Juneau was actually one of the first cities we visited when we came to Alaska. When we originally arrived in Alaska we were on the ferry traveling along the Alaska Marine Highway. And while we did stop in Juneau, the ferry port is a lot further away from Downtown which hosts the cruise ship docks. So between that, and the fact that our stop there lasted less than an hour, we didn’t have anytime to really see anything and Juneau unfortunately wasn’t on our radar after that. It wasn’t until a few years later, when our daughter started to learn all the US states and their capitals in school that we decided it might be a cool place to visit while we live here. Juneau is the 3rd largest city in Alaska, both in population and size. In fact, it’s actually one of the largest municipalities in the whole United States and the largest state capital in the US by area-bigger than the state of Rhode Island. Juneau is cutoff from the rest of the mainland due to a giant ice field making it the only state capital inaccessible by road. This doesn’t deter visitors, by any means. Some 900,000 cruise ship passengers visit each year during their tour through Alaska’s inside passage, and you can count us in the additional 100,000 independent visitors each year. Juneau is a fascinating city, not only because of it’s location and scenery but also because of it’s rich history. Like most, if not all, cities in Alaska, Juneau was put on the map during the gold rush in the late 1800s. And of course it has kept strong roots in the native culture of the tribes who have lived there for the past few thousand years. Our itinerary capitalized on all of this and we had the best time exploring Alaska’s state capital. Day 1On the first day, we arrived in the afternoon. We ventured downtown and happened upon what looked like a food truck court. Deckhand Dave’s was Jon’s pick and this was where we would go every day for the rest of our trip :) Their menu of fresh local seafood was better than any other seafood I had tasted in Alaska - especially their trash bear fries (asked for the blackened halibut). Right next door was Alaska’s Crepe Escape, which was the girls’ choice and honestly, we tried a few of their flavors too - even though they inevitably snuck bites from their dad’s fish ;) Next we checked into our Airbnb which was honestly the best airbnb we’ve ever stayed in! The 3 bedroom/2 bathroom private apartment was very spacious for our family of 5. It included a private entrance, a little kitchenette (microwave and mini fridge), and an utterly breathtaking view of Downtown Juneau. I could’ve been completely happy spending all our time relaxing in our digs but, alas, we are an adventure family and we were there for a grand adventure! So we made our way back downtown and took advantage of a beautiful, rare, bluebird sky day in Juneau and took a ride on the Goldbelt Tram. The Goldbelt Tram is one of the world’s most vertical tramways, taking passengers from sea level upwards to 1,800 feet to the top of Mt. Roberts in the span of about 6 minutes. At the top we had epic views of downtown Juneau and the Gastineau Canal due thanks to the gorgeous weather. We did arrive with the early cruise ships the first week of May, so there was still snow on the trails. So while we weren’t able to explore as much of the area as we were hoping, we still had fun spotting totem poles around the visitors center. Inside we chatted with a few Native Alaskans who invited us to watch their presentation. Norman taught us about his culture, some native Tlingit words and even showed us part of a native dance that he does usually with a large traveling group. While the rest of the family watched a video about the local native culture, our little man wasn’t up for sitting in a dark room and being quiet so I took him out to roam a bit. We thought we might grab dinner at the restaurant up there but it was closed for a private event so we headed back down the mountain. Day 2The next day was pretty special because there were actually no cruise ships in port! So it felt like we had a lot of the place to ourselves. We started out with a visit to the iconic whale statue right downtown. It was a pretty cool little area to explore, especially to take the time with no one else there. Next we visited the Alaska State Museum. This museum was so well done and so interesting! It had displays that talked about the native history in Alaska all the way up to the gold mining days and even into WWII. We learned so much about Alaska, like how the gold rush got here before lighthouses were a thing, so there were actually hundreds of shipwrecks in the inside passage in the early days-some bearing pretty big loads of treasure that have never been recovered (insert side eye emoji here ;) This was a great family friendly activity that everyone enjoyed and those under the age of 18 are free! So even better. Then we grabbed lunch at Deckhand Dave’s (and the Crepe Escape) obviously…and we took a little break for a nap for the little guy. But we weren’t done adventuring for the day. After a little rest we took the drive out to Mendenhall Glacier and again, with no cruise ships, it was almost empty! We walked the trail out to Nugget Falls, a 300 foot tall, 100 foot wide water fall flowing into the Mendenhall Glacier Lake that was full of icebergs that had broken off the stunning Mendenhall Glacier face. Again, we had the place all to ourselves and the kids had the best time running around the little beach area. Though the highlight of this little hike was seeing a porcupine cross the trail in front of us and climb a tree for an afternoon meal! We have seen a lot of wildlife in Alaska but that was our first (live) porcupine so it was pretty exciting. We ended the day with a little historic drive through downtown and up into the original neighborhood of Juneau. Most of the downtown buildings in Juneau are original to the Gold Rush Days as well as most of the homes above the downtown area. Actually, because of the way Juneau was set up, there are these stairways in between some of the buildings in town that actually have street signs marking them. They are official roadways that the early residents used to get from their homes to the shops downtown. We thought that was pretty interesting. We also drove past the State Capital building, the Governor’s mansion - which is the official residence of the governor of Alaska - which was built in 1912, and Judge Wickersham’s house, which we thought was fun because he was a house in Fairbanks that we’ve toured. Day 3The next morning, we watched some cruise ships coming into port from our view at our airbnb and we made our way downtown to catch our whale watching tour. Juneau is one of the top places in the world to see humpback whales and we were able to see a few from far off but the every playful orcas stole the show that day as they seemed to appear from out of nowhere! It was another rare day of blue skies and beautiful weather. While the girls have been on a few wildlife or glacier cruises during our time here in Alaska, other ones we have been on were so cold and windy! We could not have planned for a better day. As we got off the boat to get back on the shuttle that was going to take us back to downtown, we saw a crabbing ship that thad just come into the docks showing off their catch of the day! Honestly, that was just as cool to see as the whales so it made for a fun little surprise. If you’re wondering if we went to Deckhand Dave’s again for lunch, you’d be 100% correct haha. Baby boy fell asleep in the car so we took our lunch to a park we had driven past a few times to let the girls run around. It was the first week of May and our first time playing at the park since there was snow on the ground still when we left home! It was a fun break and something we like to do when we’re traveling so we don’t feel like we’re dragging the kids around to do things only we want to do…although, to be honest, they really enjoyed Juneau as much as we did! We took it easy the rest of the day, ending with ice cream sandwiches on our private balcony watching the cruise ships leave town. Day 3On our last day, we checked out of our airbnb and made the drive out to the National Shrine of St. Therese at the recommendation of our airbnb host. This place was the perfect ending to our trip to Juneau. It was such a calming and peaceful place to explore that I left thinking we could really spend a whole day there just taking in all the beauty. That afternoon, we flew out with full hearts and more incredible Alaskan memories. I cannot overstate how interesting and captivating Juneau is. We had such a great time and loved taking our time exploring all that we did. Though I’m sure almost everything we did could be done in the span of the time a cruise ship would spend at port. We had a car but there are cruise excursions that double a whale watching tour with a glacier tour in one. Downtown is very walkable with restaurants, historic buildings, and museums all close to the port. The tram entrance is also near the ports. One thing to note: Juneau is actually located in a coastal temperate rainforest, which is actually pretty rare outside of Alaska. This means it rains in Juneau about 250 days of the year. We were prepared for rain and cool weather, not expecting at all the gorgeous weather we experience, even with a close eye on the weather forecast. Be prepared with good waterproof walking shoes and layers, even in the middle of summer. Is Juneau on your bucket list or have you been? We’d love to know if you’d add anything or if you have any questions! If you’re interested in a one-on-one chat to help plan a custom trip to Alaska, check out our options here! Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don’t forget to follow us on Instagram for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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