoot Trail, the stampeders' other route north, through mossy rainforest beside the Taiya River. Ship passengers are back on board by then, so the trail is quiet. Farewell dinner in Skagway.

   Included

   • White Pass and Yukon Route summit train, about 3.5 hours round trip, crossing briefly into Canada (passport required)
   • Packed lunch
   • Chilkoot Trail walk from Dyea with your guide and a local guide
   • Farewell dinner in Skagway

   Easier option: Walk the flat Dyea townsite and the Slide Cemetery, where avalanche victims of 1898 are buried, instead of the trail.

   More active option: Walk about 5 km out along the Chilkoot Trail towards Finnegan's Point and back, about 3 hours on roots and rock with short climbs.

   Activity: Bring your passport for the train. The Chilkoot walk is about 8 to 10 km on uneven ground. The Dyea road is narrow and partly gravel.

   

8. Day 8: Fly back to Juneau and home

   Skagway by small plane to Juneau International Airport

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   A slow breakfast in Skagway, with time for a last walk to the harbour or the Gold Rush Cemetery, where Soapy Smith and Frank Reid, who shot each other in 1898, are buried. Late morning a small plane takes us back down Lynn Canal to Juneau, about 45 minutes, for a last look at the glaciers above the fjord on a clear day. If weather grounds the small planes, we travel by the Lynn Canal ferry instead and the guide adjusts the plan and your onward connections. Your guide sees you to the check-in desk at Juneau International Airport before saying goodbye. Most flights south leave for Seattle or north for Anchorage. Book a flight from Juneau leaving after about 3 pm, so a weather delay on the small plane does not cost you your connection. If you want to stay longer in Juneau, we can book an extra night for you.

   Included

   • Small-plane flight from Skagway to Juneau
   • Drop-off at Juneau International Airport (JNU)

   Free time: Morning free in Skagway

   Activity: Book a flight from Juneau leaving after about 3 pm.

Wildlife and weather: Humpback whales feed in Southeast Alaska through the summer, and June and July bring the longest days, with daylight until after 10 pm in Juneau. Late May and early June are often the driest stretch; August and September are wetter but bring salmon runs and the first autumn colour. Bears are possible on the Chilkoot Trail; the guide carries bear spray.

• Juneau3 nights
• Sitka2 nights
• Skagway2 nights