Ketchikan city tours loop the town and the one road south of it, from Creek Street and the salmon ladder to Herring Cove and the totem parks. You ride between the stops and walk at them, for two to four hours from Berth 2. What separates them is group size, and which totem site is in your fare.
Eight stops in three hours with nine guests at most, from Creek Street and the Harris Street Bridge to Potlatch Totem Park. Your guide gives camera tips at each one, and you leave from Berth 2.
From $134 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The salmon ladder, the Rotary Beach tidepools, Herring Cove and Saxman Native Village in two and a half hours. Saxman admission, water and soda are in the fare. There is no Ward Cove pickup.
From $94 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
One vehicle for your party of up to 14, for three hours on stops you choose with the guide: totems, beaches, wildlife or time downtown. Fees, taxes, coffee and snacks are included.
From $680 per group (up to 14)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A replica 1800s cable-car trolley rides between six stops, from Herring Cove to the Totem Heritage Center. Both admissions and the parking fees are in the fare, and strollers ride along.
From $85 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Up to four hours for up to nine of you, on a route your party sets. The fare is per group. Totem Bight admission is extra if you stop there.
From $1,000 per group (up to 9)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Herring Cove, the salmon ladder in spawning season and the Totem Heritage Center, with its entry paid, then a drive through Saxman. About 55 minutes at the stops, in two and a quarter hours.
From $80 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Twenty minutes on foot at Herring Cove and ten at the City Park salmon pools, with drives past Saxman and Creek Street. Twelve guests at most, plus a custom downtown map and texts about your port call.
From $119 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Five stops south of town in two hours, nine guests at most: the salmon ladder, a beach, Herring Cove and the waterfall at mile 10. Binoculars, ponchos and booster seats come with it.
From $100 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Every city tour here meets downtown and runs two to four hours. The trolley pays both of its admissions for you.
Check availability from $85Ketchikan runs 31 miles along the water and is never more than ten blocks wide. Downtown is a walk from the ship. Almost everything else sits on one road: north to Totem Bight, south past Saxman to Herring Cove. A city tour is the vehicle and the guide that link those stops in a morning or an afternoon.
You are out for two to four hours, and most of that time is spent at the stops rather than in a seat. The photo walk spends about 2 hours 45 minutes at eight of them. The small van spends about 55 minutes at three and drives through Saxman without stopping. Pick by how much you want to stand still.
Herring Cove, Saxman and Totem Bight are all off the downtown grid. On foot you reach Creek Street and the Totem Heritage Center. With a city tour you add the road stops in the same two hours, and you are back at the berth when it ends.
The trolley pays Herring Cove and Totem Heritage Center admission for you. The small van pays the Totem Heritage Center, and the All in One pays Saxman Native Village. You hand nothing over at those doors.
The photo walk and the Over the Top loop take nine guests at most, and the rainforest loop takes twelve. The private tours carry only your party, up to 9 or up to 14. The All in One, at up to 70, is the one to pick if you like a busy coach.
Every city tour starts downtown, and most of them at or beside The Rock, the bronze statue on Berth 2. Ward Cove passengers ride the free shuttle to Berth 4 first, about 20 minutes. The photo walk collects you at Ward Cove unless it tells you otherwise.
Downtown is walkable, so the real comparison is with your own feet. Here is what each gets you in the same two or three hours.
| A city tour | Walking it yourself | |
|---|---|---|
| Creek Street and the salmon ladder | On most loops, 5 to 35 minutes | Yes, on foot from Berths 1 to 4 |
| Totem Heritage Center | Entry paid on the trolley and the small van | On foot; you pay at the door |
| Herring Cove and Saxman | On most loops | A taxi or a car |
| Totem Bight | On the private tours, if you choose it | A taxi or a car, about ten miles north |
| Commentary | A local guide the whole way | The Discovery Center's exhibits, $5 in summer |
| Cost | $80 to $134 a person, or $680 and $1,000 per group | Free, plus any door fees |
If you have two hours and only want downtown, walk it: the route is in the downtown walking route. If you want Herring Cove or a totem park out of town, a city tour gets you there and back inside the port day without arranging a ride.
Fares run from $80 to $134 a person. The private tours are priced per group: $680 for up to 14, and $1,000 for up to 9. Tours last two to four hours. Book once you know your berth and your hours ashore, and pick a start that brings you back an hour before all-aboard.
Most start at The Rock beside the Visitors Bureau, 131 Front Street, on Berth 2. The trolley checks you in at booth 12. Strollers are welcome on most of the road loops, and the All in One, the Over the Top loop and the four-hour private tour have seats for infants.
They run in rain, which is as well: the airport averages 149.54 inches a year. The All in One operates in all weather, and the Over the Top loop hands out umbrellas and ponchos. The month by month picture is on Ketchikan weather.
If the point of your day is bears rather than totems, take one of the Ketchikan wildlife tours instead: they go to Neets Bay, a rainforest sanctuary or a bear platform on Prince of Wales Island. If you use a wheelchair, the Rainforest Sanctuary tour and the crab boat at Berth 3 are both marked accessible.
If you want the water, a whale boat covers the Tongass Narrows in two and a half hours. And if you have under two hours ashore, walk Creek Street and the Totem Heritage Center yourself; things to do in Ketchikan lists what is in reach.
Three hours, eight stops from Creek Street to Potlatch Totem Park, and camera tips at each one.
Check availability from $134Next: the four totem sites on Ketchikan totem poles, and the berths on the cruise port page. Every tour sits side by side on Ketchikan Alaska Tours.