3 epic Skagway excursions you need to consider!

Hi there!

When it comes to excursions, there are 3 things you need to consider in Skagway. It’s all about the mountains!

A Skagway excursion has a chance to be the highlight of your entire cruise. There are some epic excursions that you can do!

There are partner websites that are included below. Read the reviews!

Now I bring to you more about 3 types of excursions you need to consider: Glacier landing tour, sled dog camp tour, and white pass summit tour!

On some excursions, I’ve listed the cruise line’s listing. Most of my Skagway cruise ship visits have been through Princess, so it will take you to the Princess excursion.

The nice thing about Princess excursion listings is that you can read the reviews. So I recommend you go to that excursion listing to read the reviews even if you won’t be on a Princess cruise ship!

If you’re on a different cruise line like Holland America, Norwegian (NCL), Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Celebrity, or Disney, your cruise line will probably offer the same excursion.

In Alaska cruise ports, most tour companies get their business through cruise ship passengers. This means that they are very experienced with people who are coming off a cruise ship and have procedures in place to make it easy whether you are booked through the cruise line or not, and this includes tour companies at Skagway cruise port!

Now, here are 3 Skagway cruise excursions you must consider!

1. Glacier Discovery by Helicopter tour

Skagway is one of the best cruise ports to do a helicopter glacier tour.

This isn’t just seeing glaciers from the sky (there’s a glacier flightseeing tour in Juneau like that!), but you can actually walk on the glacier for a wild and remote Alaska experience!

The helicopter takes off from near the Skagway cruise port (literally – you will see the cruise ships as you take off!), and you will fly across the mountains of Alaska for an epic flightseeing tour. That part alone can make the tour worth it! But that’s not all you get.

The helicopter also makes a wilderness landing on a remote glacier. And then, you walk across the glacier! A true epic Alaska experience.

My glacier helicopter tour in Skagway was done through Temsco as the Glacier Discovery by Helicopter, and you can also look for this excursion offered through your cruise line.

I did this excursion by booking through Princess, and it has the same name of Glacier Discovery by Helicopter. I recommend you read the reviews there even if you are not on a Princess cruise ship.

You can read the Holland America reviews for the Glacier Discovery also, as well as the Temsco reviews on google maps.

If you book through the cruise line, you’ll get your shore excursion tickets in your stateroom (cabin) on the first day of your cruise. That will have instructions with the meeting point.

If you book independently, you will get specific instructions for where to go for pick-up, which will be somewhere around the Skagway cruise port.

2. Glacier Sled Dog Experience by Helicopter

Skagway is also one of the best cruise ports to go to a sled dog camp on a glacier.

And, it is important to emphasize the glacier part of it! There are sled dog camps closer to sea level. The epic sled dog tours are on a glacier.

The glacier sled dog tours are more expensive because you need to fly to get to them. You need to fly in order to get to the snow in the summer!

Similar to the Glacier Discovery tour, it will be an epic flightseeing tour across the mountains of Alaska to get to a remote glacier. The helicopter will make a landing on the glacier where there is a sled dog camp set up for the summer.

These are real sled dogs in training. You will meet a real musher (aka person training the dogs).

You will also meet the dogs and you can interact with them!

The mushers and the dogs live on the glacier while they are at camp, so you will also be visiting their summer home!

You will be helping them train for a sled dog race! As the musher explained, socializing with strangers (YOU!) is a part of the training!

👆 There were incredible mountain views on the way to do glacier sled dog camp! I have never been on a Mount Everest flightseeing tour, but as I was doing this Skagway helicopter tour, I was thinking that it was like what I imagined the mountains surrounding Everest to be like!

My glacier sled dog helicopter tour in Skagway was done through Temsco. It’s now 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 by booking through Princess, it had the name of Dog Sledding and Glacier Helicopter Flightseeing. It seems the new name is Glacier Sled Dog Experience by Helicopter, and 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 that 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!)

You can read the Temsco reviews on google maps.

If the sled ride across the glacier is a make or break for you, Temsco’s dog sledding tour in Juneau still includes a sled ride across a glacier. (Check the description to confirm no changes! Look for the line that tells you the dogs will pull you through the snow and that you will take turn directing the dogs with your musher!)

Many people visit dog sledding camps closer to sea level (aka not on a glacier) and have fun.

These are cheaper because you’re not flying to a snow-covered glacier. (There are also tours that go to dog sledding camp in the Yukon, so it’s like a 2-in-1 since you also get to go to the Yukon and all the sights along the way. Passport required since you’ll cross over into Canada when you go to the Yukon.)

For a non-glacier sled dog experience, be sure to look at the Yukon Sled Dogs Experience, Puppies, and Summit Excursion. Read the reviews.

Non-glacier Yukon Sled Dogs Experience, Puppies, and Summit Excursion: Check the availability

3. White Pass Railway combo tour

The most popular Skagway cruise excursion is the White Pass railway. This is THE most popular train ride during an Alaska cruise. (Which I guess also makes it the most popular train ride in all of Alaska!)

This is a train ride going up through the mountains of Alaska to the White Pass summit and beyond.

It is possible to do the White Pass train as a round-trip, and many people do this.

But to get the most out of your Skagway experience, I recommend that you do some sort of combo tour!

And there are lots to choose from.

The simplest (and cheapest) White Pass combo tour is the White Pass Rail and Klondike Highway. This is the one I did. It was a drive up the Klondike Highway to the Fraser train depot in Canada, and then I took a train back to Skagway.

You can also do the Klondike Highway without the train ride, by doing the Skagway city and summit tour. (This is one of the cheaper Skagway tours!)

I’ve done the train in May and October, and both times were snow-covered mountains and it was beautiful.

👆 I did a White Pass train excursion in May.

👆 I did a train excursion in October. This was in late October and only went to Inspiration Point. It was still a beautiful train ride to see mountains in Alaska.

If I were to do the train again, I would want the land portion to go to the Yukon. One of the Skagway tour companies that’s often recommended is Chilkoot Tours.

I would look at doing the all-day Bennett Scenic Journey.

When I did the White Pass train in early May, and I don’t think the Yukon option was available because it was too early.

The classic Alaska welcome sign on the Klondike Highway wasn’t even visible because it was covered in snow!

When I did the train the White Pass train in late October, it only went to Inspiration Point (which isn’t all the way to the White Pass summit), but a White Pass excursion was offered as a round-trip.

If you do any White Pass train combo tour, you will need your passport. You don’t need a passport if you do the train ride only, as you will not be getting off the train.

Many people also rent a car to go to the Yukon on their own from Skagway cruise port, and you can make it a DIY Jeep tour for example. (This would not include the train ride! So if you don’t really care about the train ride or you just like doing things on your own, you might consider this.)

More popular ways to see the Yukon without a train ride is to do a full day Yukon tour or a tour that takes you to do Yukon suspension bridge.

You can also go to a sled dog camp in the Yukon!

Booking the White Pass train through the cruise line vs direct

Most people book the train ride through the cruise line.

But it is possible to buy your train tickets directly through the White Pass and Yukon Route website.

The biggest difference is your meeting point.

If you book through the cruise line, your meeting spot will be on the ship, and transportation to the train will be provided.

In some cases, your cruise ship may even be docked at a pier that is within walking distance of the train.

Otherwise, if you book your tickets outside of the cruise line, you will need to go to the train depot in downtown Skagway. Depending on where you’re docked, this might be a 10-15 minute walk, so you might not think this is a big deal.

All that said, I’m not sure I would book the train tickets direct if I know my cruise ship will be docking at the railroad dock, because that means you’ll need a tender boat (water shuttle) or land shuttle to get to the end of the pier, since you can’t walk the pier on your own. And the time it could take to do either of those options might be uncertain. You will want to give yourself plenty of time. (At least through 2024 that’s what it meant! I am not sure for 2025. Things may improve.)

I might be traumatized 😅 by having actually MISSED an excursion when my cruise ship was docked in a spot that required a water shuttle in Skagway. It was an excursion booked through the cruise line so it did get rescheduled for later in the afternoon, but it was NOT a fun experience finding out I missed it, despite it being a cruise line booked excursion! If you’re on a cruise ship that you can walk off the ship and straight to downtown, I don’t really think it’s a concern. Or, if you plan to already be in town earlier, then I would also be comfortable with that.

You can know where your cruise ship will be docked by checking where your cruise ship will dock in Skagway, although this is subject to change.

Keep checking back as your cruise date gets closer!

Do you need to do an excursion in Skagway, or can you just walk from the cruise port?

People often ask if Skagway cruise port is good for just walking around. Yes, you can find things to do walking directly from the cruise port. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t consider doing an excursion!

An excursion isn’t necessary to have a nice time in Skagway, as there are things you can easily do on your own for free. (See my walking in Skagway cruise port post!)

But it IS also a cruise port where you can have an EPIC time if you do an excursion!

A Skagway excursion really might end up being the highlight of your Alaska cruise!

More Alaska cruise excursion planning

• Best things to do in Juneau
• Best things to do in Ketchikan

HAPPY DOING AN EXCURSION IN SKAGWAY!