Southeast Alaska is such a cool area. It’s what most people visit on an Alaska cruise, but you can actually do the Inside Passage WITHOUT a cruise ship! Visiting places like Ketchikan, Juneau, Haines and even Glacier Bay National Park are all possible on your own, taking your tie and spending several days in different destinations along the Inside Passage. When you’re doing an Alaska Cruise you are only in port for less than a day, so you typically get to do one activity and then walk around the port area a bit. The Inside Passage on your own gives you much more time to explore and enjoy each town along the way.
Have you considered doing the Inside Passage without a cruise ship? We’re going to explain HOW you can do it and help you with a great itinerary for enjoying several places and all kinds of activities. We love visiting Alaska and getting to share the Southeast Alaska region in a different way is such a joy. If you have any questions about planning your Inside Passage trip without a cruise or need additional recommendations for an itinerary, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help others plan unforgettable trips!
Why do the Inside Passage without a Cruise?
Some people really are all about the cruises and love them, doing Caribbean, European and Alaskan cruises multiple times. If that’s not you, that’s okay; that’s not us either. The standard Alaska cruise sails through the Inside Passage from either Seattle or Vancouver and travels past Vancouver Island and to Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway, giving passengers 5-12 hours in a destination. Some cruise itineraries include stops in Haines, Hoonah, Sitka, Seward, Valdez or Whittier, but many don’t. If you plan the Inside Passage without a cruise you’re opening yourself up to visiting more places AND having more time in each destination.
Slow travel is really nice if you have the time and the Inside Passage using the ferry system, tour boats and even airplanes is such a treat. A great example of experiencing a cruise port for a day versus staying for multiple days is getting to visit Haines, Alaska for several days and each evening driving to the state park just outside of town to watch the bears fishing in the river, and even watch a family with four cubs each night as they go about their routine. Without the schedule of a cruise ship and with such flexibility we got to enjoy this each day.
Be sure to check out our Alaska travel website, MyAlaskaTrip.com!
“But cruises offer so much more than stops in ports.” Great, and if that’s why you’re on a cruise, I’m glad you’ve found your thing and may you continue to enjoy that style of travel. I would rather be in port spending my money with local Alaskans and supporting their businesses, enjoying their cafes, looking for art to bring home, and getting snacks from the local bakery than reporting for my dining time and buying souvenirs on board. Yes, I know that cruise ships boost the local economies with each stop they make, but beyond the immediate cruise port area there are many more layers of Alaskans offering a different take or experience than the curated one you get in your short stop.
What are the Transportation Options between Alaska Destinations
“So how do you get from place to place when you do the Inside Passage on your own? Isn’t the cruise ship the main transportation?” Yes, cruise ships are a simple way to plan, but there’s actually a whole ferry system connecting both the main cruise ports AND the tiny towns that you just sail by. The Alaska Marine Highway starts in Bellingham, Washington and continues as far north as Skagway, making stops along the way. You can get off at any of the ports, explore the town and local area, and then get back on the ferry, either returning to the Main Line or doing one of the spur routes. As long as you plan your passage in advance by consulting the schedule and booking your tickets, you can easily use the Alaska Marine Highway System to explore so much of the Inside Passage without a cruise ship.
You can also take smaller boats between destinations if you’re just walking on and don’t have a vehicle (yes, either option is very doable for the Inside Passage). From Ketchikan you can take the Inter-Island Ferry to Prince of Wales Island, from Juneau you can do the Alaska Fjordlines, and from Skagway you can ride the Haines Skagway Fast Ferry. See, you can make your own route through the Inside Passage without a cruise ship!
One more option for exploring Southeast Alaska on your own is to fly between destinations. Yes, Alaska Airlines actually services several ports along the Inside Passage! You can fly into Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka, Gustavus, Petersburg and Yakutat. Beyond these towns, you can do Alaska Seaplanes to additional towns, including some that you maybe have never heard of. We have flown with Alaska Seaplanes and the kids really like this sort of transportation/flightseeing experience. It’s such a unique way to travel and is an unforgettable addition to your time exploring the Inside Passage.
NOTE: there are two destinations in the Inside Passage that you can drive to, Haines and Skagway. From the AlCan Highway you can head south from the Yukon to either town. To drive between Haines and Skagway though, that’s almost a ten hour trip, so plan accordingly.
Destinations to Visit in the Inside Passage
So where all can you plan to visit when you’re doing the Inside Passage without a cruise? So many places! Here’s the list and something interesting about each spot:
- Ketchikan – fun and famous town, Creek Street is cool and the salmon walk is awesome for watching spawning salmon throughout the summer
- Metlakatla – beautiful town on Alaska’s only Indian Reservation
- Wrangell – small community surrounded by hiking and fishing, guide services available
- Petersburg – known for the LeConte Glacier and other beautiful nature spots
- Kake – they have the tallest totem pole in Alaska!
- Angoon – on Admiralty Island, known for its coastal brown bear population
- Hoonah – Icy Strait and the Hoonah community is a seat of Tlingit cultural experiences
- Tenakee Springs – very small community with hot springs and forests
- Gustavus – the home base for experiencing Glacier Bay National Park
- Haines – beautiful town with great food and so much wildlife, including the Bald Eagle Preserve
- Skagway – another famous port and the destination to experience the White Pass Railway to the Yukon
- Yakutat – Hubbard Glacier, kayaking and fishing are all a part of visiting Yakutat, and this is another amazing Tlingit community to experience
See, there is so much to do and see in the Inside Passage without a cruise ship. The opportunities expand far beyond the cruise ports. Having said that, as you stack on the smaller destinations your costs start to go up significantly, so if you need to keep things within a certain budget, plan your trip to visit some of the more well known destinations along the main lines or with Alaska Airlines service.
Is the Inside Passage without a Cruise BETTER?
We all have our preferences, right? I prefer to control my travels and spend the evenings out watching wildlife and exploring on our own. Our family has so much fun visiting the random beaches and pulling over on the side of the road to watch bears. It’s how we travel and something we all value. We like to rough it, to picnic and to hike a lot. Our kids love to find little shops that sell Pokemon cards and fun t-shirts, and we always enjoy the off the beaten path restaurants we find. This is all difficult to do if you’re on a cruise ship, which is why we like the Inside Passage on our own.
Other people like traveling with “curated” itineraries. They like to get into port, see the shops, try a restaurant and be back on the ship before All Aboard. Yes, there are ways to see a lot of a port town or get out into nature if you’re on a cruise ship, so if you’re one to take advantage of those excursions and you’re happy with it, great.
If the top option of getting to see and do more in a port sounds good to you, then doing the Inside Passage without a cruise ship is something you should consider. If you’re cool with less than a day in each spot and you love the cruise ship experience, then you know your answer… but I’d still encourage you to consider visiting on your own, especially if you’ve gotten to sail through the Inside Passage before.
When to Plan an Inside Passage Trip
There’s a reason the cruise season in the Inside Passage is May through October. This is when things are well thawed out, there’s better weather and there is plenty of sunlight. The wildlife really becomes active in mid-May and then they start to mellow out at the end of October. The salmon runs begin in June and can continue into October (depending on the type of fish). You can even visit Haines in November for the last salmon run of the year and be here for the Bald Eagle Festival with thousands of eagles coming to fish the Chilkat River.
Winter isn’t ideal for visiting if you’re exploring the Inside Passage on your own. There are fewer boats running between destinations and the weather can be less than savory. The wildlife is less active and the salmon aren’t running. True, you’ll get to enjoy the Southeast Alaska towns with no tourists, which can be lovely, but also very few businesses or activities are available during the winter months. Mid spring to early fall really is the best time to do the Inside Passage without a cruise ship.
How to Combine the Inside Passage and Mainland Alaska
For those getting on the Alaska Marine Highway System (AMHS) with their own vehicles, continuing on from Haines and driving up to Fairbanks or Anchorage is an easy route and it’s beautiful. This is the simplest way to combine visiting the Inside Passage with mainland Alaska. In a perfect world the AMHS would be running its cross-gulf route all the time and then you could continue onto Valdez or Whittier with your vehicle. As of right now (2025) the stretch of service to Valdez and onward is on hold. Hopefully we’ll see this part of the line restart soon.
For anyone who’s reading and is already booked onto a cruise, you can add time exploring mainland Alaska if your final port is Whittier or Seward. From here you can take a train to Anchorage and get a rental car, then you have the freedom to explore on your own.
If you’ve walked onto the ferry or have been island hopping in the Inside Passage via airplanes and small boats, you can head back to Juneau for a direct flight up to Anchorage to continue your trip. Several flights a day will get you to Alaska’s biggest city and then you can get your rental car and drive! Really, doing the Inside Passage without a cruise ship opens so many doors for different travel experiences.
How Long do you Need to do the Inside Passage without a Cruise?
As you’re planning to visit Alaska’s Inside Passage NOT on a cruise, you are probably wondering just how long it will take to explore. Well, you could actually have a great experience in five days, but it would be limited, or you can have an epic experience over two weeks. It really depends on your methods of transportation and your budget. Getting between Ketchikan and Juneau is easy with the Alaska Airlines flights. Getting between Haines and Juneau is easy with the Alaska Fjordlines; making the connections to the other towns is easy with the AMHS or seaplanes; but it’s getting them coordinated that can be tricky.
If you’re doing the Inside Passage without a cruise ship and are driving your own car leveraging the AMHS, you’re going to need to plan far enough in advance to secure vehicle space for your car on the ferry. And if you have legs that are overnight, it can be worth it to book a cabin on the ferry. This is mostly important for the stretch from Bellingham to Ketchikan, but from Ketchikan to Juneau is a long boat trip too with an overnight, so you may want to plan for that too. As you review the schedule you’ll figure out what you need and how this impacts your overall travel time.
The best way to experience the Inside Passage of Alaska on your own is to do the combination of flights and boats, thus making the most of your time and getting to enjoy slower travel on the water.
Nights per Destination in Southeast Alaska
Now that you see how a trip through Southeast Alaska really can vary based on your method of transport and how swiftly you want to move, let’s get into allocating your time in the different destinations. For the more popular islands and ports, you should consider spending 3-4 nights in each one you’re planning. I would say that Ketchikan, Juneau and Haines are all good towns to stay in for several days with lots of activities and sights to see. You can easily have a 5 day trip to each one, but also you’ll feel really good about and fulfilled with 3 solid days of fun in each.
If you’re adding some of the smaller destinations like Gustavus or Wrangell, you can plan 2-3 nights in each and that’ll be enough time to get a good sense of the place and enjoy the highlights. Keep in mind as you’re planning, and we get into this below, that sometimes activities will take an entire day so you’ll need more time in a town if you have a 12 hour fishing day planned or an 8 hour whale watching excursion.
Working from our list of towns along the Inside Passage, here’s how many days we’d recommend for each. Keep in mind that you will have time on your arrival day as well, and sometimes you’ll be leaving mid day or in the evening, so have a little extra time then as well:
- Ketchikan – 3 to 5 days
- Metlakatla – 1 day, 2 nights depending on transportation
- Wrangell – 1 day, 2 nights depending on transportation
- Petersburg – 2 day, 3 nights depending on transportation
- Kake – 1 day, 2 nights depending on transportation
- Angoon or Hoonah – 1 day, 2 nights depending on transportation
- Gustavus – 2 to 3 days, add an extra day if you’re doing an all day excursion into Glacier Bay National Park
- Haines – 3 to 6 days as you can add a day trip or easy overnight to Skagway, and you can enjoy driving up into Canada too
- Skagway – 3 to 4 days including a trip into the Yukon or doing the Fast Ferry to Haines for the day if you aren’t already visiting Haines
- Yakutat – 2 to 3 days and then you can fly to either Juneau (JNU) or Anchorage (ANC) via Cordova (CDV)
If you want to visit EVERY one of these stops, you need to allow yourself at least 19 days to enjoy the Inside Passage. I recommend picking three or four of the destinations to visit in one trip and allowing yourself some buffer time in case travel goes awry or you really love a place.
Activities to Plan for in the Inside Passage
So what exactly can you do when you’re touring the Inside Passage of Alaska? Well, the possibilities are endless especially if you have your own vehicle with you. And if you’re traveling without your own car, you can rent a car in Ketchikan, Juneau, Sitka and Haines. Some towns are built up much more for tourism than others, but each has its highlights that make it special and enjoyable.
Here are some suggestions for things to do as you proceed up through the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska:
- Tour the townsites on foot, either on your own or with a guide
- Tlingit cultural sites and museums, learning about totem poles, clan houses, potlaches and more
- Hiking from or near town, guided hiking is also available in many port towns
- Fishing for salmon, halibut, cod, rockfish and more depending on the season
- Wildlife watching – this can be whale watching tours, bear expeditions, scenic drives to remote areas or guided wildlife photo safaris
- Alaska gold rush history sites and tours
- Glacier experiences – flightseeing, pack rafting, glacier hiking, boat tours to watch glaciers calve off
- Museums and galleries are plentiful, from small shops to museums run by the National Park or National Forest Services
What you choose to do is going to have a big impact on your overall budget. Fishing is always a more expensive activity to book, but if you’re traveling with your own fishing gear and have gotten yourself the appropriate fishing license you can enjoy shore, pier and river fishing quite easily all throughout Southeast Alaska. Just be sure that you’re adhering to fishing restrictions and guidelines.
Where to do Fishing and Whale Watching without a Cruise
Starting with whale watching, this is one of the reasons so many people enjoy doing an Inside Passage cruise: you can watch whales from the comfort of your state room. You can do this from the ferries or boat transportation as well, and then you can also book whale watching tours from most Inside Passage towns as well. Depending on the time you’re on your trip, you may or may not have great whale watching prospects. As most of the humpback whales and orcas are heading north towards Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords, they tend to be mostly gone from Southeast Alaska by mid-June and then will show back up in mid-August.
For fishing, there are several types of guided fishing experiences. There’s sport fishing, where you’re practicing catch and release for the experience of being out on the rivers and seeing what fishing in Alaska is like. And then there’s fishing to keep where you’re aiming for specific types of fish that you’ll clean and process to bring home. Both types of tours are available, and then if you’re fishing on your own you can decide the experience you want.
NOTE: if you’re planning on fishing on your own or catching and processing to bring home, be sure that you’ve thought through your timing. For bringing fish home, plan to ship it or carry on your return flight in a way that the fish is properly stored and safely transported. If you’re fishing daily and want to enjoy it ASAP, be sure that you’re booking accommodations with grills or a kitchen.
Sample Inside Passage Itinerary NOT on a Cruise
As you look at our sample itinerary for enjoying the Inside Passage not on a cruise, remember that you can adjust the amount of time in a destination or the activities to suit your own interests and budget. We did this base itinerary in 11 days, but you can adjust it down to 7 days if you really want to. You can always return to Southeast Alaska and spend more time or try different destinations.
For this itinerary on the Inside Passage, we took the combination of flights and boats, renting cars in the different destinations. Keep in mind also that you don’t have to rent a car anywhere as you can leverage buses, Uber, taxis or guided transportation.
First Stop: Ketchikan
You can fly into Ketchikan (KTN) easily from Seattle (SEA). When you arrive, you exit the airport and walk down a ramp to the ferry across the channel to the island. This is a few dollars per person and takes just a few minutes to cross the water. You can either take a taxi to your hotel or check to see if there’s a shuttle provided by your lodging.
While in Ketchikan, be sure that you are enjoying both the iconic town and Creek Street as well as the many opportunities to experience and learn about Tlingit culture. In town you can visit the Tongass Historical Museum, the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center and the Totem Heritage Center to really get a good grasp of the history of Ketchikan and context of the colonization of Alaska and how the Tlingit people were impacted. To keep on learning and seeing beautiful Tlingit art and totem poles, visit the Saxman Native Village and Totem Bight State Park.
For some nature, drive south from the town of Ketchikan to watch for whales from the shore at Rotary Beach or Mountain Point. Hang out at Herring Cove watching the salmon come up stream with bald eagles and black bears fishing for them (evening is best). Or you can head north of the town of Ketchikan up to Ward Lake for walking and hiking trails and then onto South Point Higgins Beach for a beautiful shoreline, tide pools and more whale watching from the shore.
TOURS: consider going out sea kayaking with Ketchikan Kayak Co or doing the Black Bear Express on the Kawanti Adventures boardwalks. There are plenty of fishing and whale watching tours to choose from as well depending on the season.
Second Stop: Juneau
The distance from Ketchikan to Juneau is further than between most other destinations in Southeast Alaska so for this travel day, do the hour long flight from Ketchikan to Juneau (JNU). When you land, if you’re renting a car, start your day by visiting Mendenhal Glacier in the Tongass National Forest since it’s on the way into town. Once you’re settled, walk around town and explore on foot. There are some cool museums and galleries here, including the Alaska State Museum and the Sealaska Heritage Institute.
Check out our favorite Things to do in Juneau!
One of the coolest things we’ve done in Juneau, and it’s a big ticket bucket list item, is doing seaplane flightseeing with glacier pack rafting and hiking. This is a big activity and really packs a punch for amazing sights and unique experiences as you get up close and personal with the Norris Glacier. We went with Above and Beyond Alaska and they did an incredible job, including safely guiding our kids across a glacier.
When you’re back in town, be sure to walk through the neighborhood and check out how cool and beautiful the city is. Walking up to Cope Park, you’ll get to see the historic Governor’s Mansion, a beautiful old Russian Orthodox Church, and then up at the park the creek and trails are beautiful.
Just north of downtown Juneau is one of the coolest hatcheries we’ve ever been to and it’s a must to visit. The DIPAC Macaulay Salmon Hatchery is incredible with their exhibits and the sheer number of fish that return here during the different runs for spawning. It’s stunning! Pair this with an afternoon of fishing and you’ve got a complete Alaska salmon experience.
TOURS: if you haven’t visit Mendenhall Glacier yet, do a guided tour with either hiking or canoeing on the glacier lake. Also, Juneau is great for whale watching tours or if you want to have a glacier calving tour, Tracy Arm is one of the coolest places to visit in Southeast Alaska. Doing the Inside Passage without a cruise means that you’ll need to seek out glacier experiences, as that’s one thing the ships can offer well.
Third Stop: Haines
To get to Haines, you can take either the Alaska Marine Highway System or the Alaska Fjordlines boat. We’ve seen whales and eagles from both, and each is a beautiful trip. When you arrive in Haines, we do recommend renting a car as there are some really cool places that you can drive to while you’re here. The town of Haines is cute, with there being a small downtown area and another pretty place to enjoy over at Fort William H. Seward National Landmark.
Haines has a few state parks and preserves that are really beautiful, and if you like hiking you’ll have lots of opportunities. Chilkoot Lake State Park is EPIC when it comes to seeing bears. We’ve been here five times and seen multiple bears each time. The salmon runs attract brown bear and eagle populations, so it’s nearly a guarantee to see them. This is also a great spot for fishing or kayaking.
Chilkat State Park is another wonderful place to explore. If you have your own paddling gear, this is a beautiful spot to kayak or SUP with calm coves and beautiful views. There are also some great shore trails to enjoy. Chilkat and Chilkoot are two names you’ll see often, and that’s because the Tlingit peoples of the area hold these names. Drive up to the small town of Klukwan and the Jilkaat Kwaan Heritage Center to learn about the indigenous peoples of this part of the Inside Passage. This will also take you through the Bald Eagle Preserve.
For a fun day of wildlife watching, get out on the Chilkat River in the Preserve. Alaska Mountain Guides does a variety of scenic float trips and the eagles are just everywhere. It’s a fun activity and is a great introduction to rafting if you’ve never gotten to spend time on a big river like this.
TOURS: like I said, the float trip on the Chilkat River is one of the most beautiful you can do in Southeast Alaska. Also, the guided kayaking on Chilkoot Lake brings you to some epic scenery and if the timing is right you can even see salmon spawning!
Bonus Option 1: Skagway
More cruise ships visit Skagway than Haines, so it’s quite a bit busier. While here, you can enjoy the downtown area and explore the mountains around skagway. A lot of people visiting Skagway also do the Haines Skagway Fast Ferry to actually visit Haines for the day, so if you’re opting to just visit Skagway and have that as your home base, you can still visit Haines for the day.
Skagway is also the starting point for one of the more unique things to do from the Inside Passage, and you can do it on your own or as a cruise port excursion: the White Pass Yukon Narrow Gauge Railway. This actually takes you up into Canada and is a beautiful sightseeing adventure on a train, which is unusual for an activity in the Inside Passage.
Bonus Option 2: Sitka
Sitka is a beautiful town on the less visited side of the Inside Passage. Here you’ll find lots of Tlingit arts and experiences, but it’s not developed for tourists in the way that Ketchikan or Hoonah/Icy Strait Point are. This is much more mellow and quiet.
While in Sitka, enjoy the town and its beautiful waterfront area as well as fishing opportunities. This is a great spot if you’re hoping to include some halibut fishing on your Inside Passage trip without a cruise ship. Local guides are awesome to get out on the water with and without all of the cruise traffic of other ports, you’ll get to see a very different side of the Inside Passage.
I know that was a lot of information to take in and process. If you’re considering a trip through Alaska’s Inside Passage without a cruise, don’t stress making it perfect. Alaska is beautiful and fun, and even if you can’t fit everything in, you’ll still love it. If you have any questions about planning this trip or travel anywhere in Alaska, please leave a comment or send us a note. We love helping people plan and are happy to share more to make sure you have an incredible Alaska trip!
