I'm wrapping up the final details of our July trip to Alaska. Sitka is our last stop, and I'm trying to decide if it is worth a 3rd full day before heading home. DH is thinking maybe not, I'm leaning toward yes - but the fares are somewhat higher if I add in the extra day. We arrive from Glacier Bay around 10p or so and will have 3 nights, 2 full days, with a flight leaving in the morning back towards Seattle. Or 4 nights, 3 full days, whichever. Can you help mediate a family dispute? It's going to be our 40th wedding anniversary, so want it to be special. But Alaska is expensive.

Itinerary:

• Looong day flight from Orlando to Kotzebue, arr 6p-ish
• 2 nights in Kotzebue, sacrificing day 1 to jet lag
• Fly to Nome, arrive 730p for 4 nights/3 full days
• Fly to Juneau, arrive 9p-ish, 1 night/partial day only
• Fly to Glacier Bay, 3 nights, leave Juneau 5p-ish
• Fly to Sitka, arrive 10p
• Stay in Sitka 3-4 nights
• Fly Sitka to Orlando with an overnight at Seattle airport

If you vote for the extra day in Sitka, can you sketch out 3 days worth of activities for me to lure DH with? He loves seafood, history, seafood, nature but no strenuous hikes, seafood, native culture, and bears. And seafood (especially halibut).

It'd help to know what you're already planning to do in Sitka. Presumably the Raptor Center and Fortress of the Bear at least, but what else? There are certainly options like whale watching and other wildlife tours available. I'd definitely include the Historical Park with its totem poles and insight into the rich cultural heritage of the Tlingits and other Native Americans, and of course the various Russian artifacts like the Orthodox church. But a lot will have to do with your energy levels after what will probably have been a pretty intensive time up to that point.

If you're flying on Alaska Airlines for the whole thing (I assume you are) then I believe Alaska still allows a free stopover in Seattle on any lower 48 - Alaska itinerary. What if the extra night was spent decompressing in Seattle? Just thinking out loud.

Thanks, Gardyloo. Yes, Alaska Airlines for the whole thing. I couldn't bring up a free stopover by choosing multicity, but the flight I'm looking at does get into Seattle about 1:30p and doesn't leave Seattle until 7:40am. The price for that is pretty good - $410 from Sitka to Orlando, if we leave Sitka on Friday and get into Orlando on Saturday afternoon; $499 for leaving on Saturday and getting home on Sunday afternoon. So I guess that counts, although we'd certainly stay at an airport property, possibly take the light rail on into the city, or visit with friends who live in Tumwater.

As for plans in Sitka - no whale watching, but everything else you mentioned. I could talk DH into staying another day easily if there were roads that would let him drive around, but in the absence of that.. Russian history and associated sites most certainly. I saw mention of dance performances by Tlingit dancers and also Russian dancers but still researching to see if that is a possibility. Would you have any recommendations as to lodging or restaurants?

Dispute resolved. DH found more things he wanted to do/see in Sitka and agreed to the extra day. By using multi-city routing on Alaska Air, we ended up with great flight schedules, with a MCO-SEA r/t routing that is better than I could get at Southwest. Thinking of getting their credit card before I go, haven't decided tho.

Thanks.

Sounds great.

The credit card is a pretty good deal as airline-branded cards go. The 40K miles at signup are excellent value (Alaska's is one of the best frequent flyer programs out there, with many partners) but the real deal is the annual companion certificate - one passenger pays the going price, the second pays $99 plus taxes (usually $122 all in) for the same itinerary, which can be one-way, round trip, open-jaw, whatever, as long as all segments are on AS metal. Remember too that since Alaska bought Virgin America, its route system is enormous, so this perk can be used over many routes.

Took my daughter's family to Alaska June 2019. We spent two days in Sitka before our cruise. One day Fortress of the Bear, totem Pole Park. For Fortress, we took the city bus ($2.00 per person each way) and walked a further 200 yards. Admission $5 kids - instead of the canned bus/Fortress tour at $50+ per person. (See their website) Bus stop is next to the Reindeer Sausage hot dog stand. Second day - Bishops House, St. Michael's Cathedral, Baranof Castle and other walking-distance locations like Totem Park and Raptor Center. Check out this map: Visit-Sitka-WalkingMap.pdf and stop at Visitors Center. You may find that the bus will cut down your walking travel to Raptor and totems.
Had dinner at Mean Queen pizza and Bayview Pub.

Appreciate that advice and the map, we'll make good use of it. Also hoping to get some good halibut, if anybody has any favorites. We're staying at the Sitka Hotel, so should be pretty much in the middle of things.

We had a nice meal at Beak last year https://www.facebook.com/Beak-Restau...25364665/menu/

I love your itinerary. Hope that you had a great trip. Where did you stay in Sitka and did you like it?

cmstraf - sadly, the 2020 COVID situation completely quashed the entire trip. Everything closed down, even Alaska Airlines threw in the towel and just decided to refund the nonrefundable fares rather than keep trying (I am still thankful!). This was supposed to be "the" vacation, for my 65th birthday and our 40 year wedding anniversary. Instead, we stayed in (and remained healthy, thankfully again). I got laid off with an adequate severance package that let me ease into retirement.

I remain hopeful that we will make it up there, but not yet in the cards.

Sludick, I hope yo can get to Alaska one day!

So sorry to hear about the 2020 cancellation. Do keep trying. I went in 1972 in my adventurous youth and hope to go back next year for my 75th birthday/our 30th anniversary "last" Big Trip, having gone to Europe once a year to see my Italian husband's parents when they were alive and taken three bucket list trips in my sixties.
It was magical. Consider adding Denali if you go and seeking somewhere to stay that is not Aramark's big Disneyland looking lodge at the park boundary.

I was supposed to make a solo adventure trip to South Africa last month, all planned, paid for with a sizable deposit (travel insurance cost $3000 but paid 75% of deposit). The combination of Covid and the political upheaval caused me to cancel it. My husband and I are both at risk for severe Covid, so our hopes for next year may be a pipe dream. We would probably spend 2-4 nights in Sitka, 2-3 nights in Glacier Bay National Park, 3-4 nights in Denali, and maybe 4 nights in Seward/Kenai area. Our Covid time has been mostly to Yosemite and one road trip to Arizona. I'm retired, and my husband is chomping at the bit.

Good luck and don't give up!

Thanks, and we won't give up. We have finalized plans for a long road trip this September-October that will take us from Florida up through the Dakota - where we've never been - and a more thorough roam through Wyoming, Utah, into Arizona (Sedona, for a wedding), and home. That was another bucket list trip, the longest and likely the last very high mileage road trip we will make. Alaska will of course be a series of flights, an adventure of another sort.