Alaska Travel Guide

The Portage Pass Trail is a short, relatively easy, and well-maintained USFS trail that gives amazing views. Of all the trails you will hike in Alaska, this one provides the best "bang for your buck" - the best views with the least amount of work. When you get to the pass after a moderately steep one mile hike, you are treated to a beautiful of...

I was lucky to be staying at the Hotel Captain Cook for the evening and our bellman strongly suggested making reservations if we wanted to go to the Brewhouse; he called down to the concierge and arranged the reservations for us. When we arrived, the place was PACKED; I could barely move around the hostess desk - we were given a pager and found a...

Most people focus on the Mendenhall Glacier when here, which is good, but there is also a relatively short and easy trail that covers ground once covered by the Glacier. Called the Trail of Time, it leaves from the Visitor Center and passes markers indicating where the glacier once stood, for example, one was from 1903. For the photobug, this is a...

Most people focus on the Mendenhall Glacier when here, which is good, but there is also a relatively short and easy trail that covers ground once covered by the Glacier. Called the Trail of Time, it leaves from the Visitor Center and passes markers indicating where the glacier once stood, for example, one was from 1903. For the photobug, this is a...

The park is huge it can take a half or whole day to stroll around. We arrived at noon in Fairbanks, so we only have a few hours to see the park. Admission is free in the park, but some of museums there's a small entrance feeFirst thing I've saw is those small log cabins, they really looked lovely. So, I checked some of them. I was surprised that...

It is an interesting museum, this was free admission on our visit during memorial weekend, these pioneering relics you'll see it inside. It such a fascinating place to discover, love seeing the antiques. The Pioneer Museum is a repository for anything and everything salvaged from Fairbanks in the past. It'll keep your time inside if you are so...

Denali park is six million acres and it is oriented to the natural environment. Ironic but true that the wildlife can be seen from a schoolbus with drop down windows. On the bus, civilization; off the bus, wilderness. For the photographer this has double meanings. Out there are sheep and bears and moose that are protected from man and they make for...

When asking some informations about shuttle bus in the park , we find it very interesting that one of the ranger park in the counter giving us a fully explanation about those buses There are three buses run in the park: green, tan-colored and the grey bus. Looking to the wall where all buses price hang behind, there were three different price, the...

My husband and I visited Ketchikan during our recent cruise, and decided we wanted to see some wildlife. We booked the Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary, Eagle Center & Totems tour at the kiosk as we disembarked the ship. They directed us to a shuttle bus that took us to the office, and from there we were shuttled to the rainforest for a nature walk....

Annabelle's is actually two places in one. One side has a unique & massive, carved wooden bar, wood floor and mirrors from the earlier part of the 20th century. The bar is very long with brass rails and flanked by numerous chairs and tables set up for a meal or an order from the bar. The other side is a more refined restaurant setting with...

We went in this store to have a look at some pieces and they advised that if we saw anything that we liked they could upgrade our stones for us in store as they have a jeweller there. While we were looking at some jewellery they offered to clean my diamond earrings, which I agreed to. I never let them out of my sight but I was in the store and it...

For 70 years, internationally renowned Alaska Fur Gallery of Anchorage has met the fashion needs of discerning women.Family-owned and operated with outstanding personal service, Alaska Fur Gallery features a complete and extensive collection of furs, shearlings, specialty outerwear, men’s and women’s leathers, and accessories like slippers, hats,...

According to the local tour operators, the very best time to see polar bears is after the fall whaling season. Although it is possible to see them up here at the Point anytime of the year, October and November allow for the most likely viewing opportunities. In late May and early October, the Eskimo natives go Bowhead whaling. During whaling season...

No roads led to Barrow. Water transportation is limited to a few weeks when the ice receeds on the Arctic Ocean during the short summer. Therefore, air is the only practical way for most people to reach Barrow. The airport is within easy walking distance of all three downtown hotels.Alaska Airlines provides two flights daily to Barrow from...

As previously mentioned in the proceeding tip, the original St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral was built by Finnish carpenters and destroyed by fire in 1966. In a heroic effort by over by 100 people of the town forming a human chain, over 95% of the original icons, pieces of Russian Orthodox art and religious objects were salvaged. These...

St. Michael's Russian Orthodox Cathedral should be one of the stops you make on your walking tour of Sitka. St. Michael's is listed on the National Register of Historical Places. Because of its distinctive dome and spire topped by a gold Russian cross, it will be an easy to spot from almost anywhere in town. Upon entering a continuously playing...

Aboard to one of the boats. We took Kenai Fjords Tours, during the booking they will tell you what you see during tour and what's included in the price. On board there is a park ranger, which gives a lot of information about glaciers and history of the park. Tours to resurrection bay it takes 4-5 hour and cost $110 each with buffet lunch included....

Visiting in town on a Sunday, there was a mass. Out respect for local people, we just walk around and took a photo. The church was on our way to downtown, there were two of them in Seward I'm not sure, we saw two on the way. This one is different, it's has architectural style and with his white paint color which was so attractive. Is a Methodist...

Buskin is a beach along a river, the river is a fave spot for fishermen. It has a beach house you can rent up on the cliffs, and it's actually a state park too, so you had better behave there! On warm summer nights this spot usually plays host to countless local barbucues and parties.

After a decade or so of having Downtown Harborside be my exclusive coffee shop on Kodiak Island my experience today will have me changing my "coffee auto-pilot". Of the 4 employees working (1 girl in training) they rather make small talk then serve coffee. Leaving me in line to wait while they hear about the new hunting dog the customer in front of...

This excellent museum shows all kind of artifacts since the times of the gold rush, as well as information of the dogs that made the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, plus the dog Fritz stuffed.It was in this museum that I learnt that Wyatt Earp had opened a Music Hall in Nome.

There are a handful of shops along Nome's Front Street which cater to tourists. This is one in which I especially enjoyed browsing. They offer a fine array of local craft items and souviners from jade jewelry to sweat shirts and post cards. Also there was a very good selection of books about Nome and Northwestern Alaska. Expect prices to be...

I had a very bad experience at this restaurant. Worst ever! I was literally ignored and was not served until I went to the counter for assistance. After I finally received assistance I had to walk up to the counter for drink refills. After I finished my meal I had to walk back up to the counter to pay my bill!This was by far the worst experience I...

An often forgotten part of the Battle of Midway was the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands. Started as an attempt at diverting some of the US carriers north to Alaska. Dutch Harbor was bombed several days in a row and two islands further out the Aleutian chain were (Kiska and Attu) were occupied a few days later. Lots of military bunkers and...

You will find many moose wandering around the outskirts of Homer. Just keep an eye out, I found them in the strangest areas. I drove around the outskirts trying to spot them then stopped at a grocery store to pick up a few things and low and behold a mother and baby were lounging under a tree on the other side of the street.

Our hotel in Homer lies outside spit, but is walkable or very short drive. Beach outside Ocean Shore Hotel is a nice spot for a walk when is low tide. We're very lucky to have a balcony from our room, we have a nice view as well. It was low tide, we can walk up here, there were fishing boats in the water. I noticed probably outsider, local in the...

When going to Haines, there are two options to have a car locally. You can rent a car in Juneau and take that with you on the ferry. The choice of cars is rather large and the cars are recent. Or you can can rent your car in Haines. I had mine from the motel. The car had 88000+ miles on the counter, but drove. Not cheap, but allowed me to fly in...

When I went to Haines, I used a private small airplane service, wings of alaska. On my travel back, the weather was so bad, that several flights got cancelled. So it's not a bad idea to plan your trip to Haines, keeping the ferry schedule as a backup.

The sled dog resort is outside hot springs. We're on our way back to Fairbanks and we saw the sign, we stopped and park our car on a sidewayWe walk to a small path there is a gate with dog statue, and from here you're entering to sled dog resort. It was calm inside the dogs are brave, each of them has his own box and tied up in a chain. I never...

After we took a soaked at the pool, we wander around. The resort is a nice place to spend for a day, besides the activities, if one doesn't want to do something, strolling around it doesn't cost any money. But why don't do anything, the surrounding is made to relax or for adventure. Is a more than an hour drive, while we here, took the advantage of...

Horse riding is also one of the activities here, very cool for kids. It is quite pricey for 30 min ride is $25 (kids) $50 (adults) and $80 for one hour horse rideYou'll be guided they will take you to the trails around the resort, during the ride you will learn a good narration of the wildlife, vegetation and the area. You meandered around a small...