Alaska Cruise and Land Tour

A luxurious cruise around the state of Alaska is a great way to get to see more of one of the most beautiful natural environments in the United States. Miles of glaciers and undeveloped coastline provide serene scenery for an Alaska cruise and land tour, and cruise ships of varying sizes are available covering a wide variety of itineraries. The two most common areas sailed by cruise ships in Alaska are the Gulf of Alaska and the Inside Passage. If you choose to take your Alaska cruise and land tour on board of a large cruise ship (the kind that has hundreds of passengers) you can enjoy many kinds of entertainment, meals and shows while getting to know your fellow passengers on a long vacation as the ship travels on one of the more established routes. By taking a cruise on a smaller ship you can take advantage of more flexible itineraries which can visit towns farther inland on the smaller channels of Alaska and make frequent stops to give you a better sense of the flavor of the state.

The Alaska State Ferry is one of the least expensive travel options for people who want to be able to see the state of Alaska on a budget. Several ferries serve the state of Alaska, traveling between towns all up and down the coast as well as farther inland. You can generally board wherever you want and get off wherever you want, making it an easy travel option, although it does not provide a lot of luxury.

Big ship cruises of the Gulf of Alaska usually begin or end around the cities of Anchorage or Seward in the north, and run either to the state capital of Juneau or the city of Vancouver in Canada to the south. On a large cruise ship you can sit in a hot tub and watch the glaciers on the coast of Alaska pass you by, enjoying the combination of the stark arctic beauty and the many comforts of a luxury cruise.

Cruises of the Inside Passage take a route that lets you see more of the glacial channels protected from the action of the Pacific Ocean, as well as the internal parts of the southern archipelago of Alaska. Many Inside Passage cruises start and end in Vancouver, Canada, or have one terminus in Vancouver and the other one at or near Juneau.

Whichever path or option you decide to take, an Alaskan cruise is a great way to experience the grandeur of America’s largest state!