Last updated on July 1, 2026
I’d like to take a vacation to Alaska later this year. Not your normal cruise or touristy thing, though. I want to fly from somewhere near here to Prince Rupert, BC (YPR) and then take the Alaska Marine Highway Transit System’s Ferry to Ketchikan, AK (KTN). Spend maybe three or four days wandering around Ketchikan, then return the way I came. The ferry is only $43 per person plus $48 each way for a two person outside cabin. The cabin wouldn’t be necessary, just nice for the view. It looks like airfare will run about $400 round trip from DTW to YPR. Not bad… For a rather nice hotel (Cape Fox) the rates are $139 – $149/night or, The Gilmore Hotel, a more standard place is $90/night for two twin beds. No one was answering the phone at the Super8. That all comes out to about $666 for travel and accomodations if you figure four nights. A little more for the cabin on the ferry if needed. Add food and random other expenses and it sounds like a rather cheap vacation for such a far off place.
There’s the flights, the view of the inside passage on a six hour ferry ride. A couple days to wander around the town, hike, hit up the parks, giggle at the tourists, etc.
Sounds like my kind of vacation… Would anyone else be interested in going? I might do it alone, I’m not sure, though…
someday i want to do this trip: http://www.jessamyn.com/journal/yukonho.html
Who is that? I’ve seen that name before… That’s basically what I want to do, but I only want to go as far as Ketchikan.
jessamyn is the woman that runs the cool library blog at http://www.librarian.net – she’s the queen of frugal travel, and her journal(s) are really cool, too.
Ahh. I see. I just did a little reading there. This is a trip that I would really like to take. Besides the airfare to YPR, everything seems very reasonable. I am a bit worried about the possibility of lost luggage on such a disjointed flight, though. The flight will run from Detroit Metro to somewhere to Vancouver to Prince Rupert.
I must be getting old. I’m desiring a non-stop flight.
what about non-stop from detroit to seattle, and then a smaller airline (alaska airlines or something more regional) up the coast? or another ferry or something?
and as far as lost luggage, you could totally pack carry on for that kind of trip. if i’d been a little more careful, i could have done carry on when i went to europe for three weeks.
Well, Alaska Airlines hooks up with Northwest for the flights up that way. It’d be about $600 for the flight alone, then there’s the hotel. I really would like to take the ferry, I think it would be a nice part of the trip. I could fly into Seattle and take the ferry from Bellingham, but while the flight is about $100 less than Prince Rupert, the ferry is about $100 more, and it takes (typically) from 6:00pm one day until 7:30am two days later (eg: depart friday, arrive sunday). You’d also have to get a room on the ferry. No sleeping in tent without bathroom for two days for me. Sorry. What I should do is take three days off. Monday-Wednesday. Then hit up Pricewatch while I’m at work for a flight that night. Go there, find a hotel, etc. That would be the way to do it. But I’d rather not do that alone, either. This is where the whole girlfriend thing comes in handy. Maybe I can rent one.
This is where the whole girlfriend thing comes in handy.
a girlfriend that includes:
money
willingness to travel
willingness to go to alaska
willingness to take a trip that is all plot, no action [not that it wouldn’t be interesting]
ability to take time off from work, school, blah
AND
is a pleasant travel companion.
… yeah. hard to find one like that, let alone rent one…
What would make a vacation have action besides the obvious nighttime action? Does hiking and wandering around and looking at things and relaxing count as action? I’ve never really bothered to differentiate between the two.
action
a vacation doesn’t have to have action, it’s just a matter of preference, you know. :]
i wasn’t meaning to insult the trip or anything. i can’t give you a city/city contrast of plot/action because you can go anywhere and make it how you want it to be. i guess action would be, like, white water rafting (if we’re talking outdoor-action), or visiting a place during a huge event (like new year’s, or fat tuesday)… things like that. plot, to me, is non-stressful recreation, which is what i expect your trip will be.
and like i said, it’s not like it’s going to be a boring trip; there are plenty of interesting things in ketchikan.
Hrm. Airfare is only $579 at Travelocity. I bet with last-minute booking it could be $300.