(upbeat bright music) - [Presenter] We took a cruise tour from British Columbia, Canada to Alaska with Holland America Line. Beginning in Vancouver, we
spent seven days traveling to the Yukon, Denali National Park, Fairbanks, and Anchorage. This is what you can expect
to see and do on land before or after your Alaskan cruise. (upbeat bright music) We stayed at the Fairmont
Vancouver airport before flying out to our first stop, Dawson City in the Yukon Territories. You can book tours to see
Vancouver's highlights. So make sure you stay tuned
to the end of this video for the best things to do in Vancouver before or after your Alaskan cruise. - [Presenter 2] Land cruise tours can cost as low as $2,500 for shorter trips, but our 14 day Yukon
Denali tour was pricier because it involved two
flights, two train rides, and one day on the bus while staying at higher end accommodations. The flights helped us
spend more time sightseeing and less time on the
bus, so it was worth it. You are constantly on the
move during the land tour covering a lot of ground. So be prepared for a
jam packed week of fun. It was busy, but worth it. Plus, once we finished
up and boarded the ship, we had seven glorious days of relaxation and pampering ahead. (upbeat country style music) Welcome to Dawson City.
- Welcome to Dawson City. Dawson City is a town located on the Yukon River in the
Yukon Territories of Canada. There are several
excursions to choose from, but make sure you get
out to the midnight dome to experience the midnight sun. - We are at the Midnight
Dome just above Dawson City. It offers an awesome panoramic view. In the summertime, Dawson City sees nearly 24 hours of sunshine so you can make the most
of your time in town. - It's the land of the midnight sun. What else is really cool
about this particular town is that it's sort of kept all the look, all the facades of what it was like back in that gold rush era. So when you're walking
around all the streets here, you sort of feel like you're back in time. We're at Claim 33 and we're
going to do some gold panning. Dawson City was the heart of the Klondike Gold Rush in 1896, and a gold mining tour is a fun way to learn about history
and to try your hand at panning for gold. I'm rich! - [Presenter 2] How many
flecks of gold you have? - I got six flecks of gold. Might need a little bit
more though to get rich. Ladies and gentlemen, I am
a certified gold panner. (upbeat music) So we're here at Diamond
Tooth Gertie's in Dawson City, and it is Canada's first casino. And let me tell you, you really feel like you've stepped back into
the gold mining days here. They have daily CanCan shows, you can go in and gamble your time away. You really, really feel like
you're back in the old West. Cheers to the toe. One of the most iconic
things to do in Dawson City is to try the sour toe cocktail. It's a shot of spirits with
a real dead human toe in it. It's actually a rite of
passage dating back to 1973 when Captain Dick Stevenson
found an amputated toe in a jar of alcohol. He decided to serve the toe
in a glass of Yukon Jack where the toe has to touch your lips to become a member of the
Sour Toe Cocktail Club. - I was just touched by
a dead toe right there. - Doing the Sour Toe cocktail
is very legendary here. Stuff that you have to do when you come up here to the Yukon, and we just knocked
another one off the list. The sour toe cocktail. Admire the facades of Dawson City that take you back to the old West. - Dawson City is a designated
national historic site. It has restored many of its
original structures and facades to recreate the buildings from 1896. The facades themselves were
created during the Gold Rush to create the illusion of
grandeur and importance in front of simple log buildings, and also to leave room for advertising. It's a quick and easy yet very
interesting tour around town. Another excursion you must book is to drive up to the Dempster Highway to enjoy the Tombstone Mountains, and the only road in Canada
to cross the Arctic Circle continuing all the way
to the Arctic Ocean. You won't get that far on this trip, but at least you'll get to
experience this unique highway. The next portion of our
land tour took us by flight to Fairbanks, Alaska where we popped into Santa Claus's house at the North Pole. - Naturally, Santa's
house has his reindeer, and they're right here
relaxing for the summertime. - [Presenter] After catching up on a bit of Christmas shopping, we then made our way to
see Alaska's pipeline and learn about its gold mining history. This interactive tour took us by train to gold dredge number eight
to see the process of mining and panning for gold
before trying it ourselves. - And don't forget to put some
more water and shake it up. - [Presenter 2] All right! Whoo-hoo! That's not bad. - Not bad. Don't have a career in
panning for gold, I gotta say. - [Presenter 2] After spending some time in the Gold Mining Museum and checking out a bit of Fairbanks, we then transferred by bus to the star attraction of our land tour. Denali National Park. - Welcome to Denali. - Denali National Park is the third largest national park in America, and it's home to the highest
peak in North America. It also has some of the most spectacular wildlife encounters in Alaska. Well, right behind me is Denali, and we are so lucky because
only 30% of the people who come to Denali actually see it, and we are having a
crystal clear day today. Let's hope the wildlife
watching is just as good. So the only way into Denali National Park is on the school buses. There is a lottery every
year where you can get maybe a permit to come in. You can come in about 20
miles to do some camping. Other than that, there's
no motorized vehicles except for these buses. Everyone else has to be on bicycles, or come in and do some hiking. So it's pretty cool because
it keeps the traffic down when you think about it. This is one of the most visited
parks in the United States. - Private vehicles can drive
15 miles into the park, or visitors can take transit buses to have the flexibility to get
out and hike in Denali. But we decided to do a
narrated tour all the way to mile 43 with a naturalist
who pointed out wildlife that we probably wouldn't
have seen on our own. If there's one place
to book a scenic flight on this land tour, it is at Denali. We took a flight to
see the peak of Denali, and the views were simply awe-inspiring. You actually feel as
if you could reach out and touch the majestic mount. This can be one of the
more expensive excursions, but this is a bucket list trip
after all, so it's worth it. (upbeat dramatic music) - The 60 minute flight can
be a little intimidating, but the views are worth it. This flight really gives
you an appreciation of the sheer size of the Denali Massif. We stayed at the McKinley Chalet Resort with the Holland America Line, and it was just two miles
from the park entrance. The renovated chalets were pure relaxation with gorgeous views of
the mountains and valley. Plus, there was great
entertainment, dining, and the picturesque grounds
were a perfect place to relax when not exploring the park. So when you do the land tour
on a Holland America Cruise, make sure that you get the dinner package. We've had all of our breakfast
and dinners included. I have these meal vouchers,
and it includes a gratuity. Your starters, your main
meal, and your desserts, and then you can buy your
alcoholic beverages on top of that or order some just
water, Coca-Cola, coffee, anything you want. It's a great way to go. - From Denali, we hopped
aboard the McKinley Express of the Alaska Railroad. This dome train is about an
eight hour trip to Anchorage with full service,
commentary, lunch and drinks to help you pass the time as you take in the
gorgeous Alaskan scenery. (upbeat bright music) It's a great time on the train, and you're fetched breakfast,
snacks, and drinks. Cheers.
- Cheers. This is awesome. You can come to the back of the
train to a viewing platform, and get some fresh air. Wild. - Mind the rail! - There are two levels on the train. The dome train where you can
watch the scenery from above and enjoy a drink from the full bar, and the lower levels that
have the dining carts, the viewing platforms, and
a few little areas to relax. (upbeat music) And they have a dining car. You can come on down for your lunch and spend about an hour or so here, which helps pass the time a little bit because we are on the
train for eight hours. The final stop on our land
tour took us to Anchorage, where we had two nights
at the Westmark downtown to enjoy the sites of
Alaska's largest city. - Make sure you take a walk on
the Anchorage historic route here in Anchorage, Alaska. - [Presenter 2] Anchorage is an easy city to take a self-guided walking tour, or you can hop on the trolley. You can book tours that will take you out to the turn again arm, or
you can book some boat tours to explore the fjords and glaciers and the wildlife of the area. No matter what you do, this is a great base to relax before boarding your
ship to see Glacier Bay and the inside passage
as you make your way down to Vancouver, Canada. - [Presenter] You can
click on the link below to see what an Alaskan cruise is like, but we're going to
continue with the land tour to show you the best of Vancouver once you get off the ship
in British Columbia, Canada. Stanley Park is the number one
place to visit in Vancouver. The Stanley Park totem poles at Brockton are one of the top
attractions in the park. - When you come to Vancouver,
you have to make sure you come over to Stanley Park and go for a walk along the seawall. You can rent a bike, and it's a great way to just get some fresh
air and people watch and see the skyline. Behind me is the marina and
we're at the Rowing Club. There are so many things
to do in Stanley Park that you could spend an entire day here. This is one of the most
visited aquariums in the world, and it's in the center of Stanley Park. There are a lot of things
to do on Grouse Mountain. It's more than just hiking. There's a lumberjack show,
there's the canopy walk, and zip lines, there's a restaurant, and there are some
grizzlies up here as well. - [Presenter] Grouse Mountain
is home to two grizzly bears that were rescued as cubs. Grinder and Coolah were found orphaned in the wilds of BC in 2001. Thanks to a local vet who
nursed them back to health, Grouse Mountain dedicated five
and a half acres to the cubs as a wildlife refuge where
visitors can watch them play and relax in their natural habitat. - All right, we're here
with mountain zip lines on Gross Mountain, and we are going to do some zip lining with Cole and Braden. Whoo-hoo! We did zip lining in Vancouver, but it is offered on many
stops on both the land and sea portion of Alaskan cruises. Okay, we're at the top
and it is a big cloud. This is gonna be cool. Yeah, baby! - [Presenter] Grouse Mountain zip line is a five line double track circuit taking you over canyons
and old growth forest at speeds of up to 80 kilometers per hour. - All right, this is a faster one. - [Presenter] This is
the fastest one today. - The fastest one today? Ah! I'm scared! - Okay, I'm not, but it's gonna be fun. Countdown, one. I knew it! (screams) - This is awesome! Whoa! - [Presenter 2] Whoa! - [Attendant] Tuck the knees! Coming in hot! Oh, nice! - That was fun. It actually made my eyes
water going so fast. That was awesome. - When you visit Vancouver, you have to come to Granville Island. (upbeat music) - [Presenter] Granville
Island is an artist district filled with eateries,
boutiques, artist studios, and even a brewery. It's a great place to spend the afternoon. - Well, there are a lot of different ways to get around Vancouver. You've got the hop on hop off bus, you have the shared bike programs, you have public transit and the sky train, and you have these great aqua buses. Little ferries that take you across from Granville Island to
other parts of the city. (upbeat music) - [Presenter] A land tour of Alaska really is a bucket list adventure to add to your Alaskan cruise. It immerses you in the Northern culture, lets you see untouched landscape, and lets you step back in time to the wild west days of
the Alaskan Gold Rush. From mountains to glaciers
and everywhere in between, the sky's the limit in
the Yukon territories in the interior of Alaska. (upbeat bright music)
