2 Days Before or After an Alaska Cruise: Anchorage and the Seward Highway

Two days around an Alaska cruise is where the trip starts to feel like more than an airport, a bus, and a gangway. It's enough time to see Anchorage properly and to drive the Seward Highway, one of the most scenic roads in the country, without rushing. You'll still arrive at the ship rested. Here's how we'd spend them.

The plan at a glance

• Night 1: Anchorage
• Night 2: Seward, if that's your port, or Girdwood or Anchorage for a Whittier departure
• Day 3: Board the ship

Day 1: Arrive in Anchorage

Land, pick up a rental car or take a taxi to a downtown hotel, and spend the rest of the day on foot. If you get in by early afternoon, the Alaska Native Heritage Center is the best introduction to the state you'll find. It's a deep look at Alaska Native cultures, art, and history, and a great stop for a rainy day. For a late arrival, walk the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail along Cook Inlet and watch the salmon at Ship Creek before dinner downtown. Our Anchorage page has a few restaurant picks.

If you have extra time or budget: Lake Hood, next to the airport, is the busiest seaplane base in the world. A short floatplane flightseeing trip from there is one of the most memorable hours you can spend in Alaska.

Day 2: The Seward Highway

This is the day people talk about afterward. The Seward Highway leaves Anchorage and runs right along the edge of Turnagain Arm, with mountains on one side and tidal flats on the other. Take your time. Our favorite stops, in order:

• Potter Marsh, just outside town, has a boardwalk over the wetlands with nesting birds and sometimes moose.
• Beluga Point and the Turnagain Arm pull-offs are where to look for Dall sheep on the cliffs, and beluga whales in the water on the right tide in mid to late summer.
• Girdwood and Alyeska Resort, about 45 minutes from Anchorage, have an aerial tram to a mountaintop viewpoint over hanging glaciers. Girdwood is also a good lunch stop.
• The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, near Portage, is a sanctuary for orphaned and injured animals, with bears, moose, musk ox, wood bison, and more in large natural enclosures. It's a sure thing for wildlife photos if the wild ones don't cooperate.
• Portage Glacier is a few miles up the road from the conservation center. An hour-long boat trip across Portage Lake takes you right up to the face of the ice. It's a great warm-up for the glaciers you'll see from the ship, and it's an easy add-on if you're sailing from Whittier, since the tunnel is just past it.

If your ship sails from Seward

Keep driving. The road climbs through the Kenai Mountains and reaches Seward in about 2.5 hours without stops, or a full day with them. Spend the night in Seward, have dinner by the harbor, and wake up a few minutes from the ship. If you have time on arrival, Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park is a short drive from town and has an easy trail with a view of the ice.

If your ship sails from Whittier

Whittier is just past Portage through the tunnel, but there's very little lodging there. After the conservation center, head back to Girdwood or Anchorage for the night and make the one-hour trip to the ship in the morning. Check the tunnel schedule, because it runs in set windows, not on demand.

Doing it after the cruise instead

Run it in reverse. Disembark in Seward or Whittier and drive the highway north, stopping at the conservation center, Girdwood, and Turnagain Arm on the way. Spend two nights in Anchorage so the last day is relaxed, and fly home on the evening of day 2. Anchorage's late-night red-eyes to the lower 48 are made for this.

Car or transfer?

A rental car is what makes this itinerary work, because the best parts of the Seward Highway are the stops. Be aware of one-way drop fees if you pick up in Anchorage and leave the car in Seward. Some rental companies have locations in Seward and some don't, so it's worth sorting out ahead of time. If you'd rather not drive, the Alaska Railroad's Anchorage to Seward route follows the same shoreline and is gorgeous. You'll trade the stops for a domed railcar. More on Alaska's trains.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I do with two days in Anchorage before a cruise?
Spend one day in Anchorage itself (the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Coastal Trail, and a floatplane flight if the budget allows) and one day driving the Seward Highway to Girdwood, Portage, and on to the port.

How long is the drive from Anchorage to Seward?
About 125 miles and 2.5 hours without stops. Most people make it a full day, because the pull-offs along Turnagain Arm are the highlight.

Is the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center worth it?
Yes, especially before a cruise. It's the most reliable place in Southcentral Alaska to see bears, moose, and musk ox up close, and it's right on the way to both Seward and Whittier.

Want two good days before the ship without planning them yourself? Get in touch and we'll book the hotels, car, and any flightseeing around your cruise. With one more day, you can add a glacier cruise; here's the 3-day version.