Getting from Seattle to Anchorage
· Updated · BootsnAll
Seattle is the gateway to Alaska for most visitors, and the reason is geography: Alaska is not connected to the rest of the United States by road except through Canada, and Seattle is the nearest major hub.
The distance is about 2,300 km in a straight line. There are three ways to cover it and they are wildly different propositions.
Flying
Three and a half hours, many flights a day, year-round. This is how almost everyone does it and it is the right answer for almost everyone.
Alaska Airlines dominates the route, as the name suggests, and Anchorage's Ted Stevens airport is unusually close to the city, about 10 minutes from downtown.
Fares rise steeply for the summer season, so book early if you are travelling between June and August.
The ferry, which is the trip worth taking
The Alaska Marine Highway is a state-run ferry system and it is a National Scenic Byway that happens to be made of water. It runs from Bellingham, about 140 km north of Seattle, up the Inside Passage through the fjords and islands of southeast Alaska.
Be clear about where it goes. The Inside Passage route serves Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Sitka and Haines, and it takes several days. It does not run directly to Anchorage: to reach Anchorage you disembark at Whittier or Haines and continue by road, or connect onward.
You can take a cabin or, in the traditional Alaskan manner, pitch a tent on the solarium deck under heat lamps, which is cheaper and is how a certain kind of traveller has always done it.
It takes cars. Book months ahead for summer, and check the current schedule carefully, because the system has had vessel and funding problems in recent years and sailings are fewer than they once were.
Driving
Around 3,700 km through British Columbia and the Yukon on the Alaska Highway, and four to five days of solid driving. You need a passport and you will cross into Canada and back out again.
It is a genuine expedition and a great one, through country with very long gaps between services. Carry a spare tyre you know how to fit, expect gravel stretches and frost heaves, and do not count on mobile signal.
Most rental companies prohibit taking their cars to Alaska, so this is usually a trip you make in your own vehicle or in a specifically arranged rental.
The combination most people should consider
Fly one way and take the ferry the other, or fly into Anchorage and use the ferry for a section of the southeast coast.
The Inside Passage is one of the great journeys in North America, and doing it in one direction while flying the other keeps the trip to a sensible length.