Trying to figure out the best ferry route from lower 48 to Juneau. I'll be headed to Juneau for a week this summer. Looking for the most cost efficient route. I'm willing to go from Washington or drive further up into Alaska to catch a ferry. I'll be driving across country from Pa. Any info you can offer will be wonderful! Thank you

The ferry to Alaska leaves from Bellingham, Washington. Here is the official website for booking: http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/

The Bellingham ferry is really the only practical option for you. Take a look a a map, just north of Washington is British Colombia. You'd have to drive hundreds of miles north to get to the southernmost tip of Alaska. Anchorage is over 2000 miles from the Canadian border.

If you're just going for a week, why are you driving? Not only will the ferries probably be fully booked (and are so months and months in advance) but they're crushingly expensive if taking a car.

If you just want a road trip across the country, drive to Portland or Seattle, park the car and fly up to Juneau. If you need a car while you're there (not many miles of roads) just rent one.

I was thinking the same thing. You mentioned a week - it will take a week to drive across the country. Fly!

Spending a week in Juneau my daughter will be dancing there. Was planning to drive just for the experience of it. We planned to take 3 weeks for the whole trip. We've driven across to Washington before my husband is retired military so road trips are nothing. Maybe we should just drive to Bellingham & fly up. How much do you need a car while in Juneau? We would still like to do some exploring while there.

We were planning on 3 weeks of travel. My daughter will spend a week in Juneau dancing but we would still like to explore the area. Are most places accessible without a car? The road trip was more of the experience & fun. We have road tripped to Washington in the past because my husband was in the military & we lived there at one time. I love road trips but have been struggling with decisions on this one. We want to be able to see the area while there.

I'm glad to hear that you have three weeks.

If you are looking forward to the road trip, here are a couple of options:

1. Drive to Bellingham, drop off the rental car and take the ferry to Alaska.

2. Drive to Seattle, drop off the car and fly to Juneau.

3. Fly to Juneau from home, then take the ferry to Bellingham and drive across the country.

<i>We were planning on 3 weeks of travel... Maybe we should just drive to Bellingham & fly up. How much do you need a car while in Juneau?</i>

With three weeks of travel, one of which is in Juneau, you're looking at two pretty high-speed crossings of the continent if you drive the whole way to/from the west coast. (Unless I misunderstood and you have three weeks PLUS the week in Juneau.)

Juneau is only accessible by sea or air; "exploring the area" - beyond the very limited local road system in Juneau (all dead-ends) really means flying somewhere or taking the ferry to some other community - Sitka, Ketchikan, some smaller towns and villages, etc. How much do you need a car? Well, you really don't, but if you do you can rent one locally quite easily.

You haven't said when this trip is to take place, but if it's during the cruise season (mid-May to mid-September) there are thousands of cruise passengers visiting Juneau every day, and dozens and dozens of excursions targeted to the cruise passengers - whale watching, helicopter flights, fishing, glacier visits, you name it - are available; you could piggy-back on them easily.

If you choose to fly, Bellingham isn't your choice; the nonstop flights leave from Seattle (Alaska and Delta Airlines) but airfare might actually be cheaper from some other cities. For example a round-trip from Los Angeles (via Seattle) in August is cheaper than one from Seattle. Go figure - that's how weird airfares can be.

If you want a road trip, one thing to consider is flying to Anchorage, road trip around southcentral Alaska (Denali, Kenai Peninsula, etc.) then fly to Juneau for your visit, then fly down to Seattle (or Portland or LA) and fly home from there.

Let us know when this trip is to take place and we can be more helpful.

If budget allows it I'd:
- fly from PA to Seattle
- fly from SEA to Juneau (there are direct/non-stops)
- spend time in Juneau
- fly from JNU to Anchorage (spend time in southcentral & interior)
- fly from ANC back to SEA and home to PA

The boat and associated possible drives are wonderful,but both eat up time and money (easily nearly a week each way). Coming to AK can be a once-in-a-lifetime experience; I'd try to avoid wasting time I could actually use with my feet on the ground doing/seeing stuff in AK.

》How much do you need a car while in Juneau?《

Not enough to justify the nosebleed expense of getting it there, IMHO. I think the total paved roads is somewhere around 44 miles. Save yourselves the money and extra time, leave the car behind.