Ultimate Anchorage and Turnagain Arm Private Full Day Tour

Highlights

Inclusions

Itinerary

1. City Tour of Anchorage: Starting downtown where the city began in the Ship Creek area and now also occupied by Alaska Railroad Depot. Take a quick look at the salmon in the creek and watch the fish running up the stream. Watch the locals trying to catch the salmon. Next see the Earthquake Park, which now stands on the land liquefied – swallowing the coast line when the “Good Friday” earthquake rocked Anchorage in March of 1964. Next you will get to see Lake Hood, which is the largest and busiest floatplane base in the world. Lake Hood is a great place to relax and watch the many landings and takeoffs of floatplanes. Then back to downtown where you get to see a whole downtown area. While enjoying the ride make sure to notice Anchorage’s famous flowers and great shopping areas! We will drop off anywhere in Anchorage after the tour ends.

   2 h

2. Just south of Anchorage, the Seward Highway hugs the dramatic shorelines of Turnagain Arm, arguably one of the most beautiful stretches of highway in America. Chugach State Park's 3000-foot mountains jut up on your left. On the right, the sprawling, sometimes four-mile-wide flats of Turnagain Arm seem to stretch like a plain to the opposite shores of Cook Inlet, where mammoth sloping mountains abruptly stop their flat expanse. Each turn reveals another scenic wonder.

   2 h

3. View Alaska's most famous animals up close in a natural setting. During this visit you'll get great pictures of real live Bears, Moose, Muskox, Caribou, Bison, and more.

   1 hAdmission included

4. Potter Marsh is a 0.5-mile wooden boardwalk trail that parallels the Seward Highway in Anchorage and is known for it’s incredible wildlife viewing, especially for bird watching. It’s part of the 16-mile Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge, and it makes a great addition to any Anchorage itinerary.

   Passes by

5. This is a popular stop as you travel the Seward Highway. Here you'll find 180 degree views of Turnagain Arm. There's an extensive viewing area with spotting scopes and interpretive signs. This is an excellent spot to watch the bore tide. The incoming tide stretched the entire width of Turnagain Arm and can be six feet high as it rushes in. Watch for kayakers and surfers riding the wave for several miles. Look for beluga whales rolling in the surf. Be sure to check tide schedules for the best times to view this natural phenomena.

   10 min

6. Here's another great stop to take in the scenic beauty of the mountains and the Turnagain Arm. And don't forget to look for Beluga whales a few hours before high tide (as they come in with the tide to feed on the salmon). The best chance to see a Beluga is if the salmon or hooligan are running, but even if you miss them, the amazing views make Bird Point a perfect stop.

   10 min

7. Girdwood is “One of the 10 Most Beautiful Towns in Alaska” and located just 25 miles south of Anchorage. A very active community offering biking, skiing, rafting, fishing, hiking, gold panning and sightseeing in a beautiful, northern rainforest setting. Glacier Valley is home to Alaska’s only major ski resort, Alyeska Resort.

   40 min

8. Take a three to seven-minute scenic ride from Alyeska Resort to the top of Mt. Alyeska. At an elevation of 2300 feet, witness frosty views of the Turnagain Arm, up to seven “hanging” glaciers and endless peaks deep into the Chugach Mountain range. A hot lunch is included which you can order from the menu of the Boretide Deli.

   1.5 hAdmission included

9. Only mountain top museum in the state of Alaska. The Roundhouse sits 2,280 feet above sea level. It's distinctive octagonal shape first served as a warming hut, later as a popular gathering place. Over 50 years ago, 11 Girdwood residents passed the hat, raised enough money to purchase what became the land base for a major ski area. They formed the Alyeska Ski Corporation and developed a ski area that was small in assets but big in promise. They did it because they understood that the Valley’s future lay in its golden slopes. They found a French Baron who shared their dream. Francois de Gunzburg installed a poma lift, built ski trails, a day lodge and ordered Chair 1, a 5,700-foot double chairlift that rose 2,000 vertical feet. The upper terminus of the chairlift became known as the Roundhouse.

   30 minAdmission included

10. This scenic road parallels the route that Native Alaskans and gold-rush prospectors once traveled between Prince William Sound and Turnagain Arm before the glacier retreated.

    20 min

11. Deep enough to submerge an 80-story building, the lake was carved out over thousands of years of glacial advances. While Salmon make their way into the lake, you may not see them due to the immense deposits of glacial silt. The silt also protects them from predators such as birds and larger fish. However, they eventually make their way to clearer waters. Look for dense blue icebergs from Portage Glacier blown to shore.

    10 min

Cancellation

Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the experience starts, for a full refund.

Reviews

Ratings come from 14 reviews collected by our booking partner. They are travellers' own words, in the order they were written — never reordered to flatter the experience.

Know before you go

How it compares in Anchorage

• Its from-price is 328% above the median of the 58 day trips we list in Anchorage.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 29 of 58.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Anchorage

Anchorage is Alaska's largest city, set on Cook Inlet beneath the Chugach Mountains, with coastal trails, wildlife and long summer daylight.

Anchorage sits between Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mountains in south-central Alaska, and it is the state's largest city. It began as a railway construction camp in 1915, and the Good Friday earthquake of 1964, among the strongest ever recorded, reshaped it; Earthquake Park marks the story. The Anchorage Museum covers art, history and science, and the Alaska Native Heritage Center presents the state's Indigenous cultures.

Top-ranked sights in Anchorage: Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Earthquake Park, Lake Hood.

See all 201 experiences in Anchorage