Hi there!
Juneau is best known for the Mendenhall Glacier and whale watching.
To see a glacier from land during an Alaska cruise, Juneau is the most popular cruise port to do so.
One of the most popular ways to see the glacier is usually to take a shuttle to the Mendenhall Glacier or to do a tour that includes Mendenhall Glacier.
Juneau is also considered to be one of the best cruise ports for whale watching in Alaska, so whale watching tours in Juneau are popular.
You can also do an epic seaplane tour in Juneau to see mountains and glaciers from above.
You can also make it a helicopter tour in Juneau with a landing to do a glacier walk to see blue ice, and you can also make it a helicopter tour to go glacier dog sledding in Juneau.
Juneau is one of the best cruise ports for a dog sledding tour in Alaska.
There are also hikes that you can do in Juneau on your own for free, like the Gold Creek Flume Trail or at the top of the Mount Roberts Tram.
You can also do a hike like the West Glacier Trail in Tongass National Forest for cheap by taking the bus.
One of the most famous restaurants in Juneau is Tracy’s King Crab Shack.
You can also go hiking in Juneau, and there is even a sandy beach in Juneau where you might be able to see jellyfish!
ð One of the most popular things to do in Juneau from a cruise ship is a whale watching tour around Auke Bay.
ð One of the epic things to do in Juneau is a seaplane tour. Make it even more epic by doing a seaplane tour with a landing!
ð Juneau glacier tour. One of the most popular things to do in Juneau is to go to the Mendenhall Glacier. But, most people only see a distant view. It will be a much more epic Juneau tour if you do a Mendenhall Glacier tour that gets up closer to the glacier by canoe!
ð Taking a walk on the boardwalk from Juneau cruise port. The famous Tracy’s King Crab Shack is a few minutes walk from the cruise ship.
ð Juneau or Skagway: This picture is a Skagway excursion, but you can do a similar dog sledding tour in Alaska when you are in Juneau! One of the most epic so-very-Alaska things to do in Juneau is a dog sledding tour on a glacier! You can go dog sledding on snow even in the summer! (Although usually not late summer like mid-August onwards!)
Best things to do in Juneau
- Whale watching
- 5-glacier seaplane tour
- Dog sledding (on a glacier!)
- Juneau icefield helicopter tour
- Tongass National Forest (biggest national forest in the United States!)
More below about my experience in Juneau cruise port!
ð
Things to do in Juneau for a perfect time in Juneau cruise port
- Juneau AK icefield seaplane tour
- Taku Lodge salmon bake
- Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center
- Nugget Falls
- Tracy’s King Crab Shack
- Juneau AK whale watching tour
- Mendenhall Glacier tour by canoe
1. Juneau icefield seaplane tour
You can do a seaplane tour in Juneau to see the Juneau icefield, glaciers, and snow-capped mountains.
You will get epic views of Alaska as you fly over the Juneau icefield.
You will be flying over and seeing part of the massive Juneau icefield with lots of glaciers.
I saw glaciers and blue ice from above!
You can make the Juneau icefield seaplane tour as a standalone excursion, or make it even more epic and add a landing! (Next!)
Depending on what you want to see, the best cruise ports for flightseeing tours are Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. Take a look at Skagway excursions and Ketchikan excursions.
Juneau activities:
2. Taku Lodge salmon bake
There are many excursions in Juneau that include a salmon bake, and one of them is the Taku Lodge salmon bake.
You get to Taku Lodge by seaplane, so it was a combination tour of the Juneau icefield seaplane and Taku Lodge.
It was a landing at the historic Taku Lodge (which currently only does day trips and not overnight stays), and it included a salmon bake Alaskan-style lunch.
There was time both before and after the meal to walk around, which I did.
Even though I was never too far from the rest of the tour group, I thought it was a nice quiet leisurely walk through the forest.
Most people stayed around the lodge. If you do the Taku Lodge excursion, I recommend asking how much time you have before food, and then walking around!
From Taku Lodge, you can see the glacier called Hole-in-the-Wall Glacier.
Taku Lodge feels like you are in remote Alaska!
You don’t need to fly in order to do a salmon bake excursion.
Princess offers other combination tour excursions that includes a salmon bake.
Princess excursions in Juneau:
- Taku Lodge Feast & 5-Glacier Seaplane Discovery with Taku Lodge Wings Airways
- Look for more salmon bake excursions: Princess Juneau excursions
3. Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center
One of the most popular things to do in Juneau is to see the Mendenhall Glacier.
And the most popular way to see this Juneau glacier is to go to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.
You can see the glacier off in the distance.
The Mendenhall Glacier continues to retreat which means that it keeps getting further and further away.
You can get to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center by renting a car, by taxi, by tour, by shuttle, or by taking the public Juneau bus.
I went to Mendenhall Glacier from the Juneau cruise port on my own: Bus to Mendenhall Glacier
I also did a Mendenhall Glacier tour to get an even closer up view of the glacier. Coming up later!
4. Nugget Falls
The most popular waterfalls to see in Juneau is Nugget Falls.
You get to Nugget Falls by going to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center.
From there, you’ll walk past the Photo Point Trail and then onwards on the Nugget Falls Trail to get to the waterfalls.
I went to Nugget Falls from the Juneau cruise port on my own: Nugget Falls on your own
If you are looking to go hiking in Juneau: Best hikes in Juneau
5. Tracy’s King Crab Shack
Tracy’s King Crab Shack is one of the most famous places to eat in Juneau.
There’s a location right near the cruise port.
This also means that it may be more busy than the other location that is like a 15 minute walk away… which you can go to if you want to try for a bit less of a crowd!
If you want to eat the food that Tracy’s crab shack is known for, then you can consider a trip to Tracy’s King Crab Shack to be the price of an excursion! (aka $$$)
I grabbed a quick bite to eat near the Juneau cruise port: Tracy’s King Crab Shack
6. Juneau whale watching tour
Most whale watching tours in Juneau will go around Auke Bay.
Juneau is known as one of the best Alaska cruise ports for whale watching, so if you want to go whale watching during your Alaska cruise, Juneau can be it!
There are different types of boat tours, and I chose a whale watching tour that had less people. There were around 20 people on the boat.
With a cruise port pick-up, we took a shuttle to Auke Bay to get on a boat to go see whales.
You know the pictures you see in all the whale watching advertisements?!
Well, it’s actually quite rare to see whales like that.
Still, I was happy with what I saw.
Especially since I got a picture of a whale with its mouth open!
We also saw sea lions on a buoy.
I talked to someone who went on a different whale watching tour in Juneau around Auke Bay and their boat went past a whole bunch of harbor seals.
I saw the picture and it looked really cool. I wish our boat had gone by it!
The thing about wildlife watching tours is that wildlife sightings are not guaranteed! At least, the variety that you will see.
Most whale watching tours in Juneau do seem to have a guarantee that you will see at least one whale. Although this doesn’t mean that you are guaranteed to get a GREAT sighting. ðĪŠ
But this is just how it goes with wildlife viewing! Patience is required. And that’s also what makes it so exciting when you do see wildlife, whether it’s in the water or on land!
ð Driving from the Juneau cruise port. View from the back of the shuttle.
ð A whale was spotted. Will it appear again?!
ð Amazing view of a whale in Juneau!! ðąðąðą
ð Spot the sea lions in Juneau!
7. Mendenhall Glacier lake canoe tour
The Mendenhall Glacier is one of the most popular things to do in Juneau.
Most people will go to the Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center to get a distant view of the glacier.
This glacier is retreating which means that it continues to get further and further away year after year.
I did a canoe tour across the lake to get a closer look at the glacier.
You won’t actually walk on the glacier through this tour, but I thought this experience was so great.
We paddled the canoe to shore near the Mendenhall Glacier which means that we got closer to the glacier than the vast majority of people do.
We also got to see blue ice.
There was another tour group who was there about an hour earlier than us, and they were able to witness a big chunk of ice fall off the Mendenhall Glacier into the water!
Our tour guide was in touch with another tour guide and showed us the video.
This process of ice falling off a glacier is called calving, and calving is one of the best Alaska glacier experiences you can see!
Your best chance to see calving on a cruise is Glacier Bay National Park!
You can do a Mendenhall Lake canoe tour without a shore landing, but I think it’s better if you had the short walkaround!
ð Juneau tour guide.
How I did one day in Juneau (x2)
Juneau cruise port day #1 (Sapphire Princess)
In short, this was the planned one day in Juneau for my Alaska cruise on the Sapphire Princess:
- morning + lunch: Taku Lodge Feast & 5-Glacier Seaplane Discovery with Taku Lodge Wings Airways (Princess shore excursion) 9:30am to 1pm
- afternoon + evening: Mendenhall Glacier and Nugget Falls on my own
The time in Juneau cruise port during this cruise was 8am to 9:15pm.
See more about my Alaska cruise on the Sapphire Princess: 11-day Alaska cruise from Vancouver roundtrip
Juneau cruise port day #2 (Majestic Princess)
In short, this was the planned one day in Juneau for my Alaska cruise on the Majestic Princess:
- morning: Juneau whale watching tour (Princess excursion)
- afternoon: Mendenhall Glacier tour of canoe + hike with Liquid Alaska
The time in Juneau cruise port during this cruise was 8am to 9:15pm.
See more about my Alaska cruise on the Majestic Princess: 7-day Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage one-way
I was also in Juneau 3 times in September:
- Best hikes in Juneau
- Sandy Beach in Juneau (jellyfish!)
And that’s a bit about my time in Juneau cruise port!
More cruise ports for your Alaska cruise:
- Best Juneau excursions
- Best cruise ports for whale watching in Alaska
- Best cruise ports for dog sledding in Alaska
- Best cruise ports for seaplane tours in Alaska
- Things to do in Skagway
- Things to do in Ketchikan
- Things to do in Sitka
- Glacier Bay National Park
- Sitka National Historical Park
- Best Skagway excursions
- Best Ketchikan excursions
HAPPY DOING THINGS IN JUNEAU!
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