Steps from the port in Juneau, you’ll find numerous shops, museums and a surprisingly diverse culinary scene, featuring innovative food trucks, local breweries, fusion restaurants and Alaska’s famously delicious Dungeness crab. Just beyond the city, the towering mountains of Tongass National Forest and a vast icefield comprising multiple glaciers surround this capital that is only accessible by air or sea. The otherworldly Mendenhall Glacier blankets the land a few miles from downtown, where you might explore from a helicopter before landing on the ice to get a closer look on foot or via dogsled. Paddling a canoe across Mendenhall Lake offers yet another perspective on the soaring cliffs and enormous waterfall that the glacier has created. To explore farther afield, a local seaplane can take you to a private location for observing bears or to a historic lodge for a fresh salmon bake. Taking to the water, whale-watching excursions, sportfishing charters and kayaking adventures are also excellent ways to experience the majestic wilderness that embraces the city.
