When gold was discovered in the Klondike River in 1896, it set off the Klondike Gold Rush. Some 100,000 stampeders came to the area between 1896 and 1899 in search of gold. They had two options to get to the Klondike, located some 600 miles from Skagway over treacherous mountains: the Chilkoot Trail or the White Pass Trail. The Chilkoot Trail was shorter but steeper, and since the Canadian government required each person to carry a year’s worth of supplies (weighing roughly one ton) on their journey, it was extremely challenging. The White Pass Trail was longer but less steep. …
Category: Trip Reports
Skagway Excursion – Caribou Crossing
Although our Skagway excursion was about the journey more than the destination, the Caribou Crossing Trading Post was the main stop along the way. We had lunch there, took a dogcart ride, played with puppies, and explored the trading post. Formerly known as Frontierland, Caribou Crossing Trading Post is a tourist attraction just north of Carcross. There is nothing historic or authentic about it, although it has an old-timey feel. It exists simply for tourism. The main draw (for us at least) was the sled dog puppies and dog cart rides, but there are also two museums (the Wildlife Museum …
Skagway Excursion – Klondike Highway
We booked the “Yukon Rail & Bus Excursion with Dogcart Experience” with Chilkoot Charters & Tours for our Skagway port day. (Read my full review of the tour company here.) We opted for the “bus first” tour, which started later and would frontload the more active part of the trip, allowing the kids to rest on the train ride home. We met our (surprisingly Irish) tour guide Anne at the end of the cruise ship dock and boarded the bus. Driving out of Skagway, she gave us a brief history of the town. We learned about the masses of people …
Dawes Glacier
Glacier Day! A slow, scenic cruising through a fjord to a glacier is a key feature of all Alaska cruises. The most sought-after glacier cruising in Alaska is Glacier Bay, but the National Park Service only issues a limited number of permits to cruise ships each year and Disney Cruise Line does not have any of them. For years, Disney has had Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier on their itinerary, but after several cruise seasons of being iced out of that narrow fjord, they officially changed their destination to Endicott Arm and Dawes Glacier for the 2019 cruising season. Of …
Science World
Our plans for the day we got off the cruise ship changed three or four times. What we thought was our final plan was to rent a car and drive to Shannon Falls, British Columbia’s third highest waterfall. But when we arrived at the rental car place and the line wrapped around the block and we were told it would be 3 hours before we would get our car, we punted on that plan. My brother and sister-in-law had been planning to stay in the city and take my niece to Science World so we decided to join them. While …
Vancouver City Highlights
In addition to our scheduled outings in Vancouver, we had some time to just wander around the city. Vancouver is a big city with lots to see, so we just focused on the highlights that fit in logistically with our other plans. We missed some big ones like the Chinatown and Granville Island but got a good taste of the city. Vancouver Airport This seems like a silly one but if you are arriving in Vancouver via airplane, the airport has some incredible works of art to check out. We came in late at night but the kids still wanted …
Stanley Park
At 1,000 acres, Stanley Park is the third largest public park in North America and consistently ranked among the world’s best. Located on a peninsula in the northwest corner of Vancouver, the park is primarily made up of dense forest, making it unique among urban parks. It is a true urban oasis with almost half a million trees and 40 miles of forested trails all just a stone’s throw away from the downtown area of Canada’s 3rd largest city. While the forested interior of the park is unique and impressive, the perimeter of the park often garners the most attention …
Vancouver Aquarium
Our second full day in Vancouver was supposed to be spent exploring Stanley Park and the city. But when we woke up to rain we had to reassess and come up with an indoor plan. Enter the Vancouver Aquarium. Our family is aquarium junkies. We go to them pretty much every chance we get. So nobody was too upset about this change in plans. Plus the Vancouver Aquarium is actually in Stanley Park, which meant we were poised to resume our plans if the weather improved. Like most aquariums, this one was not cheap. At $38/30/21 CAD for adult/youth/child tickets, …
Capilano Suspension Bridge
After a half a day exploring Grouse Mountain, we hopped on the free shuttle that took us directly from Grouse Mountain to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. (Note that you need to have pre-purchased tickets to Capilano in order to use this inter-attraction shuttle.) As of summer 2019, tickets to Capilano are $53.95 CAD for adults, $29.95 CAD for youth 13-16 and $16.95 CAD for children 6-12. While Grouse Mountain tickets are date-specific, Capilano tickets are good for any single day up to 1 year from the purchase date. My husband and I had been to Capilano almost 20 years ago …
Grouse Mountain
There were three things on our “must see” list for Vancouver – Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge, and Stanley Park. We had two full days in Vancouver before the cruise, which was perfect. We dedicated one day to the nature sites outside the city (Grouse and Capilano) and one day to the city itself. Grouse Mountain is about 30 minutes outside of downtown Vancouver and on a clear day it holds a commanding view of the city. It offers both winter and summer activities for year-round fun. In the summer, your ticket includes the gondola ride to the top, access …