Ketchikan: things to do

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

We have a northbound Alaska cruise booked for early June. We are looking for excursions to book. We do not want to flight-see, or fly-in anywhere for that matter, so was looking for anyone who's been to Ketchikan to give a recommendation for a fun excursion?

[Budget Queen]

First take a look at a shore excursion list and narrow down your interests. There are too many excursions to recommend. There's no point in my listing my "favorites" if you have no interest or outside your budget.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

First take a look at a shore excursion list and narrow down your interests. There are too many excursions to recommend. There's no point in my listing my "favorites" if you have no interest or outside your budget.

 

We definitely don't want to do flight seeing. We want to explore Ketchikan also so we're looking for a 3-4 hour tour to take either in the morning or afternoon. We are not set on any type of excursion so was just looking for suggestions.

[cole]

We definitely don't want to do flight seeing. We want to explore Ketchikan also so we're looking for a 3-4 hour tour to take either in the morning or afternoon. We are not set on any type of excursion so was just looking for suggestions.

 

We have used Dave 3 different times and highly recommend him if you want a great tour of Ketchikan. He can make it as short or as long as you want and will show you all of the beautiful sights. He is an environmentalist and loves the area.

http://www.ketchikantaxicabtours.com

 

Cole

[Budget Queen]

We definitely don't want to do flight seeing. We want to explore Ketchikan also so we're looking for a 3-4 hour tour to take either in the morning or afternoon. We are not set on any type of excursion so was just looking for suggestions.

 

I recommend Lois of Classic Tours

[mapleleaves]

Most towns have a web site to support local vendors and activities in the area. Google any towns name followed by visitor information or chamber of commerce to find it.

http://visit-ketchikan.com/

 

At the visitor booths they hand out maps for free walking tours of Ketchikan. It's an interesting and pretty port. You can also ride the local bus out to Totem Bight Park ... great totem displays and a waterfront location. Well worth the time and I think the bus is only about $2.

Look at the STICKY above called '2013 Alaska cruise reviews' and go to reply #45 where the trip reports are sorted by cruiseline. Reading thru the reports will provide you with some great suggestions.

[JimAOk1945]

Ketchikan is small enough that you can see the main sights by walking around town. The main points of interest are not too far apart.

[Glaciers]

This is a fairly comprehensive port guide to Ketchikan.

 

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Ketchikan-02-26-2014.pdf

[GeorgiaPeach]

This is a fairly comprehensive port guide to Ketchikan.

 

http://www.tomsportguides.com/Ketchikan-02-26-2014.pdf

 

This looks like a great link! Thanks for posting:D

[Glaciers]

This looks like a great link! Thanks for posting:D

 

Certainly has a lot of info. I stumbled upon this while looking for Europe info. There are dozens of ports listed. http://www.tomsportguides.com

[Fog123]

What a great resource. Thanks for the find.

 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

[JimAOk1945]

This website has downloadable maps if you decide you would like to do a self-guided walk around town. Great fun!

 

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/ketchikan-walking-tour.html

[ikirumata]

We have a northbound Alaska cruise booked for early June. We are looking for excursions to book. We do not want to flight-see, or fly-in anywhere for that matter, so was looking for anyone who's been to Ketchikan to give a recommendation for a fun excursion?

 

How about kayaking? Orcas cove is a nice place to kayak.

[notes4theheart]

I put the following together for my mother-in-law when we were planning on heading to Alaska together. Therefore, there are a lot of my own opinions and feedback on things I actually did and liked. I'll post if for you:

 

Ketchikan

 

• Great post by a local: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=37509046&postcount=23

 

• Local bus schedule: http://www.borough.ketchikan.ak.us/bus/BusTimetable.htm

 

• Walking tour (print from online or grab a printout at the info desk)

 

• Misty Fjords Flight-seeing

o This is something we have never done but lots of people talk about it as a

 

highlight of their trip. Misty Fjord is a national park. We briefly considered

 

the boat tour but really find it pricey. In addition, we really like the town of

 

Ketchikan and want to be sure we have enough time to wander around the

 

streets

 

• Misty Fjord Cruise

 

o Same as the above but by boat.

 

 

• Totem Bight (city bus, I think blue)

o Totem Poles. We haven’t been here and it’s supposed to be better than Saxman

 

It was closed the first day we were there and the second day we never wanted

 

to see another totem pole. (Sitka has a lot, but we won’t be there this cruise.)

 

o I think this is free

 

o Online there is a totem guide for Totem Bight you may want to print and bring

 

with you. http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/totembgh.htm

 

 

• Saxman (city bus, I think red) we did this

 

o Totem poles. We loved this and thought it was amazing. Then we saw so many

 

more totem poles and no longer liked it. You can get here on the bus BUT the

 

ship also has a tour here (or totem bight). If you go with the ship tour, you are

 

treated to a Native Alaskan dance

 

o The city bus ride was also awesome because there were lots of locals on our

 

bus. We also saw some wildlife from the bus and got to see some of the real

 

town

 

o I seem to remember paying something when we got off the bus

 

• Creek Street this is walking distance from the boat.

 

o You can see the salmon swimming upstream and up a salmon ladder. There’s

 

also some historic red light district stuff and decent shopping.

 

• Totem Heritage CenterflI can’t remember if we did this one or not, it starts to blend in my head

 

• Tongass Historical Museum fl pretty decent museum

 

• Southeast Alaska Discovery Center fl We only went here because we were too early for the bus

 

to Saxman Village. We really enjoyed it. It is a museum of sorts that gives a great introduction to

 

the rain forests of south east Alaska. Also some great Alaska native stuff. I believe it’s affiliated

 

with the National parks service

 

• I think there is a salmon hatchery there

 

• Luberjack Show

o We were never really interested in doing this so I don’t know much about it

 

• Land and Sea Duck Tour fl what we are doing

o This is as kitchy as it sounds. We’ve done a duck tour in Philly and really enjoyed

 

it. We’re doing this to get a bit of a narrative about the town and to see it from

 

lower in the water.

 

 

• Cape Fox lodge funicular

 

 

 

o We took this trip up because we heard so much about it. The view from the

 

top is really nice and it was cool to get the lay of the land. But the lodge itself

 

was boring. There was a nice collection of totem poles out back and then we

 

walked/wandered back down the mountain. We were trying to find married

 

man’s trail but I don’t think we ever did.

Edited May 2, 2014 by notes4theheart

[Crew News]

The most popular tour in Ketchikan is the Crab Fishing Demonstration aboard the Aleutian Ballad (from TVs Deadliest Catch series). They stop to feed more eagles than you can photograph, catch different species of crab, let you touch live sea life before it is returned to the water, and tell stories of filming the TV series on board.

[gretnagirl]

Last summer I had the opportunity to spend four days in Ketchikan on account of the Millennium breaking down and was able to see and do quite a bit of what this town has to offer. We didn't do much each day because we were always told to be back to the ship by something-o'clock to get our daily update (aka, "We're not leaving yet...please be back on board by..."), but here are the highlights:

 

Day 1- Flightseeing with Mountain Air. I know you don't want to fly, but it's what we did. We also meandered around town, did Creek Street (which, in my opinion, isn't much to experience...I just didn't understand all the hype), looked for a carving to buy, visited KetchiKandies (totally worth the stop- amazing fudge!), and took the obligatory tourist photos. I mean, when would we ever be back in Ketchikan???

 

Day 2- Guess what? We're still in Ketchikan! A group of us who ate breakfast together decided to take a taxi out of town to see a particularly populated lake of salmon and look for bears. We ended up with a great taxi driver who knew her stuff and was incredibly informative. We also stopped at a waterfall by the side of the road and Saxman Native Village where she gave us an impromptu tour...until she was rather rudely told to stop by the man running the village and we decided to leave as we were there to learn something about the history and culture of the native people, not just stare idly at totem poles. If you're able to have someone explain to you the stories and significance of the poles, do it. That was by far the best part of our little tour, hearing this lady explain her people's history through 3D art. We were annoyed at her having to shut it down.

 

Day 3- Honestly, can't remember. I think maybe we did some walking, poked around a few more stores, and generally stayed close to the ship as it had been announced that morning that the cruise was officially cancelled and travel arrangements were being made.

 

Day 4- Our travel arrangements had been made and we still had the day to spend in Ketchikan, so we did a kayak trip with Southeast Sea Kayaks. This is great! We went out to Orca's Cove hoping to see some whales, but we didn't; we did, however, witness the season's only elephant seal-spotting, so that was cool. Granted, it was just a blob across the water from us, but still, super cool. I would highly recommend this tour. Be prepared to get wet, be prepared to paddle hard, and be prepared to have a blast. It's pricey, but well worth the money; it was a fantastic way to end our time in Ketchikan.

 

We are heading back to Alaska this summer on the Millennium (our motto is, Just get us past Ketchikan!) and we're planning a pretty easy day in our favourite town- Totem Bight and a do-it-yourself tour from the city bus. I think that this could be a DIY port since there's a lot to do and you really only reservations for the big tours. Whatever you do, enjoy it, and hope that your ship makes it to the next port!

[dolson367]

We were also on the Millennium trip that spent extra time in Ketchikan (first cruise ever, first time to Alaska so our motto for the "take 2" trip this June is "I want to get more than 100 miles into Alaska")!

 

We are into flying, which I know you said you are not, but I highly recommend seeing Misty Fjords somehow!

 

Day 1 (our planned port stop): Flight-seeing in Misty Fjords. There are also boat tours (and boat/flight combos) but we went with the flight. Spectacular, gorgeous, phenomenal!

 

The pilot told us about a little fish and chips joint right on the north side of the pier area. Right near the water, on the boardwalk...the name is escaping me right now. It was the best fish & chips I've ever had!

 

Day 2: Flight-seeing to an island to go bear-watching. A big splurge to fly again, but bear-watching was something we had wanted to do and couldn't fit into our original schedule. Took advantage of the extra day since we couldn't go whale watching in Ketchikan, which was what we were scheduled to do in Icy Strait Point that day. In a strange sort of way, thankful after we rushed back for 3 pm "all aboard" without having time for lunch that "all aboard" was now midnight...back to the fish & chips again! Took a picture of our ship with the fish & chips in the background for a good memory of why we were back there.

 

Day 3: Took advantage of a gorgeous, sunny day in Ketchikan and just walked around town. We're not big shoppers on vacations, so our walking was mostly following the creel out of the immediate port area and checking out the salmon run. Took the funicular up to cape lodge (it's not worth the ride unless you have mobility issues - you can walk to the Cape Lodge area pretty easily). Ate lunch at the lodge...on a fish & chip binge, but I will be heading back to my dockside joint for my future fish & chips this summer! The food at the lodge was good, just not as good.

 

We left early the next morning. I still laugh that on our first day (before the engine problems had caused us to turn back) when flightseeing, we took a picture of the Ketchikan airport. A few days later we have another picture from the runway of the chartered 747 to take us back to Vancouver!