Alaska’s Inside Passage
Trip Overview
Trip Length: 8 Days
Price Point: From $6,604/person
Seasons Available: Spring, Summer
Alaska is the perfect destination for a family adventure, especially with a multi-generational crew in tow. Few places can rival the vastness, beauty, and sense of discovery that Alaska offers. And on an expedition cruise, the experience is immersive from dawn to dusk, with every activity—guided hikes, Zodiac excursions, and underwater explorations—bringing you closer to the wild. The National Geographic-Lindblad Expeditions team enhances the experience with an unmatched depth of knowledge, kindness, and attentiveness, turning every outing into something unforgettable.
Alaska’s Inside Passage is an 8-day adventure that blends wilderness immersion with the warmth of a family trip. The National Geographic Global Explorers Program also makes this expedition ideal for families traveling with kids, offering young travelers hands-on ways to learn about Alaska’s ecosystems and wildlife.
Activities & Sites
- Hike, Kayak, and explore by Zodiac to view blue icebergs and curious wildlife
- Explore Glacier Bay National Park
- Learn from expert naturalists and guides who accompany each trip
- Glimpse the undersea world through the lens of the undersea specialist
- Hike and kayak in Tongas National Forest
Day to Day Itinerary
- Day 1 - Juneau
Arrive at the picturesque Alaska’s capital—one of only two U.S. capital cities not accessible by car. - Day 2 - Tracy Arm-Fords Terror Wilderness
Voyage into Tracy or Endicott Arm, where spectacular fjords with waterfalls cascade from glacially carved walls. See the soaring Dawes or South Sawyer Glacier up close and take a cruise in a Zodiac for an unbeatable view among sculpted icebergs. Keep an eye out for harbor seals, harbor porpoises and arctic terns. - Day 3 - Petersburg
Visit the small fishing town of Petersburg on Mitkof Island. Explore a unique Southeast Alaska ecosystem, the muskeg, and take the opportunity to stretch your legs with an optional bike ride around town before closing your day with an epic crab feast! - Day 4 - Frederick Sound and Chatham Strait
Spot wildlife, hike, and kayak in Fredrick Sound and Chatham Strait. These waters are prime areas for both orca and humpback whales. Explore spectacular bays and inlets, following bear trails and salmon streams. Once ashore, you'll have the opportunity to walk along a quiet forest trail or to kayak in these still waters. - Day 5 - Icy Strait and the Inian Islands
These islands are a busy feeding ground for myriad wildlife species, including Steller sea lions and sea otters. Search for marine mammals in the nutrient-rich waters of Icy Strait and choose the perfect spot around Chichagof Island to hike where sightings of bald eagles are common. - Day 6 - Glacier Bay National Park
Spend the entire day amid the coves, fjords, tidewater glaciers and majestic mountains of Glacier Bay National Park. Witness mountain goats scaling the peaks, as well as harbor seals, Steller sea lions and puffins swimming the placid waters. A visit to Tidal Inlet may bring the sight of brown bears lumbering up the hillside. - Day 7 - Southeast Alaska’s Islands
Take advantage of wildlife and weather conditions during your last day of exploration. You might stop at an isolated beach to take a closer look at tide pools, beachcomb and hike stunning forest trails. Keep an eye out for old bear tracks worn into the soil as you move from forest to meadow. Sightings of bald eagles are common. If conditions permit, you'll have the opportunity to do some kayaking, always watching for marine and terrestrial life. - Day 8 - Sitka
Disembark in Sitka, enjoy a tour of the town's points of interests before transferring to the airport for your flight back home.
Quest or Venture
Quest
When she rolled out of Nichols Brothers shipyard and into the bay on Whidbey Island, the 100-guest National Geographic Quest became the third ship in the Lindblad fleet built at this storied Pacific Northwest shipyard. In the 1970s, Nichols Brothers built the twin ships National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion, which continue to sail the waters of the west coast of North America and Central America. National Geographic Quest and her twin sister, National Geographic Venture, also explore in these regions.
National Geographic Quest was purpose-built to explore the North American coast, her design and engineering informed by our nearly 40 years of experience in these regions. Her twin boarding platforms, for example, were suggested by a veteran staffer. Enabling our team to load two Zodiacs at once means guests get off the ship quickly to take advantage of wildlife sightings and maximize exploring time.
Larger than her siblings National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion, National Geographic Quest has the same shallow draft, allowing her captain to navigate the same inner reaches and provide the same intimate, “”insider”” experiences in these charismatic regions. Modern cleaned-lined, with large expanses of glass to keep you connected to the extraordinary views, National Geographic Quest enables you to see, do, and experience the best of her geographies.
Venture
Following the build of National Geographic Quest at Nichols Brothers shipyard, her sister ship the 100-guest National Geographic Venture floated into the bay on Whidbey Island, becoming the 4th ship in the Lindblad fleet built at this storied PNW shipyard. In the 1970s, Nichols Brothers built the twin ships National Geographic Sea Bird and National Geographic Sea Lion, which continue to sail the waters of the west coast of North America and Central America.
Venture, like much of the wildlife she follows, is migratory. She follows the seasons from Alaska, along the coast of British Columbia, up the Columbia & Snake Rivers, and along the Baja coast and into the Sea of Cortez. In each region, her design innovations were informed by 50+ years of expedition expertise to ensure extraordinary discoveries. Larger than her sibling twin ships, Sea Bird and Sea Lion, Venture has the same shallow draft, enabling her to nimbly navigate the same inner reaches and provide the same intimate, ‘insider’ experiences of the charismatic regions we explore.
Like her sister, ship Quest, Venture has dual boarding platforms, enabling our team to load two Zodiacs at once means guests get off ship quickly, to take advantage of wildlife sightings and maximize exploring time. Modern, cleaned-lined, with large expanses of glass to keep you connected to the extraordinary views, National Geographic Venture enables you to see, do and experience the best of her geographies.
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