Experience the best of Whittier

Whittier lies at the head of Passage Canal in Prince William Sound, a small port ringed by steep mountains and waterfalls, south-east of Anchorage. Most of its residents live in a single tall building, Begich Towers, and the town was built as a military port and rail terminal during the Second World War. It is reached by the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, about four kilometres long, which carries both road and railway through the mountain on a single track.

The Sound is a maze of fjords and islands with tidewater glaciers such as those of Blackstone Bay, sea otters, harbour seals, Steller sea lions, humpback whales, orcas and kittiwake colonies on the cliffs. Portage Glacier and Portage Lake lie near the tunnel's entrance, and ferries link Whittier with Valdez and Cordova across the Sound. Anchorage is about 100 kilometres away by road.

Halibut and salmon fresh off the boats appear as fish and chips at harbour cafés, and fishing is the town's trade. Whittier is one of the wettest places in Alaska, with heavy rain and deep snow. Daylight lasts into the evening in midsummer, while winters are dark and snowbound.