Alaska

The Last Frontier

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by a considerable margin, a place where the scale of nature simply does not compute until you are standing inside it. Glaciers the size of small countries calve into steel grey bays, grizzly bears wade through salmon rivers with the confidence of creatures who have never needed to check a timetable, and the sky puts on a light show every winter that no theatre could replicate. This is a destination for people who want to feel genuinely small.

Glaciers, Mountains and Wild Water

Denali rises to 6,190 metres and anchors one of the great national parks on earth. Kenai Fjords brings tidewater glaciers practically to the roadside. The Inside Passage threads through rainforest islands and past humpback whale feeding grounds that make every ferry journey feel like a nature documentary. Wrangell St Elias, the largest national park in the country, is so vast that most of it has never been properly explored.

Anchorage, Fairbanks and the Road Between

Anchorage is the practical hub, a city with excellent food, a strong arts scene, and moose wandering through suburban gardens with magnificent indifference. The Parks Highway north to Fairbanks is one of the great drives in North America, passing through boreal forest and tundra with Denali visible on clear days from well over a hundred kilometres away. Fairbanks sits at the heart of Interior Alaska and is one of the finest places on earth for viewing the aurora borealis from September through March.

Indigenous Culture and Living Heritage

Alaska is home to 20 officially recognised Alaska Native languages and dozens of distinct peoples whose cultures, art forms, and relationships with this land stretch back thousands of years. Totem poles line the streets of Ketchikan and Sitka. The Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage offers a thoughtful introduction to the breadth of these traditions. Visiting regional villages and cultural centres, where local communities welcome guests on their own terms, is among the most rewarding experiences Alaska offers.