The best way to experience Southeast Alaska s premier destinations -- Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, and Sitka -- is on foot, and Inside Passage Walking Tours is the ideal personal tour guide. Inside Passage Walking Tours is an indispensable guide for cruise ship passengers who like to explore on their own, business travelers, state ferry riders, and individual boaters and sailors.
Author Julianne Chase works with one of the major cruise lines. She has walked each route numerous times and offers tips on side trips, alternative paths, and what to wear and carry. For the more adventurous walker, she describes two nearby wilderness hikes for each town, while boxed "quick facts" detail population, commerce, and weather statistics.
Each walk includes historic sites, Native American and other cultural information, the best lookouts and vistas, suggested dining spots (mentioned under "Grabbing a Bite" in each section), local personalities, events, shopping areas, maps, and photographs.
Another huge plus: Chase set up her book so that the walks are all circular routes. A person can start anywhere on the route, make their way along the entire tour, and finish right back where they started.