Just Add Land
Explore more of the breathtaking Pacific Northwest.
Explore more of the breathtaking Pacific Northwest.
IN THEIR HEART OF HEARTS, NOBODY REALLY WANTS to go home from vacation. Their world has been expanded. They’ve opened their eyes, ears, and hearts to new people, places, and experiences. So who can blame them for wanting to keep it all going just a little longer?
The upper left-hand corner of North America, for instance, is home to the frontier grandeur of Alaska, the mountains and rainforest coasts of British Columbia, and the high-tech lowstress vibe of the U. S. Pacific Northwest. The region is a world unto itself: majestic yet homey, international yet familiar, funky yet full of flair.
The big cruise draw up here is Alaska, with most sailings departing from Seattle, Vancouver, and Anchorage’s two regional cruise ports, Seward and Whittier. Cruise lines offer a variety of post-cruise land tours to add icing to the cake, but even beyond those, there’s a lot to be said for grabbing a fistful of frontier spirit and heading off on your own adventure. Here’s how.
ANCHORAGE: GREAT LAND LINCHPIN _ Anchorage is Alaska's largest city, but for travelers its prime attraction is the wilderness that sits right on its doorstep. Less than half an hour’s drive from downtown, the massive Chugach
National Forest and adjoining Chugach State Park are Anchorage’s wild backyard, encompassing more than 9,000 square miles of forest, mountains, rivers, and lakes. In summer, the Chugach is a playground for hiking, biking, fishing, bird-watching, rafting, and sightseeing, and boasts more than 50 glaciers — many of them accessible via the Alaska Railroad’s Glacier Discovery Train.
Another Alaska Railroad route, the Denali Star, takes travelers from Anchorage north to Denali National Park, a 6-million-acre preserve serviced by one lonely road. The literal high point of the park is 20,310-foot Denali (aka Mount McKinley), North America’s mightiest peak. Vehicular access to the park is limited to official shuttle and tour buses, letting on to mountain views and giving access to wildlife viewing, hiking, camping, and other outdoor activities.
If you haven’t had enough of the sea and want to experience how real Alaskans get around, you can book passage on one of the Alaska Marine Highway Ferries to visit less-touristed parts of the state’s long, island-dotted coast. In summer, ferries depart Whittier bound southwest, bringing travelers to towns like Seldovia and Homer on the beau- tiful Kenai Peninsula, and then continuing on to lushly green Kodiak Island. It’s the secondlargest island in the United States, but is home to just 14,000 people — plus miles of untamed wilderness, a large population of enormous Kodiak brown bears, six Alaska Native communities, and a number of wilderness lodges that serve as basecamps for wildlife-watching, fishing, and sea kayaking. Travelers who really want to get off the grid can continue their ferry trip out to the Aleutian Islands, a ruggedly beautiful archipelago that was the only part of the United States occupied by the Japanese during WWII. The landscape of dramatic coastline, mountains, and volcanoes is the major draw, along with spectacular bird-watching, wildlife-viewing, and fishing.
SEATTLE: PACIFIC NORTHWEST STYLE _ Perched on the beautiful Puget Sound and backed by the snowcapped peaks of the Cascade Range, Seattle is a city of both macro- and microculture, home to lively neighborhoods full of bookstores, coffee shops, museums, microbreweries, and purveyors of craft-made everything. Start at the waterfront, which was this port city’s original raison d'être. It’s touristy, yes, but that’s because it’s fun. The big draw is Pike Place Market, a nine-acre smorgasbord of more than 500 shops, restaurants, and vendor stalls. Two blocks south, the Seattle Great Wheel is a 175-foot Ferris Wheel that affords sweeping views of the city skyline, Elliott Bay, and the mountains of the nearby Olympic Peninsula. Farther south, Pioneer Square is Seattle’s historic center, with gorgeous Victorian-era architecture and dozens of art galleries. For a full-day art tour, visit the Seattle
Art Museum, the outdoor Olympic Sculpture Park, and the Chihuly Garden and Glass, the latter dedicated to glass artist Dale Chihuly. It’s located next to the iconic Space Needle.
To get outside the city in style, try one of the many ferries that ply the Puget Sound and beyond. A 26-mile drive north to Mukilteo connects you with the Washington State Ferry to beautiful Whidbey Island, full of charming little towns, amazing seafood, and northwest scenery. Going farther afield, you can hop the San Juan Clipper from Pier 69 and head to Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands, an archipelago of forested islands, snowcapped peaks, sandy beaches, and charming towns. Out on the water, the area is known for its resident pods of Orca whales.
Going international, Victoria Clipper can take you to magnificent Victoria, the very British capital of Canada’s British Columbia province. In summer, the city’s Inner Harbour area is bustling with street performers and artists providing ground-level entertainment to complement the lofty Victorian- and Edwardian- era architecture all around — including the iconic, ivy-covered Fairmont
Empress Hotel and the stately British Columbia
Parliament Buildings, which at night are lit up like a Christmas tree. Visitors can stay in town for excellent museums, restaurants, shopping, and nightlife; take the 1.5-mile Dallas Road Walkway along Vancouver Island’s beautiful coastline, letting on to driftwood-dotted beaches and views of Washingon’s Olympic Mountains across the Strait of Juan de Fuca; or head north to world-renowned Butchart Gardens with its ornate mix of English, Italian, Japanese, and rose gardens.
VANCOUVER: INTERNATIONAL UTOPIA _ Vancouver’s gorgeous location is ringed by water and snowcapped mountains. Nearly half the population has Asian roots, a fact that lends a wonderfully international character to what is otherwise a heavily Anglo- Canadian city. The eminently walkable, forward-thinking city planning keeps it all dense, vibrant, and green — in both the environmental and parks-and-gardens sense. You’ll also find amazing restaurants and pubs, a great arts scene, compelling shops, and stylish people, all nestled amid striking architecture and coastal mountain views. One of the great pleasures of the city is exploring its neighborhoods, bustling commercial streets and plazas, and magnificent green spaces. Start at the Coal Harbour Seawalk, a mile-long waterfront path dotted with cafés, restaurants, parks, and public art, plus tremendous views of the North Shore Mountains across Burrard Inlet. At the walk’s west- ern end, Stanley Park is one of the city’s gems, its 1,000 acres packed with trails, lawns, beaches, gardens, and forests. A 6.5-mile biking and walking trail circles the park along its seawall, giving fantastic views of the sea, the city skyline, and the encircling mountains. Not far from the park’s entrance, the Vancouver Aquar
ium is Canada’s largest, home to more than 70,000 creatures including sea lions, Pacific white-sided dolphins, and adorable sea otters that you can sign up to feed in the morning.
In the central part of the city, take a walk through the West Hastings Heritage District for distinguished century-old buildings, and along Robson Street for one of Canada’s busiest shopping scenes. A mix of ornate older buildings and distinctive modern architecture is all around, including the 1930 Art Deco Marine Building and the 1980 Provincial Law Courts with its five-story indoor terraced gardens. Nearby, the old Greco-Roman–style courthouse it replaced is now home to the
Vancouver Art Gallery, which mixes a large collection of regional works with contemporary shows. Feel inspired? Keep an eye out for the 350-plus works of public art scattered all across the city.
To the west, Chinatown is filled with brightred low-rise buildings, photogenic Chinese gates, restaurants and bakeries, and open-air markets. The area’s biggest draw is the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden, one of the finest classical Chinese gardens in North America. To the south, Granville Island is a former industrial site whose warehouses and factories now house galleries, museums, restaurants, theaters, and shops. You can easily spend a day here, browsing for crafts, strolling the waterfront, watching street performers, and grabbing dinner and a show in the evening. Foodies will want to check out the Granville Island Public Market, a yearround feast of fresh local produce, artisanal cheeses, fresh bread, baked goods, seafood, spices, sweets, cookbooks, and all things culinary, all under one roof.
A two-hour drive north of Vancouver, the Whistler-Blackcomb Resort is one of the best ski resorts in the world, and in summer offers gorgeous panoramas, world- class mountain biking and hiking, every adventure sport under the sun, and a happening dining and nightlife culture in mountain- chic Whistler Village.
The region is a world unto itself: majestic yet homey, international yet familiar, funky yet full of flair.