Day One: After breakfast onboard, disembark your Seabourn ship and transfer to the Juneau Airport for your flight to Anchorage. Check in at the historic Captain Cook Hotel, located in the heart of downtown. Spend the rest of the day at leisure before joining your Tour Director for dinner at Crow’s Nest, the hotel’s AAA four-diamond restaurant featuring a 10,000-bottle wine cellar. Savor French and New American cuisine along with panoramic views of the city, Chugach Range and Cook Inlet.
Meals: Dinner
Hotel: Hotel Captain Cook (Junior Suite)
Day Two: Enjoy your morning at leisure in Anchorage, perhaps taking a hike along the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, shopping for mementos at the Fifth Avenue Mall, or simply relaxing in the hotel spa. Have lunch then hop aboard for your scenic flightseeing tour to Talkeetna. Upon arrival, transfer via motorcoach to the McKinley Chalet Resort, set in the heart of Denali Canyon on the banks of the Nenana River near the entrance to Denali National Park. Check in and relax before dinner at your choice of resort restaurants, including Denali’s only steakhouse and a tavern-style eatery serving Alaskan comfort foods.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: McKinley Chalet Resort (Junior Suite)
Day Three: North America’s tallest peak and third highest in the world, the 20,310-foot-high Mount Denali towers above its eponymous national park and reserve. A gold prospector named it Mount McKinley in 1896 after then-presidential nominee William McKinley, and the U.S. Government recognized it as such in 1917. Locals, however, still referred to the mountain as Denali, a Koyukon (Athabaskan) word meaning “the high one,” and the Obama administration officially renamed it in 2015. The peak is so gigantic it creates its own weather, and its summit is permanently covered in snow. Spend the day as you please; your Tour Director can suggest a range of optional activities like wildlife viewing, river rafting, or an ATV adventure. For this evening’s meal, consider the resort’s lively dinner theater.
Meals: Breakfast
Hotel: McKinley Chalet Resort (Junior Suite)
Day Four: Day Four: Meet your escort for a morning tour of Denali National Park and Reserve. Designated as a UNESCO International Biosphere Reserve in 1971, the six-million-acre park comprises a complete subarctic ecosystem that supports an abundant array of flora and fauna — some 39 species of mammals, 169 bird species, and more than 1,500 plant species. A single road ribbons the park, providing visitors with uninterrupted views of taiga forest, alpine tundra, and snowy peaks. Stay alert for sightings of grizzly bears, Dall sheep, caribou, moose, wolves and other wildlife. If weather conditions allow, you may be fortunate enough to join the Denali 30% Club — that elusive group of visitors who actually get a glimpse of the massive peak, usually shrouded in clouds.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Hotel: McKinley Chalet Resort (Junior Suite)
Day Five: Settle in for the daylong rail journey back to Anchorage. Enjoy breakfast and lunch onboard in your comfortable, fully domed railcar, admiring stunning views of the Alaska Range and Mount Denali; along the way, cross the 296-foot-high Hurricane Gulch Bridge — the longest, tallest bridge on the entire Alaska railroad. Check in at the Captain Cook Hotel before an evening at leisure.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Hotel: Hotel Captain Cook (Junior Suite)
Day Six: At the appropriate time, transfer to the Anchorage International Airport for your homeward flight.
Meals: Breakfast
