Anchorage - Seward: Alaska Railroad Day Trip with Narration

4.65

(370 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

“You ever seen mountains just drop straight into the sea?” That’s what our guide, Tom, asked as we rattled out of Anchorage at sunrise. I was barely awake but those big picture windows didn’t let me doze — it’s like the Chugach Mountains were showing off, all blue shadows and streaks of snow. The train hugged Turnagain Arm so close I swear I could smell saltwater mixing with cold spruce. Someone behind me gasped when a bald eagle swooped low over the marshes. I just fumbled my coffee and tried not to miss anything.

The narration was easygoing — not too much, just enough stories about old gold rush towns or why the river looked milky (glacier silt, apparently). We passed waterfalls that seemed to appear out of nowhere. At some point I realized there were no roads anymore, just tracks curving into pure wilderness. It felt like we’d slipped into a place you couldn’t reach by car — which is true, actually. There was this quiet moment where everyone in our car stopped talking and just stared out at a glacier shining under a patch of sun. Funny how strangers can share silence like that.

Seward was busier than I expected — fishing boats clinking at the docks, seagulls everywhere. We had hours to wander (or you can book a Kenai Fjords cruise if you’re organized; I wasn’t). I grabbed halibut tacos from a food truck and watched locals fix nets on the pier. The air tasted salty and clean. By evening, getting back on the Alaska Railroad felt like returning to something familiar — tired legs, new photos on my phone, and that weird feeling you get when you’ve seen too much beauty in one day. Even now I still think about that stretch where the mountains fall right into the water.