Alaska tours & holidays

In a chilly latitude between 50 and 70 degrees north of the equator, much of the state sees long periods of darkness in winter and extended daylight in summer. From May to August, places north of the Arctic Circle experience the Midnight Sun phenomenon whereby the sun never fully sets.

Spanning such a huge landmass, the weather is highly variable across the state. Southcentral regions like Anchorage and Valdez have a subarctic climate with cool to cold conditions throughout the year. Summer highs top out at around 18°C and drop to 10°C in the evening, while winter brings freezing temperatures as low as -18°C. Coastal destinations like Homer and Seward have slightly cooler summers and milder winters due to ocean influences.

The mountainous interior has more extreme temperature variations – summer tends to see average highs of 21°C, while winter frequently reaches -30°C or even -40°C in regions like Fairbanks.

The peak travel season is from June to August when daytime temperatures linger between 15°C and 25°C and there’s plenty of daylight for exploring. Shoulder months (April, May and September) are also a good time to travel if you prefer to share the wild with fewer people.

It’s generally best to holiday in Alaska with an open mind about the weather. Alaskans have learned that if they don’t like it, they need only wait five minutes before it changes again!

It’s generally understood that most Indigenous peoples of the land now known as Alaska were semi-nomadic until about 5000 years ago when evidence suggests some groups began to build permanent settlements, particularly near coastal areas.

Russia began colonising Alaska in the early 18th century in pursuit of natural resources and to spread Orthodox Christianity. Their focus on fur, particularly sea otter pelts, drove exploitation, forced labor, violence and disease, devastating Indigenous populations. Mortality rates reached as high as 50% in some areas.

In 1867, Russia ‘sold’ Alaska to the United States. Indigenous Alaskans strongly objected, as they had never ceded their lands – a fact that became pivotal in later legal disputes. Alaska became a US state in 1959. The discovery of oil in the 1960s led to conflicts over land rights, culminating in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971. ANCSA granted over 44 million acres of land and nearly $1 billion to Alaska Native corporations, marking a pivotal moment in US Indigenous land rights history.

Today, around 18% of Alaska’s population is Indigenous, including Alaska Native peoples such as the Aleut, Inupiat and Yupik among dozens of other groups. While many Indigenous Alaskans live in small rural communities, others reside in urban areas like Anchorage while maintaining cultural ties to their ancestral lands.

Climate change has profoundly impacted Alaska’s Indigenous peoples, disrupting traditional hunting and fishing practices due to rising temperatures, melting permafrost, and changing migratory patterns.

Alaska's wild environment continues to shape its culture. The harsh winters, connection to the Arctic Sea and vast wilderness foster a spirit of independence and a strong community. With so few people in such a vast state, locals tend to share resources and keep their friends close.

Nature-based hobbies like hiking, fishing and snow sports are central to Alaskan life, while larger hubs like Anchorage have a small but passionate arts scene, including the well-curated Anchorage Museum and several First Nations arts and crafts galleries.

Alaska is a massive state spanning a mind-boggling 1.723 million sq kilometres. Its diverse and dramatic landscapes are a big draw for most travellers. It's bordered by Canada to the south, and a third of the state falls within the Arctic Circle.

It has a diverse range of landscapes from tundra, boreal forest and rainforest to glaciers, fjords and mountains. In fact, there are 3000 named mountains and many more unnamed peaks. The Alaska Range, which runs through southcentral Alaska, is home to Denali, North America’s tallest peak.

With over 10,000 kilometres of coastline, several islands and inlets, and a spiderweb of rivers that flow through the state, Alaska is as much a state of water as it is of mountains.

In keeping with a way of life that still revolves around hunting, fishing and nature, Alaskan cuisine is big on game, seafood and small amounts of locally grown produce.

While traditional Alaskan fare tends to be simple, you’ll find diverse cuisines in larger towns. Fusion has been particularly popular lately, with plenty of chefs experimenting by marrying fresh Alaskan seafood with Asian spices and flavours. 

Here’s our list of must-try dishes:

1. Salmon
Wild Alaskan salmon is iconic. An important part of Indigenous diets pre-colonisation, salmon today is both a vital part of the state’s economy and a source of pride and identity for locals. Of the five varieties – king, sockeye, coho, pink and keta – each person has their favourite and preferred way of cooking it.

2. Reindeer hotdog
These wieners aren’t just a novelty for tourists, they're also plenty popular with locals. Grab these strongly flavoured sausages from food carts in bigger towns like Anchorage or supermarkets for an Alaskan camp barbecue.

3. Berries
Cold weather and a pristine environment make Alaska a haven for growing berries. Late summer is best for blueberries and strawberries, while crowberries taste sweeter after they’ve been ‘burned’ with a little winter frost. While wild berry picking is a popular pastime in Alaska, remember there are plenty of poisonous and lethal berries that grow in the state, too, so be cautious.

4. Red king crab
The king crab more than lives up to its name. It has a body the size of a dinner plate and the males weigh an average of three kilograms. You’ll see their spiky legs – which some say is the tastiest part – adorning menus throughout the state, often served with just a little lemon so the soft white meat can speak for itself.

Part of the allure of an Alaskan adventure is the chance to see the diverse wildlife that roams the land and fills the waterways. With huge chunks of truly untamed wilderness, Alaska often has more in common with a safari than a walk through a nature reserve. You may just be lucky enough to see some of these creatures:

1. Bald eagle

A modern emblem of freedom in the USA, the bald eagle has traditionally been revered among numerous Native American groups. So what’s so special about the bird? It’s a combination of size, speed and style. With females sporting a wingspan that can reach 2.4 metres, a dive speed of up to 160 kilometres per hour and an iconic look, the baldie is bad to the bone.

See them: Year-round. Look for a chance to see them in Denali National Park, Resurrection Bay and Anchorage.

2. Puffins

Easily distinguished by their orange beaks, puffins in Alaska come in two varieties – tufted and horned. The tufted kind is all black with yellow feathers on either side of their head, while the horned ones have white bellies.

See them: Around Valdez, Homer and the waterways of Kenai Fjord National Park in summer. 

3. Grizzly bears

These creatures are found throughout Alaska, though they tend to spread out, so spotting them is a rare treat. That said, their impressive size makes them easy to see, even from a distance. Females can weigh up to 360 kilograms, but males really take the salmon cake, with top weights of 770 kilograms.

See them: Depending on the area, grizzlies can be seen from March to September, but the peak viewing time is generally June to July. The best spots are Kenai Fjords National Park, Denali NP and Wrangell-St Elias National Park.

4. Black bears

It’s the face shape and nail length, rather than coat colour, that will help you tell black bears from brown bears (like grizzlies). While they can be black or brown, their longer, straighter face (some have called it Romanesque) and short claws make it relatively easy to tell the difference.

See them: Black bears, like grizzlies, hibernate during winter. The best times to spot them are the warmer months from March to September, when they hunt for fish in Kenai Fjords National Park and live in the Denali NP and Wrangell-St Elias National Park forests.

5. Moose

Male moose grow a fresh set of antlers every year. They begin shedding the velvet coating on their antlers around September in preparation for dropping them in the winter, a very gnarly process that's a real treat, albeit a gross one, to see in real life.    

See them: Pretty much everywhere throughout the year, though the best spots are in Denali NP, Wrangell-St Elias NP and Anchorage.

6. Caribou

You may know caribou by their more whimsical name – reindeer. Santa’s hoofed helpers have natural snowshoes and gorgeous, multi-pronged antlers that adorn both males and females.

See them: A fairly large herd lives in Denali NP. Your best chance of seeing them is during the summer.

7. Dall sheep

These white sheep sport a wise expression and curved horns, though the males undeniably have a more impressive set. They have the distinct honour of being the northernmost wild sheep in the world, and they will eat almost anything to survive, from grass and moss to soil.

See them: As they tend to live in mountainous areas, your best bet is near rugged environments. Be particularly alert on some of the hiking trails in Denali NP, like the Savage River Loop and the trails around Igloo Mountain.

8. Sea otters

These beautiful critters are playful and dextrous. Their amazing coats meant they were hunted to the brink of extinction by the 20th century, and while numbers are improving, they remain a threatened species in Alaska.

See them: In the waterways around Valdez, Homer and Seward. 

9. Humpback whales

Humpbacks are big enough to be spotted from land, but there’s nothing like seeing one from the water by boat or kayak. Even the runts grow to around 12 metres long.

See them: A 10,000-strong pod heads to Alaska every summer. Resurrection Bay is a reliably great spot, along with Prince William Sound and off the coast of Homer.

10. Orcas

The ‘killer whale’ is technically part of the dolphin family. With their glossy black back and striking white bellies, there's little chance of missing these mammals if they're close by, and luckily for you, they tend to travel to Alaska’s waters in large pods.

See them: Resurrection Bay is a reliably great spot for whale watching in the summer.