Alaska Excursions

Alaska Excursions

Wide range of glorious day trips throughout Southcentral Alaska.

Iditarod 39

Photos and stories from the last great race.

Anchorage: 21°/27°/Clear

Fairbanks: -2°/20°/Clear

Juneau: 25°/38°/Intermittent clouds

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Fairbanks-area fishing

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Ferry times to Alaska

People coming to Alaska often get on the state ferry at Bellingham, Wash., and float north to Haines, where they head up a road to the Alaska Highway. How long is the Bellingham-Haines trip?

Flight time to Anchorage

A flight to Anchorage from Seattle, the most commonly used connection point, takes about 3 hours 30 minutes.

Getting to Alaska

Many of Anchorage's visitors fly into or out of Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, west of downtown.

Vacationers have a wide variety of ways to get to Alaska.

Rental cars in Alaska

Having a rental car makes it easy to stop along the highway -- say, to photograph a Dall sheep near the Seward Highway south of Anchorage.

Rental cars, minivans and SUVs vary in make and price, but one thing doesn't change -- travelers should reserve their vehicle early.

Head out along the Chena for grayling

Although Fairbanks isn't an angling hot spot, the Chena River offers opportunities for catch-and-release grayling fishing. Grayling, popular for their willingness to bite, are available just about anywhere in the Interior where a road crosses a stream.

Southeast of town, lakes along the Richardson Highway present grayling and northern pike. For salmon, many Fairbanksans head down the Richardson to dipnet kings and reds out of the Copper River and to seek salmon and halibut in Prince William Sound out of Valdez.

Fairbanks is also the takeoff spot for anglers heading into the bush, especially the meandering rivers of the national wildlife refuges where monster pike lurk.