Best tours in skagway alaska

For such a small town, you won't be hurting for lunch or drink options during your day in port.

No trip to Skagway is complete without popping into the Red Onion Saloon (205 Broadway) for a bite and a brew. Built in 1897, Red Onion was the finest brothel in town and a behind-the-scenes tour reveals original wallpaper and cheeky humor from "in character" guides.

Skagway Brewing Company has outgrown its original location and expanded operations to 4th Avenue off Broadway. Lunch is served daily, from 11 to 5, and it's locally sourced pub fare with crab artichoke dip, fish sandwiches, salads, burgers, pastas (with gluten-free options) and more. But come for the beer, made in house, and don't leave without trying the spruce tip blonde ale, a local specialty.

Sweet Tooth Cafe is right on Broadway and offers "home cooking" in the form of hamburgers and sandwiches on homemade bread, doughnuts, milkshakes and more.

Skagway Fish Co., near the Railroad Dock, offers terrific seafood as the name would suggest (get the fish and chips), along with marina views.

For a snack between sightseeing, stop in at Klondike Doughboy, offering a local sweet treat called fry bread. You can also pick up Alaskan honey, tea, syrups and other specialty items to bring home for friends and family.

Olivia's at Skagway Inn is the place for a white tablecloth lunch, offering local fare with a nouvelle twist from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

For a cocktail and a spirited souvenir, head to Skagway Spirits (941 Alaska Street) for a spruce gin and tonic. Family-owned and -operated, the small but thoughtful tasting room offers a one-of-a-kind cocktail list along with bottles of gin and vodka. Everything is made in house.

Though Skagway is a small city, home to less than one thousand people, there is something for every visitor. Here at Shore Excursions Group, we make sure that you have something to enjoy in this scenic and petite city. For the adventurous types, we offer Skagway Excursions for hikers, boaters, bikers, kayakers, and those who love the thrill of Jeeps and helicopters. For the more laid-back tourist, we have Alaskan cruise excursions for photographers, gold miners, and anyone who simply wants to discover the breathtaking beauty of the Skagway wilderness and wildlife. Experience the best shore excursions when docked in Skagway.

Top Skagway Excursions include:

Note that the following are sample tours and may not work with your itinerary. Find excursions for your cruise itinerary here.

Skagway may be small, but it is packed with some of the best sightseeing opportunities in the entire nation. Nestled in the northernmost reaches of the Inside Passage, it features a wide variety of entertainment venues, streets lined with wooden boardwalks, and restored buildings that look just as they did 100 years ago! Explore Alaska's wild interiors through our Skagway excursions by riding the White Pass & Yukon Railway, Zip lining your way through some of Alaska's largest pines, or by taking a heart-pumping glacier ATV tour! Noted for its friendly inhabitants and exceptional hospitality, our comprehensive list of Skagway shore excursions and tours offers visitors all the amenities they desire for a relaxing, adventurous and unforgettable vacation.

Skagway has a variety of tours to choose from and picking the right one can be a daunting task. We’ve listed out the Skagway shore excursions that consistently receive 5-star reviews and are also our team’s personal favorites. Take a look at the tours below, and you’ll have a much better idea of how you should spend your time off the ship in Skagway.

Additionally, use the filters on our Skagway excursions page to narrow down the options for you based on type, duration, price, and age requirements!

Grizzly Falls Ziplining Expedition

Best for Families

The Grizzly Falls Ziplining tour is the #1 rated activity on TripAdvisor, and for good reason. The setting is picturesque, the ziplines are fast, and the guides are awesome.

Grizzly Falls Ziplining is a favorite for family reunions because it’s able to accommodate almost everyone (barring those with a severe fear of heights!). The Grizzly Falls Ziplining course has seen people ages 6 to 96 (not kidding!), and the guides are highly trained in safety and bad jokes.

You’ll go down 9 different ziplines (plus 1 or 2 training lines if needed). The fastest of the Grizzly Falls Ziplining stations has a top speed near 40 miles per hour and the longest is over 2 football fields in length!

The harnesses and guide-operated braking system on the Grizzly Falls Ziplining course mean you can get crazy! If you’re up for it, the guides will teach you tricks like hanging upside-down and front flips, all while soaring above the Alaskan rainforest.

The age limit for Grizzly Falls Ziplining is 6, and the weight limit is 50 to 265 lbs. The guide’s top priority is safety, and they try their hardest to never turn anyone away unless it would be unsafe for that person to participate.

What guests are saying:

I’ve been zip lining all over the country and this is by far the most fun I’ve ever had – hands down! The ride up the mountain in a Unimog (monster truck) is really fun and scenic. The staff was incredible and so enthusiastic! You can tell they have fun all day! They teach you and encourage you to do tricks. The zips are fun and provide gorgeous views of the area. You zip over a high-speed stream a few times. Overall a really fun experience and I highly recommend it! Can’t say enough about the staff!!

-Daniel Russel

Click here to learn more and to book your Grizzly Falls Ziplining Expedition for your Skagway port date!

Yukon Discovery

Most Scenic

If you want photos that will make your friends jealous, you want this tour.

The 6.5-hour tour takes you out of Skagway, through the White Pass and British Columbia, and into the Yukon. Your guide will stop at several of the most scenic spots for plenty of photo opportunities. Be on the lookout for wildlife like bears and mountain goats!

Get your picture taken in front of the “Welcome to Alaska” and “Welcome to the Yukon” signs for a great memory of your trip. The guides are very knowledgeable on the history and local flora and fauna of the area, so take advantage! Even if you’ve been to Skagway before, we guarantee that you’ll learn something new on this tour.

Lunch from the fantastic Caribou Crossing is included, along with entrance to the great wildlife display and Mountie museum. For a little extra, you can even experience the thrill of being pulled by Alaskan huskies, some of whom competed in the Iditarod!

This tour is fairly sedentary, so if you’re looking to get outside and play, this probably isn’t the one for you. But if you want the best photo stops, this is it. There is no age or weight limit.

What guests are saying:

This tour was the highlight of our seven day Alaskan cruise! Our guide, John, was very friendly and knowledgeable. He kept us entertained the entire trip. He went over and above a typical tour guide. We stopped at many sites to take pictures and he was always glad to take pictures of our group! We saw many beautiful sites on this tour. He gave us good information about the town when he dropped us off. We would definitely recommend this company and especially this tour guide! Thank you!!

-JoAnn and Steve Mingura

Click here to learn more and to book your Yukon Discovery for your Skagway port date!

Glacier Point Wilderness Safari

Best Glacier Experience

Explore the Lynn Canal, Tongass National Forest, and the Davidson Glacier on the stunning 6-hour Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion.

Your trip starts off on a customized boat that will take you down the Lynn Canal past Haines. The boat ride out to Glacier Point takes about an hour, and you land right on the beach in your own version of the invasion of Normandy. Once you’ve donned all the gear needed for the day, you’ll make your way to the Davidson Glacier in 10-person canoes.

While walking on the glacier isn’t guaranteed, Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion guides do their best to get you up close and personal. If you do get the chance to walk on it, you’ll have plenty of time for pictures and for staring in awe at the giant mass of ice. If conditions don’t allow you to walk on it, the guides will often fish chunks of the glacier out of the lake for you to look at and handle.

During the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion, there is a lot of time spent on boats, and the nature of the tour is fairly educational. Also included on this tour is a picnic-style lunch. The weight limit for the Glacier Point Wilderness Safari excursion is 50 to 350 lbs, there is a minimum height requirement of 4’10” and a minimum age requirement of 7-years-old.

What guests are saying:

This was one of our favorite excursions during our Alaska cruise. From the boat ride with amazing views to the essentially private glacier experience. The guides were knowledgeable, organized, and fun. Would highly recommend this tour!

-Melissa Yeh

Click here to learn more and to book your Glacier Point Wilderness Safari for your Skagway port date!

Bennett Lake Scenic Journey

Most Historic

Cover the entire 67.5 miles of the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad on this 8-hour tour.

Many people come to Skagway and hop right on the train. The downfall of the standard train trips is that they simply summit the White Pass and turn around, so you miss some of the most beautiful points that lie just beyond that.

This tour takes you up into the Yukon to Emerald Lake and Carcross, with a very educated guide leading the way. WP&YR is known to provide some of the most in-depth education to its guides so that they can pass their knowledge on to you.

Both the train and bus portions of this trip are fully narrated, but you’ll have more chances to ask questions on your bus ride, where the group is much smaller. On the train, one person narrates for the entire line of cars, so it can be difficult to reach them!

This small-group tour departs Skagway just 1-2 times a day. And space is limited, so if you’re a history buff, it’s best to book early! There are no weight or age restrictions on this tour.

What guests are saying:

All of our excursions were fantastic, but this was the most scenic and relaxing! The train ride was fun and took you back in time and the shuttle ride back to Skagway was equally wonderful. Our driver Mike was a historian of the gold rush and had a wonderful sense of humor. We have already recommended this experience to our friends and family.

-Jennifer Bennett

Click here to learn more and to book your Bennett Lake Scenic Journey for your Skagway port date!

Glassblowing Experience

Most Unique

Why take home the same t-shirt as everyone else, when you can create something that is uniquely yours?

The 2-hour Glassblowing Experience at Jewell Gardens gives you time to wander around the gardens followed by an awesome demonstration from one of the master glassblowers. After the demonstration, you have to opportunity to create your own glasswork! You can choose from tons of different colors and designs, leading to a one-of-a-kind ornament or globe. You can even add gold leaf!

This isn’t like those “make your own pottery” places, where you end up with a wonky version of a bowl. The master glassblowers assist you every step of the way, so you’ll definitely end up with a souvenir you can be proud of.

While there is no minimum age to this tour, you are around hot ovens and glass pieces so we recommend it for ages 5 and up. However, observers can join this tour for just $12.50 and watch the experience while also enjoying the beautiful gardens.

What guests are saying:

This was such an up-close learning experience and truly hands-on. Plus we have our handmade Alaskan keepsake! It was beautiful, we learned a lot, and good for all ages. The grounds are so beautiful, peaceful, and little hidden gems of details throughout. I highly recommend this unique experience.

-Lisa

Click here to learn more and to book your Glassblowing Experience for your Skagway port date!

We hope this list helps you narrow down your Skagway excursion options. But if you have any questions, or are wondering what else Skagway has to offer, contact us! Our tour specialists and reservations agents are here to help.

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