Compare Vancouver, Canada to Seward (Anchorage) by Silversea vs Alaska: The Great Exploration by Discover Corps

Day 1: Vancouver, Canada

Consistently ranked as one of the world's most livable cities, Vancouver lures visitors with its abundance of natural beauty, multicultural vitality, and cosmopolitan flair. The attraction is as much in the range of food choices—the fresh seafood and local produce are some of North America's best—as it is in the museums, shopping opportunities, and beaches, parks, and gardens. Indeed, the Vancouver package is a delicious juxtaposition of urban sophistication and on-your-doorstep wilderness adventure.

Day 2: Cruise Inside Passage, U.S.A, United States of America

Day 3: Ketchikan, Alaska, United States of America

Ketchikan is famous for its colorful totem poles, rainy skies, steep-as-San Francisco streets, and lush island setting. Some 13,500 people call the town home, and, in the summer, cruise ships crowd the shoreline, floatplanes depart noisily for Misty Fiords National Monument, and salmon-laden commercial fishing boats motor through Tongass Narrows. In the last decade Ketchikan's rowdy, blue-collar heritage of logging and fishing has been softened by the loss of many timber-industry jobs and the dramatic rise of cruise-ship tourism. With some effort, though, visitors can still glimpse the rugged frontier spirit that once permeated this hardscrabble cannery town.

Day 4: Juneau, Alaska, United States of America

Juneau, Alaska's capital and third-largest city, is on the North American mainland but can't be reached by road. The city owes its origins to two colorful sourdoughs (Alaskan pioneers)—Joe Juneau and Richard Harris—and to a Tlingit chief named Kowee, who led the two men to rich reserves of gold at Snow Slide Gulch, the drainage of Gold Creek around which the town was eventually built. That was in 1880, and shortly thereafter a modest stampede resulted in the formation of a mining camp, which quickly grew to become the Alaska district government capital in 1906.

Day 5: Skagway, Alaska, United States of America

Located at the northern terminus of the Inside Passage, Skagway is a one-hour ferry ride from Haines. By road, however, the distance is 359 miles, as you have to take the Haines Highway up to Haines Junction, Yukon, then take the Alaska Highway 100 miles south to Whitehorse, and then drive a final 100 miles south on the Klondike Highway to Skagway. North-country folk call this sightseeing route the Golden Horseshoe or Golden Circle tour, because it passes a lot of gold-rush country in addition to spectacular lake, forest, and mountain scenery. The town is an amazingly preserved artifact from North America's biggest, most-storied gold rush.

Day 6: Sitka, Alaska, United States of America

It's hard not to like Sitka, with its eclectic blend of Alaska Native, Russian, and American history and its dramatic and beautiful open-ocean setting. This is one of the best Inside Passage towns to explore on foot, with such sights as St. Michael's Cathedral, Sheldon Jackson Museum, Castle Hill, Sitka National Historical Park, and the Alaska Raptor Center topping the town's must-see list. Sitka was home to the Kiksádi clan of the Tlingit people for centuries prior to the 18th-century arrival of the Russians under the direction of territorial governor Alexander Baranof, who believed the region was ideal for the fur trade.

Day 7: Cruise Hubbard Glacier, U.S.A., United States of America

Day 8: Seward (Anchorage), AK, United States of America

It is hard to believe that a place as beautiful as Seward exists. Surrounded on all sides by Kenai Fjords National Park, Chugach National Forest, and Resurrection Bay, Seward offers all the quaint realities of a small railroad town with the bonus of jaw-dropping scenery. This little town of fewer than 3,000 citizens was founded in 1903, when survey crews arrived at the ice-free port and began planning a railroad to the Interior. Since its inception, Seward has relied heavily on tourism and commercial fishing. It is also the launching point for excursions into Kenai Fjords National Park, where it is quite common to see marine life and calving glaciers.

Day 1: Arrive in Anchorage

Meals: Dinner

Our Alaskan adventure begins in its charming city of Anchorage. Arrive into Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC) and meet your local Alaskan guide. We’ll get a brief introduction to the area before settling into our accommodations at a boutique inn in downtown Anchorage. Dine alongside locals at a brewhouse and get to know one another as we gear up for the week ahead.

Day 2: Learn about Alaska's History and Meet a Member of the Beluga Whale Alliance

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Today's adventure takes us to the Alaska Native Heritage Center. As Alaska’s largest living cultural center, we’ll get the unique opportunity to explore a village of authentic and traditional structures from Alaska’s many native cultures. We’ll also be treated to a range of performances including native dancing led by a community dance group, or athletes demonstrating World Eskimo-Indian Olympic Games skills. In the afternoon, enjoy a picnic lunch and guided hike into the snow capped mountains of the Chugach State Park. Stop along the way to discuss the stunning geography of the area while learning about Alaska history as you gaze over aerial views of Anchorage.

Before dinner, we’ll get a visit from a member of the Beluga Whale Alliance to discuss the declining Beluga Whale population of nearby Cook Inlet and their effort to sustain the species by volunteer driven data collection. Enjoy dinner with a view overlooking the Cook Inlet, named after Captain James Cook during his search for the Northwest Passage.

This hike is all abilities level and will be based on group pace with 3 different routes to choose between.

Day 3: Ride a Glass-Top Train to Seward & Explore Kenai Fjords National Park

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner

Rise early for an adventure down the Alaskan coast. Hop aboard the Coastal Classic train and venture from Anchorage to Seward in style. Often ranked as the top ten train rides in North America, you’ll wind along Turnagain Arm, where the steep mountains of the Chugach Range plunge directly to the sea before entering into the backcountry wilderness. Take in the panoramic vistas of Alaska’s beauty under the glass dome ceiling railcars. This 4.5 hour scenic ride will offer plenty of photo opportunities of wildflowers, rivers, and possible wildlife sightings so be sure to keep your camera handy! Arrive into the quaint, fishing town of Seward where you’ll go from train to boat for an afternoon of wildlife and glacier viewing in the remarkable Kenai Fjords National Park. Keep an eye out for whales, porpoises, puffins, sea otters, the stellar sea lion, and more as we cruise through Aialik Bay towards the mighty Holgate Glacier, an actively calving tidewater glacier. We will spend time in front of the glacier to watch for calving, where giant chunks of glacial ice break off and crash into the water. The tour is fully narrated by a National Park Ranger

Day 4: Join the Alaska Sealife Center for a Puffin Experience before a Dog Sled Tour Through the Wilderness

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Wake to the sounds of fishing boats departing for the day and views of towering Mt. Marathon and Mt. Alice outside your window. Today we will head to Alaska’s only marine rescue and research facility, The Alaska Sealife Center. You’ll have the opportunity to learn about how the center is protecting marine wildlife through rescue and rehabilitation. Go behind the scenes with researchers and learn about a range of animals from stellar sea lions, ringed & spotted seals as well as the giant pacific octopus. Join staff in a privately led deep dive into the characteristics and traits of a puffin. Learn first hand why their bright orange beaks change colors during the year and how they’ve earned their nickname, clowns of the sea!

In the afternoon, visit a local homestead kennel for a look into Alaska’s Iditarod dog sledding family, The Seaveys. Get to know their beloved team of huskies, a tether-free environment, and how mushing runs deep within the family line and their way of life. Your adventure begins with a 2-mile dog sled ride. Feel the power, excitement, and energy of these amazing sled dogs as they are harnessed to comfortable wheeled sleds on this hour and a half dog sled tour. Mush through the Seward Alaska wilderness to the base of Resurrection Mountain and along Box Canyon Creek.

Day 5: Head to Homer & Meet with the Alaska Center for Coastal Studies for "Belly Biology"

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

After breakfast, we will hit the road and head to the other side of the Kenai Peninsula stopping along the way in the old gold mining town of Cooper Landing. We’ll arrive in Homer and visit the Wynn Nature Center at the Alaska Center for Coastal Studies, whose mission is to protect the unique marine and coastal ecosystems of Kachemak Bay through science-based environmental education and stewardship. Get to know the 150 acre wildlife corridor with a habitat that includes spruce, black cottonwood, and alder trees and is the epicenter for a range of birds from the Black-capped Chickadee to the Orange-crowned warbler. The preserve is located on top of a bluff 1200 feet above Kachemak Bay. After touring the grounds, head down to the Homer Marina with a trained naturalist guide as you explore marine invertebrate life living on & around the Homer Harbor Docks in an activity called, belly biology.

Day 6: Visit a Local Oyster Farm

Meals: Breakfast and Dinner

Rise for a delicious breakfast followed by some free time to explore the small shops & cafes on the boardwalk along the Homer Spit. In the afternoon, we will board a boat for yet another engaging ocean experience. This time we will explore Kachemak Bay stopping at a local oyster farm to enjoy a tasting! Learn about ocean research by participating in a plankton tow, viewing them under a microscope and using an underwater remote operating vehicle to explore the ocean bed and all the creatures that call this place home! We’ll stop at the secluded Peterson Bay Field Station & visit Intertidal Creature Touch Tanks. Later in the evening, we’ll come together for a memorable Farewell Dinner to cap off our great Alaskan adventure!

Day 7: Explore the Homer Spit before Returning Home or Continuing to Denali

Meals: Breakfast and Lunch

Enjoy a relaxing final morning in Homer. Head into town for souvenir shopping or beach combing along the oceanfront. In the afternoon, we’ll drive back to Anchorage for evening flights out. Those who opt for the Denali Extension will bid the rest of the group farewell and take a domestic flight from Homer to Anchorage then onwards to Denali National Park.