Things to Do in Alaska 3 guides

Why visit Alaska

Nowhere else in America puts a 20,000-foot peak, a calving glacier and a breaching humpback within a single day's reach.

Alaska is America's last frontier writ large — tidewater glaciers, the highest peak on the continent, and more coastline than the rest of the country combined, spread across a state so vast that Denali, the Inside Passage and the Arctic feel like different worlds. Use this hub to plan your trip: browse our Anchorage and Seward guides below, then build outward toward Denali, the Kenai Peninsula and the fjords.

Known for
Glaciers, Denali & wildlife
Best for
Wildlife, cruises & the outdoors
Capital
Juneau
Largest city
Anchorage
Main gateway
Anchorage (ANC)
Time zone
Alaska (AKT); far-west Aleutians on Hawaii-Aleutian

Trip planner Plan your trip to Alaska

Best time to visit — season by season

Spring
Mar–May

Shoulder season and the tail of aurora season — long, brightening days, snow still on the higher ground and thawing rivers. Late May sees the first tour boats and lodges reopen as the road system dries out, with fewer visitors than the summer rush.

Summer
Jun–Aug

The short, glorious high season, with near-endless daylight around the solstice, salmon running and every road, ferry and glacier cruise fully open. This is peak wildlife-watching and the only reliable window for Denali's park road and the Arctic, so book lodging and boats well ahead.

Fall
Sep–Oct

A brief, spectacular autumn: tundra turning red and gold, the first snow dusting the peaks and the northern lights returning to darkening skies. Crowds thin quickly and many seasonal operators wind down by early October.

Winter
Nov–Feb

Deep cold, short days and prime aurora-viewing in the interior around Fairbanks, plus dog-sledding, ice fishing and the coastal ski hills. Much of the wilderness and many tour operators close, but the winter light and the lights themselves are unforgettable.

Regions of Alaska

  • Southcentral & the Kenai Peninsula

    The most-visited corner and the base for most road trips, where Anchorage anchors the airport and city, and the Seward and Sterling highways run down the Kenai Peninsula to Seward, Kenai Fjords and the fishing towns of Homer and Soldotna.

  • Denali & the Interior

    The heart of the state, where the Parks Highway climbs from the Mat-Su valley to Denali National Park and North America's highest peak, then on to Fairbanks — the interior hub for the Arctic, the aurora and the road to the Arctic Circle.

  • The Inside Passage (Southeast)

    A roadless ribbon of islands and fjords reached by ferry and cruise ship, home to the capital Juneau and the Mendenhall Glacier, the gold-rush port of Skagway, Ketchikan and Sitka, and Glacier Bay National Park.

  • Prince William Sound

    A glacier-ringed sound east of Anchorage, reached through the tunnel to Whittier or the highway to Valdez, with tidewater glaciers, sea otters and the Columbia and Meares glaciers on the day-cruise circuit.

  • The Far North & the Arctic

    The vast, roadless top of the state — the Brooks Range, Gates of the Arctic and the Dalton Highway north from Fairbanks to the oil town of Deadhorse — remote, expensive to reach and unforgettable, best for well-prepared adventurers.

Getting around

A rental car covers the connected road system — Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, Denali and Fairbanks all link along a handful of scenic highways — and it's the simplest way to reach Seward, Whittier and the Matanuska-Susitna valley. But Alaska is only partly a driving state: the capital, Juneau, and the whole Inside Passage have no road connection at all and are reached by the Alaska Marine Highway ferries, cruise ships or small planes, and bush communities depend on floatplanes year-round. Most visitors fly into Anchorage, drive the highways in reach, and add a ferry, a cruise leg or a flightseeing trip for the roadless corners. Distances are enormous and services sparse, so fuel up and check road and ferry schedules before you set out.

The highlights Alaska's signature sights & road trips

Alaska's signature draws

Suggested routes

Anchorage, the Kenai & Seward

~1 week

The classic first-trip loop through Southcentral Alaska, pairing the city gateway with the Kenai Peninsula's glaciers, fjords and fishing towns — all on the connected road system.

  1. Anchorage — fly in, pick up the car
  2. Seward — basecamp for the fjords
  3. Kenai Fjords National Park — day cruise from Seward
  4. Homer — the end of the road on Kachemak Bay
  5. Whittier or Girdwood — glaciers and Prince William Sound on the way back

Denali & the Interior run

4–6 days

A northbound drive from Anchorage up the Parks Highway to Denali and on to Fairbanks — the interior hub for the aurora and the Arctic — best in summer for the open park road.

  1. Anchorage — start point
  2. Talkeetna — flightseeing base with Denali views
  3. Denali National Park — the park road and the peak
  4. Fairbanks — interior hub, aurora and hot springs

Inside Passage by ferry or cruise

~1 week

A roadless journey up Alaska's Southeast coast by cruise ship or Alaska Marine Highway ferry, linking the capital and the gold-rush ports through a maze of islands, glaciers and fjords.

  1. Ketchikan — totem poles and salmon
  2. Sitka — Russian-era history on the outer coast
  3. Juneau — the roadless capital and Mendenhall Glacier
  4. Glacier Bay National Park — tidewater glaciers by boat
  5. Skagway — the gold-rush terminus and White Pass railway
Map of Alaska

Cities in Alaska

States near Alaska

Alaska travel FAQ

When is the best time to visit Alaska?

For most visitors, June through August is the prime window — the long daylight, warmest weather, running salmon and full ferry, cruise and Denali park-road schedules all line up then. Late May and early September are quieter shoulder seasons with good value, while winter (roughly November through March) is the season for the northern lights and dog-sledding, mostly in the interior around Fairbanks.

How many days do you need in Alaska?

A focused first trip around Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula and Seward works well in about five to seven days. Adding Denali National Park pushes it toward a week to ten days, and folding in an Inside Passage cruise or a Fairbanks-and-Arctic leg easily fills two weeks — the state is enormous, so it's better to see one region well than to rush across several.

Do you need a car in Alaska?

For the connected road system — Anchorage, the Kenai Peninsula, Seward, Denali and Fairbanks — a rental car is the easiest way to get around and reach the trailheads and small towns. But large parts of the state, including the capital Juneau and the whole Inside Passage, have no road access and are reached only by ferry, cruise ship or plane, so many itineraries combine driving with a ferry leg, a cruise or a flightseeing trip.

What is Alaska best known for?

Alaska is famous for its wilderness on a grand scale: Denali, the highest peak in North America; tidewater glaciers calving into the sea at places like Kenai Fjords and Glacier Bay; abundant wildlife including bears, whales, moose and bald eagles; the summer's near-endless daylight and the winter's northern lights; and its gold-rush and frontier history.

Can you see the northern lights in Alaska?

Yes — Alaska is one of the best places in the world for the aurora. They're seen on clear, dark nights roughly from late August through April, and are strongest in the interior around Fairbanks, which sits under the auroral oval. You won't see them during the bright nights of high summer, so plan an autumn, winter or early-spring visit if the lights are your goal.

How do you get to Juneau and the Inside Passage?

Alaska's capital and the rest of the Inside Passage have no road connection to the mainland highway system. You reach them by air, by cruise ship, or on the Alaska Marine Highway state ferries, which link Juneau, Sitka, Ketchikan, Skagway and other Southeast towns. Many visitors experience the region as part of a cruise up the coast from the Lower 48 or Vancouver.

Is it worth visiting Denali National Park?

For most Alaska trips, yes. Denali protects six million acres of subarctic wilderness around North America's highest peak, with a single ribbon of park road giving access to tundra, wildlife and, on a clear day, the mountain itself. The peak is often hidden by cloud, so build in flexibility, and check the National Park Service site before you go, since the road, shuttle system and any road-repair closures change from year to year.

Do you need a cruise to see Alaska?

No — you can see a great deal of Alaska independently by car and ferry, especially the Southcentral region, the Kenai Peninsula and Denali off the road system. A cruise is the classic and often easiest way to experience the roadless Inside Passage and its glaciers, but it's one option among several rather than a requirement. Many travellers combine a cruise leg with a land tour to see both the coast and the interior.