When thinking about how you should travel to Alaska, I suggest starting with how long you can vacation. If you have 10 days to 2 weeks you can do a Land and Sea trip. If you have a week (7 days) off then you would be able to do land or sea but normally not the combo.
The combo of a cruise and land tour typically takes at least 10 days.
I highly suggest a land and sea tour. It gives you both the cruise and then the interior of Alaska.
Check out our latest experience of the land tour part with Royal Caribbean Cruise.
Is this your first trip to Alaska?
If it’s your first trip one of the easiest ways to see Alaska is a round trip cruise from Seattle or Vancouver. If you sail from Vancouver US Citizens need a passport to enter Canada by car or plane so sailing from Vancouver would require a passport if you are a United States Resident.
Wondering how to pick an Alaskan Cruise?
It will normally take around 8 days for a round trip cruise of Alaska from Seattle or Vancouver. There are a few shorter cruises, and cruises that leave from California that are normally longer in length, like 10 days.
Open-jawed cruises are where you go northbound and southbound. These are normally combined with a land tour. I have sailed on a southbound cruise without the land tour and it was still amazing. I feel like the open-jawed cruise moves at a slower pace and you get more time in ports. I am a big fan of the open-jawed Alaskan cruises. The one thing to note: open-jawed cruises normally lead to more expensive airfare when you fly into one airport and out of another.
There are small ship cruises that typically leave from inland Alaska. These cruises get you up close to the wildlife and have fewer passengers. If you are into adventure travel and getting up close and personal with wildlife then this is the cruise for you.
Land Tours without a cruise
These tours can take you deep into the heart of Alaska. Denali in my view should be at the top of everyone’s Alaska list. The Land Tours can be done as a group or you can have a custom land tour built. There are limitless possibilities with land tours.
Train travel in Alaska: You can read more about train travel here.
Traveling by train is a spectacular way to see Alaska. The trains can carry you places that cars are not driving. When I was riding the train last summer, I saw bears in the wilderness it was breathtaking. Trains are an easy trip with most of the train cars having a glass dome where guests get stunning views.
If you LOVE to fish there are fishing lodges and you can travel to Alaska for a custom fishing trip. Alaska has some of the best fishing in the world with abundant fish and wildlife. I also happen to think the scenery you would be surrounded by while fishing, is some of the most jaw-dropping views in the world.
Traveling to Alaska in an RV
If you don’t have an RV or can’t drive your RV to Alaska, it’s no problem! You can rent an RV and see Alaska with your own custom-built RV trip. This gives you total freedom, but you want to make sure you understand the road system and that all roads in Alaska are not paved. There are lots of gravel roads and if you have rented a car most rental cars request that you not drive the car down gravel roads there.
This gives you a general idea of different ways you can see Alaska. Do you have additional questions on how you should travel to Alaska? If so, feel free to contact me.
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