Vancouver to Seward

Boasting mountains, sea, culture, art and so much more, many cities claim to have it all, but few can back it up like Vancouver. Famously livable, just visiting this highrise city - surrounded by staggering natural beauty - is a thrill. Offering all of the creature comforts of an ultra-modern, worldly metropolis - even downtown has a hint of mountain-freshness to its air - and part of Vancouver's appeal is how easily you can swap the skyscrapers for whale-filled oceans and mountain-punctured skies. View less Head up to the Vancouver Lookout Tower for the ultimate 360-degree views of the city glistening, amid the beautiful embrace of the beckoning wilderness beyond. But what to see first? Art lovers might choose the Vancouver Art Gallery or the Contemporary Art Gallery. Nature lovers might rush for the ferry to visit Vancouver Island - where they can encounter grizzly bears, whales and orcas. Culture vultures, on the other hand, will probably head for the sights and sounds of Canada's…

Navigate through the intricate outlays of some of Alaska’s most staggering winter scenery, threading a needle between craggy, snow-dusted islands, and slipping glacial giants. To cruise this 500-mile stretch of Alaskan beauty is to sail through a living work of natural art - with perfectly sculpted mountains soaring from the shoreline, and clutches of islands scattered across the dark waters with delicate attention to detail. A common sailing route due to its calm sheltered waters, gorgeous natural set pieces constantly play out here - whether it’s killer whales accompanying you through the breathtaking icy passages, harbour seals catching a break on floating hunks of ice, or wisps of cloud clinging to distant mountain peaks. Witness Mother Nature at her most dramatic and elaborate along this Alaskan coastline, where glaciers groan and creak melodramatically, before finally releasing colossal shelves of ice, allowing them to free fall into the waters below, and explode with angry boom…

The Salmon Capital of the World is a thrilling introduction to wild and wonderful Alaska, sitting at the southern gateway to the Inside Passage's famed route of larger than life scenery. Cruise through the waters, or soar just above in a sightseeing plane, to take in the full majesty of the magnificent Misty Fjords National Monument. Home to grizzly and black bears - as well as cruising whales and swimming seals - the wildlife spotting opportunities in this majestic corner of the world are nothing short of spectacular. View less Towered over by steep banks and valley walls, Ketchikan's ocean inlet is peppered with granite stacks, looming from the waters. Surrounded by glorious landscapes, head to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary, which is alive with bald eagles, black bears and remarkable, thick, yellow banana slugs - the squeamish are advised to keep well clear. Visit Ketchikan's Heritage Centre, where a collection of intricately carved totem poles rise up, preserving the heritage of…

Extraordinary adventures amid nature's wildest staging await at Juneau. The majestic Mendenhall Glacier sprawls down from Juneau Icefield, which provides an icy cap to the area's rip-roaring scenery. State capitals simply don't get more dramatic than this isolated, remote city lost amid the Alaskan wilds. Even the roads eventually peter out, absorbed by forests and viewpoints, firmly underlining the isolated location, hidden behind an impenetrable wall of rigid mountains. Rise up to Mount Roberts Tramway's viewpoint, to see the city swallowed by this most colossal backdrop. View less This is glacier country, and no fewer than 38 ice flows branch off from the main Juneau Icefield, slowly carving out valleys in their wakes. Taku Glacier cuts deep into the mountain, forming a colossal sculpture that is one of the world's thickest - almost a mile deep. Mendenhall Glacier cascades down, just 12 miles away from downtown, terminating in its own lake and visitor centre. With 1,500 square mile…

"North to Alaska" was the song sang by those rushing to the goldmines of the Klondike. Usually they meant Skagway. The White Pass and Chilkoot Trails were the gateways to the Yukon Territory. The gold rush was a boon and by 1898 Skagway was Alaska's largest town with a population of approximately 20,000. Hotels, saloons, dance halls and gambling prospered, attracting Skagway residents as well as the 10,000 people living in the nearby tent city of Dyea. But, as the gold dwindled in 1900, so did the population as miners quickly moved to Nome. Today with a population of less than 1,000, the town retains the flavor of the gold-rush era in its downtown, a historic district.

With its towering peaks, Valdez sits quietly on the shore of Prince William Sound. Less than 25 miles east of the Columbia Glacier, Valdez is the most northerly ice-free port in the Western Hemisphere and the southern terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. The town and port were named by the Spanish explorer Don Salvador Fidalgo in 1790. Valdez experienced a boom in 1897-98 when gold-seekers arrived looking for what was being advertised in the lower 48 states as the “All-American Route" to Alaska's interior and the Klondike gold fields. With its year-round ice-free port, Valdez was an entry point for people and transportation of goods going to the interior during the gold rush.

Monumental scenery surrounds you in this remote corner of the world, where glaciers calve and whales cruise through inky waters, before an immense mountain backdrop. Almost totally submerged by the colossal landscapes around it, Seward - and the wonders of Kenai Fjords National Park - offer some of astonishing Alaska's most thrilling scenery. Located in a deep gash in the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is a place to immerse yourself in nature's majesty. View less Fjords carve into the landscape, while the Harding Icefield - which caps Kenai Fjords National Park - reaches out its icy fingers, with glaciers spilling down between mountain peaks. Head to Holgate Glacier, to come face to face with a breathtaking stack of intense blue and white ice. Get up close in a kayak or boat ride, to slalom through the discarded confetti of ice chunks, and perhaps even witness the powerful spectacle of an ice ledge creaking and groaning, before plunging to the waters below. The city of Anchorage is easily wi…