Advice for one day in Juneau
 

Hello, We'll be in Juneau on August 11th...next week...from 12 noon to 9pm when we're due back on the cruise ship.
We've read all the "don't miss" reviews and have not yet narrowed down what we want to do. Would you give us an idea of how to spend the day: rent a car? ..a cab?...a boat?.....How would you structure the day and what would you see?
Thank you for your ideas.

The best shore adventure we ever had was a helicopter ride and walking on a glacier in Juneau. It was so beautiful and so quite. A great memory.

We rented a car and went to Mendenhall Glacier first. Got there before the busses. We then drove as far as you could-great scenery.

We went whale watching and were able to see the whales "bubble net feeding" which is one of the most amazing things a human can ever observe.

Here is a link to what bubble net feeding is all about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxC7a3KQKpw

We got a city bus or a shuttle bus of some sort from Juneau to Mendelhall for a lot less money than the tour buses and you have the flexibility of going and returning whenever you want. Assume something like that still exists.

We did 2 things in Juneau...did the helicopter with glacier landing, and then did a whale watch. Both were really excellent. But I have to agree with cd. Of all the things we did on our Alaska trip, the glacier landing was the most spectacular and memorable. And also expensive, but worth every penny.

The whale watch was great, although we were not lucky enough to see bubble net feeding, and the only breach we saw was at a distance. We did see a ton of humpback whales, and a good sized pod of Orcas. I loved it. We did one of the smaller boats, booked through Orca Enterprises. About 20 people on board, instead of the 40-50 on the cruise ship excursions.

Thank you so much. I've taken notes. Sunbum, do you remember who you went with to see the bubble net feeding. That video was amazing.

We also did the helicopter landing on the glacier. Expensive but worth it. The only time in my life I have not lied about my true weight, since they pack you into a helicopter the size of a phone booth (if you are old enough to remember phone booths) with 6 people and a pilot who seems to have been born in this century. Seating is distributed by weight. The helicopter tips over Juneau enroute to glacier and I found myself wondering why I had chosen to die in Alaska. Once I opened my eyes, the view was incredible. You get maybe a half hour on the glacier, but likely something you will never do again. (On the trip back to helicopter base I actually opened my eyes the entire way)

As far as renting a car - interesting factoid - you can only reach Juneau from the rest of Alaska by air or sea. So a car is not going to get you very far.

Gail, I know what you mean about the weight. We must have had a smaller helicopter than you had, we only had 4 plus the pilot. The absolute best shore excursion we have ever had! http://www.coastalhelicopters.com/

Sorry- don't remember who we went whale watching with- booked the excursion through the cruise line- it was very amazing to watch and we saw the whales do it several times. Then we moved away from that pod and soon found another pod doing the same thing.

The highlight of my trip for sure!