DETAILED ITINERARY

Day 1: Arrive in Vancouver

Arrive in Vancouver, where you will be met and transferred to your hotel.

Accommodation - Sutton Place Hotel, or similar

Day 2: Explore Vancouver

Today is at leisure to explore the beautiful city of Vancouver. Points of interest include Robson Street, Chinatown, historic Gastown and Stanley Park. You can also cross Lions Gate Bridge and visit Capilano Suspension Bridge in the north shore rainforest.

Day 3: Embark on Alaska Cruise

Check out of your hotel today and board your Alaska cruise, navigating through the incredible ‘Inside Passage’ to Alaska.

Day 4: At Sea - The Inside Passage

The fabled Inside Passage is one of the most scenic sea lanes in the world, and one of the few where deep-draft vessels can sail close to steep mountain walls. The scenery is unbelievable, with forests in a hundred shades of green, tumbling turquoise glaciers, and evocative towns loaded with history, culture and adventure.

With most of southeast Alaska accessible only by boat or plane, the Inside Passage is a lifeline to the outside world. All day long it hums with activity.

Day 5: Ketchikan

Alaska’s ‘First City’ of Ketchikan is so named because it’s the first major landfall for most cruisers as they enter the picturesque fjords of the Inside Passage, where the town clings to the banks of the Tongass Narrows, flanked by green forests nurtured by abundant rain. Ketchikan has long been an important hub of the salmon-fishing and salmon-packing industries – visitors can try their luck on a sports fishing excursion or simply savour the fresh seafood at one of the local restaurants.

It is also one of the best spots along the Inside Passage to explore the rich cultural sights of Native Alaskan nations like the Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian. You can see intricately carved totem poles at the Totem Heritage Centre and Totem Bight State Park, while the attractions of Saxman Village just outside of Ketchikan offers the chance to see Tlingit culture in action, with working carvers and a dance show in the clan house.

And leave time to explore the sights in the town itself, including historic Creek Street, a boardwalk built over the Ketchikan Creek, where you can shop for souvenirs, smoked salmon and local art, while exploring gold rush era tourist attractions like Dolly’s House Museum.

Day 6: Juneau

Juneau in Alaska may well be the most remote, most beautiful and strangest state capital in the United States. Surrounded by water, forest and mountains, visitors seeking things to do in Juneau can choose to hike up a glacier, eat freshly-caught fish on a seaside patio and tour a grand capitol building all in one day.

The city itself is pleasant, but the real highlight of a visit to Juneau is tracking down some wildlife. You can hike up Mount Roberts to chance upon wild deer and bald eagles. Most sightseeing and whale-watching tours head north to Auke Bay – bring a good pair of binoculars to get the best view of these majestic and surprisingly graceful creatures. If you prefer land mammals, catch a floatplane to a nearby wildlife reserve such as Chichagof Island or Admiralty Island to see bears lolling around.

This sleepy, misty city of around 32,000 – mostly fishermen and small-business owners – has a frontier town vibe, but welcomes more than a million visitors each summer to its natural attractions, cementing Juneau as Alaska’s number one tourist destination. 

Day 7: Skagway

At the height of the Klondike Gold Rush, the port town of Skagway served as the primary gateway to the legendary gold fields, and quickly grew into Alaska’s largest settlement. It was then a raucous frontier hub packed with trading posts, saloons and guesthouses. As the gold rush faded into the 1900s, so did Skagway – but today it has been reinvigorated as a gateway for a new kind of visitor: those looking to explore Alaska’s colourful history, pristine wildlife and unrivalled natural beauty.

At every turn, you’ll find yourself immersed in gold rush lore, from the infamous Red Onion Saloon that still keeps a pistol that Wyatt Earp left behind en route to the Klondike, to the White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad, a classic narrow-gauge railway that traverses rugged mountains and passes cascading waterfalls and towering glaciers as it connects Skagway to Whitehorse deep in the Yukon. Much of the town has been preserved as part of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, where rangers offer free walking tours around the historic district. Here you’ll also find a vibrant local community, home to a rich collection of local galleries, curio shops and restaurants serving seafood plucked fresh from nearby waters.

Day 8: At Sea - Glacier Bay

If you didn’t know any better, you’d think Glacier Bay is ostentatious for the way it flaunts its ice. The glaciers practically terminate in your lap. A cruise to Glacier Bay National Park will show you a UNESCO World Heritage Site that protects a unique ecosystem of plants and animals living in concert with an ever-changing glacial landscape.

When a monumental chunk of ice splits off a glacier and thunders into the sea, the impact shoots water hundreds of feet into the air. You hold your breath as you catch the moment on film. Then you wait for it all to happen again. And it does: Glacier Bay has more actively calving tidewater glaciers than anyplace else in the world.

Day 9: At Sea – College Fjord

College Fjord is located in the northern sector of Prince William Sound. It contains five tidewater glaciers, five large valley glaciers and dozens of smaller glaciers, most named after renowned East Coast colleges.

The scientists who first studied this fjord named the glaciers after their Ivy League alma maters and their sister schools. Harvard Glacier is the largest of these glaciers and others include Amherst, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Vassar and Yale. The glaciers of the northwest side feature the names of women's colleges, and the glaciers of the fork and the southeast side are named after men's colleges.

Day 10: Disembark in Seward

This morning after breakfast it’s time to disembark and transfer to Anchorage airport for your flight home.

Note: It is also possible to do this cruise on a circular one-way way, disembarking in Seward and transferring to Anchorage, before exploring the flora and wildlife of Denali (Mount McKinley) National Park.

PRICING

Price is based on two adults sharing en-suite accommodation, including economy flights from London. All meals are included on your cruise, with a range of itinerary, ship and cabin upgrade options. Your hotel in Vancouver is on a room only basis.

We offer a choice of cruises and hotels at different prices, so please discuss your requirements with us. All hotels are subject to availability.

It is essential that you have personal holiday insurance. The FCO should also be consulted.