Seward and the Kenai Fjords: Alaska's Most Spectacular Day Trip

When I planned my first Alaska trip, I focused almost entirely on the cruise. The ports, the glaciers, the whale watching — all of it was on my radar. What I didn't fully appreciate until I got there was Seward.

Seward is a small city on Resurrection Bay, about 2.5 hours south of Anchorage by road. It's the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park, and it's one of the most spectacular places I've ever been.

Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords is a place of superlatives. The park encompasses over 600,000 acres of wilderness, including the Harding Icefield — one of the largest icefields in the United States — and dozens of tidewater glaciers that calve directly into the sea.

The wildlife is extraordinary. On a single day cruise through the fjords, you might see:

• Humpback whales — Breaching, tail-slapping, and bubble-net feeding
• Orca — Often spotted in the outer fjords
• Steller sea lions — Hauled out on rocky outcroppings in enormous numbers
• Sea otters — Floating on their backs, cracking shellfish
• Tufted and horned puffins — Comical, colorful, and absolutely adorable
• Dall's porpoises — Racing alongside the boat
• Mountain goats — Clinging to impossibly steep cliffs

And the glaciers. The glaciers are unlike anything I can adequately describe. Massive walls of blue-white ice, hundreds of feet tall, calving into the sea with a sound like thunder. Standing on the deck of a boat watching a glacier calve is one of the most humbling experiences of my life.

The Day Cruise Options

Several operators run day cruises from Seward into Kenai Fjords. The main choice is between a half-day cruise (which stays in Resurrection Bay) and a full-day cruise (which goes out to the outer fjords and Northwestern Glacier).

My strong recommendation: take the full-day cruise. The outer fjords are where the most spectacular wildlife and glacier viewing happens. The extra time and cost are absolutely worth it.

Major Bay Cruise (half-day): Resurrection Bay wildlife, sea otters, sea lions, seabirds. Good but not the full experience.

Northwestern Fjord Cruise (full-day): Everything above plus Northwestern Glacier, outer fjord wildlife, and much higher chances of whale sightings. This is the one to book.

The Alaska SeaLife Center

The Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward is an excellent marine research facility and aquarium. It's particularly good for seeing animals up close that you might only glimpse from a distance on the water — sea otters, harbor seals, Steller sea lions, and a remarkable collection of seabirds.

It's a great option for a few hours before or after your fjords cruise.

Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier is the only part of Kenai Fjords National Park accessible by road, and it's a powerful and sobering experience. Markers along the trail show where the glacier's edge was in previous decades — 1951, 1961, 1971, and so on — and the retreat is dramatic and visible.

The hike to the top of the glacier (the Harding Icefield Trail) is one of the most spectacular hikes in Alaska, with views over the vast icefield that stretch to the horizon. It's strenuous (8 miles round trip, 3,500 feet of elevation gain) but unforgettable.

Seward Itself

Seward is a charming small city with a beautiful harbor, excellent seafood restaurants, and a genuine frontier character. The Fourth of July celebration here is legendary — the Mount Marathon Race, in which runners sprint up and down a 3,022-foot mountain, has been held since 1915.

Where to eat:

• Chinooks Waterfront Restaurant — Fresh Alaskan seafood with harbor views
• Ray's Waterfront — A Seward institution with excellent halibut and salmon
• The Cookery — Upscale farm-to-table with locally sourced ingredients

Getting to Seward

Seward is about 2.5 hours from Anchorage by road, or you can take the Alaska Railroad — one of the most scenic train rides in North America. The train follows the Turnagain Arm (where bore tides create dramatic tidal surges) and then climbs through mountain passes to Seward. I highly recommend the train at least one way.

Combining Seward with an Alaska Cruise

Many Alaska cruises end or begin in Seward (for Gulf of Alaska itineraries). If yours does, I strongly recommend adding 1-2 nights in Seward before or after your cruise to experience Kenai Fjords properly.

If your cruise doesn't include Seward, consider adding a pre- or post-cruise land extension to Anchorage and Seward. It's one of the best additions you can make to an Alaska trip.

Alaska has a way of making you feel very small and very grateful at the same time. Seward and the Kenai Fjords are where that feeling is most intense.