Best flightseeing tours in Alaska! (glacier, helicopter, seaplane, floatplane, air tours)

Hi there!

A flightseeing tour is one of the most epic excursions you can do during your Alaska cruise!

If you’re spending time on land in Alaska, there are epic flightseeing tours that you can do too.

Seeing Alaska from above on a helicopter or seaplane gives you a glimpse into the vast remote wilderness that is Alaska.

Depending on the type of flightseeing tour you do, you may see this vast wilderness in the form of a national forest, icefield, glaciers, fjords, and/or epic mountain views!

If you’ve never been in a helicopter or seaplane, a flightseeing tour in Alaska is sure to be a memory that will last a lifetime, and quite possibly be the highlight of your Alaska cruise.

You can do an epic flightseeing tour in the Alaska cruise ports of Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.

I’ve done 4 flightseeing tours during cruise ship visits, and I’ve done at least one in each of these ports.

Each tour I did was special in its own way, and they all came with epic and amazing views of the vast wilderness.

They also all had wilderness landings, which makes the experience even more epic!

If you’ll be doing a one-way Alaska cruise, then you have more options for flightseeing tours if you spend a few extra days on land in Anchorage or Denali (Talkeetna).

 

For the purposes of people who know nothing about aircraft (the average tourist 🙋), seaplanes and floatplanes are basically the same thing.

It seems like there are technical differences, but when I asked during one of my seaplane tours if they were the same thing, I was told “yes” by the pilot, so that’s good enough for me!

 

It’s important to know that flightseeing tours are dependent on weather, and weather can change quickly.

This means it is always a possibility that you might have a last minute cancellation of the tour that you were looking forward to the most during your Alaska cruise.

It’s best to mentally prepare for this disappointment, so then if your tour does get canceled, you will be a little less disappointed.

And, it’s a good idea to have a back-up plan in the case that you do end up with extra time in port because of your canceled tour.

 

You can do flightseeing excursions through the cruise line or booked independently on your own. I’ve done both.

Many of the excursions listed below you will be able to find a similar excursion through your cruise line. Many tour companies are contracted through multiple cruise lines. This includes Princess, Holland America, Norwegian (NCL), Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity, and Disney.

In Alaska, many flightseeing tour companies get a lot of their business through people on a cruise.

This means that these local companies are very experienced with cruise ship passengers.

And that means that they have procedures in place to make it as easy as possible for you, whether you’ve booked your flightseeing excursion through the cruise line or independently on your own.

Also, just because a morning flight gets canceled doesn’t mean that all flights for the rest of the day are canceled. What this means is that if you book a morning fligthseeing tour and it’s canceled, it’s possible that you can get scheduled for another tour time later in the day, if there’s availability. So, for this reason, you might want to book an earlier tour.

Now, here are the flightseeing tours in Alaska you must consider for the most epic views of the vast Alaskan wilderness!

 

There are partner websites included below. I may earn a commission.

 

 

Here is your quick list of best flightseeing tours in Alaska:

 

Juneau: 5-glacier seaplane exploration
Epic views of the Juneau icefield (aka glaciers!) with a take-off from downtown Juneau. Make it even more epic by adding on a Taku Lodge wilderness landing!

• See official info
  • Taku Lodge Feast and 5-glacier seaplane discovery
  • 5-glacier seaplane exploration
• Read the Taku Lodge feast reviews and the 5-glacier seaplane reviews.
• See my pictures:
  • 5-glacier seaplane exploration
  • Taku Lodge excursion (5-glacier seaplane tour + salmon bake in the Alaskan wilderness!)

 

Skagway or Juneau: Glacier discovery walk with helicopter tour
You can get the memorable experience of walking on a glacier AND see epic views of glaciers as you are flying to get to your remote glacier landing spot!

• See official info
  • Skagway: Glacier Discovery by Helicopter
  • Juneau: Mendenhall Glacier and Guided Walk
• Read the Temsco Skagway reviews and the Temsco Juneau reviews
• See more about the best Skagway excursions
• In general, you have a better chance at better weather in Skagway compared to Juneau. Also, if you book an earlier time and it gets canceled, it’s possible that they may be able to fit you in for a later timing if it’s available.

 

Skagway or Juneau: Glacier sled dog camp with helicopter tour
A sled dog tour on a glacier means that you have to fly to get to the snow in the summer! This means your glacier dog sledding tour comes with epic views during a helicopter ride on your way to the sled dog camp that’s set up on a glacier!

• See official info:
  • Skagway: Glacier sled dog experience by helicopter
  • Juneau: Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier
• Read the Skagway reviews and the Juneau reviews
• See more about the best Skagway excursions
• There are glacier dog sled camps that don’t come with a sled ride being pulled by dogs. If the sled ride is important to you, be sure to read the description to understand what you’re getting! As of the time of this writing, the above Skagway sled dog camp is WITHOUT the sled ride, and the Juneau sled dog camp is WITH a sled ride. For the 2025 Alaska cruise season, there were people who booked a Skagway sled dog excursion through the cruise line that was initially WITH a ride, but apparently it got changed without being notified! Luckily they found out (by luck) about the change!

 

Ketchikan: Misty Fjords seaplane tour
Fly across the largest national forest in the United States (Tongass National Forest!) and get a remote wilderness landing in the Misty Fjords National Monument wilderness!

• See official info
  • Island Wings
• Read the reviews

 

Talkeetna: Denali National Park flightseeing tours (pre-cruise or post-cruise stay in Alaska)
Denali National Park is home to the tallest mountain in the United States and North America! Talkeetna is a 2+ hour drive from Anchorage and a 2.5 hour drive from the Denali National Park visitor center.

• See official info
  • Denali Grand Tour with Glacier Landing
  • Denali Flyer with Glacier Landing
• Read the Denali grand reviews and the Denali flyer reviews.
• You can also do these tours WITHOUT a glacier landing (Denali Grand Tour and Denali Flyer) but a flightseeing tour with a wilderness landing makes it that much more epic! (It will be epic either way, though!)

 

 

Alaska flightseeing tours that I did in May

• Skagway: Helicopter tour at a glacier sled dog camp
• Juneau: Taku Lodge excursion with 5-glacier seaplane tour
• Ketchikan: Misty Fjords seaplane tour
• Skagway: Helicopter tour with glacier walk

 

Helicopter tour with glacier walk in Skagway cruise port

👆 I did the Glacier Discovery by Helicopter in Skagway.

 

I booked this as a Princess cruise excursion which ended up being through Temsco. You can read the reviews on Princess and google maps.

The glacier flightseeing tour is called the Glacier Discovery by Helicopter in Skagway, and you can also look for this excursion offered through your cruise line.

 

There is also a similar excursion offered by Temsco in Juneau. That’s the Mendenhall Glacier and Guided Walk helicopter tour. Read the reviews.

 

If you book through the cruise line, you’ll get your shore excursion tickets in your cabin on the first day of your cruise. You’ll find that the ticket has instructions with the meeting point on it.

If you book independently, you will get specific instructions for where to go for pick-up, which will include a cruise port pick-up.

 

Glacier Discovery by Helicopter in Skagway: Check for availability

 

 

Mendenhall Glacier and Guided Walk helicopter tour in Juneau: Check for availability

 

 

5-glacier seaplane tour in Juneau cruise port

👆 I did the 5-glacier seaplane tour in Juneau that was part of the Taku Lodge salmon bake excursion.

 

I booked this as a Princess cruise excursion, and it’s done through Wings Airways. You can read the reviews on Princess and google maps.

 

While I did the Taku Lodge Feast and 5-glacier seaplane discovery which includes glacier flightseeing (and then you fly to the lodge for a landing in the Alaskan wilderness!), the flightseeing tour part of the excursion can be booked separately as the 5-glacier seaplane exploration in Juneau.

You can look for both of these excursions offered through your cruise line.

 

5-glacier seaplane exploration in Juneau: Check for availability

 

 

Taku Lodge Feast and 5-glacier seaplane discovery in Juneau: Check for availability

 

 

Misty Fjords seaplane tour in Ketchikan cruise port

👆 I did the Misty Fjords seaplane tour in Ketchikan.

 

I booked directly through Island Wings.

Or rather, a fellow solo traveler who was looking for an additional person initiated the booking process through Island Wings.

They wouldn’t allow her to book as a solo, so she was looking for someone else (which turned out to be me!) to book the tour with.

We had connected through a facebook group that was specifically for our individual cruise sailing date.

You can read the Island Wings reviews on Viator and google maps.

Island Wings also offers a seaplane tour with Traitor’s Cove bear viewing at the end of July, August, and September.

 

 

Helicopter tour with glacier dog sledding in Skagway cruise port

👆 I went to a glacier sled dog camp in Skagway.

 

I booked this as a Princess cruise excursion which ended up being through Temsco (helicopter) and Alaska Icefield Expeditions (sled dog camp). You can read the reviews on Princess and google maps.

The glacier sled dog tour in Skagway is called the Glacier Sled Dog Experience by Helicopter, and you can also look for this excursion offered through your cruise line.

When I did this excursion, it had the name of Dog Sledding and Glacier Helicopter Flightseeing. With the name change, the tour has changed.

When I did this tour, it included a sled ride across the glacier being pulled by the dogs. The new “Glacier Sled Dog Experience by Helicopter” does not include this sled ride. (You can read the description for confirmation. It’s more clear and direct on the Temsco description: “Please note: Guests do not ride on the sled for this excursion.” Read your cruise excursion carefully too so you understand what you’re getting!)

 

There is also a similar excursion offered by Temsco in Juneau. That’s the Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier helicopter tour. Read the reviews.

 

Glacier Sled Dog Experience by Helicopter in Skagway: Check for availability

 

 

Dog Sledding on the Mendenhall Glacier helicopter tour in Juneau: Check for availability

 

 

 

HAPPY FLIGHTSEEING IN ALASKA!