Ever wanted to visit the most beautiful yet unexplored places in freezing temperatures beneath the northern lights? Then Alaska is it for you.
A quick guide to the best Alaska tour and travel packages is what you need to enjoy the exploration of Alaska, and USA Tales is here to do the legwork for you!
Alaska is a U.S. state located on the northwestern end of the country’s West Coast, directly across the Bering Strait from Asia. It is a place of captivating wilderness and clean, unspoiled landscapes.
With Hawaii on one side and bounded by oceans on the other, Alaska has more coastlines than the other 48 states combined.
From the towering glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park to the rugged grandeur of Denali National Park, the phrase that describes Alaska is just simply stunningly beautiful.
The magnificence of Alaska is so bewildering that it can capture anyone’s heart the moment someone lays his eyes upon it.
With mountains to trek, rivers for fishing and rafting, and glaciers that can make you drool over them, Alaska has something that caters to everyone’s needs.
It is so vast that its unhabituated wilderness can overwhelm anyone. But fear not; we have got you covered. Listed below are some of the best Alaska tour and travel packages.
So, let’s begin the list of the most popular Alaska tours and travel packages and start exploring Alaska together!
1. The National Parks Tour
We cannot start our Alaska travel and tour package list without acknowledging the national parks in the state. Alaska has some of the biggest national parks in the USA, which are full of wildlife and greenery.
National Parks Covered –
One of the biggest attractions of Alaska travel is visiting those enormous national parks. Some of the most visited spots are Denali National Park, Kenai Fjords National Park, Katmai National Park, and others.
Encompassing approximately 6 million acres of land, more than 650,000 tourists come to Denali National Park every year to witness wildlife roam freely in their natural habitat.
Denali National Park has river valleys, tundra regions, high alpine ranges, and glacier-draped mountains, which provide the perfect home for numerous grizzly bears, wolves, moose, and caribous.
Also famously known as Mount McKinley, Denali National Park is the ultimate showstopper.
Next on this tour is a visit to Katmai National Park.
Have you ever been awestruck by pictures of a bear perched on a waterfall savoring a salmon or beautiful birds in their full flight and wondered where these images would have been captured?
Well, you have probably been looking at the pictures of wildlife inhabiting the famous Katmai National Park. This national park is famous for fishing, hiking, rafting, and kayaking possibilities.
However, remember that it is unconnected to any other town, and the only way to access the park is through a floatplane.
Also, do not forget to include the famous Glacier Bay National Park on your vacation package, as this Park is a classic example of Alaska’s wild and majestic beauty. However, to reach Glacier Bay, you have to avail a cruise ship.
The other popular spots offered through this package include Tongass National Park, Kenai Fjords, and Kadiak National Wildlife Range, which provide amazing opportunities for hikers, kayakers, and wildlife enthusiasts to enjoy Mother Nature at its finest.
2. Cruise Packages
Next on the list of Alaska tour and travel packages are the breathtaking cruise packages.
Alaska has more than 660 glaciers officially registered to its name. Still, it is bewildering to find that each has something unique to offer to their tourists, and it never ceases to surprise them.
The glaciers show nature’s raw and unspoiled beauty, and cruising through them is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Tracy Arm Fjord, located in Juneau, is a popular destination for boat and cruise ship tours. Watching waterfalls tumbling down sharp rock wells and glacier caves, creating small icebergs in the process, is breathtaking.
To visit the glacier, you have to pass through extremely narrow inlets with steep rocks more than 3000 feet in height on either side of the opening. If you visit during the summer, eagles, bears, seals, and whales can be easily spotted.
The next destination is the Inside Passage.
Beginning in the Puget Sound of Northwestern Washington State, the Inside Passage extends through British Columbia, weaving a series of islands until it ends in Southeast Alaska.
Inside Passage provides a bevy of incredible sceneries of glaciers, mountains and oceans, and abundant wildlife. 100-tonne icebergs standing in the tidewater and orcas, sea lions, or seals frolicking in them are sights to behold in themselves.
The other famous tourist spots are Prince William Sound, Mendenhall Glacier, Exit Glacier, and many others. Glaciers provide the splendor of Mother Nature without any inhibition, and experiencing it can make anyone speechless.
3. Alaska Railroads
Alaska tour and travel packages are incomplete without including the historic Alaska Railroad.
It is a railroad extending from Seward and Whittier from the south of Alaska to Fairbanks and beyond Eielson Air Force Base and Fort Wainwright in the interiors.
Consisting of a mainline over 656 miles long and having a coverage area of more than 509 miles, including branch lines and sidetracks, the Alaska railroad carries freight and passengers throughout its system.
Arguably the most popular in Alaska tour and travel packages, the Alaska Railroad train trips provide you with the opportunity to discover Alaska at its finest.
Enjoy the splendor and beauty of Mother Nature unfolding in front of your eyes from the comforts of a luxurious train. Glaciers, snow-clad mountains, and wildlife encompass the always-changing panoramas of your window.
One of the flagship routes comprising Anchorage and Fairbanks with stops in Wasilla and Talkeetna Denali is the most covered route. As the train travels to the rugged peaks of the Alaska mountains, the dramatic changes in the landscape will leave you bewildered.
Generally included in guided day tours, when you take the train that maneuvers its way through Alaska’s wilderness, the splendor of the majestic mountains, glaciers, and river valleys can leave anyone awestruck and gaping for words to describe its beauty.
4. Flight Scene on Alaska tours
Next on Alaska tours and travel to compete with the historic Alaska Railroad is the scenic flight package.
A small bush plane or a helicopter is used to give you a bird’s view of Alaska in Alaska’s scenic flight tour. Experiencing the vastness of the landscapes within a short period and accessing some remote areas of Alaska are the main highlights of this package.
Travel over the Denali National Park or take off from Anchorage and travel to all the remotest glaciers of Alaska; the surreal and stunning panoramic views of the landscape below will leave you dumbstruck.
The most famous stop on this package is the inaccessible Bear Glacier.
11 miles long and 3 miles wide; this is one of the largest glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park and is unconnected to any of its surroundings.
Bear Glacier is famous for being the favorite hunting ground for Grizzly Bears. Travel to the glacier between early May and late August, and you may be lucky enough to spot the bears in action.
You can also travel from the historic Lake Hood Seaplane Base to the north of Knik Arm over the famous swimming grounds of the Beluga Whales and watch them frolic in the water. Also, do not forget to fly over the infamous mudflats of Alaska.
5. Northern Lights Package
Your Alaska vacation will be incomplete if you do not get to witness the world-famous northern lights. We had to include viewing of northern lights in our Alaska tour and travel list because getting the experience of the Aurora Borealis should be at the top of your bucket list.
If you are someone who easily gets fascinated just by stargazing, watching the Aurora will enchant you even more. Aurora borealis or the Northern Lights is the ethereal display of shimmering lights across the night sky.
Do you know how the aurora is formed?
The sun sends gusts of charged solar particles across space, and when the charged particles from the Sun strike the atoms and molecules present in the Earth’s atmosphere, it leads them to produce lights in various hues of purple, green, and blue.
Usually, in the winter months, when the nights are darker, if the Earth is in the path of the particle stream, its magnetic field and atmosphere react up and produce the lights.
Quite fascinating, right? Well, imagine experiencing it in real life. You will be at a loss for words.
During the fall and winter seasons, the finest places to see this phenomenon are Fairbanks, Coldfoot on the Arctic Circle, and Alaska’s Northern Slope settlements.
Experience this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with nightly guided trips to the top aurora viewing areas. We are confident that you will not be disappointed if you choose this package from the Alaska tour and travel selection. Instead, you will be dazzled.
Also, don’t forget to add Alaska Highways to your list of must-see Alaska tours and travel essentials. The roadways feature stunning scenery and good wildlife watching, making them one of the world’s finest picturesque drives.
Make a stop at Anchorage, Juneau, Seward, Sitka, and other famous towns on your way and enjoy the laid-back life of the Alaskan natives.
And by this, we come to the end of our Alaska tour and travel packages list. Listed above are some of the best deals which will help you to enjoy Alaska at its finest.
Endnote
Available for any of the Alaska tours and travel packages mentioned above, choose something of your own and create your own Alaska tour and travel packing list.
Whatever you choose, we can guarantee that you will not be disappointed when exploring Alaska. The crisp, fresh, and inhabited beauty of Alaska is sure to leave you flabbergasted. Happy Exploring!
Last Updated on by Pragya Chakrapani
