USA Tours
Alaska, Inside Passage & Arctic Circle Midnight Sun Tour

Alaska, Inside Passage & Arctic Circle

The Land of the Midnight Sun on this tour gives you long hours of daylight in which to enjoy spectacular scenery, fascinating flora and abundant wildlife. This is our fourth Alaska Nature Tour for bird watchers, Garden Club members and Friends of the Botanic Gardens, to explore wild plants along the Inside Passage and Arctic Circle Tundra... and see some unusual birds and animals along the way.

Next Departure : Friday 19 June, 2009

Land Only price for this tour is AUD $10,688 per person twin share.
Your ' Land Only ' arrangements commence in Fairbanks and finish in Ketchikan.
This price includes flights and ferry costs as listed in the itinerary.

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Stop and explore the Inside Passage, don't just cruise past everything. Meet the people of Alaska . Visit their homes and villages during their longest hours of daylight. This is an intimate journey into The Land of the Midnight Sun.

Dig your hands into the frozen Tundra of the Arctic Circle, taste the wild berries, see the wildflowers and wildlife awaken from winter's slumber and birds migrating north by the thousand for summer's fleeting intensity.

As well as small boats and scheduled airline services we will be using private air taxis and the ferry system of the Alaska Marine Highway. Hotels are chosen because of their convenient location and are mostly of a first class or superior standard, where such are available. Most accommodation is for two nights at each stop so you don't have to pack up each day.



Alaska in Spring


Alaska's long days of late spring and early summer with their extending hours of light nurture an explosion of plant life, from miniature flowering orchids and carnivorous plants to stately devil's club and massive rainforest giants.

Springtime bird migration tapers off and breeding season begins in June with huge concentrations of shorebirds, as well as Bald Eagles and Puffins. moose, bears, beavers, seals and whales are also commonly seen.

You will have several opportunities to see different glaciers from very close vantage points by boat and by walking. This is the season when you will see large columns of ice breaking off the foot of a glacier to form icebergs. A spectacular sight, especially from one of our boats. You will see seabird colonies where we should find both Tufted and Horned Puffins, Rhinoceros Auklet, Thick-billed and Common Murres and thousands of Black-legged Kittiwakes and Marbled Murrelets. Marine mammals you are likely to see include Steller's Sea Lion, Sea Otter, Humpbacked Whale and possibly the magnificent Orca.



The Arctic Circle


Our tour begins in the city of Fairbanks just south of The Arctic Circle. Located near the confluence of the Tanana and Chena Rivers, Fairbanks was founded in 1901 as a trading post serving stern-wheeler riverboats and early gold prospectors. Here we see some truly eye opening displays at the Fairbanks Natural History Museum, as an introduction to our Alaska journey.

Tour north from Fairbanks by coach along the famed Dalton Highway. Visit the Arctic Circle Trading Post, situated in the rural community of Joy, Alaska. Stop along the way to view the remarkable Trans Alaska Oil Pipeline. At the mighty Yukon River, marvel at the majestic beauty of the northland's most famous waterway. Explore up close the amazing Arctic Tundra and feel the veins of ice just beneath the surface. Here you can see some very unusual plants that have adapted their form and life cycle to survive on the Arctic Tundra.

Cross the Arctic Circle in ceremonious fashion and receive an official Arctic Circle Adventure Certificate. We take a group photo at the Arctic Circle signpost for you to prove you got this far. Then we return to Fairbanks by bush pilot planes from Coldfoot Camp, giving you a wonderful panoramic view of the vast interior.



The Inside Passage


The Inside Passage is a spectacular wilderness of emerald forests, woven together with narrow calm water channels and deep blue fjords dotted with drifting glacial icebergs. This prime wildlife habitat and botanical reserve hosts a diversity of species and is a living museum of Alaskan culture.

On this tour you will stop for several nights in each of the Inside Passage towns of Ketchikan, Wrangell, Sitka and Juneau. Many of our tour guests have previously 'done the cruise' and are coming back a second time so that they can stop and enjoy the area with a guide and to meet the people, not just cruise past everything.



Meet the People


We will introduce you to local Alaskan residents who have personal knowledge of their surrounding nature, plants and wildlife with details that will truly enhance your enjoyment of each place you visit.

Gain an intimate view of Inside Passage communities; discover an insider's perspective as you walk with local residents through pristine forests and along shorelines and tundra . Your tour will include visits to Ketchikan (Alaska's southernmost town), Revillagigedo Island, Annette Island Tsimshian Indian Reservation, Stikine-LeConte Wilderness, Frederick Sound (famous for humpback whales), Tracy Arm Fjord, Sitka (Former Russian Capital), Wrangell (Klondike Goldrush Town) and Juneau (Alaska's capital city accessible only by boat or air) as well as Fairbanks, The Arctic Circle and Denali National Park. .



Denali National Park & Mt McKinley


From Anchorage we will take you to Denali National Park by train. Your seats will be reserved in the Dome Car which will guarantee that you get the best possible views of the countryside and travel in the most comfort.

The road through Denali National Park is closed to most automobile traffic. A ' Park Bus' will take us through vast areas of black spruce and willow, following streams and past picturesque lakes, within the park, on a very full day tour. The driver will stop along the way whenever he sees any large mammals such as Grizzly Bear, Dall Sheep and Moose as well as birds such as Ptarmigan, Gyrfalcon and Golden Eagle.

Returning from the far side of Denali will be by light aircraft which will include a spectacular flight over Mount McKinley.



For Detailed Itinerary Click Here

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