1 Day in Ketchikan Without a Cruise Excursion

Stephanie Brown
Jan 18, 2018
5 min read

My husband and I took an Inside Passage Alaskan cruise for our Honeymoon. This was our first cruise and we were a little overwhelmed by the itinerary options. Each port city offered multiple excursions, ranging from whale watching to dog sledding. Although the cruise itself was affordable, the price could easily sky rocket if we added too many excursions. We decided to choose two excursions for our cruise, which left us with one port city without an excursion. We choose to make our first port city, Ketchikan, the day we did not have an excursion. I think this ended up being a great decision. There were plenty of things to fill our time in Ketchikan and it was fun to spend the day exploring at our own pace.

If you are struggling with a decision about choosing a cruise excursion consider these questions:

-What is your budget? Most excursions start around $100/person.

-Do you want to be part of a guided group at each port or would you like to explore on your own?

-Is this an experience you can have anywhere else? For example, if you have always wanted to dog sled, doing this excursion in Alaska may be one of your only chances.

Planning your cruise excursions is a personal choice and I have always had positive experiences on my excursions. I have found that I prefer to leave at least one port city without an excursion. This allows me to have both a new and exciting guided experience as well as some time to explore a port city at my own speed.

That all being said, my husband and I decided that we could explore Ketchikan on our own without an excursion. Our ship was only docked in Ketchikan from 6:30am-2pm, so we felt that if we did an excursion here we would not have any time left to explore the city. Also, many of the excursions offered in Ketchikan were seaplane flights or zip line adventures and these were a little out of our budget.

If you are going to be in Ketchikan I encourage you to follow our 1-day itinerary below. We had enough time to fit everything in that we wanted without feeling rushed. Ketchikan was a very walkable and cute town that was a great introduction to my time in Alaska.

Early Morning

Our cruise ship docked in Ketchikan at 6:30 am and we disembarked around 7am. This was the first port city on our Alaskan cruise so I was very excited to get off the ship and explore. Ketchikan is famous for being the earliest incorporated Alaskan city that still exists and operates. Incorporated in 1900, Ketchikan was originally used as a logging and fishing town. While some of these industries still exist, it now relies heavily on cruise tourism.

We started our morning by taking a short 5 minute walk to colorful Creek Street. This boardwalk is lined with cute historic buildings that now house shops, restaurants, and exhibits. Since most things were not yet open we decided to return to explore this street later in the afternoon.

We were both getting hungry, so we knew it was time to find some breakfast. We decided to take another short walk to downtown Ketchikan. Here we found the New York Cafe, a perfect local breakfast spot located in the New York Hotel. They offer a large selection of locally-sourced breakfast favorites, coffee, and pastries. Their menu also boasts substantial lunch, dinner, and drink options.

If you wanted to save a little money, you could always eat breakfast on the ship before disembarking. We decided we wanted to maximize our time in Ketchikan and thought it would be fun to check out some food options off the ship. I really enjoyed the New York Cafe so I am glad we decided to grab breakfast in Ketchikan.

Late Morning

After a leisurely breakfast we decided to check out one of the main tourist attractions near Ketchikan- the Saxman Totem Park. Located a few miles from downtown Ketchikan, this park houses a large collection of replica Native American totem poles. We used a bus to reach the park and this was very easy to use. We caught the silver line south and exited at the South Tongass Highway stop. Our bus driver was very friendly and I am sure they are all very familiar with tourists using the bus to visit the park, so if you have any questions be sure to ask your bus driver. The far is $2 for adults and exact change is accepted on the bus.

Once we arrived at the park, our bus driver pointed out three bald eagles in a nearby tree. Being from Tennessee, I am not used to seeing these birds in the wild so this was really exciting for me! The park costs $5 for adults to enter or you can pay $35 for a guided tour. The tour includes entrance to the Beaver Clan House where you will be entertained by a traditional dance group.

We chose to do the unguided tour and it was still very worth the trip. I loved walking around the park and seeing the impressive and colorful totem poles. We could also look through the windows of a few workshops to see some totem poles being made on site. After spending about 45 minutes at the park we took the bus back towards downtown and exited at Creek Street.

Early Afternoon

By the time we arrived back at Creek Street, the shops and restaurants were open so it was a much busier area than we experienced earlier in the morning. We spent some time walking around the shops before taking a short hike on Married Man's Trail. This trail, which was once used by you guessed it, married men, to reach the brothels of Creek Street, is located off Park Avenue. This short walk took us past the salmon ladder, to city park, and eventually to the Totem Heritage Center.

We paid the $6 entrance fee and spent some time viewing the museum's collection of authentic and unrestored totem poles. It was really neat to see these original totem poles and compare them to the recreated ones we saw earlier at the Saxman Totem Park.

Mid-Afternoon

After we finished exploring Creek Street and the museum we decided to grab lunch before returning to our cruise ship. We stopped at a local diner called Pioneer Cafe. This was a quick two minute walk from Creek Street and provided the perfect local flair we were looking for. Austin tried a reindeer hot dog (I couldn't stop thinking about Rudolph so this made me pretty sad) and I opted for a bowl of chili. This was a reasonably priced and fun local diner that was the perfect last stop for our day in Ketchikan.

After lunch we walked back to the dock and boarded our ship. We were scheduled to leave the port at 2 pm so we made sure to get in line with plenty of time. As we waited on the gangway I looked into the water and saw jellyfish, starfish, and sea urchins. This was so beautiful and unexpected! I realized I was quickly falling in love with the gorgeous outdoor paradise of Alaska.

I had so much fun in Ketchikan and I am so happy that this was the first stop of our cruise. I think half a day was just enough time to explore this cute town. Since most cruises only allow a half day at this port, if you do plan an excursion just keep in mind that you probably will not also be able to explore this town. I think there is enough to do in Ketchikan without an excursion but I would love to hear your thoughts. Do you book an excursion for each port city on your cruise? Have you done an excursion in Ketchikan? Let me know in the comments below!

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