Skagway help

We are stopping in Skagway on the Norwegian Pearl in a few weeks. What are the best things to do in Skagway? If we did the train ride is it just to do the train ride or take the tour that goes on to the Yukon.

Depends on you. You need to figure out what YOUR interests are for your visit. There is no "best".

Do YOU want to go into the Yukon? Do you want a long tour day? Want to see more of Skagway, Want the round trip train? Only you can answer your question.

I took the Dyea Dave tour to Emerald Lake in the morning then when we were back to Fraser, BC, (somewhere around 2:00 PM) took the train on back to Skagway. Dave picked us up at the nose of the ship at 7:45 AM, we stopped by the train office in town for our tickets then off we went. Dave gave a good bunch of information along the way of what we were seeing and made all the stops we wanted for pictures or whatever. The good thing is with his tours the number of people is generally small. A good example of the flexibility was when we got to the Yukon Territory sign (a very scenic spot) there was two of the large bus loads of other folks from our ship (also the Pearl and we were the only ship there that day) with tons of people waiting in line to get their picture made at the sign. We drove on past and waited until our return when there wasn't anyone else there but us. Nice! We stopped at Carcross for lunch then went on out to the lake. Back at the train Dave got us onboard then headed on back to Skagway saying that he'd meet us at the train to take us on wherever we wanted to go in town - the train stops a good ways from the ship... The scenery from the train was pretty spectacular! It was early May so there was plenty of snow, frozen lakes, etc. Also NICE! Taking the bus in the morning and the train in the afternoon was Dave's suggestion. His reasoning is that often there is fog & low clouds in the morning that will spoil the views from the train. In the bus you're over the mountains and in the clear rather quickly - our train was coming back in very nice weather though that's never guaranteed. Since Dave lives in Skagway year-round I trusted his advice and he was spot on. I give Dave two thumbs up! Good luck and have fun! I really, really liked the Pearl!

1. Self-guided tour of Skagway

2. Visit Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Site Visitor's Center (film and exhibits)

3. Take free walking tour by NPS

4. Do one of several hikes in the area. See: https://www.nps.gov/klgo/planyourvisit/shorterdayhikes.htm

We did the Glacier Point Wilderness SafarI out of Skagway. It was our favorite.

Ha! I just booked that same tour described above by SuperCrewBear today! Going July 12. Enjoyed reading the post. Even more stoked for the tour now that I've read your review!

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Skagway is one of my favorite Alaska ports. We love just walking around the town...exploring the side streets and maybe doing a short hike. The atmosphere of the town is still like an "old time" Alaska town. This link has some good information https://zest4travel.wordpress.com/2017/02/04/exploring-skagway/

We did the Yukon Rail and Bus through Chilkoot Tours. The train ticket is already included in their price so you don't have to stop by the station. We loved going into the Yukon. We still had 2 hours to shop around Skagway before we went back to the ship for early dining at 5:30. Highly recommend that excursion!

This vid may give you some ideas....

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My husband and I are planning on renting a car and doing the drive to Emerald Lake ourselves. Here at home in West Virginia, we do a lot of driving around and exploring, so I think driving on our own will be best, so I can stop and get pictures along the way. I think the train would be nice also, but we're taking a train from Seward to Anchorage after the cruise is over.

My husband and I are planning on renting a car and doing the drive to Emerald Lake ourselves. Here at home in West Virginia, we do a lot of driving around and exploring, so I think driving on our own will be best, so I can stop and get pictures along the way. I think the train would be nice also, but we're taking a train from Seward to Anchorage after the cruise is over.

The train in Skagway is much different than the train from Seward to Anchorage. I have done both twice and enjoyed them each time. The one in Skagway is scenic, but also historical and a narrow gauge rail.

I highly recommend a bus / train combination with one of the companies that uses the smaller buses. They will stop at more places and for wildlife when the large buses can't. We used Chilkoot Tours and enjoyed it. We also saw the Dyea Dave buses on our tour and they get high ratings as well.

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My husband and I are planning on renting a car and doing the drive to Emerald Lake ourselves. Here at home in West Virginia, we do a lot of driving around and exploring, so I think driving on our own will be best, so I can stop and get pictures along the way. I think the train would be nice also, but we're taking a train from Seward to Anchorage after the cruise is over.

Ya know...I thought that same thing and had a car reserved at Avis but decided to keep our tour with Dyea Dave and so glad we did. It was cheaper than the car rental for the 2 of us, they stopped when and wherever we wanted to stop. We heard a lot about the history of the area and what was going in Skagway and the areas future....what it was like to live there. Someone else was driving so we could relax and just soak up the scenery and views.....just incredible. Whatever you decide, enjoy your cruise and port stops. It is amazing and probably the best trip we have ever done.

Ya know...I thought that same thing and had a car reserved at Avis but decided to keep our tour with Dyea Dave and so glad we did. It was cheaper than the car rental for the 2 of us, they stopped when and wherever we wanted to stop. We heard a lot about the history of the area and what was going in Skagway and the areas future....what it was like to live there. Someone else was driving so we could relax and just soak up the scenery and views.....just incredible. Whatever you decide, enjoy your cruise and port stops. It is amazing and probably the best trip we have ever done.

Good idea. I'll look into that as well.

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Thank you! This helps, I think we are going up the highway to the Yukon and ride the train back. Hopefully we will get back in town to look around the city for a few minutes before boarding.

4 of us rented a car in Skagway for $165 total. Divide that by 4 and it cost us $41.25/pp. We drove as far as Emerald Lake. We stopped when, where and for as long as we wanted. Friends of ours took the train for $122/pp. It took them to the Canadian border and back. If I remember correctly, the Canadian border was only about half way to Emerald Lake. Everyone's priorities are different so I won't tell you what you should or shouldn't do. I will say we were very happy with the way we did it.

We’ve been to Skagway many times. We’ve gone with Dyea Dave, rented a car and drove up to Whitehorse, taken the bus up and the train back, taken the train up and back. I think the best trip was with Dyea Dave, he puts on a great trip, I’d go with him again. If you decide to rent a car download Murray’s Guide off the internet, well worth the small charge, gives you a detailed description of just about everything along the Yukon highway.

We just got back. We did the Yukon tour and train back. We had a fantastic tour guide/bus driver. We ate at Caribou Crossing, went to emerald Lake, stopped at Carcross. We were back by 4:30 and had plenty of time to look around Skagway, go to the stores, etc.

we have done many combinations-

train only

train and exit train at glacier station and hike to Laughton glacier

train and bus combo- caribou crossing twice

drive only

all have been fun days but my favorites have been Laughton glacier hike and train/bus combo.

Agree with above post- I would not want to miss the train ride for either Skagway or Seward to Anchorage- both are amazing and completely different scenery- so one train ride does not = another.

No matter what you choose - you will likely have a wonderful trip