9-Day Alaska Itinerary: What to see and do when you visit Alaska

In 2021, I spent 21 days driving around and checking off an amazing Alaska itinerary. It was a life-changing experience, immersing myself in the landscapes and culture. I got to see places even some Alaskans have not experienced. It showed me what true wilderness is like and why we need to protect these places for future generations.

Since then, I’ve been back two more times, and each one has opened my eyes to new regions of Alaska. So, when I tell people they need to visit Laska, I mean it. It is honestly the most stunning place I’ve seen, and if you’re into the outdoors and wildlife, you’ll love it.

Below, I wrote a hefty 9-day Laska itinerary to help steer you on your trip. First, this will include many things you likely won’t be able to do due to time. But it’s there for you to consider. Secondly, this focuses on the Kenai Peninsula and Denali National Park. They are the easiest to visit and access. (But if you want to learn about Wrangell St Elias National Park and the town of McCarthy, click the links.)

Thanks for reading, and if you do book any tours, please use the links in this article.
I’ll get a small commission supporting this website at no cost to you.

Easy Booking: Expedia.com | Hotels.com | VRBO
Need Gear: Find it on REI.com
Find Awesome Tours: Viator.com or GetYourGuide.com
Follow on Instagram: @Alecoutside

The Ultimate 9-Day Alaska Itinerary

Arrive in Anchorage – Day 1

I would recommend an early flight here so you arrive in Anchorage by mid-day. You’ll need to pick up your car/camper van and go grocery shopping before heading out. Once you leave Anchorage, prices will be higher, and there are fewer options as you go further from the metro region.

Head south towards Girdwood and the Turnagain Arm.

This region is spectacular. Don’t rush it. Take some time to enjoy the turnoffs and views. You might even see the six-foot bore tide that floods the region if you’re lucky.

GET YOUR FREE ALASKA CHECKLIST

What to do in Girdwood:

• Check out Alyeska Resort (Great place to stay the night)
• Take the Gondola to the top of Alyeska Resort and do Veilbreaker
• Hike to Virgin Creek Falls (Easy)
• Hike Winner Creek Trail (Moderate)
• Hike Crow Pass (Hard)
• Helicopter and/or Glacier Landing Ride: 30-minute option | 45 Minute Flight
• Prince William Sound Tour with Glacier Landing from Girdwood
• Summer Glacier Dogsledding Tour from Girdwood
• Alyeska’s Nordic Spa

Food/Drink Options:

• Girdwood Brewing Company (with food truck)
• Double Musky Inn (delicious food)
• Chair 5 Restaurant
• Jack Sprat
• Hightower Pub
• Coast Pizza

• Spend the Night: Girdwood
• My Top Recommendation: Hike Virgin Creek Falls and Take the Gondola up Alyeska
• Drive Time: 50 minutes

Girdwood, Glaciers, & Seward – Day 2

This is a great day for a longer hike like Crow Pass or Winner Creek. Or hop on a flightseeing trip to see a glacier and the Prince William Sound. Both will be magical.

After leaving Girdwood, take a drive to Portage Lake. You can either take a boat tour here to the Portage Glacier or a short hike to Byron Glacier. After that, keep heading south towards the city of Seward and the Kenai Fjords.

Seward is one of Alaska’s most brilliant sections, and thankfully, it’s all drivable. From where Highway 1 branches off to the Seward Highway, I absolutely couldn’t believe my eyes at how stunning it all was.

What to do in the area:

• Byron Glacier Hike
• Portage Lake and Glacier Tour
• Prince William Sound Cruise (From Whittier)
• Enjoy the drive down the Seward Highway

Food/Drink Options:

• Ray’s Waterfront (only place we ate out while in Seward)
• Tidewater Taphouse
• Firebrand BBQ
• Woody’s Thai Kitchen
• Seward Brewing Company
• Seward Ale House

• Spend the Night: Seward
• My Top Recommendation: Enjoy your first full day in Alaska and get outside
• Drive Time: 1.75 hours

Kenai Fjords – Day 3

This is where being flexible with your weather is great. If you have great weather, do the Kenai Fjords boat tour. It’s impressive, and you get to see and learn so much about Alaska! It’s a MUST add to any Alaska itinerary.

I did the six-hour day and couldn’t have been more stoked with what happened. We saw humpbacks, orcas, a black year, so many birds, a puffin, and stellar sea lions.

What to do in the area:

• Take the Kenai Fjords Boat Cruise – 6 hour day & 7.5 hour day & 8.5 hour day
• Kayaking around the Kenai Fjords: Option 1 Tonsina Point | Option 2 Resurrection Bay
• Helicopter and Glacier Dog Sledding Tour from Seward
• Helicopter ride to kayak with icebergs
• 8 Hour Kenai Fjords Fishing and Whale Watch Tour
• Helicopter Scenic Flights: 45-minute flight Bear Glacier | Grand View Tour
• Rafting Adventure on Resurrection River

Food/Drink Options:

• Ray’s Waterfront
• Tidewater Taphouse
• Firebrand BBQ
• Woody’s Thai Kitchen
• Seward Brewing Company
• Seward Ale House

• Spend the Night: Seward
• My Top Recommendation: Boat Cruise
• Drive Time: 0

Explore Seward and Drive North – Day 4

On your final day in Seward, make sure to go to the Exit Glacier. It’s the only accessible hike in Kenai Fjords National Park. If you don’t go, you technically never visited the park.

You can either do a short two- to three-mile hike to a viewpoint or a hard 9+ mile hike with 3,000 feet of gain to see the top of the Harding Icefield. It was snowed in for our May trip, so we only went to the bottom area.

If you do the Harding Icefield, that will take up a decent portion of your day. If you only see the glacier viewpoint, that should take an hour.

Then, hit the road to see more of the Kenai Peninsula. From Seward to Cooper Landing, it’s a quick one-hour drive. One of my favorite spots is the Cooper Landing region. It’s a stunning small town on Kenai Lake and Kenai River.

What to do in the area:

• Exit Glacier Hike – Glacier Viewpoint (easy), Harding Icefield (Hard)
• Explore Moose Pass – Ptarmigan Lake is a nice hike about halfway (moderate)
• Explore Cooper Landing
• Go Fishing on the Kenai River – Full Day Fishing Option 1 | Full Day Fishing Option 2 | Half Day Fishing | Full Day Fishing Option 3

Food/Drink Options:

We made our dinner and camped while we were in Cooper Landing, so I don’t have any personal experience eating out. But here’s what I found in the area:

• Blue Yeti (burgers, wings)
• Rod & Reel (sit down, fancy-ish)
• Two Brothers Roadhouse (pub, pizza)
• Gwin’s Lodge (American)

• Spend the Night: Cooper Landing
• My Top Recommendation: Exit Glacier Hike and Slaughter Ridge
• Drive Time: 1 hour

Cooper Landing – Day 5

You’ll love this area of Alaska, and it’s one of my favorite parts of this Alaska itinerary.

What to do in the area:

• Explore Moose Pass – Ptarmigan Lake is a nice hike about halfway between Seward and Cooper Landing
• Slaughter Ridge – My favorite hike in the area, but it’s HARD. 2,000 feet in 2 miles puts you above Kenai Lake for some of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen.
• Russian River Falls – An easy hike through the forest to some falls where, during salmon season, you have a great chance at seeing bears. Sadly, we were too early and never saw any.
• Skilak Lake – We camped here for a couple of nights. The lake is gorgeous, and it’s a nice campground.
• Kenai River Trail – The first hike we did where we were nervous about bears. We saw some bear scat at the trailhead but didn’t see any bears. It’s a mild hike above the river through a burn zone.
• Kenai River Float Tour – We did a half-day float on our final day for chill experience
• Drive Skilak Lake Road – This is known for wildlife, and we saw some animals but nothing too special.
• Skilak Lookout Trail – A four-mile, moderate (muddy) trail that brings you above Skilak Lake. It was super windy for us, so we didn’t stay long, but the views were so good.

Food/Drink Options:

• Spend the Night: Cooper Landing area
• My Top Recommendation: Skilak Lake Lookout
• Drive Time: 30 minutes

Palmer/Wasilla/Talkeenta – Day 6

It’s time to say goodbye to the Kenai Peninsula and drive north for the Denali portion of the trip! (Note: If you have more than 9 days in Alaska, I’d drive down to Homer and do a bear-watching trip.)

I’ll let you decide where you want to stay. You can do Palmer, Anchorage, or Talkeetna. Palmer and Anchorage have more options, but Talkeetna is a pretty cute little town about 90 minutes past Wasilla/Palmer. This is the last place you’ll have “big city” vibes. So, do your grocery shopping here to save money.

If you walk to walk on a glacier, I’d recommend either this day or your last day as you come back down to Anchorage.

What to do in the area:

• Flattop Mountain (Hard, but classic hike) – Anchorage area
• Rabbit Lake Trail – Anchorage area
• Wolverine Peak (hard) – Anchorage area
• Eklunta Lake area – Anchorage area
• Mantanuska Glacier Tour (walk on a glacier)
• Grand Knik Helicopter Tour (2 hours w/glacier landings) | One Hour Option
• Hatcher Pass

Food/Drink Options:

• Spend the Night:
• My Top Recommendation:
• Drive Time:

Denali National Park – Day 7

Day seven of your Alaska itinerary. Let’s go! For the last few days of the trip, let’s get into Denali. But first, I strongly recommend booking a Denali flightseeing trip from Talkeetna. It’s the closest airport to Denali, which means you get more time around the mountain and less time flying over marshland.

This is hands down the best tour I’ve ever been on, and it blew me away. The photos I landed and memories are unapparelled.

Hopefully, you have a clear day, and if you do, the views will blow you away! As you drive, be mindful of potential wildlife encounters. As we got closer to Denali National Park, we saw moose.

My 3-day Denali National Park itinerary

What to know about Denali National Park:

• There are only a few defined trails. If you want to start hiking over yonder, you’re able to. Nothing is off-limits.
• Cars can only drive 15 miles to Savage River Trail. After that, you need a bus pass. Denali Park Road is closed about 2/3s of the way due to a landslide.
• Carry bear spray at all times
• Moose hang out by the visitor center

What to do in the area:

• Denali Flightseeing Tours: I put a handful of tours in this link – Do you need a glacier landing? No. Recommended Tour? Grand Denali (which goes around the mountain clockwise)
• Denali Flightseeing + 4 hour hike
• Explore Talkeetna
• Hike in Denali State Park – Curry Ridge
• Top at one of the Denali viewpoints if you have a clear day (Denali View North or Denali View South)
• Check into your lodging/campsite in Denali or Healy
• Explore Denali National Park – Savage River Trail, Healy Overlook
• Ziplining

Food/Drink Options:

We made food while camping in Denali NP. You’ll have various places to eat/drink, but I can’t offer much personal touch.

Campgrounds in Denali

• Riley Creek Campground – Open year-round, closest to the park entrance, suitable for RVs and tents, with amenities like running water and flush toilets.
• Savage River Campground – Located at Mile 13 of the Park Road, allows both RVs and tents, offers basic facilities, and is the furthest you can drive into the park with a private vehicle.
• Sanctuary River Campground – A small, primitive tent-only campground at Mile 22, accessible only by park bus.
• Teklanika River Campground – At Mile 29, accessible by private vehicle with a three-night minimum stay; great for those wanting a deeper park experience.
• Igloo Creek Campground – Another tent-only, remote campground at Mile 35, accessible only by park bus.
• Wonder Lake Campground – At Mile 85, the furthest and most scenic campground, offering incredible views of Denali on clear days, but only accessible by park bus.

• Spend the Night: Denali Park or Healy (less expensive, 15 minutes north)
• My Top Recommendation: A flightseeing tour of Denali
• Drive Time: Talkeetna to Denali, 2.5 hours; Palmer to Denali, 3.5 hours

Denali National Park – Day 8

Hopefully, you can get a bus ticket that will allow you to hop on and hop off at different places along the Denali Park Road. This will offer wildlife opportunities, hiking, and other sightseeing options.

If you got in late the day before, make sure to do the Savage River Trail to stretch your legs. Keep your eyes open for big-horned sheep or bears in the region.

• Spend the Night: Denali Park or Healy (less expensive, 15 minutes north)
• My Top Recommendation: hike around and spot wildlife
• Drive Time: 0

Heading Home – Day 9

The final day of your Alaska itinerary! Odds are you’ll be booking a later evening flight out of Alaska, so you should have most of your day in the area. There are plenty of breweries in the Anchorage area to hang out at or go on a little hike in the Chugach mountains.

You will have around a 4.5-5 hour drive to get back to the airport, so make sure you factor that into your plans.

Hopefully, by now, you’re plenty tired but running on the energy of Alaska’s brilliance.

Best Tours to Take in Alaska

I wrote several articles on it, but I’ll also provide my favorites below. I highly recommend indulging in a few tours to see the harder-to-reach places in Alaska. These are some of the best experiences you can have and showcase untouched terrain that few get to see.

Best Alaska Flightseeing Tours
Top Alaska Glacier Tours

• Denali Flightseeing Tours from Talkeetna
• Kenai Fjords Wildlife Boat and Glacier Cruise
• Flightseeing over Wrangell St Elias
• Glacier Walk on Root Glacier
• Glacier Walk on Mantanuska Glacier

How much does a trip to Alaska cost?

It depends. It always depends. You can do an expensive Alaskan itinerary with hotels, nice food, and tours, or you can camp and be more frugal.

Alaska is not a cheap place to visit. With their tourism season compacted into three or four months, they charge higher prices to subsidize their slow seasons. Plus, goods cost more to get up here, and those costs are passed onto consumers.

Rental Car Estimates: I put nine days in June 2025, and Expedia spit out about $500 for rental cars or $50 per day (which isn’t too shabby.)
Hotel Estimates: I would anticipate at least $180 per night, and it can go up depending on where you are.
Food Estimates: Most meals at restaurants for a couple were $125 but could easily get higher with drinks and appetizers. Grocery stores will be the most cost-efficient and aren’t too much more expensive than Seattle or SF.
Gas Estimates: Gas prices are in the low three-dollar range as of publishing.
Flight Estimates: $388 from Seattle to Anchorage, $750 from Denver, $490 from San Francisco, $640 from Chicago

Book your flights here.

My fiancee and I spent a little over $5,000 combined on our 21-day road trip in 2021. A lot has changed since then. We did a campervan for half the trip and then mostly camped the rest of the way, with a few hotel nights sprinkled in.

I have no idea what 21 days would cost now. But if you are focused on keeping costs low, there are ways to do it.

What to know for your Alaska Itinerary

Summer Midnight Sun

I had never experienced the midnight sun (or something similar to it) before my 2021 trip to Alaska. It was incredible being able to drive, hike, and photograph at 11pm or later. Our days usually consisted of waking up around 8am and going to bed around 1am.

And when we did, there was still a little glow in the sky as it never got completely dark during our mid-May trip. As you get closer to the summer solstice (June 21), there will be decent light for the entirety of the day.

Should I go to Wrangell St Elias National Park?

Short answer: yes. Long answer: it depends.

Visiting Wrangell St Elias means you’ll have to drive 5-7 hours east from Anchorage, and it will take two full days. It’s a big time commitment, and most people will want to see things closer without spending it on the car.

This is where I talk about flying places. If you have the money, taking a small plane into Wrangell would be advised and save you tons of time.

It’s America’s largest National park, and so, so gorgeous. My fiancee and I spent three days in the area, and we loved it.

Let the weather dictate your plans

If you can be flexible, do it. Even during the summer, Alaska’s weather can be unpredictable. Yes, it should be relatively nice out, but you never know.

So, if you can keep things open with your Alaska itinerary as you get closer to your travel dates, this may allow you to shift your schedule to avoid weather in certain areas.

On our 2021 trip, we stayed an extra night in Anchorage because Denali was getting rain and moved everything back a night. Thankfully, the campground wasn’t full, and it only cost us $20.

How many days should you spend in Alaska?

I recommend 12-14 days for the effort to get to Alaska and its size. But I also realize not everyone can do that, so I made this a 9-day Alaska itinerary. That’s more manageable and allows you to visit without using more than five vacation days.

Nine days should allow you to see two parts of the state, and if you fall in love with Alaska, you can plan another trip.

What’s the most challenging part of an Alaska itinerary?

The driving distance is the most challenging part of Alaska for me. While the Kenai peninsula is totally manageable, things get long outside of that.

Anchorage to Denali is over four hours – granted, you’ll want to stop and see the sights along the way. Let’s say you want to visit Valdez, that’s 5.5 hours.

If you have loads of money, taking flights around the state will save you a lot of time, giving you more opportunities to see more places. Granted, driving around Alaska is stunning and lets you experience how massive it is!

Should I rent a car or do a camper van?

This depends on how you like to travel. If you’re okay sleeping at a campsite or in a parking lot, a camera van is a great way to go. But if you need a hot shower and a comfy bed, a rental car and hotel will bring you more joy.

The one cool thing about Alaska is you can sleep in far more places legally than in the Lower 48. This makes finding a place to sleep in a campervan much easier.

Find a campervan here

I personally loved being in a campervan. The freedom to travel and move as you want was awesome. And the ability to stay put in an area if you really like it without feeling guilty about losing a hotel reservation gives you ultimate control over your trip.

Should I include bear-watching on my Alaska itinerary?

This is the great debate when visiting Alaska. To start, as a photographer, photographing bears is one of the highlights of my life. I got to spend five days in Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks and had the most incredible time.

But a trip like that was a standalone one. Most people will add a single-day trip to Brooks Fall (Katmai NP) to their Alaska itinerary or someplace in Lake Clark National Park, like Chitina Bay. This is far more affordable than a multi-day trip, but it’s still not cheap.

Most day trips start around $1,000 and can go up to $1,500 per person. Your personal financials will determine if this is worth it. However, getting within feet of brown bears in the wild is life-changing.

Where to fly out of

The two most popular places people fly from for bear-watching are Homer and Anchorage. The pros for Anchorage are that it is closer to the main airport, and you won’t need to drive down to Homer. The cons are that it might be more expensive and you will have a longer day/time on the flight.

It might be a bit cheaper for Homer, but you need to be down there. And you’ll have a shorter flight.

In 2021, our flight went out of Homer, and we landed in Lake Clark’s Chitina Bay across the Cook Inlet.

Is Alaska safe?

For the general public, yes, Alaska is safe.

There are more risks thanks to bears in Alaska, but if you’re careful and carry bear spray, you should be okay. There are also freak weather events, driving in the middle of nowhere, and other Alaka-only issues that could arrive.

With all of that said, 99.99% of visitors will encounter zero issues in Alaska, and I honestly wouldn’t worry.

Do I need to visit Fairbanks during the summer?

While I enjoyed Fairbanks during the winter for the aurora and other activities, summer in this area can be hot (90+F), and there’s not much to do in the area. I think you can skip it in the summer months and save yourself the 6+ hours of drive time round trip.

Once you drive past Denali, you’ll leave the mountains behind, and it becomes flat, swampy, and full of mosquitoes.

Final Thoughts on the Alaska Itinerary

As you can probably tell, I love Alaska. And I want more people to visit because you’ll gain a greater appreciation for nature, wildlife, and why we need to protect this stunning region. I hope this Alaska itinerary helps steer you in the right direction.

There’s an incredible amount of things to do and places to see, and you won’t be able to get all of them on one trip. But that means you must return and make a new Alaska itinerary!

Until next time, adventurers, stay safe.

Follow on social media: TikTok || Instagram || Facebook || Newsletter | YouTube