Passage to Alaska

Cruise the Inside Passage to best sample the fjorded coastline of the Alaska panhandle. From Glacier Bay in the north, the Passage stretches over 800km through a warren of islands before slipping into Canada’s British Columbia. You could be on a sea-kayak, an Alaska state ferry or a Norwegian cruise ship; it’s the same show. As you glide past glacial tongues lapping the water, the frigid silence will be occasionally broken by the cracking report of a glacier calving. And an uncanny blue iceberg or two will bob around before coming to rest. You will probably spot humpback whales; these playful giants often sidle up to moving vessels, heads down tails up in the air in an elaborate synchronised swimming act. When you anchor at a remote fishing outpost like Wrangell or Ketchikan, the man behind the bar will be eager to talk. Maybe you’ll get him to tell you a story or two. See www.akferry.org and www.bcferries.com.