Juneau-Douglas City Museum

Lonely Planet review

The Juneau-Douglas City Museum focuses on local goldmining history with interesting displays and the video Juneau: City Built On Gold . Booklets on the Perseverance Trail and the Treadwell Mine Historic Trail are available and, if you're a hiker, the museum's 7ft-long relief map is the best overview of the area's rugged terrain other than a helicopter ride.

If you're suffering from gold fever, this is the place to turn up the heat. Many of its exhibits focus on the fascinating gold-mining history of Juneau and Douglas, while in its video room you can watch the documentary Juneau: City Built On Gold . Still feverish? The staff has brochures and booklets that will lead you to nearby mines and other remnants of Juneau's golden history.

Also in the city centre, the Alaska State Museum offers an outstanding showcase into Alaska's past. There are artefacts from all four indigenous groups - Athabascan, Aleut, Inuit and northwest coast people - and displays relating to the Russian period, major gold strikes in the state and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. A bonus for families: the museum has a kids' room, with natural-history exhibits and dress-up costumes.