Alaska's Glaciers & Grizzlies Self-Drive Tour

Nineteen nights across Alaska, self-drive with the flights included, with bear viewing, glacier hiking and a helicopter landing on the ice.

Anchorage takes the first two nights, with a ninety-minute flight over active volcanoes to a beach at Chinitna Bay, where wild brown bears dig for clams and fish the creeks and the viewing is done on foot at a distance. Denali follows for two, with a bus tour into the park after Dall sheep, caribou and bears, and the mountain itself, the highest in North America, visible on perhaps one day in three.

Black Rapids comes next for two nights by way of Fairbanks, with an optional flight into the Arctic Circle, then McCarthy and Kennicott for two, a copper-mining town abandoned in 1938 with a population now in the dozens, where a guided hike goes out onto the Root Glacier. Sheep Mountain follows by way of the Matanuska Glacier, then Alyeska for two, with the wildlife conservation centre, and a helicopter onto the Knik Glacier to meet an Iditarod champion’s dog team.

Flights, fully insured car hire with unlimited mileage, all the accommodation, the named activities including the bear flights, the glacier hikes and the Knik Glacier helicopter, and round-the-clock support while travelling are included, and the price is quoted per person. Twenty days is what Alaska takes, and this is the most expensive itinerary in the range by some margin. The season runs roughly June to early September. Several of the activities are weather dependent and no wildlife sighting can be promised.