What to do in Skagway

[pma19]

Hi Everyone,

 

Looking to do something fun in Skagway with my family and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas. We are going to Harv and Marv's whale watching tour in Juneau and the Rainforest Zip Linning tour in Ketchikan. I should let you know that we are not interested in taking the train up to the summit as we will be on the Princess train at the end of our cruise. Good idea or bad?

 

Thank you in advance...

[Colo Cruiser]

Hi Everyone,

 

Looking to do something fun in Skagway with my family and I was wondering if anyone had any ideas. We are going to Harv and Marv's whale watching tour in Juneau and the Rainforest Zip Linning tour in Ketchikan. I should let you know that we are not interested in taking the train up to the summit as we will be on the Princess train at the end of our cruise. Good idea or bad?

 

Thank you in advance...

 

We rented a car and drove to Carcross in Canada.

[joand452]

I don't know if you'll have children in your party, because this is probably a little dull for them, but we really enjoyed the Skagway Sculpture Garden. It's owned by a retired Army dentist and his wife. He has a boat set up with dental clinic that he takes to villages. We arranged for our tour (we also followed the route of the train into Canada, got a private boat tour of the harbor, and visited a goldrush cemetary). We arranged all this through one of the tour brokers at the dock.

 

While in town make sure you visit the goldrush museum!

[JacquieP]

Skagway is a really good place to take a helicopter ride to a glacier. Expensive but worth it!

[AlaskaFan05]

My DW and I rented a car and drove up to see Emerald Lake. It was a great drive with some beautiful and unusual scenery. We really had fun taking pics of each other in front of the big "Welcome to the Yukon" sign once you get into Canada. Would do it again if we went back to Skagway. Its not an all day trip. I think we did it in about 4 hours and still had time to walk around the town and do some shopping after returning the car to Avis. Whatever you decide to do I hope you have a good time and enjoy the nice little town of Skagway.

 

Jeff

[snrlnd]

We went on this tour through Princess a few years ago http://www.skagwaystreetcar.com/ It was a nice alternative to the railroad which we had done before. Our "conductor"/ driver was probably the best, most friendly tour guide ever on a cruise.

[karatemom2]

If you like trains the White Pass & Yukon railway trip is really enjoyable. We have also rented a car and driven the highway as far as Emerald Lake as well. A side trip to the Dyea area and start of the Chilkoot trail is interesting too if you like Gold Rush history. In town, there is a lot to see within easy walking distance. We really enjoyed the museums and the "Days of '98" show.

[tcdcruiser]

Walk out to the gold rush cemetary. About 45 minutes each way, past the White Pass yards. Plenty of signs.

[Andee]

I'd recommend the White Pass & Yukon RR--it's nothing like the train from Seward to Anchorage or from Anchorage to Denali.

 

We also liked the Park Service exhibits and walking tour, the Corringtopn Museum, the City Hall Museum.

[billet]

There is a princess tour to Carcross - bus up and bus/train back. You get to see the pass, the yukon, the desert, canada and carcross. the scenery is spectacular, completely different from the the train ride at the end your cruise and well worth the trip and a good learning experience about the hardships of the gold rush era. On the way back you can stop off in Skagway and go to the Red Union Saloon for a unique visit to a brothel ($5 for 15 minutes) tour. :)

[kooljamming]

This is one of the most picture perfect towns I have seen. We booked the 2.5 hours drive up to the Summit. I chose not to do the train (cost, kids, and time) plus I wanted to stop and see the waterfalls along the way. This was a great place for souvenirs. There is a shuttle from the pier to 7th street, with shpos along the way. There were tons of great buys at the SOS - Skagway Outlet Store and the American Tee-shirt Factory. Don't foget to check out the brewery:p

 

Here is my Skagway Album:

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/574198308toxdMx

[SingerEsq]

We did the train up ... as others have said, it's unlike the train to and from port. Enjoyed it very much.

[judynorth]

I would say to rent a car and drive into the Yukon but since you are Canadian you can't rent a car in the US and drive into Canada. Since you can't do that, I would recommend taking one of the excursions that go as far as Carcross. You will see some of the most beautiful scenery on one of these tours (see pix at the link below). You can go with Princess or take an independent tour. We did the bus tour on our first AK cruise and loved the scenery. We rented a car the next time. If you are in Skagway for the day you should get out of town for at least part of that time. You can see the town and shop in a relatively short time.

 

Check the Alaska board for more detailed information.

[5:00_Somewhere]

We also did the White Pass railway trip up to the Canadian border and back and enjoyed it very much. But, one of the most wonderful excursions we had on our cruise we did that afternoon. We took the ferry to Haynes and did the Chilkat River Eagle Preserve river float. It was not "white water" rafting but a calm and peaceful raft float through a federally protected eagle sanctuary. The scenery was breathtaking, our guide (Gabe) incredibly knowledgeable and informative, and the experience was just incredibly serene and awe inspiring. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[judynorth]

We also did the White Pass railway trip up to the Canadian border and back and enjoyed it very much. But, one of the most wonderful excursions we had on our cruise we did that afternoon. We took the ferry to Haynes and did the Chilkat River Eagle Preserve river float. It was not "white water" rafting but a calm and peaceful raft float through a federally protected eagle sanctuary. The scenery was breathtaking, our guide (Gabe) incredibly knowledgeable and informative, and the experience was just incredibly serene and awe inspiring. I can't recommend it highly enough.

 

We did this excursion on our 3rd AK cruise but it was through HAL. WE had a great time and it was lots of fun as well as offering beautiful scenery. It was one of our favorite excursions. There are pix in the Haines album at the link below.

[kellanrevere]

We have done these on two cruises to Skagway.. They were worth repeating !

 

http://www.bestofalaskatravel.com/alaska_day_tours/pages/liarsville_gold_rush.htm

 

http://www.redonion1898.com/

[Suzanne123]

Loved this --Lots of fun

 

http://www.glacierpointsafari.com/info.html

[LoriPhil]

We booked a bus-up to Carcross and the White Pass RR down through Chilkoot tours last September and were very glad we did. Much smaller vehicle so you can make many stops along the way, vs the large Princess busses that can only stop at a few very large lay-bys. REALLY enjoyed snuggling with the young pups at the Carcross mushers camp. The train back was a terrific trip, and still gave us time to wander the town, which is my favorite of the Princess ports. Our previous trip DH took the Helicopter-glacier tour and loved it.

[sailor602]

We helicoptered to Meade Glacier and hiked around up there. The helicopter ride was fabulous and it was exciting to be on top of a thousand feet of ice!

[Minoushka]

wE WENT to Yukon with Dyea Dave.I LOVED it It is a fabulous viewing experience .The landscape was awesome

.I Really liked Skagway

[tothemall&beyond]

The train ride up and down the mountain was one of the most spectacular things we've ever done. We were there in May (2008) and there was still a lot of snow everywhere (not just at summit), and it was breathtaking. If you do it, take the midday train -- the morning one can be fogged in and the afternoon just seemed too late; the noonish one was perfect.

 

Another great thing that most people don't know about - unless they happened to read an AARP magazine article in Spring 2008 - is to walk out to Beluga Point and watch the whales and seals in the inlet. It's about a 20 minute walk to get there. You walk through town, past the saloon, past the airport, across the footbridge that spans the river, turn left and go through the pretty nature park (great for joggers), climb out on the rocks. Then sit on a rock, watch and listen. You WILL see whales and probably seals.

 

We did that in the morning as soon as we got off the ship, walked around town afterwards and then took the midday train. We loved Skagway.

[karatemom2]

Walk out to the gold rush cemetary. About 45 minutes each way, past the White Pass yards. Plenty of signs.

 

We enjoyed this too. It is definitely a worthwhile stop. If you go to the cemetary, be sure to take a bit of extra time and hike up the trail to the waterfall behind the cemetary. It is really beautiful.

[mrsheldon88]

If you like animals, I recommend a tour princess called "Wilderness Experience". We took a boat to Haines and a van ride around near the Chilkat River. We saw bald eagles and big brown bears up close. I have some great video and photos I call my National Geographic shots of bears catching salmon. By up close I mean they could be on either side of the river, right across from you or right next to you.

 

Definitely worth it if you are a fan of wild animals and/or amateur photography.

[Wormy53]

Loved this --Lots of fun

 

http://www.glacierpointsafari.com/info.html

 

This tour has always gotten rave reviews. I signed up for it on our trip this past August - and couldn't wait. However, we were on the Pacific Princess (a small ship) and not enough people wanted to do it, so it was cancelled. I was very disappointed! It looks like you might like more "active" tours, so I would try it!! The train is very scenic but kind of boring if you take it both ways (to us anyway). And I wouldn't just walk around the town and shop for souvenirs - same old t-shirt, etc stuff.

[grandbanksguy]

We went on a self-drive Jeep safari up into the Yukon Territory. We did some off-roading along the way and visited an old railroad town. The scenery was fabulous and the old timer who led the tour added a lot of local color and history about the gold-rush days. The tour was offered by Princess at the time (2002).