Alaska is one of my favorite places to visit especially on a cruise. If you do it right, you will take a one-way cruise usually from Alaska to Vancouver or from Vancouver to Alaska. Roundtrip cruises usually don’t include a glacier visit because there’s not enough time unless its longer than 7 days. These one-way cruises allow you to get up close to the glaciers which, to me anyway, is the highlight of any Alaskan cruise. Whether you get to Alaska a few days ahead of time or you stay for a few days after your cruise, you’ll want to leave a few days to explore Alaska.
Let’s look at a map
As you can see, Alaska is massive but there’s not a lot of roads. You’ll be flying into (or out of) Anchorage. Your cruise will start (or end) in either Seward or Whittier. From Anchorage, you only have 3 options: north, east or south. I don’t suggest going north. Talkeetna is a neat little town but it’s just too far for too little. Denali is full day of driving. Just not worth it. You could go east to Glacier View but I don’t think it’s a good use of time and the glacier is rather far from the road. I therefore suggest you go south.
I’m not a huge fan of hanging out with Anchorage itself. While there are some nice parks and it is technically possible to spot a moose, I think your time is better spent going south. However, if your time is limited and/or you’d like to stay near Anchorage, I suggest the following: Eklutna Historical Park, Alaska Native Heritage Center, Alaska Botanical Gardens and Thunderbird Falls. Eklutna Historical Park is a great place that features a historic Russian Orthodox log church and a cemetery with spirit houses. Very unique and free. Thunderbird Falls is a decent waterfall if you’re in the area but I wouldn’t go out of my way to go there. Mt Baldy trailhead provides for a great view of the valley below. No hiking required if you’re limited on time.
South of Anchorage
Regardless of how much time you have, you definitely need to drive south of Anchorage on Route 1. The highway hugs the coast and there are some incredible views of the mountains. Your first stop should be Potter Marsh Wildlife Boardwalk. You could see moose in this area. As you drive further south, the water will be on one side with a cliff face on the other side. There are a number of places to stop to check out the view. Be sure to turn around and look at the cliff face especially at Beluga Point. You may see mountain goats. Even if they are hard to see, if you see something white moving around on top of the cliff, that’s a mountain goat. As you drive further down, the cliff gives way to marsh. You could see moose and bald eagles in these areas.
If you time out your visit the right way, you could watch the bore tide. You’ll see several bore tide viewing areas. The tide rises and falls dramatically in this area but it does take proper planning to be there at the right time. The first town you’ll pass is Girdwood if you need a grocery store or a restaurant. The road leads to Portage. You can stay on Route 1 to bypass the sights in this area but you’d be missing out on a great area.
Portage Lake, Byron Glacier and Whittier
Portage Lake is a beautiful glacier lake. You can take a cruise on the lake to get up close to the glacier. Also in this area is Byron Glacier which does require a hike but its short. This is one of the very few glaciers you can actually walk on. It’s a great experience so even if you don’t plan on taking a cruise tour on Portage Lake, going to Byron Glacier and taking a picture of Portage Glacier from the lake is a great experience.
You could continue on to Whittier but I don’t suggest going just to sightsee. In addition to having to pay a toll, the only way to get to Whittier is to drive through a railway tunnel. It’s only one lane so there will likely be a waiting period as you have to not only wait for there to be no train coming or going but traffic is only one way. Thus, you may have to wait for the other traffic to finish. Once you actually get to Whitter, there isn’t much to see. While the experience of driving through a railway tunnel may be interesting, it’s just not worth it unless you have a lot of time to kill. Of course, if your cruise or tour is leaving out of Whitter, you’ll be going there regardless.
Exit Glacier and Seward
As you continue down Route 1 into the Kenai Peninsula, you’ll come across an intersection with Route 9 which heads south as Route 1 continues west. Route 9 leads to Exit Glacier and the town of Seward. There’s a lot of great views in this area with my favorites being Tern Lake and Upper Trail Lake. Be sure to leave at least a few minutes to make a few stops as there are a number of places to pull over and admire the views.
Exit Glacier requires a hike that lets you get pretty close to the glacier although the view gets worse each year as the glacier melts. I first went in 2014 and then against in 2024. It was stunning to see just how much of the glacier has disappeared in those 10 years. The entire hike shows you where the glacier has been over the last 100 years or so. It’s still a good view right now but in 10 years, I don’t think there will be much left at all.
Seward is a nice little town to check out. A little touristy as it’s been built up because of the increased cruise ship traffic. Still a nice little place to check out just a few minutes from Exit Glacier.
The Kenai
If you head back to where Routes 1 and 9 meet, you can continue west on Route 1 to visit the rest of the Kenai Peninsula. This is where you have to really decide how much time you want to spend as the Kenai is pretty big. Route 1 ends in Homer which is where one of the Deadliest Catch boats is kept. It’s a nice little touristy town but it’s a full two and a half hours without stops. It’s then a little over four hours from Homer back to Anchorage, again without stops.
From Tern Lake (where 1 and 9 meet) to Soldotna is not that exciting and it will take an hour one way. You’ll go from much of nothing to civilization so if you need a grocery store, restaurant or gas station, this is one of the main areas outside of Anchorage (to the south). While it’s possible to see moose during your drive to Soldotna, I don’t think it’s a high likelihood. Once you get through Soldotna and the road turns south, you’ll be closer to the coast although you won’t have a a lot of good views from the road. However, I’ve seen a lot of moose on this southern stretch as did my in-laws.
One of my favorite places in this area to go to is Deep Creek Recreation Area. It’s absolutely mobbed with bald eagles. The darker ones are immature eagles, probably around four years olds. The beach is absolutely littered with fish bones at the eagles catch their fish and eat it on the rocky beach. Pretty much a photographers dream as you can get pretty close to these amazing birds. Further down the road is a similar area called Anchor River State Recreation Area. On a clear day, you’ll see amazing views of the mountains/volcanos in the distance.
Even further still is the town of Homer. You’ll find bakeries, breweries, museums and shops. For a great view of “the Spit”, be sure to drive up to the Viewpoint on Skyline Drive.
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