Alaska Wildlife & Wilderness

Explore one of the last true wildernesses on Earth on our Alaska camping adventure

With twinkling glaciers, rushing rivers and some of the most beautiful hikes in North America, Alaska has the wow factor. The wildlife is legendary, thriving on land and in sea. And as one of the last bastions of true wilderness, it is the perfect place to spot animals in their natural habitat, including Alaska’s own Big 5: bear, moose, Dall sheep, wolf and caribou. Join this wilderness trip to experience it all, with bear-viewing opportunities, wildlife cruises and wilderness walks. Visit the vast expanse of peaks and glaciers in Denali National Park and enjoy excellent opportunities to see marine giants, including humpback whales and orcas, in Kenai Fjords National Park.

People, Places & Planet

We work hard to create trips that have a positive impact on the people and places we visit and look after the planet we explore. Learn more about our sustainable travel ethos and practice here and find out about the work of the Exodus Travels Foundation here.

Some sustainable travel highlights of this trip include:

People

How this trip helps improve life for local communities.

• Local guides keep you well informed about local traditions and cultural-social sensitivities.
• This trip brings income and opportunity to the destination community through the inclusion of locally owned hotels, restaurants, and other enterprises, and by championing locally produced food wherever possible.
• Read more about our other initiatives here.

Places

How this trip helps protect and conserve local landscapes and nature.

• By travelling in a small group, we ‘tread lightly’ to minimise our impact on local resources and the environment.
• We work with our partners on the ground to proactively reduce waste; this includes eliminating all single-use plastic water bottles by providing refills for reusable bottles.
• Entrance fees to natural reserves generate income used to upkeep and develop these important sites. In this trip, we visit Denali National Park.
• Our trips adhere to ABTA’s industry-leading animal welfare guidelines to ensure the best possible practices regarding wildlife viewing. Our animal welfare policy can be found here.
• With our partners, Rewilding Apennines, we rewild 100 square meters (1,075 sqft) of land per passenger who travels with us.
• Read about our commitment to nature protection and restoration here, including our rewilding commitment for every customer who travels with us.

Planet

How we seek to keep the carbon footprint of this trip low.

• Accommodation and restaurants in the itinerary use locally sourced food which has not been transported long distances.
• Read about our climate action here, including our carbon reduction and compensation commitments.

Tips for sustainable travel on this trip

• Leave no trace: We do all we can to ensure we leave no rubbish in the wild and beautiful places we visit; we ask that you do the same. If there are no recycling facilities in-country, consider bringing recyclable materials home with you.
• Plastic waste reduction: Please bring a reusable water bottle on this trip, also consider avoiding single-use hotel toiletries, which generate a large amount of plastic waste.

Is this trip for you?

This tour is graded Activity Level 3 (Moderate) with a Wildlife Rating of Three. Visit our Wildlife Holidays page for more on our Wildlife ratings. For more information on our trip gradings please visit the Activity Level Guidelines page. If you have any queries about the difficulty of the trip please do not hesitate to contact us.

This is an active and varied trip, suitable for people with reasonable fitness. Walks, hikes and activities range in difficulty from easy to strenuous. The walk on Day 7 (Harding Icefield Trail along Exit Glacier) has challenging parts with uneven and sometimes slippery terrain - there are sections of scree and snow, so walking poles are recommended for this day. The views across Exit Glacier are well worth the journey!

The tour leader will organise the optional activities on your behalf and you will pay locally in card or cash (depending on the activity), however we recommend to book the optional bush plane at Mount Denali (Day 5) in advance to guarantee availability. Find the main optional activities listed under each itinerary day description, along with guideline prices, which although correct at the time of publication, can fluctuate throughout the season. It may not be possible to do all optional activities listed on each tour.

Although each tour follows an itinerary, there is a certain amount of flexibility and from time to time your tour leader may suggest changes. This may be due to road conditions, weather or a visit to a special attraction or event that happens to be in progress. Flexibility is key and often a side diversion will be a tour highlight. Hikes and optional activities cannot be guaranteed and may vary depending on ability, group interest, local weather conditions and time of year.

All travellers over the age of 70 will be requested to complete a self-declaration of fitness form prior to travel. Our tours are a unique experience and much of your enjoyment comes from the team spirit of the group and the fun we have together, as well as from the local setting. We cannot stress strongly enough the importance of bringing a positive attitude with you on tour; a guarantee to enjoying each and every moment, even in the adversity of the odd rainstorm.

Following a review of all our trips we have categorised this trip as generally not suitable for persons of reduced mobility. However if you are a regular traveller on such trips, please contact customer services to discuss the trip and your personal condition.

Vaccinations and Health

USA

There are no required vaccinations. However, you may want to consider vaccinations for polio, tetanus and rabies. Please confirm with your doctor or travel clinic.

Visa

USA

Travellers from the UK and most EU countries can enter the US under the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) provided they have registered for an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) – which costs US$21 – and are in possession of an onward air ticket and machine-readable passport when entering the US. Visas are required for some nationalities and requirements often change; it is your responsibility to obtain any required visas and fulfil any requirements for this trip. We recommend that you check with the nearest embassy or consulate of your chosen destination(s), including any countries you may be transiting or transferring through.

Some local governments provide guidance on what visas their citizens need. To help, we’ve gathered a selection of useful links below.

• Australia: www.smartraveller.gov.au/destinations/americas/united-states-america
• Canada: www.travel.gc.ca/destinations/united-states
• United Kingdom: www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/entry-requirements

Please note, regulations stipulate that any person who has travelled to Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria or Yemen since March 2011 (or has dual nationality of Iran, Iraq, Sudan or Syria) may no longer qualify for the VWP. In addition, if you have travelled to Cuba since 12 January 2021, you will not be eligible for the VWP and should instead apply for a visa to travel to, or transit via, the USA.

Food & Drink

There are nine breakfasts, eight lunches and eight dinners included on this trip.

Your tour leader will co-ordinate local shopping and assist the group in preparing healthy, hearty breakfasts, picnic lunches and delicious dinners.

Dinner on Day 1 and lunch on Day 10 are not included. To help you budget for these meals, average costs are:

• Lunch: US$15-US$20
• Dinner: US$20-US$35, not including alcoholic beverages

Drinks cost on average:

• Wine: US$7-10 per glass
• Beer: US$5-8 per bottle

A tip of approximately 17%-20% is added to group meals in North American restaurants. Applicable taxes will also be added to all listed menu prices.

Please make sure we are aware of any special meal requirements before travelling. We do all we can to accommodate for various dietary requirements but in certain parts of Alaska, specific food types can be limited.

Weather

Alaska's weather is changeable - expect cloudy, overcast and rainy days as well as some sunshine and long, light evenings (in the far north, the sun does not set at all in June!). June is typically drier than July and August, but on all departures you should be prepared for some heavy rain.

There are, great differences between the weather on the coast and in the interior. Average daytime temperatures will be around 17C (63F) on the coast, a few degrees higher inland; however, temperatures nearing 30C (around 86F) are not unusual. Night-time minimum temperatures are around 12C (54F), but a little colder inland and during June (occasionally hitting freezing point) and towards the end of August.