ALASKA & COLOURFULL TOTEMS

Day 1: Vancouver, Canada. Private transfer to your hotel. 1 luxury night stay based on accommodation and breakfast. Vancouver is a wonderful combination of urban sophistication and adventurous wilderness at the doorstep. The mountains and the sea view make the city a starting point for mountain hikes, skiing, kayaking, cycling and sailing – and much more. Vancouver is characterised as one of the world’s most livable cities with a fantastic hinterland and a relaxed West Coast atmosphere.

Day 2: Vancouver, Canada; departure at 18:00 hours. Private transfer to the port and embarkation on board the Seven Seas Mariner.

Day 3: Cruise day at sea.

Day 4: Ketchikan, Alaska; 08:00-16:00 hours. In Ketchikan you will get to know the culture of the original inhabitants. On the coast their totem poles were famous devotional monuments. The eagle played a leading role in the religion. The name Ketchikan means: the thundering wings of an eagle. Seaplanes carry mail and shopping around and drop shermen o at the best shing spots. The salmon shery attracts anglers as well as black bears from far and wide. Also pay attention to seals sunbathing on the rocks and eagles who also like to catch a sh.

Day 5: Juneau, Alaska; 10:00-23:00 hours. Juneau is the capital of Alaska and is only accessible by boat or plane. Joe Juneau drilled a large gold vein here during the gold rush. The past and the present merge into one another. But the main attraction is outside the city: the Mendenhall Glacier, an ice path of almost 20 kilometres in length that is easily accessible and extremely photogenic.

Day 6: Skagway, Alaska; 07:00-17:00 hours. As the gateway to the gold veins in the hinterland, the number of inhabitants rose from 2 to 10,000 in the illustrious nal years of the 19th century! In the meantime there is still a tenth of that and of the eighty saloons there is still a handful. You can also use a sieve and pan to look for – gold grains.

Day 7: Sitka, Alaska; 08:00-17:00 hours. Well before the Russians arrived in 1799, the Tlingit lived here; in 1867 Sitka fell into American hands. Partly due to its isolated location, the place still has traces of a diverse cultural past. Today, the picturesque Sitka is known for its shing industry, an annual summer festival for classical music and of course its many historical visitor attractions. When the weather is clear, Sitka is the only city in the southeast of Alaska that confronts the ocean and competes with Juneau for the pure beauty of its surroundings.

Day 8: Cruise day at sea

Day 9: Anchorage (Seward), Alaska; arrival 06:00 hours. Disembarkation and private transfer to your hotel where you are staying overnight. The picturesque harbour with its colourful houses with wooden frames and high cli s in the background overlooks Resurrection Bay, so named by a group of Russian explorers who found this peaceful spot along the stormy Gulf of Alaska on Easter Sunday. From the centre of Anchorage you can see two active volcanoes, the highest point of the North American continent (Mount McKinley) and six large mountain chains.

Day 10: End of your cruise holiday