Alaska Highlights
A tour for visitors to Alaska, the 49th state.
Water Tours
Why visit Alaska?
RIVERBOAT DISCOVERY
When an American meets another American in Norway, and is encouraged to visit Alaska, one would expect to see mountains and glaciers in Alaska, but a riverboat? A riverboat brings visions of the Mississippi River, Mark Twain, and gamblers. The Riverboat Discovery near Fairbanks, Alaska is a different experience. The riverboats and the bush pilots work together to bring supplies to the interior of Alaska, summer and winter. The planes have been a great additional help for the boats which can't operate in the winter.
On this riverboat tour, you will find many tourists and fun music, with narrated stops along the Chena River to visit Susan Butcher's Iditarod camp, animal preserves with reindeer, as well as caribou, and visits with modern native Alaskans at the Chena Indian Village. The natives can fillet a salmon faster than you can say Athabascan Fish Camp. Blue Mountain coffee tastes better in Jamaica and salmon dip with crackers tastes better in Alaska. The recipe and the treat they serve are free so naturally, you buy a few cans of salmon because it tastes so good. Add the cans to the box of treasures you are collecting to ship home when you reach Anchorage. There are no import fees from Alaska if you're from the U.S. It's one of our states, so it's all duty-free. Note: The lavatories are also free--no need to hit an ATM for foreign currency just to visit a lavatory. Having had that experience in other countries, it's a bonus a tourist can appreciate.
Alaska Whale Watching Tours
Whale watching is rewarding in the cold waters of Alaska during the summer months and many tours are available if you really want to try to get up close or take photographs. It is possible to spot the many whales when on air tours or on boats without specifically taking a tour to look for them. Typically, there are eight different species of whales that migrate north from Hawaii and the Pacific near California. It is very exciting to see them very close, but there are many reminders to avoid invading their habitat to the point that we "love them to death."
Alaska Whale Watching: Explore the watery world of the Whales of Alaska! Information about times and tours as well as the locations of departure from the many ports of call in Alaska.
Cruise Alaska
Cruises are great--what's not to love? It's a floating hotel where you can party at night and visit a different port every day. However, if the only salmon you see is the one on your plate at dinner, you haven't seen nearly enough of the many treasures that Alaska has available. The many cruise ship lines bring thousands of visitors to Alaska, but most cruise from Seward to Vancouver, or vise versa along the Alaska Inland Passage. A cruise excursion during the day will allow the tourist to see sights in southern Alaska, such as Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka or Skagway. All of those are unique, fabulous places to see. If the cruise tourist also takes the land/sea combination, they can fly into Fairbanks, and see more of the middle of the state, including Denali, as well as take air tours to the north across the Arctic Circle or to other directions in the radius away from Fairbanks. If a person is flying all the way to Alaska, it is worth taking a little extra time and money to really see a lot of the state. Whether a person tours Alaska going south to north, or north to south, there is a lot to see along the way. It is fun to do the land tour first and be more relaxed on a cruise afterward. There are merits to either direction for a cruise/land tour combination. We cruised Alaska on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas which was first class all the way. It was a beautiful ship and the accommodations from hotels, trains, and coach tours, were more than we could have imagined. This cruise is at the top of my favorites list.
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