Alaska Raptor Center

Alaska’s premier bald eagle hospital and educational center welcomes visitors to its 17-acre campus to view resident bald and golden eagles, hawks, owls, falcons, and other permanent residents up-close.

Isabel Miller Museum

Learn about the lives and histories of the people who have lived in Sitka–the Tlingits, the Russians, and the early American settlers in the 13th colony. Informative and attractive displays–a must-see first stop! Visit the museum gift shop featuring many exclusives. Located in the Harrigan Centennial Hall (home of the New Archangel Dancers), close to downtown and the lightering docks.

Sheldon Jackson Aquarium

A local artisan’s mural of Southeast Alaska greets you as you enjoy a hands-on experience with many sea creatures, including starfish, sea anemones, and abalone. The Aquarium is part of the hands-on experience that Sheldon Jackson College students receive. (more…)

Juneau does not offer much variety in the way of public transport, but if you arrive in the city by air and need transportation there are still several options available:

By Air
Air travel is the primary link between Southeast’s towns and the rest of the world. Several towns without road access have jet service, provided by Alaska Airlines (tel. 800/252-7522; www.alaskaair.com), the region’s only major airline. Juneau is Southeast Alaska’s travel hub. Ketchikan and Sitka each have a few flights a day, while Wrangell, Petersburg, and Yakutat each have one flight going each direction daily.

Gustavus is served from Juneau once daily during the summer. Some of these “milk runs” never get very far off the ground on hops between small towns: On the 31-mile Wrangell-to-Petersburg flight, the cabin attendants never have time to unbuckle. Haines and Skagway, which have highway connections, don’t receive visits from jets, but all the towns and even the tiny villages have scheduled prop service.

Like the ferries, the planes can be quite late. Each of the airports in Southeast has its own challenges caused by the steep, mountainous terrain and the water. In bad weather, even jet flights are delayed or they “overhead” — they can’t land at the intended destination and leave their passengers somewhere else. Your only protection against these contingencies is travel insurance, a schedule that allows plenty of slack in case you’re significantly delayed and low blood pressure. (more…)

Juneau, the capital of Alaska, bursts during the summer with hundreds of thousands of cruise-ship passengers. Twelve decades ago, the young city was swamped with prospectors. Juneau is the place to let your imagination run wild. Explore the lush Tongass National Forest. Visit the rustic shops in town. Or get out and kayak, dogsled, raft, whale watch, flight see or fish.

There’s no end to the adventure because we’re in port long enough to truly take advantage of the long daylight hours. The City and Borough of Juneau is a unified municipality located on the Gastineau Channel on the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska. Juneau is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska. The municipality unified in 1970 when the City of Juneau merged with the City of Douglas and the surrounding borough to form the current home rule municipality.

The area of Juneau is larger than that of Rhode Island, Delaware, or Connecticut and almost as large as Connecticut and Rhode Island combined. Juneau is nestled at the base of Mount Juneau and across the channel from Douglas Island. As of the 2000 census, the City and Borough had a population of 30,711. The U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 population estimate for the City and Borough was 30, 987. Juneau’s only power utility is Alaska Electric Light & Power. (more…)

Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum
Anchorage Museum of History and Art
Imaginarium: Science Discovery Center
Oscar Anderson House Museum
Wells Fargo Alaska Heritage Library & Museum

Alaska Native Heritage Center
Fraternal Order of Alaska State Troopers
The Alaska Botanical Garden contains over 900 species of hardy perennials and 150 native plant species
Alaska Zoo
Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Delaney Park Strip
Kincaid Park
Point Woronzof Park

Alaska offers some of the most spectacular fishing in the world. Rivers, lakes and streams throughout the State provide the chance to hook trout (such as rainbow, cut-throat and steelhead), as well as other, more challenging game fish including arctic grayling and sheefish.

Skiing is another popular option, but the official sport of Alaska is actually dog mushing. Visitors can take a team of spirited huskies on a sled-dog tour or watch the experts at work in one of the many annual sled-dog races.

Anchorage

Alaska’s largest city is both a popular tourist destination and the center of commerce and transportation for the region; 40 per cent of the State’s population lives here. Local wildlife museums include the Alaska Zoo, the Imaginarium, and Potter’s Marsh, where up to 130 species of waterfowl can be viewed from a boardwalk. Geographical reminders of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake (North America’s strongest) can be seen at Earthquake Park, while admission to the Alaska Experience Center includes a film on this devastating event.

A wealth of local history can be seen at the Heritage Library and Museum, the Anchorage Museum of History and Art, the Oscar Anderson House Museum, and the Alaska Native Heritage Center, situated some 10km (6 miles) east of the city. A short trip north of town leads to the Eagle River Visitor Center and the alpine beauty of Chugach State Park. Also north of the city, at Eklutna Village Historical Park, highlights include St Nicholas Russian Church and the brightly painted ’spirit houses’. South of Anchorage, at Girdwood, visitors can try their luck by panning for gold nuggets at Crow Creek Mine.

Fairbanks

Alaska’s second-largest city, situated at the northern end of the Alaska Highway, is a trade and transportation center for the Interior and Far North regions. From mid-May through to July, visitors can enjoy more than 20 hours of sunlight a day. Attractions range from the Alaskaland Theme Park to the University of Alaska Fairbanks Museum.
Throughout the winter, Fairbanks hosts world-class sled-dog races, ice-sculpting competitions and skiing events. The most sought after winter attraction, however, is the aurora borealis, which lights up the northern skies (best from December to March). A popular excursion is to the Chena Hot Springs resort, some 95km (60 miles) east of the city.

Juneau

Juneau, Alaska’s third-largest city, is accessible only by sea or air. The city boasts excellent examples of original historic buildings and some fine museums, including the Alaska State Museum and the Juneau-Douglas City Museum. It is also famed for the great outdoors and its many hiking trails, as well as opportunities to view whales, bears and eagles.

From Juneau, a short flight can be made to view the nearby Mendenhall Glacier, located 21km (13 miles) from Juneau.

Valdez

Situated on the edge of the Prince William Sound, Valdez is popular for the abundance of outdoor pursuits available (such as hiking, rafting and fishing). The most popular excursion is to Columbia Glacier, a 6km- (4 mile-) wide piece of ice, which is the fastest moving glacier in the world; it can be reached via day cruises, charter boat, flight-seeing tours and the State ferry.

Denali

This stunning region offers a wide variety of activities including hiking, ice-climbing and wildlife viewing. Denali is an Athabascan name meaning ‘the high one’. At 6197m (20,331ft), Mount McKinley is the tallest peak in North America, and on a clear day it can be seen from Anchorage, 240km (149 miles) away. Denali National Park and Preserve is famous for panoramic views of Mount McKinley and the Alaska Range. A popular day excursion takes tourists on a shuttle bus through the wilderness to see caribou, grizzly bears, wolves and moose.

Ketchikan

This city is famous for three things: salmon, totem poles and rain. Around 419cm (165 inches) of rain fall each year on this southeastern city. Visitors should not let this put them off, however, as it is here they will find the Totem Heritage Center, and the Saxman Totem Park, which contains the world’s largest collection of standing totem poles. The Totem Bight State Historical Park, with its collection of replica totem poles and a tribal house, overlooks the Tongass National Forest, the largest in the USA and home to more than 50 species of birds, mountain goats, orca whales and glacier bear. Excursions include a boat or plane trip into the Misty Fjords National Monument. The coastal rain forests and glacial fjords shelter many species of land animals and sea life.

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