My Alaska Bucket List

Like almost everywhere in the world, Alaska is on our list of places to visit at some point during our lifetime. While I have absolutely no idea when we might finally get round to ticking Alaska of our list, it hasn’t stopped me compiling a list of ‘must do’ attractions so we’re ready and raring to go when the opportunity presents itself.

Obviously, Alaska covers a huge area and that may limit how much we’re able to do it one trip but, while we’re in dream mode what’s the harm in listing the top 5 things that are drawing me to Alaska right now.

Alaska – My Must See List

Tracy Arm Fjord

The north and south Sawyer Glaciers are located at the end of Tracy Arm and are the main attraction for most people visiting the area. However, there is plenty more to see here, although the glaciers look totally worth it alone, you can be on the lookout for bears, wolves and seals.

Half of the attraction itself is to enjoy the boat journey on route to the glaciers and watch as the captain navigates the floating ice during the summer months, it’s said they range in size from the smallest of chunks right up to the size of a three-storey building.

Creative Commons Flickr Credit: Blake Handley

Alaska Highway

Ever since our epic drive in Austria I’ve developed a bit of a thing for slow and winding scenic roads. The Alaska highway looks to be exactly that, a quick search of the road brings up some stunning images. The road was originally built in record time during the second world war and runs between Dawson Creek in British Columbia and Delta Junction in Alaska.

It’s often suggested to spend a week driving the highway in order to enjoy all the views and with the number of photos we usually take we’d probably need double that.

The Northern Lights

Seeing the northern lights is on most people’s bucket list, it’s just a case of where.

While theoretically the northern lights can be seen from anywhere in Alaska, Fairbanks and the far northern regions give you the best chance of witnessing the magic take place clearly. The idea of trying to catch the northern lights and still get some sleep seems to be the biggest challenge but thankfully many hotels in the most known spots offer a wake-up call (on request) when the lights are on.

Brooks Falls

When I think of Alaska the first thing that comes into my head is bears, probably thanks to a bit too much time watching National Geographic.

Brooks Falls is arguably the best place to see bears doing what they do best, hunting (or should I say catching?) red salmon as they swim upstream. July is the best time to visit in order to guarantee sightings with as many as 25 bears seen fishing in one spot at the same time, including dominant males competing for the best positions.  What an experience that would be to see first hand.

Creative Commons Flickr Credit: Christoph Strässler

Visit the Arctic Circle

It would be hard to visit Alaska and be that far north without making a journey into the Arctic circle, even if it’s just to say we’ve been.

What appeals to me most is visiting some of the villages that are closest to the arctic circle to see what it likes to live in those conditions year round. Can you imagine having 24 hours of sunlight or darkness or sunlight depending on the season and how that might affect your day?

As mentioned recently on our blog there are some destinations that are just so special you want your time there to be as perfect as possible. With so much to see and do I’d make the most of a company like TrekAmerica to take the hard work out of planning a dream trip. 

So this is my Alaska bucket list so far and I haven’t even got started on snowmobiling or dog sledding yet…

Have you been to Alaska? Is there something we shouldn’t be missing that isn’t on this list? We’d love to hear about it in the comments below.