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Guide · City and glacier
Juneau city and glacier tour: picking the right mix
A Juneau city and glacier tour can mean a quick look at the ice from a roadside park or a longer day at the glacier itself. Here is how the options differ in time, price and what you actually see.
Check availabilityfrom $52 · no cancellation fee
Editorial team, juneaucitytour.comUpdated October 16, 20267-minute read7 sources
The short version
- 01Quickest
- The City Highlights bus tour runs 1.5 hours from $52, with a glacier view from a park.
- 02At the glacier
- A city tour that visits the glacier runs 3 hours from $131.
- 03With whales
- Glacier and whale combos run 4 to 5 hours.
- 04The ice
- The glacier is fed by an icefield of 1,500 square miles.1
- 05Best fit
- Short port call: the bus tour. A full day: a glacier visit or a combo.
What a city and glacier tour means in Juneau
Juneau is a compact capital squeezed between steep mountains and Gastineau Channel, and its best known natural sight lies out in the Mendenhall Valley, a drive away from the cruise docks. A Juneau city and glacier tour joins both: the historic streets and waterfront first, then the road out to the ice. The catch is that the phrase covers very different trips, from a quick viewpoint stop to hours spent at the glacier itself.
The difference matters most when your ship is in port for only part of the day. A short tour gives you a glimpse of the glacier from a distance and gets you back to town with time to spare for lunch and a walk. A longer tour lets you stand at the lake shore, walk a trail and take in the ice face properly, but it uses up most of an afternoon.
Before you book, ask yourself what you want to bring home. If it is a feel for the town plus a photo of the glacier across the valley, the shorter bus tour covers it. If you want to walk to the water and hear the ice, choose a tour that actually spends time at the glacier, and plan the rest of your day around it.
The City Highlights bus tour: town first, a glacier view at the end
The tour this site recommends is the City Highlights bus tour by M&M Tours of Juneau. It runs 1.5 hours with an English-speaking guide and starts from $52. Guests rate it 4.44 from 108 reviews, and they give the guide 4.8 and the transportation 4.7.
The route drives through downtown and past the Governor's Mansion, stops at Mayor Bill Overstreet Park for the Tahku whale fountain, then crosses to Douglas Island for a viewing platform at Homestead Park that looks back at the city. The last stop is Brotherhood Bridge Park at mile 10 of the highway, where the view opens onto the Mendenhall Glacier and the Coast Mountains.
Think of it as a town tour that ends with a glacier on the horizon, not a trip to the ice itself. The glacier stays across the valley from the park, a long way from the lake shore at its foot. For a lot of port days that is plenty, and the low starting price leaves room in your budget for a second activity in the afternoon. Park entry is part of the price, and a free cancellation is possible until a day before.
Time on tour
How long each option takes
hours
Side by side
City and glacier options from downtown Juneau
| Tour | Glacier | Length | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| City Highlights bus tour | View from a park | 1.5 hrs | from $52 |
| City tour with glacier | Visit | 3 hrs | from $131 |
| Glacier and whale tour | Visit | 4 hrs | from $152 |
| Glacier, waterfall and whales | Visit | 5 hrs | from $199 |
| Whales and glacier day trip | Visit | 4.5 hrs | from $230 |
GetYourGuide "from" prices per adult; your date and option set the final figure.
Three ways
A view, a visit or a full combo
Shortest
Middle
LongestDecision helper
Which mix suits your port day?
Start from what you want to see
City Highlights
1.5 hours with a valley viewpoint at the end.
City tour with glacier
A 3-hour tour that stops at the glacier.
Glacier and whale tour
4 hours with stops at the glacier and Auke Bay.
Glacier, waterfall and whales
A refund if no whale is seen, 5 hours.
The estimate is the product of the first detailed look at the future of the Juneau Icefield, source of the Mendenhall and about 140 other glaciers.
Tours that spend time at the glacier
If the glacier is the main reason you are going, look at a tour that stops there. A shore excursion that pairs a city tour with the Mendenhall Glacier runs 3 hours and starts from $131. Its rating is 2.62 from only 4 reviews, which says little either way at that number, but it is worth reading the latest comments before you commit.
The busier choice is a combo with whale watching. One glacier and whale tour runs 4 hours from $152, with stops at the Mendenhall Glacier and at Auke Bay for the boat. Another adds the glacier and a waterfall to the whales, runs 5 hours from $199 and promises a refund if you see no whale.
These combos give you less town and more nature. You see little of downtown from the bus, and the history of the capital gets a passing mention at most. If you care about both, a good pattern is the short city tour in the morning and a glacier or whale trip after lunch, booked with enough slack between them in case one runs late.
Checklist
Before you set off
01
Bring along
- Warm layers
- A waterproof jacket
- A camera
02
Plan for
- Time back to the ship
- Cloud that can hide the ice
- Booking ahead on busy ship days
Cost calculator
City and glacier costs for your group
Enter your group size and compare the totals.
People
Total from$103
per traveler from $52
Check availabilityfree cancellationSums are built from GetYourGuide's entry price for each tour, switched into your currency at the ECB rate; the reservation screen settles the exact cost.
Video
A Mendenhall Glacier and Glacier Gardens tour from Juneau
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Where the ice comes from
The glacier you see from the valley is only the tip of a much larger system. The Juneau Icefield behind it covers 1,500 square miles of steep mountain terrain, and it feeds the Mendenhall and about 140 other glaciers.14 From the road you see one tongue of ice; from the air you would see a plateau of snow running off to the horizon.
Knowing this changes how you read the view. The ice face in the valley is the end of a long journey down from the high icefield, and the lake at its foot is fed by its meltwater. A guide on a city tour will usually point out the glacier's retreat over the decades; on a longer glacier tour you can see the bare rock that the ice has left behind.
If seeing the icefield itself appeals to you, that is a job for a helicopter or a floatplane rather than a bus. Our guide to helicopter tours from Juneau compares those flights. For most visitors with a single day, a valley view and a walk in town already give a strong sense of how close the city lives to the ice.
Getting the timing right on a port day
Cruise ships dock in Juneau almost daily from late April until the end of September, and the city counted 1,712,600 cruise passengers in 2025.56 On a busy day the tours, buses and viewpoints all fill up together. Booking ahead takes the stress out of the morning, and reserve now and pay later lets you hold a seat without paying straight away.
Reaching the glacier without a tour is possible on the public bus, the budget route, but patience is needed: Capital Transit warns that downtown to the visitor center may take as long as 1.5 hours one way, about 30 minutes of it on foot.3 A guided tour removes that walk and the waiting at bus stops, which is worth a lot when your ship sails in the afternoon.
A simple rule works well. With a short call, take the bus tour and spend the rest of the time downtown. With a long call, add a glacier or whale trip and keep a comfortable margin before all aboard. Whatever you choose, check where your tour meets: the City Highlights tour meets by the red tram building on South Franklin Street.
Weather, clothing and what to expect
Juneau is a wet city, and the glacier valley shares its weather. July brings an average daily high of 17.4 °C and 164 mm of precipitation over 13 rainy days, while September gets 333 mm over 20 days.7 A view of the glacier is never guaranteed: low cloud can hide the ice even when the town is dry.
Dress for rain rather than for the calendar. The tour listing asks you to bring warm clothing, rain gear and a camera, and that advice holds for every option on this page. Layers work best: a light fleece under a waterproof jacket keeps you comfortable on the bus and at windy viewpoints alike.
Do not let a grey forecast put you off. Cloud over the valley often lifts and drops through the day, and the ice can look brighter under an overcast sky than in harsh sun. If you have a choice of day in port, look at the morning forecast and pick the tour that keeps your options open.
Who each option suits
Travelers with limited mobility should read the details closely. The City Highlights tour is not suitable for wheelchair users, and the viewpoint on Douglas Island is reached down a flight of stairs. If that rules it out, ask the operators of the longer tours about access before you book, and allow extra time at each stop.
Families with young children usually do well with the shorter tour. The bus keeps the day simple, the whale fountain is a hit with kids, and the tour is over before anyone gets restless. A longer glacier day suits older children who enjoy walking and can cope with a few hours on a bus and a boat.
Photographers and keen walkers get the most from a tour that stops at the glacier. The extra time lets you wait for the light to change on the ice and walk away from the crowds at the main viewpoint. Bring a lens cloth: in Juneau the rain finds every camera sooner or later.
Book your seat
Juneau's highlights, in one relaxed loop.
Hold a seat now, pay later, and keep a free way out until the day before.
You ask,we answer.
Does the City Highlights tour go to the glacier?
It stops at a viewpoint. Brotherhood Bridge Park at mile 10 of the highway gives a view of the Mendenhall Glacier; the tour does not go to the lake shore.
How long is the City Highlights tour?
About 1.5 hours. It runs 1.5 hours with an English-speaking guide.
Which tour actually visits the glacier?
A city tour with a glacier stop, or a combo. One city tour with the glacier runs 3 hours; glacier and whale combos run 4 to 5 hours.
What is the cheapest way to see the glacier?
The public bus. One adult ride is $2, yet each direction may take as long as 1.5 hours.23
Can I do the city and the glacier in one port day?
Yes, with planning. Take the short city tour in the morning and a glacier trip in the afternoon, with a margin before your ship sails.
Is the glacier always visible?
No. Low cloud can hide the ice even when downtown is dry; Juneau gets rain on many days in summer.7
Can I cancel the city tour?
Yes, free up to 24 hours ahead. Calling it off a day or more before the start brings a full refund.
Sources
Where the information comes from
- 1University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical InstituteStudy says Alaska could lose massive icefield by 2200↩
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- 3↩
- 4University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical InstituteStudy says Alaska could lose massive icefield by 2200↩
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- 7↩
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