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Travel guide
Alaska
7 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: June to August
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Welcome
Alaska, in a few days
The largest US state, three times the size of France, is best discovered in summer from Anchorage, two and a half hours from the glaciers calving into the Kenai fjords, and extended with a few nights at the foot of Denali, North America's highest peak at 6,190 metres, a 4 to 5-hour drive to the north. Humpback whales, orcas, brown bears and moose can all be seen in a single week, under a sun that barely sets in June.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 2 things
- D2 Day 2 1 thing
- D3 Day 3 1 thing
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- D5 Day 5 1 thing
- D6 Day 6 1 thing
- D7 Day 7 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine · half a dayA mountain road climbs into the Talkeetna Mountains to one of Alaska's largest gold mining camps, closed in 1951, set in a tundra bowl above the treeline with trails and marmots.
- Late afternoon · Anchorage Museum · 2 to 3 hAlaska's major museum, with more than 600 Alaska Native objects lent by the Smithsonian, from kayaks to Yup'ik masks, plus galleries on the gold rush, the pipeline and landscape painting.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Captain Cook ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€280 a night
D2
Day 2
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Flattop Mountain · 2 to 3 hAlaska's most climbed mountain, 25 minutes from Anchorage, a 2.4 km scramble to a flat summit with views over the city, Cook Inlet and, on clear days, Denali.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Captain Cook ↗€280 a night
D3
Day 3
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Seward Highway free · a full dayAn All-American Road running 204 km from Anchorage to Seward, along the bore tides and beluga whales of Turnagain Arm, then past turquoise lakes and hanging glaciers on the Kenai Peninsula.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Captain Cook ↗€280 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Portage Lake and Glacier free · half a dayAt the head of Turnagain Arm, a boat crosses the lake to the face of a glacier now hidden behind a mountain, while the nearby wildlife centre cares for orphaned moose, bears and caribou.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Captain Cook ↗€280 a night
D5
Day 5
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Exit Glacier free · 1 h to a full dayThe only part of Kenai Fjords reachable by car, where dated signs mark the glacier's retreat since 1815 and a steep trail climbs to the edge of the vast Harding Icefield.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Captain Cook ↗€280 a night
D6
Day 6
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- All day · Kenai Fjords cruise · 6 to 9 hBoats from Seward stop beneath calving tidewater glaciers such as Holgate or Aialik, passing sea otters, Steller sea lions, puffins, humpback whales and often orcas along the way.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Captain Cook ↗€280 a night
D7
Day 7
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Talkeetna free · half a dayA log-cabin village and base for Denali expeditions, where ski planes take off to land on the Ruth Glacier, amid an amphitheatre of granite walls, with a 1917 roadhouse on the main street.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
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Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Burgers and barbecue: brisket and ribs cooked low and slow, done differently in every state.
- Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl: the classic lunch on the San Francisco waterfront.
- Mexican food: tacos from a truck in Los Angeles, a Mission burrito in San Francisco.
- Pancakes and weekend brunch: a national habit, generous to the point of excess.
- Craft beer, and California wine from Napa and Sonoma.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Tipping is not optional: add 15 to 20% in restaurants and bars.
- Prices on menus and in shops exclude sales tax, which is added at the till.
- Do not plan more than four or five hours of driving a day: the distances are larger than they look on the map.
- Never travel without health insurance. A night in hospital can cost thousands of dollars.
- In summer, do not hike down into the Grand Canyon in the heat of the day: the climb back out is where people get into trouble.
Getting by
Words that help
🗣️ English is the main language here, so there is nothing to learn by heart.
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyUS dollar (USD, $)
BudgetAbout €250 a day, mid-range
Best seasonJune to August
PlugA/B · 120V
Tap waterSafe to drink
Tipping15 to 20%, expected
Emergency911
EntryUK, Australian and most EU passports need an ESTA, applied for online before departure, for stays of up to 90 days; a few EU countries sit outside the Visa Waiver Program and need a full visa. Canadians need neither, only a passport. Anyone who has been to Cuba since January 2021 cannot use an ESTA and must apply for a visa.
HealthNo vaccination required. Keep tetanus, diphtheria and polio up to date; hepatitis A is worth considering if you eat well off the tourist trail. In the desert parks, the heat is the real risk.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/alaska
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.