ALASKA SOLO TRAVEL GUIDE
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO! ALASKA TRAVEL GUIDE 2023
PLAN AND BOOK YOUR ALASKA SOLO TRAVEL
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WELCOME TO ALASKA!
Hi! I’m Gwen, and my passion is using my 27+ years of global travel and sustainability knowledge and experience to help the solo over 50’s be and stay adventurous through solo travel with their eco-friendly, responsible travel foot forward. Here is my guide to Alaska solo travel, all from my solo Alaska travel, so you plan and book your solo trip to Alaska with ease. What are you waiting for?
ALASKA: DID YOU KNOW?
About Alaska
Alaska – “The Last Frontier” state, is the largest state in the USA and home to 1 UNESCO World Heritage Site, Glacier Bay National Park and Reserve. Entered into the USA as the 49th state, Alaska’s capital is Juneau, but the largest city is Anchorage.
Alaska is home to 17 of the 20 largest mountains in North America. It has more volcanoes than any other US state, and being situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, it has its share of earthquakes.
Alaska has 3 million lakes, 12,000 rivers, and about 100,000 glaciers. It also has more coastline (34,000 miles) than all of the USA combined, and the only state to have coastlines on three different seas (the Arctic Ocean, Pacific Ocean, and Bering Sea).
Popular Alaska destinations include Denali National Park and Preserve, Homer, Fairbanks, Seward, and Kenai Fjords National Park.
Popular Alaska Activities
All of those mountains, lakes, rivers and expansive coastline offers some of the best hiking, biking, climbing, ice climbing, camping, kayaking, fishing, wildlife and marine life watching, northern lights watching, glacier touring, and boating in the USA.
Best Things to Do in Juneau
ALASKA TRAVEL PLANNING
Alaska Holidays
In addition to U.S. holidays, the State of Alaska may observe additional state or local holidays. It may be a good idea to check what state or local holidays they celebrate to see if there are any public service, school, or other closures as this may impact your tourist itinerary, ability to obtain travel or other services, or it could mean more tourists and/or higher prices in your Alaskan destination.
Take a few moments to see if there are Alaska holidays to better help you plan Alaska travel.
Tipping in Alaska
See tipping guidelines in the USA Travel Guide for tipping in Alaska.
Travel Requirements
U.S. states do not impose additional travel requirements, such as documentation and vaccinations, other than those imposed at the national level. See the USA Travel Guide for all USA travel requirements.
Electronic Requirements
All U.S. state electric outlets require a Type A (two prong) and/or Type B (three prong) adapter. See the USA Travel Guide for electrical requirements in the USA.
Cyber Security While Traveling
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CITY GUIDES & ITINERARIES
The more I travel in Alaska, the more that gets added to this Alaska Travel Guide. Keep checking back.
Seward and Anchorage
Best Things to Do in Seward
Yes, the above are all top things to in Seward, but truly the best thing to do in Seward is a full day of Fox Island kayaking with lunch and Kenai Fjords National Park cruise. It’s also in the Perfect 3 Days in Alaska Itinerary.
Best Things to Do in Anchorage
HOW TO BOOK ALASKA TRAVEL
It’s important to book the top three travel necessities early: flights, accommodations and ground transportation.
No Alaska guide would be complete without the booking tools below. These, along with fun Alaska things to do and ecotourism ideas, will allow you to realize your solo trip to Alaska.
Cheap Flights to Alaska
With the ever-growing demand for airline tickets to Alaska, flights book quicker these days. Find cheap flights to Alaska now.
Don’t Wait to Book Your Flight to Alaska
Alaska Places to Stay
Second in importance to buying airline tickets Alaska is finding the best place to stay in Alaska for your Alaska solo travel. Develop your Alaska travel itinerary now and find the best Alaska travel accommodations to knock one more travel planning item off your solo travel list.
Find the Best Solo Travel Alaska Accommodations
Getting Around Alaska
Alaska has all forms of transportation, including Carpoolworld, Uber, Lyft, and other possible regional ridesharing services and apps (research in advance if they are in your destination area).
Of course, you can easily get a taxi or find a rental a car in Alaska if it better suits your Alaska travel itinerary.
Find the Best Deals on Alaska Rental Cars
Alaska also has regional buses and is part of the Amtrak train system.
Things to Do in Alaska
Here are some of the top things to do in the Alaska to book for your Alaska solo travel.
Best Things to do in Denali National Park
Best Alaska Food Tours and Activities
ALASKA ECO-TRAVEL IDEAS
There are ways to reduce your eco and carbon footprint through air travel, accommodations, tours, and activities in Alaska. To help avoid greenwashing businesses, here are some eco-friendly or sustainable travel (also called responsible travel) tips and resources, you can use to book your travel.
Air Travel Tips
Skyscanner provides a ‘Greener flights’ filter highlighting flights that emit less CO2.
Purchase carbon offsets through your airline or through a third party, like MyClimate.org, Carbonfund.org, or terrapass. Carbon offsetting allows you to buy a certificate to reduce carbon emissions, a major contributor to climate change, which in turn contribute community projects across countries to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Ground Transportation
Try to avoid flying within Alaska by taking a regional bus or the Amtrak train.
When booking a rideshare in Alaska, select the Uber Green option, instead of a traditional rideshare, to support the use of electric cars and carpooling for cleaner transportation in Alaska.
The best eco-friendly forms of ground transportation in Alaska are public transportation, walking, or renting a bicycle or electric scooter.
Explore Alaska Bike and Electric Scooter Rentals
Accommodation Tips
Look for Alaska accommodations with the following self and third-party assessed certifications when you book:
Green Globe – Green Globe certifies hotels, resorts, conference centers, transportation, attractions, tour operators, and other tourism businesses globally on sustainable operations and management. Look for USA Green Global members.
Green Key Global is an internationally recognized environmental certification for the lodging and meetings industries, including hotels and hostels, campsites and holiday parks, restaurants and attractions in 65 countries. Search for Green Key awarded sites.
Living Building Challenge – if you want to stay in a true, sustainable building, find one certified by the Living Building Challenge. LBC’s certification directory shows all project types globally. Hopefully they will put in a filter soon to allow searching by hotels or hospitality type.
LEED Certified – the USGBC’s LEED Certified label on buildings, like many of the Marriott’s hotels, are those that have verifiably employed multiple and varying green building strategies to improve human and environmental health. Search the LEED directory for USA certifications.
Green Lodging Program – Audubon International has an environmental stewardship certification through third-party verification. Search its certified members directory.
GSTC Certified – the Global Sustainable Tourism Council provides global standards for sustainable travel and tourism, as well as international accreditation for sustainable tourism Certification Bodies. Booking sites that offer GSTC certified sustainable are bookdifferent, EcoHotels, and Transat.
Another way to find accommodations in Alaska implementing eco-friendly or sustainable practices, certified or not, is to reserve a Booking.com Travel Sustainable accommodation. Booking.com started the Travel Sustainable program in 2022.
Find Your Travel Sustainable Stay in Alaska
Eco-Friendly Things To Do
Alaska has ecotourism ideas available to explore for your next vacation.
Search Green Global and Green Key awarded members for eco-friendly activity providers in Alaska. Some may also have the GSTC Certified logo.
Top Eco Friendly Activities in Alaska
Eco-Travel Products
There are more ways to do your part for the planet in your responsible travel, like bringing sustainable and eco-friendly products to protect Alaska’s environment.
For more ideas on how to travel with the planet in mind, read my 10 Easy Eco-Travel Tips and view my suggested Eco Travel Resources to learn more.
ALASKA TRAVEL SAFETY
Before You Go
Buy USA travel insurance and international medical insurance for your Alaska solo travel to protect yourself and cover for emergencies.
Safety in Alaska
In addition to the solo travel safety tips in the USA Travel Guide, if you are planning on going hiking, backpacking, camping or doing any other activity that will take you into remote places, research the local travel and weather advisories in advance and respect warnings not to travel.
Let people know where are you going, provide them your itinerary, and ensure you have safety and emergency measures provided for in your travel belongings.
Fire Season Travel Tips
ALASKA BUDGET TRAVEL TIPS
Alaska Sales Tax
Alaska does not levy a statewide sales tax; however, some Alaska cities do. This could increase your holiday budget depending on where you decide to vacation in Alaska. Reviewing Alaska cities’ sales tax rates may help you prepare your Alaska travel budget.
Best Time to Visit Alaska
Alaska’s summer is short. Mid-June to August has driest and warmest weather but weather can still be nice in the shoulder season from mid-May and to mid-September. The least expensive time to visit Alaska would be October to April, but winter months may wish to be avoided unless looking for particular events or activities.
For best chance of weather and to beat most of the tourists, book well in advance for the shoulder season months.
Budget Accommodations
Staying in Alaska hostels could save you a lot of money on accommodations in Alaska, especially if you stay in a dorm-style room. Save more money by booking well in advance.
Many hostels also offer private rooms, which I choose from time to time. Private rooms in hostels could possibly be cheaper than hotels in Alaska – it depends on where you stay and how far in advance you reserve.
Don’t overlook exploring hostels in Alaska if you’re on a budget.
Reserve Your Alaska Hostel
Best Time to Book Travel
Alaska can be pricey depending on your Alaska destination and time of travel. The sooner you book your reservations, the more you’re likely to save money and get the best flight, accommodation, and rental car choices and deals.
Ready to book Alaska solo travel? Don’t miss out and find the best Alaska travel deals. The best time to book travel is now. Bundling flight, hotel and/or transportation reservations may even save you more money when traveling Alaska.
Book Alaska Travel Early to Save Money
PERSONAL STORY
It goes without saying that Alaska is the one of the U.S. states off the beaten path for most tourists. It takes longer to get there and warm, sunny weather is in shorter supply than most states. Still, this state is a must to visit.
After living on the West coast for many years, I finally got my behind up to Alaska, albeit only for a short visit. Due to the shortness, I was not able to go to Denali National Park, so that is still on my bucket list.
I was, however, to enjoy Anchorage and the drive to Seward – with beautiful scenery and stops the Seward Highway has to offer, along with a boat trip the Kenai Fjords National Park and kayaking. I lucked out on the weather at the end of summer – it had been raining for 30 days straight in Alaska which broke for me during my long, holiday weekend only to begin again the day I left.
Look at my long weekend in Alaska trip I designed for myself. I would recommend to anyone, even families with children. A friend of mine and her family used my Alaska solo trip and said they had a wonderful time.