Quezi

Crusing the Inside Passage - courtesy jimg944 - CC-BY

According to Governor Sarah Palin, “Alaska is different from every other destination in the world. Every day offers an unforgettable memory.”  She is quite right.

There is Denali National Park and Preserve.  You will find spectacular mountain vistas, abundant wildlife, glaciers, vast expanses of sub-arctic tundra, and North America’s highest mountain.

You may also discover the Anchorage Museum of History and Art.  This is the largest museum in Alaska and is one of the most visited attractions in Anchorage. There are exhibits covering Alaskan history, art, culture, and much more from Native American beginnings, the Russian period, to American colonization.

Then there is Skagway, found at the northernmost point of the Inside Passage. It is the main port of call for cruise ships, and was the trading post serving the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897. Within three months a tent and shack town of 20,000 people had sprung up and throngs of gold-seekers stampeded through, the jumping off point for the 500-mile trek to the goldfields in the Yukon.

Of course, one must visit the state capital, Juneau. Accessible only by sea or air, Alaska’s ‘Gateway to the Glaciers’ is situated among spectacular mountains on the shores of the Gastineau Channel.  However, The city of Juneau is not as wild and uncultured as one would expect of such a remote destination. It affords all the pleasures of a large city, while offering a wide variety of activities for outdoor enthusiasts right in its own backyard.

Alaska is more than twice the size of the state of Texas, a land of vast natural splendor, alot of wildlife and few people. It offers experiences such as walking in unspoilt wilderness, cruising through the fjords of the Inside Passage and frontier towns rich in gold rush history.

In spite of a reputation for high prices and bitter cold winters, millions of people have discovered a piece of America that is worth every penny spent. Nowhere else can that frontier feeling be so fully experienced.  It is a place where wilderness surrounds every part of the Alaskan way of life.

This article only skims the very surface of what an Alaskan vacation can offer.

For more information about Alaska travel and tourism.