Glacier View & Wildlife Anchorage Adventure Tour
Description
The Experience Award wining Tour in Anchorage on Viator (2025) Discover Anchorages's top-rated day trip! This award-winning tour combines Anchorage highlights, dramatic Turnagain Arm views, and guaranteed wildlife encounters at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. See hanging glaciers, stroll scenic trails, and enjoy local insight from expert guides — all in one unforgettable small-group adventure.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Downtown Anchorage is a great place to start your local, guided exploration. Your exploration of the largest city in Alaska begins with a custom pick-up at your hotel. We share a bit of the history of Anchorage and begin your tour.
Beluga point is just south of Anchorage on the Turnagain Arm. This destination features incredible Alaskan vistas and wildlife viewing. Dahl Sheep are often visible on the rocky crags of the Chugach mountains and when migrating, Beluga Whales can be seen plying through the fjord.
After Beluga Point, we stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. This is your guaranteed opportunity to see bears, elk, moose and many other Alaskan animals. Your guide will share information on all the amazing animals at the Center. We have a few favorites to share!
Turnagain Arm is considered one of the most scenic drives in the United States, Besides all the great places to experience- just the views and the drive itself are spectacular.
In Girdwood, we enjoy stop for an optional lunch, at our favorite locally owned spot in Girdwood, Base Camp or Chair 5.The food is delicious and well priced ( Have we mentioned the seafood chowder!)
Explorer Glacier Seasonally we can see the scenic glacial ponds of Explorer Glacier and enjoy viewing the surrounding hanging glaciers of the beautiful Portage Valley
Seasonal Self-Guided walk to the foot of the stunning Byron Glacier. Walk on the snow and view the run off the ice. Typically, late May to end of September 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included
Enjoy selective viewpoints and stops to experience and photograph eagles, mountain goats, whales and beautiful scenery.
Home to 130 bird species. The Sanctuary is part of the Anchorage Coastal Wildlife Refuge. Beautiful scenic stop prior to drop off in Anchorage
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
Anchorage pickups must be in midtown/downtown areas — contact us if you’re unsure about your location.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(380)
This was a very nice tour. Our guide was very nice. When we got to the glacier, I could not walk to it due to unstable rocks, our guide brought some of the glacier to me! I really appreciated him doing that.
It was a great experience. Our guide was fantastic! We saw a bald eagle take food to her offspring in their next! This wasn't expected.. but a lot of things in Alaska aren't expected. We went to a nature preserve which was OK.. but it was like an outdoor zoo, but with moose and bears...
Each tour guide had some personal information to include which was appropriated. Made it feel really well done.
Would take this trip again in a heartbeat. Stephanie was our guide and she was the absolute best. Five stars is not a high enough rating to give for the experiences on this tour. Loved it so much we stopped back at the Alaska wildlife conservation again a second time on our own. The views you will see of the glacier are wondrous and breathtaking.
Sherrye was an entertaining and fun guide and a very safe driver too. The visit to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center was excellent.
Great day! Guide was friendly and helpful she made sure we all had pictures with our family a.
When the van arrived at our hotel we looked in and saw two seats together in the back row. There were already 2 adults in the seats that were clearly designed for kids, not adults. At that point we almost refused to get in, but we decided to give it a chance. It was so crowded in the back that I could only buckle my seatbelt (required by the driver) if the woman next to me raised up so I could get to the buckle that she was sitting on. We picked up one more rider who took the last open seat. The two middle benches were so crowded that the end riders had half a cheek hanging off the side. At the first stop we seriously looked into a Lyft to come out and take us back to the hotel. Unfortunately it was so far out of town that the ride was in the hundreds. The glacier stops weren't as represented. We didn't find out until we got there that this was a 2(ish) mile hike with elevation changes. We're both older and weren't prepared for hiking up and down hills. Several people in our group struggled and had to cut the glacier time short so we could get back to the van in time. At one point our driver admitted that the group was too large. Apparently another guide had called off, so instead of cancelling or getting another driver (hint, maybe one of the owners), they decided to cram 11 adults into a van designed for 12 children. Our "guide"s main contribution to wildlife viewing was telling us where bald eagles "probably" were. Repeatedly. In hindsight we should have taken the hit and never boarded. We wasted a day in extreme discomfort knowingly inflicted by the tour company.
Thank you for sharing this, we take feedback like this seriously, but reading your review closely, we're genuinely having trouble matching it to one of our tours. Our curated tours include stops at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and a lunch stop, along with the glacier walk, and none of those are mentioned here. Our vans are only new 15-passenger vehicles built for adults, not a 12-seat vehicle designed for children, and we haven't had any guide call-outs. Even if we did, it's our policy to leave 3 seats open on every van for comfort. We want to be careful not to assume, occasionally reviews meant for other tour operators get posted under the wrong company, and we'd like to make sure that's not what happened here before we respond further. Could you call our office at 907-917-8687, or email info@welcomeanchorage.com with your name and booking date? If this was in fact one of our tours, we want to know exactly what happened and make it right, and if we had known in the moment you were uncomfortable, we have immediate remedies we could have offered, from adjusting seating to arranging alternate transportation. Either way, we stand behind every guest's experience with an unconditional money-back guarantee, because comfort and satisfaction matter more to us than any single trip. P.S. Please do reach out. We are a small locally owned company that cares deeply for our guests and experiences. We would like to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. Warm regards, James and Jen Welcome Anchorage Tours
Our homicideguide Sheri (forgive the spelling) was FANTASTIC!! She was knowledgeable and friendly and tailored the tour to what all participants wanted. We had a lot of say in the decisions. There was an unfortunate delay due to an accident. However she managed to show us different things of interest and we chose to see everything even though we would get back later than expected. Everyone agreed to this and we had an amazing time, We’d highly recommend this tour… IT IS NOT TO BE MISSED!!!
Thank you so much for this wonderful review! We're thrilled to hear Sheri took such great care of your group — tailoring the day to what everyone wanted to see is exactly the experience we aim to deliver. We're also glad the unexpected delay didn't take away from the day; it says a lot about the group's flexibility and Sheri's ability to adapt on the fly and still deliver a memorable tour. We'll be sure to pass along your kind words to her directly. Thank you for choosing Welcome Anchorage Tours, and we hope to host you again on your next Alaska adventure!
Stephanie is not only a great tour guide, but a great driver and I had a 10 star experience with her yesterday!!!
Shelia, Thanks so much for sharing. These reviews mean the world to us! We agree that Stephanie is amazing! We'll pass along the kind words. Best, James and Jen
Great experience! Highly recommend if traveling solo or looking for an onshore excursion. Top notch staff (Jennifer and Stephanie) made it easy to book and a fun experience!!!!
