1 Day in Juneau in August - too ambitious?

[AmberCascades]

We will be arriving in Juneau at 7:30 a.m and leaving at 8:00 p.m. 12 1/2 hours seems like a lot of time but there are so many things we want to do. Hubby wants the ziplining canopy adventure (I don't mind doing that) and we both want the Taku lodge 5-glacier seaplane tour. Each is about 3 hours. We also want to tour downtown and definitely head up to Mendenhall and the waterfall and whatever's up around there. The Mt. Roberts tram is also an option if time and weather allow. We want to see as much scenery as possible and get the most "Alaska experience" out of our day. Is all of the above too ambitious? We're not too much into hanging out at museums all day and shopping is not a priority, other than just looking around to see what looks interesting. Any advice from the more experienced ones around here? And yes, taking two tours is mega expensive, but we haven't been anywhere since our honeymoon 23 years ago :) so we're making up for it now.

 

Does anyone have any experience with the ziplining canopy adventure and the Taku Lodge 5-glacier seaplane tour? Opinions are appreciated.

[AKman2495]

We will be arriving in Juneau at 7:30 a.m and leaving at 8:00 p.m. 12 1/2 hours seems like a lot of time but there are so many things we want to do. Hubby wants the ziplining canopy adventure (I don't mind doing that) and we both want the Taku lodge 5-glacier seaplane tour. Each is about 3 hours. We also want to tour downtown and definitely head up to Mendenhall and the waterfall and whatever's up around there. The Mt. Roberts tram is also an option if time and weather allow. We want to see as much scenery as possible and get the most "Alaska experience" out of our day. Is all of the above too ambitious? We're not too much into hanging out at museums all day and shopping is not a priority, other than just looking around to see what looks interesting. Any advice from the more experienced ones around here? And yes, taking two tours is mega expensive, but we haven't been anywhere since our honeymoon 23 years ago :) so we're making up for it now.

 

Does anyone have any experience with the ziplining canopy adventure and the Taku Lodge 5-glacier seaplane tour? Opinions are appreciated.

 

I've been to Juneau several times-not as a tourist. I think you cannot really do all that and still be conscious by sail away.

 

You should do the Taku Lodge 5-glacier seaplane tour, assuming people do not pan it. That would be a great experience and you will get a taste of the vastness of Alaska. I would also do the zip line. Then you could also go out to Mendenhall glacier. You my not have time to get to the waterfall, but who knows.

 

In between all of that you can get to downtown and have lunch.

 

All of this assumes that the weather will cooperate. If not, you won;t be able to fly and if it is raining, you probably won't want to zip line. However, with a rain coat you can easily do the Mendenhall glacier and waterfall and spend more time downtown. They have these big awnings on the old buildings for the rain....

 

The key is planning flexibly. And not to try to squeeze everything so tight that you miss the fun....

[AmberCascades]

Thank you Akman. This was the dilemma...how much to pack in and still appreciate what we are seeing. We also want to be able to take the time to stop and look at things if we want, not be rushing from here to there (that's what life at home is for :)). Why would anyone pan the seaplane thing?

[AKman2495]

Thank you Akman. This was the dilemma...how much to pack in and still appreciate what we are seeing. We also want to be able to take the time to stop and look at things if we want, not be rushing from here to there (that's what life at home is for :)). Why would anyone pan the seaplane thing?

 

Some people will pan anything! "The plane was too small" "He wouldn't get low enough to see the bears up close! "Why is there no snow (or too much snow) on the ground?"...etc. Some people will also complain because the trip gets canceled because of the weather-i.e, " I didn't think the weather was that bad.

 

Your trip should be about fun and relaxing. You don't want to get back aboard ship at the end of the day and realize that you can't remember what you did because you were running around like crazy....

 

Enjoy...

[punkincc]

Amber, we are doing the Taku Lodge 5 Glacier Tour in May, so I can let you know how it goes.

 

If you go to TripAdvisor and look up the most highly rated excursions for Juneau, they are right at the top. Very good reviews. We booked ours through NCL. If you go to the Wings Aviation website, you will find a lot of info there. I believe in their Q&A section, they cover the rain issue and I believe their response was that they are quite used to flying in the rain so don't assume rainy weather will mean a cancellation.