On this back-to-basics, family-friendly holiday, life literally slows down. Your days at the simple but spectacularly located Great Alaska Adventure Lodge are filled with world-class fishing, wildlife viewing (moose, eagles, whales, brown and black bears), hikes and a variety of other activities, from glacier cruises on the fjords to dog sledding on the Iditarod trail. Great Alaska’s gregarious owner, Lawrence, is happy to offer suggestions and help you design your own one-of-a-kind adventure.
You'll wrap up your journey with two days aboard Canada's famous Rocky Mountaineer luxury train. Starting in Vancouver, you'll travel though the rugged Gold Country of British Columbia before climbing into the Canadian Rockies, curving past Lake Louise and arriving in Banff National Park.
You’ll be met at the airport and transferred to the Captain Cook Hotel.
Day 2
Anchorage - Bear Camp
You’ll be picked up at the hotel and transferred to Lake Hood, where you’ll board a floatplane and fly to Great Alaska Adventure Lodge. After lunch and orientation, you’ll take a bush-plane flight to Bear Camp in Lake Clark National Park, named “#1 Bush Camp in North America” by Outside Magazine. Resident brown bears feed on the sedge grass surrounding the camp, allowing you to view and photograph these magnificent animals in their own environment, without impacting them.
During these long summer days when the sun never quite sets, the reflections on the still waters of the bay are breathtaking. Our guide, Verm the "bear whisperer," was also a photography buff, who showed me the best places and times to take pictures.
Overnight at Bear Camp.
Day 3
Bear Camp and Great Alaska Adventure Lodge
You’ll spend the morning at Bear Camp. In the afternoon, fly back to Soldotna and transfer to Great Alaska Adventure Lodge. Happy hour and dinner will welcome you back to civilization.
5 nights accommodation in a Riverside Cabin.
Day 4
King Salmon Fishing
This morning, you’ll go fishing for the world’s largest King Salmon in a power boat on the Kenai River.
Afternoon at leisure.
7pm Happy Hour and 8pm dinner back at the Lodge.
Day 5
Day trip to Bench Lake
Today, you’ll make a bush-plane journey to pristine Bench Lake, where you’ll catch and release Grayling. This is clean, active fishing, using no bait, just a spinner and lure. The lake is very remote, only accessible by floatplane. Keep an eye out for eagles and black bears!
7pm Happy Hour and 8pm dinner back at the Lodge.
Today, you can go for another King Salmon fishing expedition, or try your hand at salmon or trophy trout fishing in the Wildlife Refuge.
7pm Happy Hour and 8pm dinner back at the Lodge.
Day 7
Glacier Cruise / Air Safari
Travel to Kenai Fjords National Park for a day of glacier and wildlife cruising. Huge glaciers and green mountains drop straight into the sea – Whales, Orcas, Otter and Puffin are just a few examples of the local wildlife.
(Since we’d already sailed the Inside Passage, we opted for a floatplane journey over the Harding ice fields and Beluga River instead. Truly spectacular. Another option is to take a helicopter up to the Iditarod Trail for dog sledding.)
7pm Happy Hour and 8pm dinner back at the Lodge.
Day 8
Great Alaska Adventure Lodge - Anchorage
In the morning, go on a guided hike along the Russian River, where you can see the salmon leaping to their breeding grounds during spawning season.
In the afternoon, following group pictures, you’ll depart by floatplane to Anchorage.
Overnight at the Captain Cook Hotel.
Day 9
Anchorage - Vancouver
In the early afternoon, you’ll be picked up at the hotel and transferred to the airport for your flight to Vancouver.
Overnight at the Four Seasons Vancouver or Shangri-La Hotel, Vancouver.
In the morning, you’ll be picked up at your hotel and transferred to Vancouver Station for your 7:30am departure on the Rocky Mountaineer luxury train. GoldLeaf service provides panoramic views from the GoldLeaf Dome Coach and excellent gourmet meals in the GoldLeaf service dining room.
On your first day aboard the train, you’ll retrace the steps of 19th century explorers, traveling through the legendary Spiral Tunnels, and passing through the impressively rugged Fraser and Thompson Canyons and along the raging Fraser River.
Overnight in Kamloops, BC. GoldLeaf Accommodation (included in the trip – only standard or modest hotels available).
Depart Kamloops at 6:45am for your second day aboard the Rocky Mountaineer. Today you’ll enter the steep and dramatic Canadian Rockies, where you’ll climb to 5332 feet above sea level, pass jewel-like Lake Louise and go through spectacular Banff National Park. You’ll arrive in Banff at 7:30pm, and transfer to the venerable Banff Springs Hotel.
Overnight at Fairmont Banff Springs.
Day 12
Banff to Calgary and home
Morning at leisure. In the early afternoon, you’ll be picked up by private van and driven to Calgary airport (approx 2 hrs) for your return flight home.
