Alaska Editor Picks

This deluxe waterfront bed-and-breakfast is nestled in the rainforest on the outskirts of Juneau, making it an ideal base for hiking and biking adventures, or for fishing and boating on the adjacent pond (bikes, rowboats, and fishing rods are on loan to guests). Five lavishly appointed guest rooms provide the perfect retreat to unwind after a day in the wild, or guests can opt to soak in the waterfront Jacuzzis or indulge in an on-site massage. Customized home-cooked breakfasts in the morning feature breads freshly baked on site by the innkeepers. Two rooms have mountain views; the other three face the pond.

We have to give a nod to this property for its sheer quirkiness: It’s comprised of seven authentic Alaska Railroad cars (including a dining car, a pair of 1956 Pullman sleepers, and a caboose), each renovated to reflect a different historical period, and set permanently amid a spruce forest in Fairbanks.

This tramway whisks visitors up 1,800 feet to perch atop Mount Roberts for superlative views (on clear days) of Juneau and the Gastineau Channel. You’ll also find hiking trails and the Timberline Bar & Grill. Access is via tourist-heavy South Franklin Street.

Fresh from a $42-million expansion and renovation in 2006, this is an art, natural history, and science museum rolled into one; highlights include Ansel Adams photos, lots of gold artifacts, and Blue Babe – a 36,000-year-old mummified steppe bison. The bowhead whale skull and jaw and life-size grizzly and polar bears are pretty cool, too.

The dramatic, bluish-white Mendenhall Glacier is one of Alaska’s most accessible and visited glaciers. Part of the ice field that sits in Juneau’s backyard, it can be viewed from a scenic lake-fronted overlook or via several trails that lead up to it (trail maps can be picked up at the onsite visitor’s center). Die-hard adrenaline seekers can even arrange glacial hiking treks.

Hop aboard a sternwheeler on the Chena River for an interactive 3.5-hour tour that incorporates a dog sledding demonstration, bush plane show, and visit to a recreation of an Athabaskan native village.

Mammoth Kodiak Island is home to verdant mountains, salmon-rich streams, glacier-moraine beaches, and 2,000 Kodiak bears (some of the largest bears in the world). Floatplane tours from the Kodiak airport (like those hosted by Andrew Airways) get you to prime bear-viewing perches. Binoculars are a must since guides will keep you at a lengthy and safe distance at all times. July to mid-August is the peak viewing time, when bears congregate for the salmon runs.

Ogle one of most mystifying of the world’s Seven Natural Wonders – the Northern Lights – from the comfort of thermal hot springs at Chena Hot Springs resort, which has been soothing miners and other visitors in its geothermal pools since 1905.

Share in the rush as expert dog mushers and their canine teams prep to set out on the famed 1,150-mile Iditarod dog sled race to Nome. The opening ceremony in Anchorage, held every March, is a fine place to absorb the exhilarating starting energy of the race – put in a winning bid and you can soak up the action of the race’s first 11 miles from a seat aboard a competing dog sled (bidding starts in November, from $500; www.iditarodauction.com).

Every March for some two decades, Fairbanks has set the stage for this major international ice sculpting championship, which draws artists from around the globe, and spectators who come to admire the larger-than-life entries chiseled from ice blocks cut from a Fairbanks pond.