What to do in Haines?

[Stowaway LFC]

One of the port stops on our 2024 Alaskan cruise is Haines. Is there any cool stuff to do there?

 

Thanks!

[AKStafford]

I would do this: https://www.kroschelfilms.com/

[Stowaway LFC]

6 minutes ago, AKStafford said:

I would do this: https://www.kroschelfilms.com/

That looks cool!  How much is it and is there transport please? Couldn't tell from the website.

[disneyochem]

Lots of cool things to do in Haines!  You can stay in town and tour Fort Seward, go to the brewery and distillery, visit the Hammer Museum, check in at the Bald Eagle Foundation, pick up lunch at Mountain Market and picnic at the beach.  We've also rented car in Haines to go to Chilkat State Park for wildlife viewing and a hike.   (Princess Cruises actually has spirits from the Port Chilkoot Distillery on board their ships.  I always get their gin and vodka when in town.)

 

I can also recommend Rainbow Glacier Adventures if you're interested in a tour.  We took a rafting tour with them--very professional and fun!

 

Here's a link to the visitor center:  https://www.visithaines.com/

 

Enjoy your planning!  

[Stowaway LFC]

27 minutes ago, disneyochem said:

Lots of cool things to do in Haines!  You can stay in town and tour Fort Seward, go to the brewery and distillery, visit the Hammer Museum, check in at the Bald Eagle Foundation, pick up lunch at Mountain Market and picnic at the beach.  We've also rented car in Haines to go to Chilkat State Park for wildlife viewing and a hike.   (Princess Cruises actually has spirits from the Port Chilkoot Distillery on board their ships.  I always get their gin and vodka when in town.)

 

I can also recommend Rainbow Glacier Adventures if you're interested in a tour.  We took a rafting tour with them--very professional and fun!

 

Here's a link to the visitor center:  https://www.visithaines.com/

 

Enjoy your planning!  

Thank you!

[JT1962]

We rented a car and went to the Chilkat and Chilkoot Lake State Parks, went to the Kroschel Wildlife Center, drove part of the Haines Highway and had lunch at 33 Mile Roadhouse.

[donaldsc]

Mentioned previously but the Hammer Museum is one that you will definitely not see in many other places.

 

DON

[wolfie11]

Chilkat Guides has some nice excursions, including a float trip down the Chilkat River, hiking, a wildlife tour, and kayaking.  If you are interested in Native culture you can take a tour out to Klukwan village.  The Sheldon Jackson is a nice, small museum.  I like hiking around Chilkoot Lake up to the bogs and picking berries, but you need a car to get there.

[jayally1968]

I am renting a car for our July 16th port day in Haines. I was hoping we would be able to go to Skagway and do the white mountain train for my Dad but that will quickly be out of our budget with the Ferry crossing cost + the train and I worry about the time it would take. We will be on the Cunard QE and in port from 7am - 9pm and I will have a rental car from around 9am - 6pm. Any suggestions on what to do?

 

I was thinking about driving the Haines highway and stopping at the Bald Eagle preserve and then going up to Haines junction but I don't want to worry about not getting back to drop off the car in time. It will be my husband and I in our 50's and my parents in their 80's. I looked at tours but they would all end up costing more than a car rental and none of them seemed that interesting or would require moderate activity. 

[smarterman64]

14 hours ago, jayally1968 said:

I am renting a car for our July 16th port day in Haines. I was hoping we would be able to go to Skagway and do the white mountain train for my Dad but that will quickly be out of our budget with the Ferry crossing cost + the train and I worry about the time it would take. We will be on the Cunard QE and in port from 7am - 9pm and I will have a rental car from around 9am - 6pm. Any suggestions on what to do?

 

I was thinking about driving the Haines highway and stopping at the Bald Eagle preserve and then going up to Haines junction but I don't want to worry about not getting back to drop off the car in time. It will be my husband and I in our 50's and my parents in their 80's. I looked at tours but they would all end up costing more than a car rental and none of them seemed that interesting or would require moderate activity. 

the bald eagle preserve has hourly things. you can stop in and check the schedule to see what is there. I thought the most interesting was feeding the eagle which for me was later in the afternoon (2:30pm or so). They fed a salmon head. 

[edinburgher]

On 4/12/2023 at 2:29 PM, Stowaway LFC said:

ne of the port stops on our 2024 Alaskan cruise is Haines. Is there any cool stuff to do there?

We took a flightseeing trip with a local operator.

 

Not wanting to pre-book one ahead in any of our ports in case the weather wasn't perfect for flightseeing on the day, when we arrived in Haines the weather was actually perfect and amongst the first off the ship,  we went directly to their office and booked.  At that point they had a number of seats and times available.  When we returned an hour or so later for our scheduled time, every seat for the remainder of the day had been booked by cruise pax and there was nothing left.  We chose one of the Glacier Bay flights and it was fabulous to look down on it and to fly by the snowy mountains.  A totally different perspective of Glacier Bay which we had sailed twice.

 

If you want to do something similar if the weather is good, leave the ship early and book asap otherwise slots to fit your departure time could sell out quite quickly.  We were four persons plus pilot and shared with another couple off the ship.

Edited January 2 by edinburgher

[torybruno]

We went on the Wilderness excursion to Davidson Glacier, and loved it.  I’ve since heard someone died on the excursion, but people have died on float plane excursions too.   I’m sure the tour operators have really been evaluated for safety since.  

[shipmeoff!]

If you like gin, stop in here and pick up a good one!! Right up from the dock.

https://www.portchilkootdistillery.com/50-fathoms-gin