Anchorage and the Kenai Fjords: Sled Dogs, Glaciers and Seward, 5 Nights

A driver meets you at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and takes you to the hotel. In high summer the sun barely sets, so the first evening feels long: walk the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail from downtown for views across Cook Inlet, or stroll Fourth Avenue for dinner. Blackout curtains are standard in most Anchorage hotels for good reason. Get to bed at a sensible hour, whatever the light says.

The morning belongs to the dogs. At the historic Tozier Track, a racing kennel explains how sprint mushing grew up in Anchorage and how teams keep fit when there is no snow; you meet the adults and the puppies and take a short ride behind them on a wheeled rig. In the afternoon a light aircraft lifts off for glacier country, either the Knik Glacier in the Chugach range or the Triumvirate to the west, depending on the weather. A lake landing can be added.

A full day out along the Glenn Highway, north-east through the farmland of the Matanuska valley and into the mountains. The Matanuska is a large valley glacier whose snout can be reached on foot from the road, and a guide fits crampons and leads the group over ridges of blue ice and around meltwater pools. The pace suits the slowest walker. Wear waterproof boots and warm layers, and bring sunglasses for the glare off the ice.

Start with the trolley tour, an hour-long narrated circuit past Lake Hood, the busiest floatplane base in the world, and Earthquake Park. Then check out and head down the Seward Highway along Turnagain Arm, with Dall sheep sometimes on the cliffs above the road. The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage gives close views of rescued bears, moose, bison and musk oxen. Seward, on Resurrection Bay, is reached in the late afternoon.

A day at sea from the small-boat harbour. The six-hour cruise leaves the shelter of the bay for the outer coast, where the captain slows for sea otters, sea lions hauled out on the rocks, and seabird colonies with puffins in summer. Humpbacks and orcas are seen on many trips, never all. The boat then idles in front of a tidewater glacier, where cracks like gunshots come before the ice falls. The outer water can be choppy.

After breakfast, a morning walk to Exit Glacier is possible if your flight is late; otherwise the driver collects you for the run north to Anchorage airport. The drive takes close to three hours without stops, and longer on summer weekends, so we set the pickup from your flight time. Seward to Anchorage is a pretty drive to end on, with the mountains on both sides of Turnagain Arm.