I really do enjoy sharing about Juneau, Alaska and all of the fun our family has there, and I think a lot of people kind of overlook it as an Alaska vacation destination. Sure, thousands of people every day in the summer visit Juneau for a few hours, but it’s actually a wonderful place to spend a few days or a week to experience the nature and unique things to do here. I thought through our many trips and put together what I think are the most unforgettable Juneau experiences to include in YOUR visit. And yes, most of these can all be done as singular cruise ship excursions if you don’t get to spend multiple days here.
Read on and see just what unusual activities and fun you might enjoy in Alaska’s capital. If you’re unsure if you should be planning a summer trip to Anchorage or Juneau, I think when you see some of these things to do and cool places to stay, you’ll be able to make a travel decision pretty easily. Juneau is a must-stop on your Inside Passage itinerary whether you’re on a cruise ship or exploring on your own. If you have any questions about Juneau or visiting Southeast Alaska, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help plan a unique, unforgettable adventure!
What Makes Juneau an Interesting Alaska Destination
Maybe it’s because it’s the capital city so people think it’s going to be a stuffy, political town, or maybe it’s because a lot of people only visit Juneau as a cruise port, but it’s a very under-rated city to visit. I love most places in Alaska, but this city is always fun to return to and each trip is different from the last. Juneau has a great combination of culture and adventure, as well as being a very walkable town. It’s very much a community that’s more than tourism, but the opportunities for fun activities and tours are everywhere. Juneau is a vibe.
What sets Juneau apart for me is how comfortable of a place it is. Alaska may be known as a Red state, but it certainly doesn’t seem it, especially in Juneau. It’s a very LGBTQ welcoming city, complete with a rainbow crosswalk and lots of proud LGBTQ owned and operated businesses. When you are in a city and see people of all races, sexual orientations, and backgrounds functioning together and being very visible to everyone visiting just for the day, I think it truly shows off how welcoming of a place it is. Juneau is proudly diverse, and the Tlingit population is at the heart of this beautiful, patchwork community.
Unique Juneau Activities You’ll Love
Okay, let’s dig into the unique things to do in Juneau. Of course there are the usual tourist spots like the Goltbelt Tramway up Mt Roberts or visiting the Alaska State Museum, but there’s way more that you might not have thought you could do in Juneau. Really, I do chalk it up to being the Alaska state capital, so people don’t think of it as such a big hub of adventure, but it is. These are some of our favorite activities that might just surprise you when you come for a visit.
Juneau Crabbing Tour
This is my FAVORITE fishing type activity in all of Alaska. Getting to go crabbing when you’re in Juneau is really special, and such a unique thing to do. Leaving from the Aurora Harbor Marina with IntoAlaska Tours, you get out on the water with some awesome locals as they teach you about crabbing, the Juneau area, and then you also get to EAT crab! You drop your crab rings, sail about enjoying the scenery and looking for wildlife, and then you return after a bit to pull in your catch. This is a great small group activity (up to six people) and is a wonderful way to enjoy being on the water with wonderful people! The Juneau crabbing tour is a blast and a really different sort of experience.
BONUS: I love when we get to support other LGBTQ owned and operated businesses, and IntoAlaska, the company the runs the crabbing tour, is one of them! Juneau has a great, diverse community and you find it on the water too!
Glacier Pack Rafting from Juneau
Visiting a glacier is always cool, but getting to fly in a seaplane to it, paddle on its glacial lake and then hike on it is something else. This unique activity is one of the best adventure tours we’ve done in Alaska. Leaving from the Juneau Float Plans Harbor at the airport, you get an awesome scenic flight south and east or to Norris Glacier, by way of Taku Glacier (two beautiful Alaska glaciers in one flight!). Using pack rafts, you then paddle across Norris’s glacial lake to the moraine where you’ll put on ice spikes and hike up the glacier. It’s really fun and very unique. Above and Beyond Alaska leads this tour with Alaska Seaplanes, and it’s unforgettable. Read more about this activity here!
Book glacier pack rafting / hiking / flightseeing here or book it here!
Hot Tub Boat on Gastineau Channel
Toning down the adventure side of things, have you ever been in a hot tub boat? We love hot tubs and we love boats, so this is the perfect combination. You’ll change into your swimming clothes, get an orientation about operating the hot tub boat, and then you set sail for a 90 minute soak in the middle of Gastineau Channel. It’s beautiful and so relaxing, especially if you’ve been doing a lot of hiking. This is some through IntoAlaska (the same women who operate the crabbing tour) so it’s a great pairing with crabbing!
Book IntoAlaska’s Hot Tub Boat here! – Use discount code Travel10 for a 10% discount on your booking.
Pack Creek Bear Viewing
There are only a few bear viewing options from Juneau, but if you can get into a Pack Creek bear viewing tour, you’ll love it. A scenic floatplane flight takes you to this secluded area that only gets a few permits for visiting each day. Enjoy watching and photographing the bears, then do another scenic flight back to the Juneau Floatplane Harbor. This is one of the best wildlife activities in Juneau.
Overnight Trip to Glacier Bay National Park
Although you may be able to set up a day trip to Glacier Bay National Park from Juneau, arranging an easy overnight is more simple and extra fun. For a day trip, you’ll need to be on the earliest Alaska Seaplanes flight to Gustavus and then take the Glacier Bay Lodge shuttle to the park to board the boat before your 7:30 am departure for the Glacier Bay National Park boat tour. If you’re not spending the night, you’ll need to take the shuttle back for the last flight returning to Juneau. It just keeps things simple to spend a night or two in Gustavus, ideally at the Glacier Bay Lodge.
Book the Glacier Bay Lodge here! / Book the boat tour here!
Juneau Lighthouse Tour and Whale Watching
Lighthouses aren’t usually what I think of when I’m planning a trip to Alaska, but there are actually a few of them near Juneau! Getting to visit an Alaskan lighthouse is a very unique thing to do that not many people get the privilege of enjoying. Juneau Lighthouse Tours pairs visiting a historic lighthouse with whale watching, so it’s a double win when you plan this activity! The same company that does the lighthouse tours also does the BEST whale watching tour we’ve ever been on. Harv & Marv’s goes a bit further than a lot of whale watching companies and because their boats are fast, you get more time watching wildlife.
Book a Juneau Lighthouse Tours here!, or Book a Juneau Whale Watching Tour here! – Use code 2traveldads for a 10% discount on your booking!
Totem Pole Scavenger Hunt (w/ Juneau totem pole map)
With an incredible Tlingit culture present all through Juneau, you know there will be some beautiful town poles to see. This unique activity is FREE and will take you all over downtown and the waterfront. With more than 20 totem poles in town, you’ll stay busy wandering the streets and appreciating the intricate carving from the cruise terminal to meetings the capitol building. There may not be quite as many as in Ketchikan, but there are a lot.
I’ve made it easy for you find the many totem poles in Juneau with a map! Use THIS GOOGLE MAPS link on your phone to guide your walk around town. There are a significant number of totem poles at the top of the Mt Roberts Goldbelt Tram, so once you visit all of the totem poles downtown, head up the tramway to see the rest!
Early Morning at Mendenhall Glacier
Just beyond the city of Juneau is the Mendenhall Glacier in the Tongass National Forest. Visiting the glacier area is one of the most popular cruise excursions in Juneau, but if you’re here on your own exploring Southeast Alaska without a cruise ship, you can visit the Mendenhall Glacier in the early morning before any of the tourist buses get there. The glacial lake is still, Nugget Falls is unobstructed, and the trails are quiet as you look for salmon in the streams and watch for bears. The first buses tend to arrive just before 8:00 am, so be sure to get here at sunrise for the stillness and quiet. It’s unique to get to be here without other people.
Saturday Artists Market
There are so many cool artisans that live in Juneau and each Saturday by the library and Alaska State Museum they hold an Artists Market. You can find all manner of handcrafted items from clothing to photography, carvings to jewelry. We always like to encourage people visiting Southeast Alaska to go a few blocks beyond the cruise port so you can get into the local Alaskan owned shops, and if you can visit an artists market like this one in Juneau, it’s ALL LOCAL. You’ll love it.
Fun Places to Stay in Juneau
I like it when we get to stay in downtown Juneau because it’s so easy to walk around to find good food and enjoy the waterfront after the cruise ships leave. Perhaps that’s one of the most unique things to enjoy in town: exploring on foot without any cruise guests around. Cruise passengers are great and they bring a lot of tourism dollars to Juneau, but when 20K people descend on a small city, it changes the vibe and setting quite a bit. Staying in a hotel in downtown is wonderful because you get access to the city streets and docks without all the people. It’s great!
Silverbow Inn – Rooftop Hot Tubs!
Keeping with our goal of having a unique experience in Juneau, the Silverbow Inn should be at the top of your picks for where to stay. This boutique hotel has a beautiful lobby to hang out in, breakfast daily, wonderful room with cool decor and thoughtful amenities, and two, count ‘em TWO, rooftop hot tubs. Whether you’re here for just a few nights or taking a full week to enjoy Juneau, the Silverbow Inn can’t be beat for its location, coolness, comfort and amenities.
Baranof Hotel – Vintage with a View
One of the more vintage places to stay in Juneau, the Baranof Hotel is the biggest hotel in town. It was built in 1939 in an Art Deco style that is still carried through the exterior and lobby today. I like the different room layouts here, and it’s always easy to find an arrangement that fits a family of four. One of my favorite rooms we’ve had (because we’ve actually stayed here the most times) was a one bedroom suite with a view looking out to Gastineau Channel with the mountains and ships in the harbor. I like getting to stay here.
The Alaskan Hotel – Historic and Proud of It
I include the Alaskan Hotel here for a fun and quirky sort of stay. While this is not the fanciest place to stay in Juneau, it’s historic and is full of character… and maybe a few ghosts. The Alaskan Hotel is the oldest operating hotel in the state, welcoming guests since September of 1913, with the Historic Anchorage Hotel having been operating since 1916, so Juneau wins this cool distinction. The rooms are full of antique wood furnishings, quilts, historic photos, and the Alaskan Bar has the old saloon feel that you hope for. It’s similar to the Ma Johnson Hotel in McCarthy, which is a really fun stay, so you might enjoy staying here.
Can you see why we love visiting Juneau? You can really have a unique visit, whether you’re here for a few days, a week, or even if you just are able to visit on a cruise. It’s a special town and each time we go back we love it a little more. If you have any questions about planning a unique trip through Southeast Alaska or just Juneau, please leave a comment or send us a note. We’re always happy to share more and help you plan a great adventure!
