Alaskan Tour Guides, Inc. — Local services in Alaska

We have traveled throughout North America and around the world, and know our "Ultimate Alaskan Adventure" with Alaskan Tour Guides was among the best trips we’ve taken. We had visited numerous Alaskan ports on a cruise 20+ years ago and fished with tour guides in a fishing lodge in Klawock on a separate trip. They were awesome trips, but we always said we wanted to spend more time touring beautiful Alaska on land. Alaskan Tour Guides provided a once-in-a-lifetime expertly guided experience that delivered extraordinary memories. From the time we booked the trip a year in advance to the day we finished the tour last summer, Alaskan Tour Guides guided us through the process, providing regular and thorough explanation of everything we needed to know in planning for the trip, what to expect during the trip, the detailed itinerary for each day, and personalized attention throughout the tour. Our guide Cheryl Shaffer went over and above in every way during the trip. While our itinerary was highly detailed, Cheryl took advantage of every opportunity to highlight the smallest things that most would have missed if not for her command of the Alaskan geography, in-depth knowledge of local history, great restaurants, places to shop when we needed the smallest things, and making everyone feel very comfortable and going out of her way whenever possible, which was virtually every day. A wonderful example of how she cared for her clients, we toured Denali in a bus early in the tour and the battery charger for my new Canon SLR dropped out of my backpack in the bus. We sat in the front seats next to the door and I could’ve sworn it dropped out of the bus when people were loading and unloading. I discovered it was missing when we went back to the hotel and I went to charge my camera battery. I immediately contacted Cheryl to see if by chance someone had turned it in to the bus driver. Cheryl quickly inquired but was told the bus was used by several tours and no one had turned it in. I was resigned that it was lost but it was the only way I could charge the wonderful new camera I had purchased just before the trip. The next morning before we began our next event, Cheryl said she wanted to go back to the bus station to check one last time. At the same time I’d checked some local stores at our next stop to see if they had a charger to purchase; they fortunately did. We stopped at the bus station and Cheryl went in; when she came out she had a look on her face of disappointment while reaching out and dropping the charger in my hand. Yes, some good soul found it and turned it in. I was both shocked and extremely appreciative for Cheryl’s persistence and care enough to go that extra step. It was a perfect example of what Cheryl did for everyone throughout the tour. We took thousands of pictures, saw amazing scenery and wildlife, and overall had that once-in-a-lifetime experience. We highly recommend Alaskan Tour Guides if you want an amazing experience touring Alaska, and if you’re lucky enough Cheryl will...

Reviewed July 1, 2018 Grand Tour Great Time My husband & I have had a marvelous time with Alaskan Tour Guides & 10 congenial people we met the first day of the Grand Explorer tour. This was a first class operation with a delightful, knowledgeable, organized, and sociable guide, Dowie. Can I claim she was even responsible for great weather? The van was reasonably comfortable with only one long travel day. Stops were frequent and snacks & bottled water always available. Dowie seemed a careful & competent driver. Hotels were clearly carefully chosen, each with its own style & breakfast provided. Some hotels were flashier than others but all clean & comfortable. Restaurants where we ate as a group provided terrific food with variety available. Even before we committed to the tour Doreen answered my questions promptly and completely, allowing us to make decisions about which additional activities we wished to participate in. The scheduled itinerary was outstanding & Dowie offered some additional stops as people expressed interest in a salmon weir and birch syrup. She offered information & suggestions in each town for shopping, eating, & sightseeing individually, even letting me know which shops had quilt fabric. I’m fairly sure she was extremely busy providing transportation the discretionary day at Denali as the group went at least 4 directions to pursue different activities. Our only sighting of THE mountain was driving through a road construction area. While stopped, Dowie asked the flagman if a few of us could get out to take photos which was allowed. Anywhere tickets were necessary Dowie had them in hand and seemed to understand how to get us the best available seats, even an entire train car for our group which was not part of her plan. Dowie did a great job of keeping the tour on schedule, which was busy but not exhausting. I highly recommend Alaskan Tour Guides & especially Dowie as the guide & driver. Just an additional note: We arrived in Anchorage a day early which other travelers might consider. The major time changes, the long flights, and the extra daylight required an adjustment. I think we enjoyed the tour more because we were well rested & had some time to explore Anchorage on foot, tour a couple of museums and visit the Saturday market while realizing the near constant daylight was not a major problem. There was plenty to do & great places to eat in Anchorage all within walking distance of our initial hotel.

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Great Alaskan Land Tour! We were looking for a land tour and ATG was great (my daughter gets nauseous in cars and big buses so we were excited to find a tour with a 13 person van - no nausea!). Doreen and Bob were very helpful when we were booking the trip. Dowie was a wonderful guide who knows Alaska in and out. She also had everything we could need packed in the trunk of the van (snacks, dramamine, laundry detergent, hats, gloves, etc. etc.! Nothing was left out. ATG chose very well in terms of places to visit - I especially loved the catamaran cruises (and recommend you take an extra day to take the large catamaran cruise in Prince William Sound - you hear about Whittier and I'm glad I got to see it as well). The Kenai Fjords raft tour was amazing. Denali is a highlight (although I didn't realize there were upgrades to the tour chosen for the ATG group in Deanli which I would highly recommend (you go an extra 32 feet into Denali). We even took a small plane back to the front entrance instead of taking another 6 hours in the bus which is expensive but truly amazing and we got to see the top of Denali from the plane. You could also probably see this view if you take a plane from Talkeetna (the Talkeetna town was meh for us and if you take the fight from Talkeetna you won't be able to spend time in town which is just fine). The glacier trek on the Matanuska Glacier was also amazing - and enough adventure for me - if you like more thrilling treks this isn't it - but it was a nice trek on a glacier (plus the guides gave us a funny photo op - with an ice pick where it looked like we were scaling a wall of ice!)! We had a fantastic time touring an Iditarod Sled dog kennel and taking a short ride behind a team of huskies (in a type of jeep). Our travel mates - who we didn't know before the trip - were all very nice and welcoming of our family. You will definitely come home with amazing pictures of scenery and animals. Most of it seems unreal! You can see why people fall in love with Alaska and stay there forever. On the ATG Tour - and on the day tours - if any animal was spotted we were able to stop and take pictures of it (for the most part)!. You won't be...