Things to do in Ketchikan From Cruise Ship- The Adventuring Millennial

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 skyrocket if we added too many excursions.

We choose two excursions for our cruise, which left us with one port city without an excursion. We made our first port city, Ketchikan, the day we did not have an excursion. 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 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 but I’ve always had positive experiences on my excursions. I prefer to leave at least one port city without an excursion. This allows me to have both an 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 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, check out my 1-day itinerary. This gives enough time to fit everything in that without feeling rushed. Ketchikan is a very walkable and cute town that is a great introduction to Alaska.

Early Morning

Our cruise ship docked in Ketchikan at 6:30 am and we disembarked around 7 am. 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.

Late Morning

After a leisurely breakfast, we checked out one of the city’s main tourist attractions- the Saxman Totem Park. Located a few miles from downtown Ketchikan, this park houses a large collection of replica Native Alaskan’s totem poles.

We took a bus to the park. Take the silver line south and exit at the South Tongass Highway stop. Our bus driver was very friendly. They should all be 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 fair 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 looked through the windows of a few workshops to see totem poles 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 a 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. My husband 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 reasonably priced and fun local diner made for the perfect last stop in Ketchikan.

After lunch, we walked back to the dock and boarded our ship. The boat needed 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! Quickly, I fell 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!

Looking for more Alaska inspiration? Check out this post:

5 Beautiful Places in Alaska to Give You Serious Wanderlust