Best of Yukon and Alaska Sightseeing Tour

Welcome to Canada's Yukon Territory! Your tour guide will meet you at the airport and transfer you to your hotel, where you will meet your fellow travellers. Your guide will run the group through a brief orientation.

After breakfast, you’ll take the opportunity to explore Yukon's capital. This may include a visit to the SS Klondike, a restored sternwheeler next to the Yukon River. From here, the group will take a short trip westbound along the Alaska Highway to Haines Junction. This small town is located right next to Kluane National Park, which contains a significant portion of the largest non-polar ice fields on earth and is home to a variety of wildlife. Depending on the weather and the group’s interest, you may take a short, guided hike into the national park, or charter a bush plane over the spectacular glaciers that lay beyond the front ranges.

Today you’ll drive along the scenic shore of eighty-kilometre long Kluane Lake. The first stop will be the Sheep Mountain Visitor Center, where chances are good you’ll spot the Dall sheep that make their home on high in the surrounding mountains. Shortly after, you will stop at the Soldier Summit. This site will give us more information about the construction of the Alaska Hwy, and it commemorates a ceremony that took place on 20 November 1942. Further on the Alaska Hwy, the group will reach the Alaska-Canada (ALCAN) border in the afternoon. You’ll then continue along the Alaska Highway to Tok, a very special little hub of the north.

The first part of today’s leg of the journey leads you along the Glenn Highway, passing spectacular Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. From here you take the Richardson Highway southbound to the small seaport of Valdez at the Pacific coast, crossing of the Coast Range via the Thompson Pass, where waterfalls thunder right next to the road. Valdez, known as Little Switzerland to locals, is surrounded by snowy mountains. It is also the end point of the world-famous Trans Alaska Pipeline, where enormous oil tankers come and go.

Today you’ll cross Prince William Sound via ferry. Without a doubt this is a highlight, even by Alaskan standards. The ferry gives you breathtaking vistas of the Fjords and glaciers along the Pacific, and with a bit of luck you’ll have the chance to spot otters, puffins, sea lions, and even whales.

Once ashore you will continue overland through the scenic Chugach mountain range, the glacier lakes and rivers to the coastal town of Seward. In this lively town, take the chance to treat yourself with Alaskan king crab at one of the numerous restaurants and go for a private lovely walk on the coast.

Seward is world-famous for the nearby Kenai Fjords National Park, which offers some of the best marine life viewing in the world. We highly recommend taking the optional motorboat tour into the park this morning.

The rest of the day begins with a drive through the Kenai Mountains and later along the Turnagain Arm to Anchorage. Keep an eye out for the beluga whales that hunt in the tidal waters along the way. Back in Alaska’s biggest city the group can enjoy a nice dinner together in the evening. You also can check out Lakes Hood and Spenard, where up to 800 floatplanes take off and land daily. The aviation museum is nearby, a great place to gain an appreciation for this important part of Alaskan life.

Today you leave the Pacific coast region and move inland again. The George Parks Highway takes you north to Denali National Park, past sweeping panoramic views of distant glaciers, with glimpses of the beaver dams along the nearby river.

Late afternoon, you have the opportunity to take an optional one-hour glacier flight over Denali (Mount McKinley), which at 6193 meters is the highest peak in North America. This is a highly recommended adventure, particularly when the weather is clear.

In the morning you’ll take a park-owned shuttle bus deep into one of the most scenic landscapes in North America. Without a doubt, this is a highlight of most visitors’ experience. Weather permitting, you’ll get a view of soaring Denali, and with a little luck you will see wolves, Dall sheep, moose, caribou, and grizzly bears along the scenic loop.

Back on the George Parks Highway, you will reach Fairbanks early in the afternoon, the city of the midnight sun. Fairbanks is a unique northern town about 320 kilometres south of the Arctic Circle, and the rest of the day is free to explore places of interest in and around it. Fairbanks offers everything you need for a true city experience. You can visit a diversity of museums to learn more about the geology and history of Alaska or use the afternoon to take a relaxed walk next to the Chena River and downtown. In addition, you could take a sternwheeler cruise on the Chena River (optional).

On the road again! You’ll see the Trans-Alaska Pipeline crossing the Tanana River right next to the highway. In Delta Junction, you’ll re-join the Alaska Highway and stop at the local visitor centre. From here you strike out into the open tundra along the Top of the World Highway, passing through quirky northern towns like Chicken and Action Wade Camp, and crossing the international border again at Little Gold Creek, the highest border checkpoint anywhere on the continent.

In the afternoon you’ll cross the Yukon River by ferry to reach Dawson City.

This legendary boomtown was epicentre of the famous Klondike gold rush of 1898, and gold still animates the place. Immerse yourself in Dawson’s history and try your luck panning the creeks yourself. You’ll also want to take some time to simply stroll around the town, with its garish Gold Rush architecture and friendly locals.

In the evening, the turn-of-the-century style casino and can-can girls kick up their skirts for an evening of entertainment at Diamond Tooth Gertie’s Gambling Hall.

An early start puts you on the Dempster Highway with plenty of time to explore. This gravel highway, built on solid permafrost, is Canada’s only link by road to the remote town of Inuvik, 738 kilometres away. You’ll take the Dempster up into Tombstone Territorial Park, where jagged black mountains give the area its name and the vast arctic tundra begins.

Back in Dawson City you will drive up the Midnight Dome and enjoy the beautiful vistas.

Today you’ll head back to Whitehorse via the Klondike Highway. Along the way, you can catch many glimpses of the mighty Yukon River, one of the longest waterways in North America and the historic artery of Yukon and Alaska. The group will stop at the infamous Five Finger Rapids, and you can stretch your legs at any of the old post offices, roadhouses, and small villages that still give the area a unique northern character.

In the late afternoon you will arrive in Whitehorse. There, you can visit Miles Canyon, a most dramatic natural feature where the Yukon River has cut its way down through a flow of basaltic lava.

From Whitehorse, a day trip takes you down the Klondike Highway to the Alaskan Coast again. This drive will provide you with several wonderful photo opportunities, like the Carcross desert or the colorful Emerald Lake. In just 175 kilometres, you will pass through a wonderful variety of ecoregions and alpine landscapes as you cross over the continental divide to the seaport of Skagway. Like Dawson, Skagway is a legendary gold rush town that has preserved its turn-of-the-century character. For an up-close experience of the infamous White Pass, try taking an optional train ride along the narrow-gauge railway back to Carcross.

The tour is officially over, giving you the chance to relax or do a little shopping in Whitehorse before returning home. The team will provide a transfer to the airport or to a connecting program when it’s time.