Private tour guides /Skagway /Juneau

[kuddles14]

Can anyone recommend any private tour operators at these two ports of call ? Also, what are must see and do at both ports of call. 

 

This is is our first time to Alaska and we will be traveling with my brother in law and sister in law. 

We are in our late 50s and early 60s. 

 

Thanks in in advance for your help .

[karatemom2]

We haven’t used a private guide in Juneau, but in Skagway I highly recommend Chilkoot Charters. We have done the train/van tour with them twice and they are excellent. We haven’t toured with him, but Dyea Dave in Skagway also tends to get rave reviews here. 

[prish]

In Skagway we rented a car from Avis and drove up the Klondike Highway into the Yukon, very similar to the route taken by the train.

 

In Juneau we booked a whale watching and Mendenhall Glacier combo with Juneau Tours. Whale watching was first and an absolutely fantastic experience, we saw bubble net feeding as well as a mom and calf breaching. Later we were dropped off at Mendenhall Glacier and spent a couple of hours there before taking the shuttle back to town. Highly recommend this tour, it was the highlight of our two weeks in Alaska.

 

https://www.juneautours.com/

[ErLee]

We are also mid 50s and were in Alaska in June, and we booked all of our excursions during the cruise portion of our trip privately. We had nothing but great experiences! I absolutely love the more personal experience you get with an independent operator.

 

I’m in the process of writing my trip report, but I’ve already finished writing about our experiences in those cities as well as Ketchikan. Here’s the link to my review, Juneau and Skagway are on page 2....not trying to drum up readers for my review 😂, but my answers to your questions are in those posts....

 

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by ErLee

[luvteaching]

I second the recommendation for Chilkoot Tours. We did the Bennett Lake excursion with them and it was very good. We did the train first and bus back to Skagway. The guide/driver was excellent and we saw bears a couple of times. She could spot them! 

 

Karen

[ErLee]

2 hours ago, luvteaching said:

I second the recommendation for Chilkoot Tours. We did the Bennett Lake excursion with them and it was very good. We did the train first and bus back to Skagway. The guide/driver was excellent and we saw bears a couple of times. She could spot them! 

 

Karen

 

That’s what we did, the Bennett Scenic Journey with Chilkoot,  van up and train back and it was amazing!

Edited July 28, 2019 by ErLee

[Crew News]

I can recommend Max Jewell, www.elementsofalaska.com.  Two years ago his 15-passenger van cost around $800 so members of our roll call used him.  Max was raised in Skagway, knows every restroom stop on the way to Emerald Lake, knows great places to spot wildlife and photograph scenery, and at the end of day will stop at variouis Skagway businesses for shopping.  1-907-612-0660

 

Email: elementsofalaska@gmail.com

Edited July 29, 2019 by Crew News

[Ariyel]

We booked with Chilkoot Charters for Skagway.  It was a good experience, but I will say I almost regretted it because we were super close to missing the train.  No fault of the tour company - our ship docked late and I was wondering if I was going to regret not booking through the cruise company as a result.  We, and many other guests, were literally running down the dock to try to make connections with our tours in time to catch the trains out of Skagway.

 

We self-toured in Juneau with a rental car, so can't help you there.

[Britboys]

Just back from Alaska.

 

We used Dyea Dave in Skagway and had the brilliant Rose as a driver/guide.  We went up to Emerald Lake and saw the nearby strange sand dunes.  Stopped at Carcross for lunch and enjoyed a lovely bowl of soup at the Sourdough Bakery.  We saw four or five Black Bears alongside the Road, exactly where Rose had advised us to keep a look out for them.  Rose was very flexible in stopping/turning around the mini-bus to ensure we got a good look at them - as well as taking the welfare & safety of the bears into account. We also called into a small Husky Dog-Sled Kennels and were lucky enough to be able to meet several 4 week-old puppies.  We got the train back from Fraser to Skagway, where we had a walk around the shops and a pint of the fabulous Spruce Tip Blonde Ale.

 

I can highly recommend Dyea Dave and Rose!

 

In Juneau, we used Coastal Helicopters to fly up to the Herbert Glacier, which was amazing.  We had a good landing on the glacier and a nice walk around.  The pilot/guide was excellent and we didn't feel at all hurried.  They collected us from the cruise pier and delivered us back afterwards very efficiently.  Again, very happy to recommend them.

Edited July 30, 2019 by Britboys
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