Compare Alaska: Denali to Prince William Sound by National Geographic Expeditions vs Alaska: The Great Exploration by Discover Corps

Days 1 & 2: Fairbanks, Alaska/Denali National Park

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Pike's Waterfront Lodge; Denali Backcountry Lodge

Arrive in Fairbanks and check into our hotel. The next morning, travel into the heart of Denali National Park in search of moose, caribou, gray wolves, grizzly bears, and Dall sheep. Settle into our remote lodge in the former mining settlement of Kantishna, surrounded by glacier-fed, braided rivers and the peaks of the Alaska Range.

Days 3 & 4: Denali National Park

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner (Daily)

Spend the next two days exploring Denali’s magnificent interior. Set out on hikes or walks of varying degrees of difficulty, or try panning for gold. While in the park, keep your eye out for migrating birds, including golden plovers, arctic loons, jaegers, and eagles. Weather permitting, take an optional flightseeing trip around Mount McKinley, North America’s highest mountain, or hike to viewpoints to photograph its soaring 20,237-foot peak.

Day 5: Denali/Talkeetna

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge

Take advantage of an early morning drive out of the park to catch wildlife during one of its most active periods. Then head to Talkeetna on the Denali Star train and explore this historic Alaskan village, a launching point for climbers headed up Mount McKinley.

Day 6: Talkeetna/Girdwood

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel Alyeska

This morning, drive south of Anchorage along the stunningly scenic Seward Highway, past Turnagain Arm and the snowcapped Chugach mountains, which seem to rise out of the mirrored waters of Cook Inlet. This is part of a route that National Geographic has named one of its “Drives of a Lifetime.” Continue to the scenic town of Girdwood, and explore this glacial valley on a hike through lush rain forest.

Day 7: Prince William Sound

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Embark on a day cruise on Prince William Sound, where the rich waters attract a variety of wildlife, from humpback whales and orcas to playful sea otters, puffins, and seals. Against a spectacular mountain backdrop, glide past towering tidewater glaciers, and listen for the telltale crackle and boom of impending glacier calving. Later this evening, celebrate your Alaska adventure with a farewell dinner.

Day 8: Girdwood/Anchorage

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Enjoy up-close encounters with Alaska’s wild residents at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which rehabilitates injured and orphaned animals to the wild. After lunch, return to Anchorage and connect with your flight home.

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.