Highlights of Alaska

Begin your trip with complimentary airport lounge access before you board your flight to Alaska. On arrival, you’ll pick up your hire car at the airport to make the short drive to your central hotel, perhaps relaxing after your flight with a dip in the hot tub or soak in the sauna.

This morning travel along the Seward Highway towards scenic Turnagain Arm, a body of water featuring the world’s second highest tides at over 30 feet. Keep an eye out for Beluga whales chasing salmon in the bay or Dall sheep along the highway. A great stop for lunch is Alyeska Resort in Girdwood where you can take the tram up Mt. Alyeska (optional). Other stops we recommend include Porterage Glacier and its visitor centre, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre which provides care and rehabilitation for injured and orphaned wildlife. Here you can safely get close, observe, and photograph some of Alaska’s largest land animals including moose, bison, elk, deer, caribou, bears, muskox and in Seward Exit Glacier and the SeaLife Centre.

Head back towards Anchorage today taking in the sights of the Seward Highway as you go. Pass through Anchorage and drive the Glenn Highway north to Wasilla and onto Talkeetna. Stops can include a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Centre in Anchorage and the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry in Wasilla. Talkeetna serves as a base camp for Denali climbers; the community of under 1000 residents is located at the confluence of the Talkeetna and Susitna Rivers. A turn-of-the-20th-century gold-mining centre,the town hasretained much of its early Alaskan flavour

Stay: Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge (Superior)

This morning, embark on a Wilderness Adventure Jet Boat tour. Stand in the splendour of Denali and the great Alaska Range from a spectacular vantage point on the Susitna River! The folklore, artifacts and a panoramic view of Denali in the Alaska Range combine to make this an unforgettable and unique Alaskan river adventure. After your jet boat tour, drive the Parks Highway north to Denali National Park, passing by incredible forest and mountain landscapes.

Next day join a half day tour offers incredible scenery, a narrated history of the park road and opportunities to view the park’s wildlife inhabitants. Picturesque highlights include the craggy cliffside of Cathedral Mountain, wildlife rich Sable Pass and braided wash of the East Fork River in Denali National Park.

Stay: Denali Cabins (Standard)

Continue on the George Parks Highway north to Fairbanks. Accompanied by incredible forest and mountain landscapes, you drive through the communities of Healy, Nenana and Ester - an old mining camp. In the afternoon, climb aboard the Riverboat Discovery III for an unforgettable 3-hour cruise into the Alaskan Interior, traveling the Chena and Tanana Rivers on the only authentic sternwheeler riverboat operating in Alaska. This narrated tour provides background on the area’s natural history and the Athabascan Indian culture. 

Stay: River's Edge Resort (Standard)

Depart early this morning for an approximate 6-hour drive through broad, meandering river valleys characteristic of the north side of the Alaska Range. Reaching Copper River, you’ll find the scenery changes dramatically as Mt. Drum, Mt. Wrangell and Mt. Blackburn rise to stunning heights. A quick visit to Copper Centre is well worth the few extra miles off the main Richardson Highway – located at the confluence of the Klutina and Copper Rivers it offers classic Alaskan character and some interesting sites. Continue south to the town of Chitina, the main entry point by flight into McCarthy-Kennicott and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Spend the morning exploring the dynamic features of nearby Root Glacier on a guided trail and ice hike. The afternoon is yours to visit the Kennecott Mines National Historic Landmark and the funky-rustic nearby enclave of McCarthy.

Stay: Ma Johnson Hotel (Standard)

Today fly back to Chitina by bush plane while enjoying great views of the Wrangell Mountains. From Chitina continue south where you will begin to enter the Chugach Mountains that ring the coast of Alaska from Prince William Sound. At Thompson Pass you may wish to stop at one of the pullouts for the scenery and views of Worthington Glacier before you begin the descent into Valdez.

Stay: Best Western Valdez Harbour Inn (Standard)

Discover the magic of Alaska on this 7-hour Columbia Glacier cruise from Valdez. A local captain and crew will guide you through the Trans Alaska Pipeline Terminal and Columbia Bay before arriving at Columbia Glacier, the largest tidewater glacier in South Central Alaska. Look out for wildlife along the way; if you’re lucky you could spot porpoises, puffins, sea lions and sea otters among other creatures. (Lunch included)

Stay: Best Western Valdez Harbour Inn (Standard)

Today you will drive back north on the Richardson Highway with great views of the Wrangell Mountains as you return to Glennallen (weather permitting).Here you follow the Glenn Highway towards Palmer/Anchorage until you reach Sheep Mountain Lodge.

Stay: Sheep Mountain Lodge

Drive the Glenn Highway south to Anchorage. Highlights include the Independence Mine in beautiful Hatcher Pass and the many communities in the Mat-Su Valley. This valley contains many farms with the remarkable growing season in Alaska and offers beautiful views of the Chugach Range. Upon arrival in Anchorage your incredible Alaska self drive adventure comes to an end

Dropping your car back at the airport, board your flight home.