Alaska cruising guide
This Alaska cruising holidays travel guide takes you on a journey around the archipelagos, coves, glaciers down the Pacific Coast of Alaska.
Responsible tourism in Alaska
Alaska is mind-bendingly huge, so it’s no real surprise that its responsible tourism issues are vast, too. There are two major branches to its economy: oil and tourism. And both can be (and have been) hugely damaging when not managed correctly. Because while the Alaskan wilderness might be synonymous with tough-it-out adventuring, it’s one of the most fragile ecosystems on the planet.
Our Alaska, USA Holidays
Denali National Park holiday in Alaska
Experience untouched wilderness off the beaten path
From
US $2040 to US $2090
12 days
ex flights
Inner Reaches Eastern Coves cruise in Alaska
Awe-inspiring glaciers, wildlife, and rainforests in Alaska
From
£2309 to £3465
8 days
ex flights
Kenai Peninsula adventure holiday in Alaska
Orcas, Humpbacks and Glaciers: Experience Alaska's coastline
From
US $2040
9 days
ex flights
Alaska holiday, classic camping tour
Camp and discover the delights of Alaska
From
£2429 to £2579
14 days
ex flights
Alaska adventure holiday, salmon run
Active small group adventures in a retrofitted school bus
From
US $3590 to US $3640
20 days
ex flights
Brown bear photography holiday, Alaska
Photograph Alaskan brown bears in exclusive photo tour
From
US $4995 to US $5400
6 days
ex flights
Inner Reaches Western Coves cruise in Alaska
Some of southern Alaska's iconic destinations by small ship
From
£2691
8 days
ex flights
Alaska's Islands cruise, whales & glaciers
Wild Alaska on one of the world's smallest cruise ships
From
£3448 to £3749
8 days
ex flights
Anchorage to Tierra Del Fuego tour by overland truck
Epic overland trip from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego
From
£11910 to £12265
210 days
ex flights
Kenai National Park tour in Alaska
Explore the Kenai Peninsula and its abundance of wildlife and glaciers
From
£2899
6 days
ex flights
Alaska wildlife holidays
An ultimate Alaskan adventure with wildlife and wilderness
From
£2799 to £2969
14 days
ex flights
Alaskas Glacier Bay small ship cruise
Get close up to Alaska where the big ships can't go
From
£2849 to £3149
8 days
ex flights
Southeast Alaska cruise
Spectacular scenery and amazing wildlife in remote Alaska
From
£5175
11 days
ex flights
Kodiak bear tracking tour in Alaska
Alaskan adventure looking for the large grizzlies
From
£7295
8 days
ex flights
South East Alaska sailing adventure
Whales, black bears and spectacular scenery
From
£6249
14 days
ex flights
Glacier Bay and wildlife cruise in Alaska
Glaciers, Humpbacks, grizzlies and mountains - Get up close
From
£3075 to £4609
8 days
ex flights
Alaska adventure holiday
Go deep into the wild on this active Alaskan adventure.
From
£1290 to £1335
9 days
ex flights
Inside Passage, Seattle to Juneau cruise, Alaska
The classic Inside Passage cruise from Seattle to Juneau
From
£5135 to £5585
15 days
ex flights
People & culture in Alaska
Alaska Natives
‘Alaska Natives’ is a big generalisation for what is actually 16 percent of the Alaskan resident population. There are five major groups (Aleut, Inuit, Athabaskan, Tlingit and Haida) and a boatload of other tribal groupings (from Alutiiq to Tsimshian). Communities have lived in such isolation that they’ve developed at least 20 language groups – a challenge for those planning to learn a few words of the local lingo.In 2018, Alaska declared a ‘language emergency’ after the Alaska Native Language Preservation and Advisory Council warned that aboriginal languages could be extinct within a century. Government funds can now be funnelled towards promoting and preserving traditional tongues not traditionally written down – something of a reparation for its past hand in destroying Alaska Native culture.
A loss of language is tightly woven with a loss of culture. As elders die, so do the traditions.
Colonisation kicked off a couple of centuries’ worth of culture loss for the Alaska Natives. From the arrival of the Russian fur traders in the late 1700s, to WWII – when Aleuts were booted off their islands by Japanese troops and dumped in internment camps by US troops – they’ve had to wrestle with European and American colonists intent on eradicating their way of life. It’s rarely been a fair fight. The US government was an active participant in encouraging the ‘civilising’ of Alaska Native children by placing them in missionary schools from as early as 1819.
But there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. As well as the federal funding, significantly, Mount McKinley was returned to its Athabaskan name, Denali, for the national park’s 100th anniversary. It was a form of reparation, acknowledging that Alaska’s history goes far beyond the last 300 years. It’s not a new idea, either – even park founder Charles Sheldon wanted it to be so.
But there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. As well as the federal funding, significantly, Mount McKinley was returned to its Athabaskan name, Denali, for the national park’s 100th anniversary. It was a form of reparation, acknowledging that Alaska’s history goes far beyond the last 300 years. It’s not a new idea, either – even park founder Charles Sheldon wanted it to be so.
The Indians who have lived for countless generations in the presence of these colossal mountains have given them names that are both euphonious and appropriate… Can it be denied that the names they gave to the most imposing features of their country should be preserved?
– Charles Sheldon, founder of Denali National Park
Although the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act resolved many land rights struggles, Alaska Natives are still in a constant tug of war for equal rights. They struggle with similar problems that Native Americans in the lower states struggle with: poverty, lack of education, high suicide rates, alcoholism and violence.
What you can do
There are things you can do to help. Visit (and spend your money) at the Alaska Native co-ops in the cities. Support and engage with Alaska Native guides. Some of our small ship cruise partners work with boat owners from the Kaagwaantaan clans in Southeast Alaska. These skippers are real fonts of knowledge regarding the environment and communities in this neck of the woods. Before you travel, also crack into the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, which covers everything from spirituality and oral storytelling to subsistence living in the 21st century.
What you can do
There are things you can do to help. Visit (and spend your money) at the Alaska Native co-ops in the cities. Support and engage with Alaska Native guides. Some of our small ship cruise partners work with boat owners from the Kaagwaantaan clans in Southeast Alaska. These skippers are real fonts of knowledge regarding the environment and communities in this neck of the woods. Before you travel, also crack into the Alaska Native Knowledge Network, which covers everything from spirituality and oral storytelling to subsistence living in the 21st century.
Sustenance vs. sustainable
Whale hunting is a complex and sensitive issue, and not something to judge without reading up on the background. Over half of Alaska Natives live in rural communities. And when Alaskans say ‘rural’ they mean towns with no road access, only accessible by plane, boat, hiking or snowmobile. They rely on caribou, seal oil and whale meat almost as much as their ancestors did.Indigenous Inupiat and Siberian Yupik communities in the northwest hunt whales in accordance with the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which allows subsistence hunting of certain species with strict rules on quotas. Whale bones fortify houses, membrane skins drums and oil is used for lamps. It’s as sustainable as whaling can be, but often misunderstood and lumped in with the damaging whaling practices of Iceland and Japan.
Towns like Point Hope harpoon around three whales a year, sometimes under the eye of government regulators who make sure that hunting remains sustainable – as it has been for centuries. Hunters don’t use commercial whaling boats, but paddle into the half-frozen ocean in skin canoes. The meat can’t legally be sold outside Alaska Native communities, either; if you do see it for sale, don’t buy it. Alaska Natives can sell baleen handicrafts like baskets and jewellery, but if you buy a souvenir you won’t be able to take them outside the USA.
When it comes to polar bear hunting, don’t confuse Alaska with Canada. It’s the neighbouring Yukon and Northwest Territories that allow polar bear hunting – not Alaska. The USA won’t even let a hunter sneak a polar bear skin over the border.
Wildlife & environment in Alaska
Alaska’s climate crisis
Think climate refugees, and you might think of the sinking islands of the Maldives or hurricane-bashed South Carolina. But Alaska is warming twice as fast as the global average, with temperatures predicted to rise up to 7°C by 2100.That’s bad news for the icy forces that shape Alaska. Denali National Park lost eight percent of its glacier fields between 1950 and 2010. That means that glaciers like Middle Fork Toklat have shrunk by 25 metres; yearly ice thinning has become a pattern rather than an anomaly. In northern Alaska, tourism is booming in Kaktovik because polar bears are spending more time in town than on the increasingly thin sea ice. Meanwhile, spring landslides in Denali have gone from minor occurrences to disruptive events that close the only visitor road in and out.
Rural Alaska Native communities feel climate change twice as badly as anyone else. After all, if snowmobiles are your only mode of transport, how do you travel when there’s just half a foot of snow? How do you hunt for caribou when herd movements are increasingly unpredictable? For Alaska, climate change is the crisis that keeps on giving – but Alaskans are masters at adapting.
Newtok campaigned for and received government funding to move the town to more stable ground, after shrinking permafrost led to massive erosion. And in Fairbanks, the Cold Climate Housing Research Centre designs homes with adjustable foundations for shifting conditions – research that can also be applied to hotels and guest houses living on ever-eroding ground. Road construction is changing, too, with damaged roads being rebuilt in materials designed to minimise heat radiation to the surrounding tundra.
Rural Alaska Native communities feel climate change twice as badly as anyone else. After all, if snowmobiles are your only mode of transport, how do you travel when there’s just half a foot of snow? How do you hunt for caribou when herd movements are increasingly unpredictable? For Alaska, climate change is the crisis that keeps on giving – but Alaskans are masters at adapting.
Newtok campaigned for and received government funding to move the town to more stable ground, after shrinking permafrost led to massive erosion. And in Fairbanks, the Cold Climate Housing Research Centre designs homes with adjustable foundations for shifting conditions – research that can also be applied to hotels and guest houses living on ever-eroding ground. Road construction is changing, too, with damaged roads being rebuilt in materials designed to minimise heat radiation to the surrounding tundra.
From gold rush to oil rush
Alaska is only second to Texas in terms of oil production. The infamous 1,270km Trans-Alaska Pipeline swigs oil from Prudoe in the north to Valdez port in the south. The industry isn’t losing momentum, either – there’s something of an oil renaissance going on. The North Basin, in the far north of Alaska, is said to store around 28 million barrels of crude oil and production is due to increase by 40 percent by 2026.Good news for the oil industry; bad news for the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge that lies over it. This South Carolina-sized conservation area doubles as the most important polar bear area in the USA. The effects of drilling in national parks are manifold, ranging from breaking up wildlife habitat to polluting air and water. The word ‘pipeline’ implies they’re laid underground, but in Alaska it’s a case of permanently clearing land for above-ground pipelines, spoiling the vistas that visitors come to Alaska to experience.
Opposition to drilling here is folding under Washington and the Alaska Native corporation. The Alaska Native populations are divided. The Alaska Native corporation campaigned for drilling; Gwich’in communities point out that it could disturb the caribou migration that they rely on for food and that tourists travel to see.
Alaska has already experienced a couple of worst case scenarios, most recently in 2004 when an oil tanker broke apart in the Aleutian Islands, spilling over one million litres of oil.
As a rule, Alaskans tend to be pro oil drilling. It could be something to do with the Alaska Permanent Fund that gives each permanent resident a yearly dividend calculated off oil profits. It’s a truly Alaskan conundrum – the state which is one of the worst hit by climate change is most keen to push ahead with drilling for planet-warming fossil fuels.
However, where there are remote communities there are renewable energies. Over the last decade, the thousands of people who live off the grid have been easing off the diesel generators and using wind turbines. It’s largely driven by sky-high electricity rates, which are the second highest in the US and around 50 percent higher than the national average.
Kodiak is a pioneer. The city was using more than 99 percent renewable energy in 2017, after investing in wind and water turbines. Geographically, it’s lucky to have a windy coastline and a raised alpine lake for hydropower. In Southeast Alaska, meanwhile, the Kasidaya hydroelectric project was built solely to support the rush of tourists from visiting cruise ships. These are real renewable energy success stories that serve as hopeful antidotes to the ever-growing oil industry.
However, where there are remote communities there are renewable energies. Over the last decade, the thousands of people who live off the grid have been easing off the diesel generators and using wind turbines. It’s largely driven by sky-high electricity rates, which are the second highest in the US and around 50 percent higher than the national average.
Kodiak is a pioneer. The city was using more than 99 percent renewable energy in 2017, after investing in wind and water turbines. Geographically, it’s lucky to have a windy coastline and a raised alpine lake for hydropower. In Southeast Alaska, meanwhile, the Kasidaya hydroelectric project was built solely to support the rush of tourists from visiting cruise ships. These are real renewable energy success stories that serve as hopeful antidotes to the ever-growing oil industry.
Cruise country
Cruise ships are big money for Alaska, with five percent of all cruise trips in the world chugging through the state. It broke its own passenger record in 2018, with over one million passengers rocking up – mostly piling in during the short summer season. Imagine 2,500 passengers piling out of a cruise ship into a tiny Alaskan port, and you can start to see some of the problems with cruising in Alaska.
With new ships that can carry more than 8,000 passengers and crew, these floating cities pollute the air we breathe and the water we use and enjoy.
– Friends of the Earth
Cruising is bright for the economy, but not for the environment. Cruise lines have successfully battled to soften the strict waste disposal laws of Alaska. There have been accidents, too – the accidental dumping of over 300,000 litres of chlorinated water into Glacier Bay, for instance. Cruise lines regularly smash through emission standards too, with barely a slap on the wrist from the government. These ships also travel through some of the most fragile landscapes in Alaska. They sail alongside threatened bowhead whales in the Bering Sea and beside endangered pods of belugas in Cook Inlet.
What you can do
It might sound all doom and gloom, but there is an answer: small ship cruises. Because while Alaska is a massive country, you don’t need a massive ship to sail around it. Fewer passengers (often between 20-100) mean you’ll see towns minus the crowds and won’t be treated like just another kayaker in the crowd.
Look out for an Alaskan-owned family business, giving work to Alaskan guides who are invested in protecting the Alaskan landscape. The Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) Green Waters Programme is a good stamp of approval, meaning the skippers, crew and passengers are expected to live up to exacting environmental standards. Read more about why we support small ship cruising in Alaska.
What you can do
It might sound all doom and gloom, but there is an answer: small ship cruises. Because while Alaska is a massive country, you don’t need a massive ship to sail around it. Fewer passengers (often between 20-100) mean you’ll see towns minus the crowds and won’t be treated like just another kayaker in the crowd.
Look out for an Alaskan-owned family business, giving work to Alaskan guides who are invested in protecting the Alaskan landscape. The Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) Green Waters Programme is a good stamp of approval, meaning the skippers, crew and passengers are expected to live up to exacting environmental standards. Read more about why we support small ship cruising in Alaska.
Responsible tourism tips
More about Alaska, USA
Dip your toe into our Alaska travel guide and you’ll quickly find all the information that you need to make the most of your time as you travel in between the national parks of Wrangell-St Elias, Kenai Fjords and Denali.
Temperature and rainfall play a huge part in the best time to visit Alaska, with a very short tourist season offering several things to do in Alaska minus the snow and ice.
Alaska is the biggest state in the USA and the most sparsely populated. It’s also one of the most inaccessible, which is why it’s maintained its title as American beauty queen.
Wildlife, waves and wilderness are the theme in Alaska. But don’t overlook the human history. Alaska Natives have been living here for thousands of years, plus explore scores of abandoned gold rush towns.
It only stands to reason that the biggest state in the USA would have an XXXL wildlife population. Grizzly bears, bowhead whales, muskox and moose roam the people-free spread of fjords, islands and tundra.
There’s no two ways about it – one of the best ways to see Alaska is by boat. We’re not talking about hotel-sized cruise ships, though.
Alaska’s most famous national park is even more vast than you’d imagine. At 2.5 million hectares, it’s almost the size of Massachusetts.
Whether it's snoozing under the sky-high eye of Mount Denali or travelling with kayaks in tow, an Alaska camping holiday will launch you out of your comfort zone and into a wild world.
Learn all the bear necessities involved in a trip to Alaska, as we explore bear photography holidays in a raw and volcanic wilderness, honing your skills with the help of an expert professional.
We’ve shaken down our travel partners and travellers for the best Alaska travel tips, from hiking how-tos to which camera to pack to photograph bears.
More relevant guides
protection
