Whittier to Anchorage: Wildlife, Brewery & Lake Hood Tour

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.84 (96 reviews) 92% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/13

Duration6h 30m

GroupUp to 40

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Alaska wildlife up close, craft beer lunch, seaplanes and sweet stops

You’ll travel from Whittier to Anchorage with stops that feel personal: see rescued wildlife up close at the conservation center, eat lunch at a local brewery surrounded by mountains, try fresh chocolate straight from the source, and watch seaplanes skim across Lake Hood—all with a local guide who knows every bend in the road.

6h 30m

Step-by-step itinerary

Whittier to Anchorage scenic transit tour

Travel from Whittier to Portage Valley
Visit Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
Lunch at Girdwood Brewery with food trucks
Sample chocolates at chocolate factory
Explore Earthquake Park
Watch seaplanes at Lake Hood
Drop off in Anchorage at requested location

The Experience

The first thing I remember is the way the air felt stepping off the ship in Whittier—cool and sharp, with a hint of salt and spruce. Our guide, Sam (who’s actually from Girdwood), waved us over with a thermos of coffee and this easy grin. We piled into the van and started winding through the Chugach Mountains. The road hugged Turnagain Arm so tightly it felt like we could reach out and touch the water. Someone spotted white dots on a cliff—Dall sheep, apparently. I squinted but honestly, I mostly saw rocks. Everyone was laughing about it though.

Portage Valley was next—seven glaciers in one sweep if you count right (Sam did). It’s quiet there, except for the wind rattling through birch leaves. Then we rolled up to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. I didn’t expect to get that close to a moose—its breath clouded in the morning air, and its fur looked rougher than I imagined. There were brown bears too, sort of lumbering around behind fences. The place felt honest—like they really cared about these animals who couldn’t make it on their own.

Lunch was at Girdwood Brewery—a picnic table outside with food truck tacos that dripped all over my hands (worth it). The beer tasted like pine needles and sunlight somehow. A couple next to us shared their fries and told us about living through an Alaskan winter; I still can’t picture that kind of cold. After that came chocolate—the smell hit before we even walked in. Watching molten chocolate tumble down a 20-foot waterfall is weirdly hypnotic; I bought some for my sister but ended up eating half myself on the bus.

Earthquake Park surprised me—I’d read about the ’64 quake but standing above those rippled hills made it feel real. The signs are blunt: whole neighborhoods vanished here. Last stop was Lake Hood where floatplanes buzzed overhead every few minutes. There’s something wild about watching pilots just… take off from water like it’s nothing special. By then Anchorage felt closer than I expected, but also bigger somehow.

What’s included

Your day includes pickup at Whittier port, bottled water and snacks along the way, all entry fees (including Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center), lunch at Girdwood Brewery with food trucks on site during summer months, sweet samples at a chocolate factory stop—and flexible drop-off anywhere you need in Anchorage city limits before your Alaskan adventure continues.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyPets welcomePublic transport nearby

Operated by White Raven Tours