time spent in the towns

[cabrx]

On a southbound cruise in May which stops at Skagway, Juneau and Ketchican. My husband and myself have booked excursions but then I realized that we have left ourselves little time to "walk the streets". Are the towns worth visiting? Thanks in advance.

[Alaskanb]

Personally I have planned some town time for everywhere we visit. Part of a trip for us is exploring local history.

[JoRoy218]

Hubby and I just did a SB Princess cruise to those same ports. We did excursions all three stops and had a bit of time left over to look at the area close to the docks. Skagway seemed to be the easiest to cover in a brief amt of time. Basically one main street, loaded with shops. Depends if you're in a shopping mood or not, how much time you need to spend here. Juneau is a much larger city with as expected, a ton of shops. Many of them jewelry stores, similar to what you see in the Caribbean with "touristy" prices. Lots of history here, would have liked more time to learn about this city. Mendenhall Glacier is not very far away with shuttle buses available. Ketchikan is also a fairly walkable town either before or after your excursion. Plenty of shops right at the pier and within a 10 min walk. If you just want to walk around, both Skagway and Ketchikan are easy to do so. Juneau is packed with shops and eateries within a 10 min walk from the ship -- seems like you need to go further to see the "real town." Have a wonderful time -- we can't wait to go back.

[SweetP2]

Thank you JoyRoy for sharing your experience, thoughts on the post. We too will be doing the same ports in Sept 2012 and were wondering how much we can do on our own - walking, exploring etc.

 

Regards,

SP

[Budget Queen]

Yes all the "towns" have interesting history. To make the most of it, I suggest heading to your library and taking out Fodor's Alaska, Frommers Alaska, Ports of Call, etc. Request visitor guides, http://www.skagway.com http://www.visit-ketchikan.com http://www.traveljuneau.com

 

All have walking tours.

[Budget Queen]

Yes all the "towns" have interesting history. To make the most of it, I suggest heading to your library and taking out Fodor's Alaska, Frommers Alaska, Ports of Call, etc. Request visitor guides, http://www.skagway.com http://www.visit-ketchikan.com http://www.traveljuneau.com

 

All have walking tours.

[SweetP2]

Yes all the "towns" have interesting history. To make the most of it, I suggest heading to your library and taking out Fodor's Alaska, Frommers Alaska, Ports of Call, etc. Request visitor guides, www.skagway.com www.visit-ketchikan.com www.traveljuneau.com

 

All have walking tours.

 

Awesome resource info THANKS! - this is exactly what I was wanting to get our hands on...looks like the books might be a good xmas pressie. I'll also contact each visitor centre for obtaining guides too! :D

 

SP

[Ashland]

I can't imagine visiting a port anywhere and not have enough time to walk into town..especially in the Alaska ports you will be in...We loved our time spent in each of these..Just a note, if you like fudge take the time to walk to the Alaskan Fudge Company in Juneau on Franklin Street..just follow your nose.:D

[NHsnowpup]

I can't imagine visiting a port anywhere and not have enough time to walk into town..especially in the Alaska ports you will be in...We loved our time spent in each of these..Just a note, if you like fudge take the time to walk to the Alaskan Fudge Company in Juneau on Franklin Street..just follow your nose.:D

We did blue bus to Mendenhall, walk TO the falls, back and then a town walkabout, added the tram when weather cleared, WOW to see the view and our ship looking like a matchbox car, and then hit a shop for a fast run through while watching our all aboard time.

On our walkabout we found that Juneau also has lots of really neat streets, flower baskets, flags, small fountain parks, dock side park, stairs instead of sidewalks, a super little pizza place just up the street from the ahem McDonald's, murals/sculptures of native culture/legends, totem poles, flume walk, bear statue, and . . . . The view of walking back down to the dock area and seeing a ship that looks like it's on the main street is just a mindbender. One of the best shops is at the top of the tram, though the one at the bottom across the street did have a good deal on the hat/t-shirt combo that hubby was looking for and also had a special coupon price for the black/grey stone jewelry I thought was cool.

Collapsed when we got back on the ship, with smiles on our faces.

 

I knew about all of these things from reading the guidebooks multiple times and mapping out our walking to cover all of them without backtracking. Had to abort the farthest part of the loop cause of time, but that was part of the plan going in.

[Alaskanb]

We are in Juneau from 8am to 9 pm and have planned to visit the Alaska State Museum (8:30 -10), Orca Whale Watch tour (10:30 -2), and walk at Mendenhall (2-4), and then around town. How late are places open?

[Northern Aurora]

Some ideas for those who have booked excursions, but have a little bit of free time:

 

Skagway:

 

The Skagway Museum is located in the McCabe College Building (7th and Spring). This little museum is in a turn of the century building which has had a number of uses through the years and now houses a fun collection of Klondike stuff.

 

The Klondike Gold Rush National Park has a fun interpretative center located downtown with great displays. They should have several other buildings open as well.

 

For those who have rented a car for the day and still have time before having to return it, consider a drive to Dyea. While the town has basically disappeared, this is the location of the start of the Chilkoot Trail. The NPS has a campground here and if you have time it is fun to walk out along the trail for a bit. The DH and I camped at this campground in the 1980s and at that time I don't remember that the location of any of the old buildings at Dyea had been marked, but last summer we found that the NPS has now marked several building remnants. We also found some building foundations not marked -- you need to take care not to fall into any holes. The victims of the avalanche on the Golden Stairs are also buried here at the Slide Cemetary.

 

Juneau:

 

The Alaska State Museum is just downtown and within easy walking distance.

 

The Mt. Roberts Tramway is also right downtown, and on a beautiful day the view is spectacular. This past May on the tram ride back down the operator told us they had seen bears on the ride up, so we all looked but didn't see anything. The DH and I returned to the Infinity and from the bow of the ship we saw the sow and two cubs. There was quite the little party watching those bears, and a number of people on the dock looking at us wondering what we all found so fascinating. In 2011 the Alaska Tour Saver coupon book had a discount coupon for the tram.

 

Ketchikan:

 

It is always fun to walk up to Creek Street and see the funky buildings and shops. These shops also seem to have more authentic made in Alaska products then the ones closer to the dock.

 

The Totem Heritage Center (601 Deermouth St) is near the fish hatchery and a very easy walk from Creek Street. The totems are beautiful and well worth the $5.00 admission fee.

 

The Tongas Historical Museum is also right downtown (629 Dock St). It isn't very large but we again thought well worth the $2 admission.

 

I am looking forward to reading the suggestions from others as to how to spend the time between excursions.

[cruzn single]

We loved being in Juneau and just walking around before our tour. We went to Alaska State Capitol, and then happened into Russian Orthodox Church while priest was giving a talk and we spent over an hour listening.

 

Skagway we joined a Park Service walking tour which was great fun.

 

On every visit to Ketchikan, we always enjoy walking around, going into Park Service building, and visiting shops.

 

Towns in SE Alaska are really fun and since they are so small, it makes for great walking self-tours!

 

ENJOY!

[Dani83]

Thanks everyone for the great information! Very helpful....

[cabrx]

Thanks for the answers . I think I will pick up some books ( now that the weather is cooling down) and re-evaluate the ports. ;)