Fodors. For Choice Travel Experiences.Fodors helps you unleash the possibilities of travel by providing the insightful tools you need to experience the trips you want. Although youre at the helm, Fodors offers the assurance of our expertise, the guarantee of selectivity, and the choice details that truly define a destination. Its like having a friend in Alaska!
• Your vacation never looked better. This Fodors full-color guide paints an unforgettable picture of Alaska with vibrant maps, vividly illustrated features, and stunning color photos.
• Updated annually, Fodors Alaska provides the most accurate and up-to-date information available in a guidebook.
• Fodors Alaska features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so you make the choices to plan your trip of a lifetime.
• If its not worth your time, its not in this book. Fodors discriminating ratings, including our top tier Fodors Choice designations, ensure that youll know about the most interesting and enjoyable places in Alaska.
• Experience Alaska like a local! Fodors Alaska includes unique photo-features that impart the states culture, covering bears, whales, native crafts, Denali National Park & Preserve, the Midnight Sun, glaciers, and Alaska's Gold Rush, and much more!
• Indispensable, customized trip planning tools include “Top Reasons to Go,” “Word of Mouth” advice from other travelers, and tips to help save money, bypass lines, and avoid common travel pitfalls.
• Pullout color map and updated topographical maps of the best parks and preserves.
Visit Fodors.com for more ideas and information, travel deals, vacation planning tips, reviews and to exchange travel advice with other travelers.
Vacation never looked better than with this new, full-color Gold Guide. Vibrant graphic tools are integrated with smart, opinionated writing. Engaging, magazine-style articles offer a glimpse into local culture, and pullout maps and color photography highlight key destinations.
This Fodor's full-color guide paints an unforgettable picture of Alaska with vibrant maps, vividly illustrated features, and stunning color photos. "Fodor's Alaska" features options for a variety of budgets, interests, and tastes, so travelers can plan the trip of a lifetime.
About this Book ............ 7
Chapter 1: Experience Alaska ............ 8
Whats Where ............ 10
Alaska Planner ............ 12
Alaska Today ............ 14
Top Alaska Attractions ............ 16
Top Experiences ............ 18
Quintessential Alaska ............ 20
If You Like ............ 22
Great Itineraries ............ 24
Alaskas History ............ 26
Flora & Fauna of Alaska ............ 28
Chapter 2: Sports & Wilderness Adventures ............ 43
Planning Your Adventure ............ 45
Sports, Top Regions & Tours ............ 56
Enjoying Alaskas Wildlife ............ 79
Whale-Watching Cruises ............ 85
Chapter 3: Cruising in Alaska ............ 91
Choosing Your Cruise ............ 92
Before You Go ............ 96
Arriving & Departing ............ 99
On Board ............ 102
Going Ashore ............ 104
The Cruise Fleet ............ 106
Chapter 4: Southeast Alaska ............ 123
Welcome to Southeast Alaska ............ 124
Southeast Alaska Planner ............ 126
Ketchikan ............ 129
Around Ketchikan ............ 144
Wrangell ............ 151
Petersburg ............ 158
Sitka ............ 164
Juneau ............ 181
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve ............ 203
Haines ............ 210
Skagway ............ 217
Chapter 5: Anchorage ............ 229
Welcome to Anchorage ............ 230
Anchorage Planner ............ 232
Exploring Anchorage ............ 234
Outdoor Activities & Guided Tours ............ 242
Where to Eat ............ 247
Where to Stay ............ 258
Nightlife & the Arts ............ 267
Shopping ............ 273
Sports ............ 277
Chapter 6: South Central Alaska ............ 279
Welcome to South Central Alaska ............ 280
South Central Alaska Planner ............ 282
Prince William Sound ............ 285
Kenai Peninsula ............ 305
Homer ............ 327
Mat-Su Valley & Beyond ............ 341
Chapter 7: The Interior and Denali National
Park & Preserve ............ 355
Welcome to the Interior ............ 356
The Interior and Denali National Park &
Preserve Planner ............ 358
Fairbanks ............ 361
North of Fairbanks ............ 384
Denali National Park & Preserve ............ 394
Fortymile Country ............ 419
Yukon Territory ............ 425
Chapter 8: The Bush ............ 437
Welcome to The Bush ............ 438
The Bush Planner ............ 440
Southwest ............ 446
Northwest & the Arctic ............ 471
Understanding Alaska ............ 491
Fishing the Last Frontier:
In Search of Holy Water ............ 492
At a Glance ............ 494
Native Alaskans ............ 496
Alaska: A Geologic Story ............ 499
Books & Movies ............ 503
Travel Smart Alaska ............ 505
Index ............ 525
About Our Writers ............ 536
ALASKA IN FOCUS
1: Experience Alaska
Let the Journey Begin ............ 36
2: Sports & Wilderness Adventures
Keepers of the Deep: A Look at Alaskas Whales ............ 87
4: Southeast Alaska
Made in Alaska ............ 167
Gold! Gold! Gold! ............ 219
5: Anchorage
The Glorious & Relentless Midnight Sun ............ 270
6: South Central Alaska
Alaskas Glaciers: Notorious Landscape Architects ............ 316
7: The Interior and Denali National Park & Preserve
The High One: Mount McKinley ............ 401
8: The Bush
Welcome to Bear Country ............ 457
MAPS
Alaska ............ 10—11
Parks & Wildlife Refuges ............ 46—47
Ketchikan ............ 130
Around Ketchikan ............ 144
Wrangell ............ 152
Petersburg ............ 160
Sitka ............ 172
Juneau ............ 183
Side Trips from Juneau ............ 197
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve ............ 204
Haines ............ 212
Skagway ............ 218
Anchorage ............ 236—237
Where to Stay & Eat in Anchorage ............ 248—249
Prince William Sound ............ 286
Kenai Peninsula ............ 306
Mat-Su Valley & Beyond ............ 342
Fairbanks ............ 362
North of Fairbanks ............ 385
Denali National Park & Preserve ............ 396—397
Forty Mile Country & the Yukon ............ 427
Dawson City ............ 429
The Southwest ............ 447
Northwest & the Arctic ............ 472