Alaska can be pretty daunting when you're trying to put together an itinerary. The land is immense and there never seems to be a straight line between any two points. But with a little patience and a lot of focus, you can come up with your dream itinerary.

The biggest challenge is narrowing down your choices to fit the time you have. You simply can't see it all. More than a few vacations have been ruined when people try to "capture" all the highlights and then waste valuable time traveling back and forth. Our advice is to focus on a single region and enjoy it.

Once you decide where you want to go, you can then decide how you want to get there. You can fly, drive (in some areas), or take a train, but you probably don't want to do all three. Your visit should be spent enjoying Alaska firsthand, not watching it whiz by outside your window.

You don't have to come home with all the major attractions checked off, but our itineraries will help you make the most of your time, whatever region you choose to explore.

Create Your Own Itinerary

If all travelers had the same interests, needs, abilities, and preferences in pacing, they could all follow the same itineraries. Of course, then only the limited number of places that fit on a sample itinerary would receive all the visitors, while the interesting and peculiar places off the beaten path would remain unknown. We hope you use the sample trip plans here as a starting point to design your own individual trip. Substitute different activities or towns, or extend the time in places that are more appealing to you. Do the trips in reverse order, or cut and paste portions of two different plans together. Or simply use the itineraries to get a feel for the distances and places, and then build your own plan from scratch after browsing through the rest of the guide.

Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.