Inspiration for your own tailor-made trip
United States - Alaska
100% customisable for you
Your Alaskan adventure starts today as you board your flight from London. Settle in with snacks and an in-flight film for the first leg, which takes you across the Atlantic to a North American airport (between nine and ten hours of flying, depending on your destination). Here, you’ll transit to your flight to Anchorage, which takes between three-and-a-half to six hours. After a long day in the air, collect your hire car and head to a cosy country cottage on the outskirts of the city to get settled in.
Depending on when you arrive in Alaska, there’s the option to enjoy a sunset photo safari through the city, capturing your first snapshots of the trip and (if you time your trip right and have luck on your side) seeing the dazzling display of the Northern Lights.
Today, after an optional guided tour of Anchorage and the Native Heritage Centre (a living museum that retraces Alaska's indigenous history and culture), it’s time to head to Denali National Park. Drive north for around 250 miles to reach this majestic park; with its vast wilderness and snow-capped peaks, any memory of your long drive will quickly fade away in the face of such spectacular scenery. Check in to your lodge on the edge of the park, picturesquely positioned next to the river, which will be your home for the next two nights.
The wilderness awaits today as you explore Denali National Park. Encompassing six million acres of wild land, the park is unbelievably vast and almost impossibly beautiful; a place of dense forest, alpine tundra and snowy mountains, including Mount McKinley (North America’s tallest peak).
No private vehicles are permitted inside the park, so today meet your guide-driver at the park entrance and board one of the transit buses to take a guided tour with a local expert. Along the way, watch for the bears, caribou, elk, sheep and wolves who call this glorious landscape home. And weather permitting, you might even spot majestic Mount McKinley (called Denali by the Koyukon people who inhabit the area around the mountain). After a day in the park, return to your cosy lodgings to recharge your batteries ahead of another adventure tomorrow.
A shorter (yet equally scenic) drive of just over two hours awaits this morning as you travel on to Fairbanks. Along the way, stop in the small town of Healy (a popular basecamp for visiting Denali) before reaching Fairbanks, where you'll spend the night.
A former trading post founded on the banks of the Chena River and the second-largest city in Alaska, Fairbanks retains reminders of the Gold Rush that brought so many intrepid adventurers to this remote spot. To learn more about this treasure-seeking period of prosperity, visit the city’s Pioneer Park: a reconstructed Gold Rush-era town, built from historic buildings salvaged from around the state and populated by actors in period costume. Alternatively, take a restorative detour to Chena Hot Springs for a soothing soak in the wonderfully warm waters.
Pack up the car for the drive to Copper Center this morning, which is around 260 miles from Fairbanks. It’s a four-and-a-half-hour drive, so plan pit stops in the towns of Paxson and Delta Junction along the way to break up the journey and admire the mountain landscapes.
Spend one night in the picturesque riverside village of Copper Center, which is the gateway to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. It once served as a stopover for adventurous Gold Rush miners following the Valdez-Fairbanks Trail, and tonight it’s a comfortable place for you to pause before your own Alaskan adventure continues.
After driving an hour to Chitina, board a bush plane for a flight to Kennicott. This 30-minute journey offers your first, unforgettable views of Wrangell St. Elias National Park, including a glimpse of the gorgeously blue-tinted Root Glacier.
Spend two nights in the former Kennicott miners' base, which has been converted into a small lodge. This makes a great base camp for many of the national park’s outdoor activities and is on the site of an old copper mine overlooking the glacier, so the surroundings are strikingly beautiful. Enjoy a warm welcome, share a meal and head to bed early, because the next day promises to be packed with adventure.
The Root Glacier is one of the most accessible in Alaska, so today, set off for a guided hike to see its immense, icy expanse for yourself. After a two-mile walk along the old railway trail from Kennicott, put on your crampons and take your first intrepid step onto the glacier. Along the way, you’ll see deep crevices carved in the ice, forming a collection of blue pools and waterfalls. Exploring this frozen landscape is really something special, and a big tick on any Alaskan bucket list.
After that awe-inspiring hike, continue with your guide as they share stories of Kennicott’s mining past. In the early 1900s, Kennicott was a bustling mining camp; by 1938, the mine had been emptied of its precious copper and Kennicott became a ghost town. While you’re here, be sure to snap a shot of the iconic red mill building, which stands 14 stories above the Kennicott glacier.
Today, say goodbye to Kennicott and catch the bush plane back to Chitina, where you’ll collect your car and head west to Knik Glacier. Located at the northern tip of the Chugach Mountains, Knik Glacier is 25-miles long and five-miles wide, making it one of the largest glaciers in Alaska. It emerges from the mountains before descending dramatically into a lake bejewelled by icebergs; a sight that’s even more impressive than it sounds. Take a boat trip to see the icebergs up close; admiring their colours that change in the sunlight and hearing the creak and groan as they turn and break apart.
After another gorgeously glacial day, s pend the night in one of the cosy cottages nestled in the nearby forest, dreaming of icebergs.
After a hearty breakfast, head south to Seward, a lovely fishing harbour in the heart of Resurrection Bay. It's also the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, which will be the next stop on your adventure.
En route to Seward, don’t miss a visit to Musk Ox Farm in Palmer. It’s home to the world's only domesticated musk oxen, whose wool is used by Native Alaskans to make traditional clothing. The herd numbers more than 70 musk oxen and guided tours of the farm are available, so you can say hello to these thick-coated mammals.
Arriving in Seward, settle into your accommodation and spend the rest of the day getting your bearings in this picturesque port city.
Encompassing more than 600,000 acres, fifty per-cent of which is covered in snow and ice, Kenai Fjords National Park is a wonderland of abundant marine life and crystal-like glaciers. Cameras at the ready today as you discover this icy paradise during a full-day cruise. Setting off from Seward, embark on an epic 100-mile journey to see glorious tidewater glaciers and spot nearly non-stop wildlife, including otters, sea lions, seals, orcas and humpback whales.
After an unforgettable day on the water, return to your cosy lodgings for a delicious dinner and a drink to toast another epic experience.
Pack up the car this morning for the three-hour drive to the small fishing village of Homer. Tucked away in an iceberg-studded bay at the far southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, arriving in Homer feels like reaching the very edge of the world.
Your home for the next two nights is a comfortable, motel-style spot, from where you can head out to explore the village’s surprisingly vibrant scene of art galleries, seafood restaurants, museums and shops. As you’ve come to expect from Alaska by now, the views are something special, with panoramic vistas of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Mountains to be savoured and snapped for your scrapbook.
You’re going on a bear hunt today, exploring Katmai National Park in search of brown bears. The search begins with a flight in a bush plane over the volcanoes and glaciers of the national park’s east coast; a breathtaking way to see the sheer scale and spectacular beauty of this land. After landing on the beach, follow your guide on a stroll through this remote and rugged landscape to observe brown bears in their natural environment. See these majestic creatures fish, dig for clams and play together, and if you're lucky, you might also spot foxes, bald eagles and more of Alaska’s awesome marine mammals.
Bears successfully spotted and snapshots secured, return to Homer for an evening of local food and warm hospitality, before retiring to your room ahead of your trip to Anchorage tomorrow.
This morning, it’s time to leave this remote and remarkable region for the drive back to Anchorage, which takes just over four hours. Your home for tonight is a downtown hotel, so check in then head out to pick up any last-minute souvenirs and raise a glass to your final evening in Alaska.
After saying a fond farewell to Anchorage, drop your hire car at the airport and get set to board your flight back to the UK. Like your flight out, the return journey is over two legs, so you’ll transit through a North American hub before making your way to the UK. After plenty of time to begin planning your next adventure, you’ll arrive home the following day.
Everything in this itinerary is entirely customisable, down to the smallest details. Here are some more suggestions of what could be included
Each of our trips is entirely tailor-made with originality, quality and cultural immersion in mind. Our team of destination specialists will craft itineraries based on your tastes, using their first-hand knowledge and the help of our in-country team of Concierges and guides. All trips are accompanied by a wide range of additional services, including a 24-hour helpline, the Original Travel app, fast-track airport services and much more.
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