South Eastern alaska

If you are taking the AMHS ferries, be sure to include Sitka. It is not on the beaten path between Ketchikan and Juneau, so you have to do a little more traveling to reach it. But it is our favorite picture-postcard scenic town in all of Alaska--ranking above Valdez, Seward, Homer, Skagway, Haines, Juneau, Whittier, Stewart-Hyder, and Talkeetna.

And, even better, the ferry route from Sitka to Juneau goes through Peril Strait, a route too narrow and curvy for any of the cruise ships. Standing on the fantail to watch that 400-foot ferry fishtail around the bends in the strait and passing fishing boats like they are standing still is worth every penny of the fare!

As stated, use the AMHS to get your RV to or from SE towns....
...but in any case, don't miss SE Alaska. The ratio of effort to Spectacular is better in SE than in many parts of Alaska.

In many parts of SE, just being in the town (or a 10-15 minute drive) provides truly spectacular scenery to say nothing of taking a small boat excursion or flightseeing trip where scenic fjords and coastal glaciers appear almost instantaneously.

If one can, hit SE on the shoulder seasons (i.e. May or September) without the throngs of tourists. I've always found SE to be much more laid back than Los Anchorage or even Squarebanks....the notable exception being Juneau during the legislative session.

If one has money and time to burn (although it doesn't take much of either), it is an interesting experience to take the Alaska Airlines milk run from K-town (Ketchikan) to Juneau......a couple of those legs involve flying the 737 like a supercub at about 8 - 10, 000 feet, dodging mountains and so forth.

accsys wrote:
Check out the blog of our 2009 trip, starting with the Prince Rupert post to see how we did it. To us the trip up the Inside Passage was one of the best parts of our Alaskan trip.

Say this year we are taking the Alaskan highway from Bellingham to Ketchican from Ketchican to Sitka from sitka to Petersburg then from Petersburg home. We will be leaving in late August. We love traveling on the boats with the fifth wheel. Makes you seem like your a million miles from home till you climb in the fiver and then you think shoot home already.. Last year we went from Vancouver to Vancouver Island then to Bella Coola then Bella Bella then Klemtue then Ocean City. Great trip. I think everyone that makes these trips have nothing to say but good things..Even if there is a little delay here and there. Like someone once said. If you can't adjust.... Stay home!! No truer words were ever spoken.

Check out the blog of our 2009 trip, starting with the Prince Rupert post to see how we did it. To us the trip up the Inside Passage was one of the best parts of our Alaskan trip.

Most use the Alaska Ferry System, the AMHS. Then at the towns drive what roads they may have, take guided tours, ride bikes, go kayaking, flightseeing, take commercial tour boats, hike, etc. The others like the cruise ships which put into a few of the larger towns of SE. Once on shore, using whatever means of transportation available, taxis, boats, etc. At one time or another I have visited or at least stopped over for a while, by air, at many of the SE towns. In Juneau, I often rented a car if I was going to be there for a few days, otherwise just use a taxi to get to my hotel. Ketchikan was usually a taxi as it often wasn't a planned stop for me, just where the plane landed if the Juneau weather wouldn't allow us to land there. Some of the tourists attractions, such as "salmon bakes" will send a pickup vehicle to get their guests that need a ride.