Lonely Planet Alaska

Brendan Sainsbury

Description

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher Lonely Planet Alaska is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip, and what hidden discoveries await you. Wonder at epic glaciers, spot bears the size of bison, or catch the midnight sun in the Arctic Circle all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Alaska and begin your journey now! Inside Lonely Planet Alaska Travel Guide: Full-color maps and images throughout Highlightsand itineraries help you tailor your trip to your personal needs and interests Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Essential infoat your fingertips - hours of operation, phone numbers, websites, transit tips, prices Honest reviews for all budgets - eating, sleeping, sight-seeing, going out, shopping, hidden gems that most guidebooks miss Cultural insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - history, wildlife, Alaska Natives, Alaska Natives' art, Alaska Natives' culture, landscapes, literature, politics, economy, environmental issues, exploration, regional identity, lifestyle, sports, cinema, music, tv, arts, crafts, climate Free, convenient pull-outAlaska map (included in print version), plus over 60 color maps Covers Juneau, the Southeast, Anchorage, Prince William Sound, Kenai Peninsula, Denali, the Interior, Kodiak, Katmai, Southwest Alaska, The Bush and more The Perfect Choice: Lonely Planet Alaska, our most comprehensive guide to Alaska, is perfect for both exploring top sights and taking roads less traveled. Looking for more extensive coverage? Check out Lonely Planet USA guide About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet is a leading travel media company and the world's number one travel guidebook brand, providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973. Over the past four decades, we've printed over 145 million guidebooks and grown a dedicated, passionate global community of travellers. You'll also find our content online, on mobile, video and in 14 languages, 12 international magazines, armchair and lifestyle books, ebooks, and more.

Sujets

• Alaska

Informations

• Publié par: Lonely Planet
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781787019560
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 27 Mo

Extrait

Alaska

Contents

Plan Your Trip

Welcome to Alaska
Alaskas Top 21
Need to Know
First Time Alaska
Whats New
If You Like
Month by Month
Itineraries
Outdoor Activities & Adventures
Cruising in Alaska
Travel with Children
Regions at a Glance

On The Road

JUNEAU & THE SOUTHEAST
Southern Panhandle
Ketchikan
Misty Fiords National Monument
Prince of Wales Island
Wrangell
Petersburg
Hyder
Northern Panhandle
Sitka
Juneau
Admiralty Island & Pack Creek
Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve
Haines
Skagway
Yakutat
ANCHORAGE & AROUND
Anchorage
Sights
Activities
Tours
Festivals & Events
Sleeping
Eating
Drinking & Nightlife
Entertainment
Shopping
South of Anchorage
Girdwood
North of Anchorage
Eagle River
Eklutna
Palmer
PRINCE WILLIAM SOUND
Valdez
Cordova
Whittier
KENAI PENINSULA
Seward Highway
Hope
Seward
Kenai Fjords National Park
Sterling Highway
Cooper Landing
Kenai National Wildlife Refuge
Soldotna
City of Kenai
Ninilchik
Homer
Seldovia
Kachemak Bay State Park
DENALI & THE INTERIOR
Denali National Park & Preserve
George Parks Highway
Talkeetna
Denali State Park
Cantwell & Broad Pass
Nenana
Denali Highway
Fairbanks Region
Fairbanks
Chena Hot Springs Road
Manley Hot Springs
The Alcan-Alaska Highway
Delta Junction
Tok
Taylor Highway
Chicken
Fortymile River
Eagle
Tok Cutoff & Glenn Highway
Tok Cutoff
Glenn Highway
Richardson Highway
Delta Junction to Paxson
Paxson
Copper Center
Glennallen to Valdez
WrangellSt Elias National Park
McCarthy Road
McCarthy
Kennecott
KODIAK, KATMAI & SOUTHWEST ALASKA
Kodiak Island
Kodiak
Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge
Alaska Peninsula
King Salmon
Katmai National Park & Preserve
Aleutian Islands
Unalaska & Dutch Harbor
THE BUSH
Western Alaska
Nome
NomeCouncil Road
Kougarok Road
NomeTeller Road
Arctic Alaska
Dalton Highway
Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve
Utqiagvik (Barrow)

Understand

Understand Alaska
Alaska Today
History
Way of Life
Alaska Natives
Landscapes
Wildlife

Survive

Directory A-Z
Accommodations
Customs Regulations
Discount Cards
Electricity
Embassies & Consulates
Food
Health
Insurance
Internet Access
Legal Matters
LGBTQI+ Travelers
Maps
Money
Opening Hours
Post
Public Holidays
Safe Travel
Telephone
Time
Toilets
Tourist Information
Travelers with Disabilities
Visas
Volunteering
Women Travelers
Transportation
Getting There & Away
Getting Around
Glossary
Behind the Scenes
Our Writers
Welcome to Alaska

Bears larger than bison, national parks the size of nations, and glaciers bigger than other US states. The word ‘epic’ barely does Alaska justice.

The Call of the Wild
Pure, raw, unforgiving and humongous in scale, Alaska is a place that arouses basic instincts and ignites what Jack London termed the ‘call of the wild.’ Yet, unlike London and his gutsy, gold-rush companions, visitors today will have a far easier time penetrating the region’s vast, feral wilderness. Indeed, one of the beauties of the 49th state is its accessibility. Few other places in the US allow you to scale an unclimbed mountain, walk where – quite possibly – no human foot has trodden before, or sally forth into a national park that gets fewer annual visitors than the International Space Station.

Life on the Frontier
Space might be the final frontier, but for those without billions of dollars and their own space rocket, Alaska can provide a pretty gritty alternative. With scant phone coverage and a dearth of anything that passes for urban sophistication, this is a region for ‘doing’ rather than hanging out in coffee bars. Get a skilled bush pilot to land you on a crevasse-riddled glacier, or hire a backcountry guiding company to take you on a bracing paddle down an almost-virgin river. Whether you go it alone with bear-spray, or place yourself in the hands of an experienced ‘sourdough’ (Alaskan old-timer), the rewards are immeasurable.

All Creatures Great & Small
Who needs zoos when you can get close-up views of brown bears snatching leaping salmon out of angry waterfalls or see curious moose posing majestically on national-park roadsides? Alaska is a land for wilderness purists who desire to observe big fauna in its natural habitat. This is no place for the timid. Hiking in unguarded backcountry might sometimes feel like being a guest in a very big food chain, but keep your wits about you, and the musk oxen, gray wolves, bears, caribou and other creatures great and small will quietly accept you into their domain.

Tales of the Unexpected
For savvy repeat visitors, the real joys of Alaska are the ones you least expect: ginormous vegetables, epic bus rides, half-forgotten Russian cemeteries, friendly, hassle-free airports, and dive bars where no one’s rethought their hairstyle since 1984. Welcome to a state with as many offbeat attractions as off-the-beaten-track locations. Imagine a land where locals still go subsistence hunting, campers plan gold-panning expeditions in the wilderness and wi-fi is just a rumor. Pitch in with a quirky medley of contrarians, rat-race escapees, wanderers, dreamers, back-to-the-landers and Alaska Natives and discover what makes America’s biggest state tick.

Ice cave in a glacier near Juneau | YOSUKE SANO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

By Brendan Sainsbury, Writer
Like many travelers, I am drawn to roads less traveled, isolated frontier regions where spontaneity and excitement rule over certainty and home comforts. Alaska, for me, fits all of these requirements. Challenging, unpolished and, on occasions, a hard nut to crack, it is, in many ways, the antithesis of the country where I grew up (the UK). Like a stranger in a strange land, I never fail to be astonished by the state’s extremes and gaping lack of people. And though travel here isn’t always easy, it’s a constant education.
For more about our writers, see here
Alaska’s Top 21

Denali & its National Park
The Athabascans christened it the ‘Great One,’ and few who have seen this 20,237ft bulk of ice and granite would disagree. Viewed from the Park Rd of its eponymous national park, Denali chews up the skyline, dominating an already stunning landscape of tundra fields and polychromatic ridgelines. The mountain inspires a take-no-prisoners kind of awe, and climbers know that feeling well. Denali attracts over a thousand alpinists every summer. Far more popular is the surrounding national park, a 6-million-acre wilderness replete with wildlife that’s easily accessible on a bus.

URAIWAN NIYOMSIRI/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Hiking the Chilkoot Trail
They went in search of gold, but, in the end, the journey was the gold. The ghosts of the 1897–98 Klondike gold rush loom large on the legendary Chilkoot Trail , a 33-mile-long path surrounded by brawny landscapes that stretches from Dyea near Skagway to Lake Bennett in Canada. Pitch a tent at Sheep Camp, climb the so-called ‘golden stairs’ and take a spectacular train-ride back to Skagway in a quest to relive one of the greatest frontier adventures ever told.

NIGEL HICKS/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Bear-Viewing at Brooks Camp
Nowhere in the world are the bears more abundant, well-fed and blissfully happy as they are in Katmai National Park & Preserve where, under the watchful eye of the National Park Service, a pristine, well-protected ecosystem flourishes. To see these brilliant ursine beasts pluck spawning salmon straight out of turbulent Brooks Falls, hire a floatplane in July and head to Brooks Camp . Granted, it isn’t cheap, but, as 99% of previous Katmai visitors will testify, it’s worth every cent.

GLEB TARRO/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Icebergs in Glacier Bay
Passengers have already seen sea lions, horned puffins and even a pod of orcas when icebergs of all shapes, sizes and shades of blue begin to appear in Glacier Bay National Park & Preserve . By lunchtime tour boats reach the Margerie Glacier and for the next half-hour passengers can see and hear huge chunks of ice falling off the face of the glacier in a visual and sonic performance that is nothing short of dramatic.

MARIDAV/SHUTTERSTOCK ©

Top Experiences
Riding the Alaska Ferry to the Aleutian Islands
There’s no experience like it: three nights on a ferry that services remote Alaskan communities far along the tendril of the Aleutian chain. Commercial fishers with plastic bins full of gear, tourists lugging giant camera lenses with the hope of scoping a few birds, and even families returning from a visit to the doctor in Homer are all likely to have traded ‘good mornings’ by the time the ship disembarks in Unalaska . In port locals often pile on board just to take off stacks of hamburgers – the ship cafeteria might be the only restaurant in town.

SCOTT DICKERSON/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
Kayaking Kenai Fjords National Park
As you paddle you might be treated to the thunder of calving tidewater glaciers, the honking and splashing of sea lions at a haul-out or the cacophony of a kittiwake rookery. Near Peterson Glacier plump harbor seals bob on glacier ice, and breaching whales often perform at the mouth of Resurrection Bay (pictured). Getting an orca’s-eye view of this rich marine ecosystem is just one of the many rewards of propelling yourself on a kayak through the rocking waters of Kenai Fjords .

DOUG DEMAREST/GETTY IMAGES ©

Top Experiences
The Dalton Highway
Belt up, stick some Springsteen on the sound system and get prepared for the ride of your life. The 500-mile trawl up the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean won’t be the smoothest ride you’ll ever take, but it could well be one of the most legendary. What the infamous ‘haul road’ lacks in asphalt, it makes up for with a succession of surreal ecosystems, from the