Preferential Travel Insurance Destination Profiles - Alaska

Have you got the right type of travel insurance for Alaska?

When visiting Alaska, the type of travel insurance you require is:
Worldwide including USA/Canada/Caribbean/Hong Kong/China/Mexico & Singapore.

Read our Alaska Fact File

Local Time: GMT-9
Currency: US Dollar
Official Languages: English

Discover Things to do on Holiday in Alaska

Alaska is a state in the northwest of the North American continent. It was purchased by the Americans from the Russian Empire in 1867 for approx 7.2 million dollars when it was decided that Alaska's resources would be vitally important to the future growth of the nation. Alaska went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11 1912 and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3 1959.

For tourists who want to visit this fascinating land, be advised that Alaska is BIG and when planning your trip, you should plan well in advance and allow plenty of time for the regions that you want to see and the things you want to do. There are 586,000 square miles here, and almost as many possibilities. Fishing, adventure, educational & historical tours, flightseeing & helicopter flights, day cruises, shopping, wildlife viewing …the opportunities are endless!

Denali National Park & Fairbanks

A great way to explore Alaska is on an organised tour. Most tours begin at Anchorage and then head north to Alaska's famous Denali National Park. . Denali has not only strikingly beautiful surroundings but you will see a myriad of wildlife from grizzly bears, caribou and wolves to Dall sheep and moose. Denali National Park is great for spending a day and there are many activities to enjoy from bird watching in the warmer months to taking a Tundra Wilderness Tour, a Natural History Tour, or taking the popular Sled Dog Demonstration Shuttle. A good way to travel up to the park is by Shuttle Bus, but an interpretative bus tour will take your round the park with a park tour guide who will narrate as you go along. A camera is a must on this trip!

Wrangell-St Elias National Park

Another popular destination, on any tour of Alaska, is most likely to be The Wrangells, which are volcanic in origin, but only Mount Wrangell is still active with its last eruption reported in 1900. Covered year round with snow, the high country is veiled with ice fields and glaciers. The Malaspina Glacier flows out of the St. Elias Range between Icy and Yakutat bays and is about 60 miles across. It is an area so large that it can only be seen entirely from space.  

Flowing from the glaciers are a series of meandering rivers and streams, the largest of which is called Copper River and acts as the park’s Western boundary. The Copper rises in the Wrangells and flows out into the Gulf of Alaska in the Chugach National Forest.

In the early 1900s the Kennecott Mining Co. transported copper from its mines near McCarthy by railroad along the Chitina and Copper rivers to ships at Cordova which brought many people to the area. In November 1938 the ore was exhausted and the mine had to close permanently so the workers left the area. Now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, Kennecott mining town is well worth a visit. A short drive (or you could hike - it's about 5 miles) from McCarthy, you'll come face to face with a ghost town still standing with its old mill, bunkhouses and workers cottages still in tact, not to mention the countless antique mining relics from ore cars and hand carts to old boilers.

Kenai Fjords National Park

Established in 1980 by the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, Kenai Fjords National Park covers an area of around 1,760 square miles and is located on the Kenai Peninsula in South central Alaska, 130 miles south of Anchorage, near the town of Seward. The park contains the Harding Icefield, one of the largest ice fields in the United States.

The park can be reached from the town of Seward and there is something for everyone to enjoy during your stay. Whether you take a boat tour or kayak in a remote fjord, you will be treated to pristine scenery and depending on the time of year you visit, an abundance of wildlife including humpback whales, horned puffins, black bears, pacific white sided dolphins, mountain goats and sea otters. A hike to the top of the Harding Icefield Trail or a scenic flight gives you a birds eye view and a window to a distant ice age. At Exit Glacier, you can stroll along the trails, take a ranger-led walk and get close enough to experience the creaks and groans of the active glacier as it slowly creeps across the landscape.

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N.B This information was correct at time of publishing, but for full and up-to-date information visit the relevant tourist board website. You should always know the Foreign & Commonwealth Office status of the country you are visiting before you go.
Visit www.fco.gov.uk/en/travelling-and-living-overseas/travel-advice-by-country/ for the latest situation information.