Salmon Berry Travel & Tours — Local services in Alaska

I am a well-organized person who has planned dozens of trips world wide on my own. When I started researching Alaska I felt overwhelmed with trains, planes, cars and ships. When my travel agent told me that she could get me a trip that did not involve a cruise ship with a local female owned, inclusive focused travel company, I was all in. We went with Salmon Berry Tours and we were not disappointed! Glenda arranged everything for us and did an amazing job. All we had to do was show up.

My family and I, two teens and partner, started our journey in Anchorage where we set up our home base at Copper Whale Inn (see separate rating). Our first excursion was to Matanuska Glacier. Josh and Alex were our guides on this amazing full day journey. Both of these guides have lived in Alaska for 18+ years and they shared their knowledge through storytelling instead of regurgitating boring facts and statistics. They were so engaging that our two teens were detached from their phones the entire time. They took great care of us during our time on the ice, ensuring our safety while helping us create amazing memories. We had a delicious lunch at a lodge overlooking the glacier before heading back to Anchorage. Alex was an excellent driver and the van was immaculate and comfortable. We learned a lot from these guides - they are both amazing humans!

Salmon Berry arranged a bear sightseeing tour for us the following day. We were picked up at the hotel and taken to an airfield to board our floatplane. The flight to Lake Clark was outstanding and we got to see several bears while sitting on a comfortable pontoon boat. This was a highlight adventure for us for sure.

We moved on to Seward via train and thoroughly enjoyed the scenic and informative ride. Once we got to Seward we went on a half day guided tour of this delightful town. We spent a lot of time at Kenai Fjords National Park where we learned all about Exit Glacier. Next was a sled ride with winning iditarod dogs. My kids loved holding the puppies and cuddling with the mushers.

Our next stop was Girdwood and we were delighted when Josh showed up to take us there. The transfer from Seward to Girdwood includes a stop at Exit Glacier for a short, guided nature walk. Josh pointed out wildlife along the way and continued to educate us about Alaska Natives and Alaskan history. Next stop was a wildlife conservation center followed by lunch at a local brewery. Josh managed to take all of our orders and delivered us our delicious food truck meals at our tables. The beer selection was plentiful and the stop was very enjoyable. Our final stop was to Mt. Alyeska where we took a scenic tram ride up the mountain. The rest of the van continued on to Anchorage and we stayed at the Alyeska resort for a couple of nights. While there we enjoyed several hikes, electric bike rides and a walk across aerial bridges.

We realized that we had misplaced our binoculars. Glenda and Josh teamed up and were able to locate our binoculars and get them back to us. It was clear that they made this a priority and we very much appreciated this personal touch. It was nice to know during the entire trip that we had Salmon Berry just a phone call away to help us with anything that might come up. They really delivered.

Our final transfer was from Alyeska back to Anchorage. Michael was our Salmon Berry driver. He communicated with us the day before to arrange a suitable time for departure. We very much appreciated him being proactive and flexible. He also pointed out wildlife along the way and talked to us about the railroad, mud flats, tides, etc. Our final stop was the Alaska Native Heritage Center before spending one more restful night at the Copper Whale Inn.

We cannot thank Salmon Berry enough for creating such an amazing family trip which catered to our specific wants and needs. They took care of everything so we could just enjoy everything that Alaska has to offer. They love their state and they take customer service seriously. Thank you Glenda, Josh, Alex and Michael. We will be...

My sister and I did the Aurora tour to Fairbanks March 20-25, 2025. This was to check off a bucket list to do for my sister. I went because I love to travel and will go anywhere. Alaska did not disappoint!! We're from Spring, TX...near Houston. It's HOT here. I was nervous about being prepared for Alaskan temps. We rented the winter gear (parka, bib/pants, boots, gloves) from SB. Great idea and worth it for us! The gloves are cumbersome for picture taking. I brought a reg pair of winter gloves to be able to photograph a bit easier. SB provides hand warmers and red head lamps for aurora watching; turn them in at the end of every evening; super convenient. GREAT snacks are provided during bus times. We got some great SB swag! :) I've traveled to many places and this is my 4th fully guided tour and it was great!! Kayla was a delight! She's sweet, knowledgeable, and passionate about ALL things Alaska! It was a pleasure to have her as our guide. Trip highlights: Anchorage: trail a few minutes walk from Copper Whale Inn...scenic, serene, and can veer off to "the whale." Yes, a whale-carcass...no it didn't smell bad bc it's cold. It was cool to see! We did this on our own time (3 miles out and back). We stopped by the SB office and said hello to the ladies in the office to meet them. Stop by and say hi; it will make their day! :) Wasilla- seeing sweet little Togo. Google his story. Sit and watch the film on the Dogs of the Iditarod. Super informative and definitely educational!! Dog sledding: those dogs love it and people!! This was the BEST part of the trip for me. Wish we could've had waaay more sledding time :D. Talkeetna: the Cabins are super cute. We saw our 1st aurora there! Train ride scenic! We lucked out a young man on the train took care of us for our meals. He reserved a few tables for the tour group at meal times! All we did was let him know we were with SBT. It was great not to hassle for meal time resevation or a place to sit! Fairbanks: have the crepes- 2 min walk from hotel. One of the best dinners was there at the hotel. My sister and I made a trip to North Pole (Uber25min) on our free time. We have a 7yo niece. ALL things Christmas can be found there. We got some cute shirts, Christmas decor, Alaskan pet treats, saw the reindeer (from a far). There are some local crafts sold here aswell. Chena Hot Springs was great!! Take some quarters for lockers. FYI: everyone takes shoes/boots off in an anteroom. Then you walk into the locker/change/shower room. Then take a short path to the hot springs..hooks outside for towels. Enjoy the soak! AURORA Viewing: you'll love the couple you meet! Snowshoeing was great; 1st time for us!! The night sky was amazing. We saw the Aurora EVERY NIGHT. Our last night we were treated to a LOVELY dinner by our hosts! We had a great time start to finsh! Oh and the other tour members in our group were great people!! Made for an even better trip and experience! Don't think twice...

The Salmon Berry Travel and Tours group did an amazing job for my Iditarod & Aurora Trip 2025 (no fly-out on the tour I did, there is one that does). This was a little different than other years since the Iditarod Official Start was moved only about one week prior to the start of the trip. Salmon Berry (SB) took care of all the last minute travel adjustments to accommodate the move of the official start location (this would have been a nightmare had I needed to do this on my own). We did lose the Winter Train ride up to Fairbanks, but we were able to gain a Check Point location drive out which was cool. I had already decided to add additional days at the end of the tour (I wanted to fly round trip in/out of Anchorage) and was able to book the Winter Train back to Anchorage, so I didn’t mind the change. Some people in the group wished they had done the same; flying out of Fairbanks, most people said was kind-of a pain. If you do want to fly round trip from Anchorage and want to travel back via the Winter Train, just realize it only runs once a week southbound to Anchorage and plan accordingly (but there is a lot to keep you busy in Fairbanks while you wait). They were able to keep all the other fun activities mentioned in the original trip details though. Also, I did book to use their Winter Rental gear, which they allowed me to keep for all my additional days past the tour end date for no additional changes which was amazing and I sure used it. Our tour guide, John, was great; I actually injured my ankle on the second day of the trip, and John went out of his way to get me ice packs and ankles wraps so that I could still enjoy all the activities without too much pain. John was very knowledgeable of the area and was great at answering the multitude of questions we threw at him. Overall the tour was awesome and I highly recommend it if you ever make your way up to Alaska. *One suggestion, there was a day that we had almost the entire day through until the evening on our own to do whatever; if you are not much into sightseeing like me, I suggest booking another tour during that time (I did another dog mushing tour which was amazing). John worked with us all to find additional tours and SB was great of helping us with that, but we were all trying to do it so last minute that a lot of the other tours booked up. I recommend looking over your SB Tour details and if there is a large free time spot, book another day-tour with SB ahead of time unless you like the free time to sightsee (some do…). Also, if you are adding additional days before or after the main tour, SB was great at helping people in the group add more day tours to their schedules. It was a great trip that I will remember...