Family Fun in Alaska

Take in the sights of Alaska’s largest city after landing in Anchorage. Your private driver/guide will recommend points of interest during your transfer to your hotel. Settle into your downtown accommodations or take a stroll and learn why Anchorage is known as the City of Flowers.

Overnight in Anchorage

Explore Alaska’s native cultures with a morning visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Sit down with a private culture “bearer” and immerse yourself in the stories of Alaska’s first people. Then, travel northward toward Talkeetna and witness the changing landscapes including glacier carved valleys and looming mountain ranges. This area is well known to the dogsledding community as prime mushing grounds in the winter and you’ll stop at a local sled dog kennel along the way. Learn about the making of a champion sled dog for the Iditarod as your private guide explains to you and your family all that it takes to run the Iditarod. Tonight, settle into your Talkeetna accommodations, look for the alpenglow on the Alaska range from your window.

Overnight in Talkeetna, your home for the next three nights.

Explore the Talkeetna Mountains of the Alaska Range by helicopter on a bespoke adventure.  Feel as if you have been magically transported to a vast open wilderness paradise.  With views of Denali and the Alaska Range, your private hiking guide will lead you through the wilderness on a scenic hike specifically tailored to your family’s desires and interests.

This evening, stroll down Main Street in Talkeetna, a quaint area filled with local shops and restaurants offering handmade goodies of all varieties. Your private driver/guide can offer suggestions for their favorite local spots for dinner or you can enjoy a freshly brewed glass of beer from the local brewery.

Alaska is world-famous for its many rivers with rich populations of different types of fish from salmon to rainbow trout and more. You’ll will set off with your family today on a private fishing adventure. Your experienced Alaska fishing guide will teach you how to reel in a big one as you cast from the secluded shoreline.  In the afternoon, you and your family will sample delicious treats made with Alaskan birch syrup from one of the first Birch Syrup production facilities in Alaska. After satisfying your sweet-tooth, relax in your Talkeetna accommodations or ask your private driver/guide about their favorite spots in Denali National Park best for capturing the towering mountain of Denali on camera.

Experience the diversity of Alaska’s scenery as you travel to the mountain community of Girdwood on your way to the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage. Skirt the edges of Turnagain Arm and look for Dall sheep navigating the cliffs above or belugas chasing salmon below. Stop outside of Girdwood for an exclusive ATV adventure through the Alaska Wilderness. Wind through the northern most section of the Pacific Coastal Temperate Rainforest as you make your way to a waterfall and active salmon stream. This afternoon check-in to your mountainside resort and enjoy relaxing amenities such as the indoor pool and large hot tub with mountain views or take a ride to the top of Alyeska Mountain on the resort tram.

Overnight in Girdwood, your home for the next three nights.

Alaska is famous for many things, wildlife and glaciers being two of them and today you will get up close to both! Start off the day with a short drive south to Portage where you will visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. The Conservation Center takes in injured and orphaned animals year-round and provides them with spacious enclosures and quality care. The Center maintains over 200-acres of land so the animals can exhibit their ‘wild’ natural behavior. While you are at the Center get up-close and learn more about one of the resident grizzly bears during an exclusive experience. Participate in their daily training and feeding and learn about their behavior and diet.

This afternoon the adventure continues as you board the Alaska Railroad for a short ride to the Spencer Whistlestop. Meet your knowledgeable local guides and make your way to the shores of Spencer Lake and board a private raft to explore the iceberg laden lake. Learn about the geology of the area from your guide and get close enough to touch one of the many blue icebergs in the lake. See the face of Spencer Glacier before beginning your float down the Placer River.  Enjoy a leisurely float down the river before disembarking the raft along the train tracks and board the train back to Portage. Meet your private driver/guide and return to Girdwood for the evening.

Begin your day today with a private gold panning lesson at a historic Alaska gold mine.  Girdwood was initially founded as Glacier City when the first four gold claims were staked along Crow Creek in 1896. Explore historically preserved buildings and imagine life in the Last Frontier back in the 19th century. This afternoon, stroll through the Chugach Forest on a private nature hike with a knowledgeable local guide sharing insights with your family about Alaska botany, geology and history. Make your way along a section of the historic Iditarod trail and sample some tasty treats, harvested during your adventure. Keep an eye out for moose or bear along the way.  Your driver/guide will happily offer suggestions on how to spend your last evening in Girdwood.

Depart Girdwood with your family and your private driver/guide and return to Anchorage. Say farewell to Alaska as you meet your departure flight home.