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6-Nights Nature's Best: Alaska

Price: $4,039 - # of Days: 6 days
Peaks. Glaciers. Whales. Wildlife. Your route on this tour of Alaska takes you by coach to see the highest peak in North America at the 6-million-acre Denali National Park; by train to see the untamed wilderness en route to the unique town of Talkeetna; and by ship to cruise through the stunning sce...

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10-Nights Alaska Denali & Kenai Fjords National Parks Custom Adventure

Price: Please call for rates - # of Days: 10 days
Alaska Denali & Kenai Fjords National Parks Custom Adventure Experience the absolute best that Alaska has to offer in this Alaskan Adventure. Immerse yourself in the unparalleled beauty of Alaska's wild coasts, rugged mountains, and abundant wildlife. Marvel at the mist from playful and c...

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7-Nights Alaska: Call of the Wild - Tauck Bridges Family Travel

Price: $6,990 - # of Days: 7 days
Alaska: Call of the Wild Alaskan family fun sunrise to sunset... meet champion Iditarod sled dogs… take a flightseeing tour over Denali National Park… go jet boating, wilderness hiking, kayaking... take a rail trip... spot Alaska's magnificent wildlife…. learn about...

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8-Nights Signature Alaska Rail Vacations – Anchorage to Fairbanks - Superior

Price: $6,876 - # of Days: 8 days
FIRST CLASS | TAILOR-MADE: It’s bear viewing the day after your arrival in Anchorage, naturally by floatplane, before you board a helicopter the following day, land on a glacier and join a dog-sledding tour on that same glacier. Is there a better way to experience Alaska? You be the judge afte...

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6-Nights Alaska by Train Glaciers, Fjords & Denali

Price: $3,261 - # of Days: 6 days
MODERATE | TAILOR- MADE: A classic Alaska roundtrip, starting in Anchorage, then by train to Seward, on to Denali and, finally, back to Anchorage. During your trip you can choose from an array of amazing day excursions, including an awesome Kenai Fjord Cruise, an aerial tram ride up Mt. Alyeska, a l...

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13-Nights Ultimate Active Alaska - Active

Price: $4,499 - # of Days: 13 days
Ultimate Active Alaska This two-week journey through Alaska is just the ticket to get you into the land of epic wildlife, soaring summits, and tundra stretching towards the horizon. Journey to the far north and make the most of the longer days by hiking and camping in the Alaskan wilderness. Explore...

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6-Nights Hike Alaska: Glaciers and Denali - Active

Price: $2,399 - # of Days: 6 days
Hike Alaska: Glaciers and Denali If you’re looking to explore one mighty nugget of impressive scenery, this Alaskan adventure will definitely do the trick. Experience a more remote corner of North America at a more active pace on this seven-day journey that's jam-packed with impressive vistas, exhil...

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7-Nights Alaska Kenai & Denali Adventure - Classic

Price: $2,899 - # of Days: 7 days
Alaska Kenai & Denali Adventure For travellers looking to explore a more remote corner of North America at a faster (and more active) pace, this eight-day journey through Alaska's vast vistas is just the ticket. Catch the state's greatest highlights including the imposing Harding Icefield, the encha...

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9-Nights Alaska Journey - National Geographic Journeys

Price: $4,649 - # of Days: 9 days
Journeys: Discover Alaska Embark on an unforgettable voyage in Alaska, venturing from the sparkling coast of the Kenai Peninsula to the rugged wilderness of Denali National Park. Encounter incredible wildlife by land and sea-grizzly bears and caribou, puffins and whales-and get close to calving glac...

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8-Nights Alaska Family Journey: Wilderness Explorer - National Geographic Family Journeys

Price: $5,499 - # of Days: 8 days
Alaska Family Journey: Wilderness Explorer Epic wildlife, soaring summits, and tundra stretching as far as the eye can see: everything is bigger in Alaska. Journey to the far north-where the sun never quite sets in the summer-and make the most of long days on hiking and wildlife-viewing excursions i...

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Overview

Introduction

Set along the protected waters of Resurrection Bay on the eastern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, Seward, Alaska, is a terminus for many Gulf of Alaska cruises and is a base for exploring nearby Kenai Fjords National Park.

It's surrounded by forest and park preserves, snowcapped peaks, calving glaciers, waterfalls and cliffs. Visitors can easily reach Seward by air, cruise ship, ferry, motorcoach or car.

Must See or Do

Sights—Calving glaciers at Kenai Fjords National Park; Lowell Point or Waterfront Park for unencumbered views of Resurrection Bay.

Museums—See the history of the city at the Seward Museum; take in historic movies and displays of the area at Kenai Fjords Information Center.

Memorable Meals—Seafood at Chinook's; pulled pork at the Smoke Shack; salmon burgers at Salmon Bake Restaurant; white-mushroom pizza at Resurrection Roadhouse.

Late Night—The microbrews and rustic, log-cabin feel at Salmon Bake Restaurant; pool tables, live music and karaoke at the Yukon Bar; live music and poker at The Pit Bar.

Walks—Two Lakes Trail; the trails at Exit Glacier and Harding Icefield; the biking and walking trail at Waterfront Park.

Especially for Kids—Hands-on exhibits and a touch tank at Alaska SeaLife Center; the kids' outdoor park near the start of the Historic Iditarod Trail on the beachfront.

Geography

A mecca for fishermen, biologists and naturalists, Seward continues to be a desired destination with awesome beauty nestled on the northwestern bank of Resurrection Bay at the foot of Mount Marathon on the Kenai Peninsula. Glaciers suspended from the highest peaks of the Kenai Fjords National Park, otters playing in the bay and many other natural wonders make this one of the most scenic port cities in Alaska.

On the east side of the Kenai Peninsula, there is just room enough for the town of Seward to cling to the foot of the Kenai Mountains. The city is oriented north and south, and travelers arrive by road, boat or plane at the north end, with the SeaLife Center, Lowell Point and Caines Head located at the south end. Not more than six blocks wide, it is easy to navigate with the water to the east and Mount Marathon to the west. Seward is also the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad.

History

Utilized by Alaska Natives since prehistoric times and "discovered" by Russian explorers in the late 1700s, this exquisitely beautiful location was not truly settled until the late 1890s. An ice-free port, Seward offered a viable transportation route to gold mines, to Anchorage and to the far north for mining enterprises.

By the late 1890s, it became obvious that a railway was needed to transport quantities of mineral resources much greater than dog teams could haul, and in 1903, the Alaska Railroad was started north to Anchorage. Shortly after the arrival of the railroad, the city was named in honor of William Seward, the secretary of state during U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's administration, who spearheaded the purchase of what is currently Alaska from the Russian government.

The town's original focus as an import and export location was briefly supplemented in the 1920s by fur production from a fox farm. A larger impact, though, came with World War II and the influx of military supplies and nearly 4,000 personnel. Seward became the largest U.S. military port north of Seattle. (Caines Head State Recreation Area is the site of the abandoned Fort McGilvray.) Following the war, Seward quickly reverted back to a fishing village as the natural resources located in Resurrection Bay drew commercial attention.

In 1964, an earthquake and a following tsunami wiped out the town's waterfront. Both the Seward Community Library and the Seward Museum have exhibits that document the damage.

The famous Iditarod dogsled race runs from Anchorage to Nome each year, but the original beginning of the trail was in Seward—on the waterfront at Fourth Avenue and Railway, to be exact (look for the Mile 0 marker with a dogsled monument and interpretive displays). The Iditarod Trail was being used as early as the 1880s for gold prospectors to haul supplies in dogsleds north to the mines in nearby Hope and Sunrise, as well as Nome. The lucky miners mushed their dogs back to Seward's port with sleds full of the precious metal, sometimes millions of dollars' worth at one time. (Tales are still told of armed guards escorting one miner and his loot along the trail into town.)

Today, Seward is a busy shipping, fishing, marine research and tourism hub.

Potpourri

The Harding Icefield in Kenai Fjords National Park is the largest ice field entirely within the U.S. The ice field accumulates 400-800 in/1,016-2,032 cm of snow each year. It takes 30-50 years for that snow to compress into glacial ice.

The Dall's porpoise often flirts with cruise ships touring Kenai Fjords National Park. They are the fastest small cetacean, logging speeds of up to 30 knots.

Glaciers are typically blue in color because the ice absorbs long-wavelength frequencies of light while reflecting short-wavelength frequencies, such as blue.

An incredible 4,500 gallons/17,030 liters of water is pumped into the Alaska SeaLife Center daily to keep the Steller sea lions happy.

The Seward Community Library holds the original flag that seventh-grader Benny Benson entered in a contest to design a state flag for Alaska—he won.

Secretary of State William H. Seward, also the former governor of New York, purchased Alaska from Russsia for US$7.2 million (about 2 cents an acre) in 1867. Since Alaska was considered worthless at the time, the sale was derided as "Seward's Folly" by the majority of Americans, at least until gold was discovered in the 1870s.

Resurrection Bay, the body of water touching the waterfront city, was named so by a Russian fur trader, Alexander Baranof, who took refuge from a storm there in 1792, on what also happened to be the Russian Sunday of the Resurrection.

Location

Seward is the beginning or end of the line for cruise passengers sailing the Gulf of Alaska route. The town may blur by if you are in a hurry to get on your ship or to get on the road to Anchorage for the plane ride home. If there's any flexibility in your schedule, we recommend taking at least a few hours to explore this interesting port in south-central Alaska.

The cruise-ship dock is about 0.5 mi/0.8 km northeast of the town's Small Boat Harbor. A Seward Visitors Bureau information office just across the Seward highway (at 2001 Seward Highway) from the cruise dock is open Memorial Day-Labor Day Monday-Saturday 9 am-6 pm, Sunday 10 am-4 pm. In winter the office is open Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm. This is where you can find information and reserve shoreside excursions (phone 907-224-8051; http://www.seward.com). You can walk into town from the dock or take a taxi from the visitors center. Some cruise lines provide a shuttle service to the harbor and downtown.

Information booths are also located at the Kenai Fjords National Park Information Center at the Small Boat Harbor on Fourth Avenue, and at the Seward Museum at the corner of Third Avenue and Jefferson Street, adjacent to Millionaire's Row and its historic homes. Learn about local trails, cabins and wildlife at the U.S. Forest Service on the corner of Fourth Avenue and Jefferson Street. The Seward Library, at Fifth and Adams streets, shows a movie about the 1964 earthquake and tsunami daily at 2 pm during the summer.

Shore Excursions

Shore excursions available from Seward often include small-boat cruises to see glaciers and wildlife in Resurrection Bay, chartered salmon-fishing trips, tours of the Ididaride sled-dog kennels (including a ride on a wheeled sled pulled by dogs), a helicopter flight and dogsled ride on a glacier, flightseeing, kayaking and bus trips to Exit Glacier in nearby Kenai Fjords National Park. Additional options are available; ask your travel agent or inquire at the visitors center.

Most cruise lines offer trips to Kenai Fjords National Park (with a stop at Exit Glacier) and the Alaska SeaLife Center in downtown Seward, as well as flightseeing and fishing excursions in the Seward area. Some lines heading north on the scenic Seward Highway to Denali (Mount McKinley) north of Anchorage stop at the glacier-ringed Alyeska Resort in Girdwood. Phone 907-754-2111. Toll-free 800-880-3880. http://www.alyeskaresort.com.

For longer post- or pre-cruise stays, depart from Seward and head to the private Alaska Native-owned Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge, 12 mi/19 km from Seward, a one-hour boat ride away on Fox Island. Spend a night or two relaxing in a heated seaside wilderness cabin. Prices start at US$349 per person, which includes transportation to and from Seward, all meals on the island, and your choice of tour the following day. Or, consider a nature excursion that includes three days and nights of fishing, whale-watching, glacier-watching and other outdoor scenery. Several tours take visitors to the Gulf of Alaska glaciers and to see marine wildlife. Toll-free 877-777-4053. http://www.kenaifjordslodge.com.