Inside Passage or Not
 

I am still planning our 2010 Alaska trip. We will have 2 weeks to see Denali, Anchorage & Kenai Pennisula. The part of the trip that I am still up in the air on is the Inside Passage. We have 6 days at the beginning or the end to go from Anchorage to Seattle or vice versa. We want to see glaciers & whales. We could take the Alaska ferry from Bellingham, WA and stop in Ketchikan, Petersburg, and then Juneau and fly to Anchorage. Or we can fly directly to Juneau and do day trips out of Juneau to see Glacier Bay, Tracy Arm, whale watching and then fly to Anchorage. We don't want a large cruise ship and we can't afford the small cruise ships. Any suggestions? Will we see more staying in Juneau or riding the ferry up from Washington?

We did the ferry from Bellingham to Skagway. You won't get close to glaciers at all but we saw some toward the end of our trip. With only 2 weeks, I would skip the Inside Passage and devote the time to Denali, Anc & KP. The ferry ride is very enjoyable but the main attraction for us was listening to the Forest Service lectures each day. We happened to see some orcas once. The ferry is an interesting experience but you will cover more territory and see more elsewhere. I think one of the reasons why the KP is so popular is because there is so much to see and do in that area. You will still do a lot of driving but between ANC and Denali there's a lot of driving and not as much to do.

One clarification. We have a total of 3 weeks for the trip. Two weeks we will spend at Denali, Anchorage & Kenai, so that leaves us 6 for Juneau or riding the ferry and then flying to Anchorage.

With 3 weeks in AK, spending a week in the Southeast and two weeks visiting Denali, Kenai Peninsula, and Anchorage seems like a good plan. I did this in 2000 and it worked well. We looked into the ferry when planning the trip, but found it was not the best use of our time. Aside from limited departures on the Bellingham to Juneau route (looks like only one per week, on Friday evening, in the summer ’09 schedule), the ferry is not quick (2.5 days from Bellingham to Juneau) and does not provide time in any of the towns it stops at. We opted to fly between the various Inside Passage towns we were interested in and were ticketed on Alaska Air from Seattle to Ketchikan to Juneau to Anchorage with stopovers in Ketchikan and Juneau. During the Juneau stopover, we did trips to Glacier Bay, Sitka, Haines, and Skagway. It wasn’t cheap, but there is really no way to visit all of these places in a week using the ferry.

Since you want to see glaciers and whales, your best bet is Glacier Bay. There are all day boat trips to the glaciers as well as separate whale watching trips. I would suggest flying from Seattle to Juneau, then heading to Glacier Bay, and then making your way to Anchorage. You might want to checkout visitglacierbay.com and look into package deals that include transportation from Juneau to Gustavus (Glacier Bay), lodging at Glacier Bay Lodge, and one or more of the tours.

If you opt to skip the Inside Passage entirely, I would recommend one of the all day boat tours out of Seward that go deep into Kenai Fjords National Park. You will most certainly see glaciers and probably some whales as well. We were back in Seward in August and took the 6 hour National Park tour with Kenai Fjords Tours (see kenaifjords.com). Great trip with lots of wildlife and glaciers. Highly recommend that tour or the longer 9 hour Northwestern Fjord tour.

If you have the time, Alaska, like Venice, is best approached from the water.

With 6 days, you have time to go up the Inside Passage, disembark at Juneau, and do a daytrip or overnight to Glacier Bay, and then fly to Anchorage.

The ferry departs Bellingham in the evening. You have 3 nights and 2 full days on the boat, leaving it early in the morning of the third day. You will still have the rest of that day. plus 3 more, to do as you like around Juneau and then fly on to Anchorage.

Thanks MileKing for the suggestions. I did not even realize that Alaska Air flew into Ketchikan. I will look into that, as I would rather spend the time there rather than taking several days to get there on the ferry.

What is the ferry ride like between Bellingham and Juneau? Is the scenery worth the 3 nights/2 days?

I always enjoyed the trip---it is peaceful, relaxing, and scenic. No glaciers, but lots of fjords, island, mountains, eagles, fishing villages, etc. I've never seen a whale from the ferry.

It is just up to you whether that fits your travel style or not. As MileKing pointed out, you don't really have time to explore the towns along the route; it is more about the journey.

Since there is only one sailing a week from Bellingham, it may come down to whether it fits your timing or not. For summer 2009, they leave B'ham at 6:00 pm on Friday and you arrive in Juneau early Monday morning. Depending on what day of the week you need to arrive in Anchorage, it may or may not work out.

Given your time frame, I would fly to Juneau and do day trips by small charter boat (there are plenty) for both whales and glaciers. You can take a day boat from Juneau to Tracy Arm Wilderness for spectacular tidewater glaciers, and you'll likely see whales during the trip. Another great option is to fly to Petersburg (via Alaska Airlines) and take a charter to LeConte Bay for the spectacular LeConte glacier, and do another day charter to Frederick Sound, one of the best places to see whales. Either way, you'll be happy. And don't miss hiking in the incredible rain forest of the Tongass National Forest!