Introducing Alaska
Big, beautiful and wildly bountiful. Far away, rurally isolated and very expensive. Alaska is a traveler’s dilemma. There are few places in the world with the grandeur and breathtaking beauty of Alaska. Not only is Mt McKinley the highest peak in North America, it’s also a stunning sight when you catch its alpenglow in Wonder Lake at Denali National Park. A 900lb brown bear catching a leaping salmon in its jaws is not something seen in Iowa, but a common apparition on Kodiak and Admiralty Island and in the scenic Katmai National Park, a hop-skip-jump from King Salmon or Homer. A 5-mile-wide glacier shedding chunks of ice the size of small cars is another unique Alaskan sight; for this quiet thrill, venture down to Juneau, gateway to Glacier Bay National Park, or to Prince William Sound, boasting the largest collection of tidewater glaciers.
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For adventurous types with a little extra time and a love for life on a grand scale - whether it’s kayaking through a sea of icebergs and seals around the coast of Kenai Fjords National Park or witnessing a 40-ton humpback whale breaching in Southeast Alaska - this state is a hard place to pass up.
Alaska is also an out-of-the-way and costly destination for anybody tripping through the rest of the country. It takes a week on the road to reach the 49th state, two to three days on a ferry or, from any region outside the Northwest, a $600-to-$800 airline ticket. Once there you’ll find accommodations expensive, bus and train options meager and much of the state roadless and inaccessible. But once there, even on a short side trip, you’ll marvel at this amazing land and begin plotting your return.
Ready to go? These recommended tours make it easy:
- Experience Alaska's most beautiful National Parks
- Go on a whale-watching adventure
Last updated: Jan 20, 2012
Tips & articles
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Ten unusual honeymoon hotspots
23 April 2012
It’s your honeymoon, so it has to be special and unique. From the windswept beaches of a car-free island in...
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Urban wildlife-spotting in Alaska
18 April 2012
At first look, Anchorage’s cityscape could be from Anywhere, USA: strip malls, stoplights, town homes. But there’s something different about...
Thorn Tree forum discussion
Recent posts
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RE: Alaska July 2012 - looking for a fellow traveller(s) and/or for help
by trekker502 24 May 2012
The Dalton Highway ends in Fairbanks, so you must go through Fairbanks to get to Denali NP. You may either take the train or an Alaska…
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Re: Alaska July 2012 - looking for a fellow traveller(s) and/or for help
by section8 24 May 2012
1.) This sounds like the Anaktuvak Pass-Ernie Pass-Oolah Pass-Kuyuktuvuk Creek route. It's a fantastic route and one of the best ways…
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RE: traveling in Alaska
by dutchpickle 23 May 2012
...miss camping out on the Homer spit (beach) years ago ha ha (maybe 35?) and fishing all nite while sitting with friends next to a campf…
Alaska
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Our Top Picks For Alaska
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1 Barrow
Icy, intriguing, and utterly unlike any part of USA you've ever visited
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2 Denali National Park
Bears, moose, caribou, wolves - and the biggest mountain in North America
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3 Fairbanks
Steamy hot springs, shimmering Northern Lights, and Alaska’s most enjoyable amusement park
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4 Nome
At the edge of the continent, Alaska's most unlikely gold rush lives on
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5 Talkeetna
Mountaineers, aviators, hippies and bush rats form Alaska's most offbeat community
Our favourite Alaska Blogs (beta)
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Something Fishy in Alaska
Blog: A Traveler's Library - 10 May 2012
Tasty Travels Destination: Alaska Book: Alaska, The Fishes and Dishes Cookbook: Seafood Recipes and Salty Stories from Alaska’s Commercial Fisherwomen (2010) by Kiyo Marsh, Tomi Marsh, and Laura Cooper Something Fishy By Brette Sember If you’ve ever dreamed of fishing (and eating) in Alaska, The Fishes & Dishes Cookbook: Seafood Recipes and Salty Stories from Alaska’s Commercial Fisherwomen by [...]This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for rel
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FREE Parks FREE Guide
Blog: A Traveler's Library - 20 April 2012
Earth Day Travel Each year in April, the U. S. National Parks open their doors for free. (Many parks are free all year long, but more than 100 of the 397 parks have a charge.) During National Parks Week, April 21-April 29,coinciding with Earth Day, you can enter parks from Alaska’s Denali to Yosemite in [...]This content is a post from: A Traveler's Library To comment on this post or search for related information, click on the link to A Traveler's Library. We'll leave a light on for you.
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Water Sports Around the World
Blog: Canada's Adventure Couple - 18 April 2012
This spring, we asked our readers to help us choose where American Express should send us on our next adventure: Our next trip is on water and we have put together our top choices for water sports around the world.
