Guide · Trolley

Juneau city trolley tour and the alternatives

A Juneau city trolley tour is a relaxed way to see the capital from a seat with a guide at the front. Here is what it covers, what to book if the trolley is full or not running, and how to add the salmon hatchery.

Check availabilityfrom $52 · no cancellation fee

Editorial team, juneaucitytour.comUpdated October 16, 20266-minute read7 sources

Bookable here: the tour Juneau: City highlights bus tour 4.4 (108 reviews) 1.5 hoursStop at the Tahku whale fountainMendenhall Glacier viewpoint from$52per person Check availabilityCancel without charge until one day ahead

In short

01The loop: Downtown, the waterfront and nearby sights, narrated from the front.
02Same sights by bus: The City Highlights tour runs 1.5 hours from $52.
03Up the mountain: The tram rises 1,800 feet from the cruise dock.¹
04Hatchery season: Adult salmon return from early July through September.²
05Glacier trolley: Our sister guide covers the Mendenhall Glacier trolley.

What a trolley tour in Juneau is

A Juneau city trolley tour is a narrated loop around the capital in a vintage-style trolley bus. You sit back while a driver-guide points out the waterfront, the old shopping streets, the government buildings and the views across Gastineau Channel. It suits travelers who want an overview of the town without walking the hills, and it makes a gentle first hour in port.

Trolley loops are a matter of style more than route. The same streets and sights are covered by small buses and vans on other city tours, and the commentary is much the same. What a trolley adds is the open, old-fashioned feel of the ride, which some visitors love and others find slow on a crowded ship day.

None of the tours we track on GetYourGuide is a city trolley, so this page compares the closest alternatives you can book. If you have your heart set on a trolley, look for one at the waterfront on the day, and keep one of the options below as a fallback in case it is full.

A half day

Town loop, tram and hatchery

Morning

Town loop

Ride the bus tour for the overview, about 1.5 hours.
Late morning

Downtown

Walk South Franklin Street and grab lunch.
Afternoon

Tram

Ride 1,800 feet up Mount Roberts if the cloud has lifted.¹
Later

Hatchery

Watch salmon in the ladder from early July.²
Evening

Back on board

Leave a margin before all aboard.

The bus tour that covers the same loop

The closest match to a trolley loop is the City Highlights bus tour. It runs 1.5 hours with an English-speaking guide, starts from $52 and is rated 4.44 from 108 reviews. Guests give the guide 4.8 and the transportation 4.7, which is what you want from a narrated ride.

The route drives through downtown and past the Governor's Mansion, then adds stops a trolley loop often skips: the Tahku whale fountain at Overstreet Park, a viewing platform on Douglas Island that looks back at the town, and Brotherhood Bridge Park at mile 10 of the highway, with a view of the Mendenhall Glacier.

So the bus loop gives you more for the same morning: the overview a trolley offers plus a taste of the valley, in roughly the same time. The tour meets on the water side of the red tram building on South Franklin Street, and a full refund is possible until a day before the start.

Alternatives

What to book instead of a city trolley

Option	What it is	Length	Price
City Highlights	Guided bus loop	1.5 hrs	from $52
Tram ride with app	Self-guided tram	1 hr	from $100
Tram, trails and ale	Guided tram and hike	2 hrs	from $125
Native tour with tram	Culture and a meal	135 min	from $145
Bike tour, hatchery stop	Private ride	3 hrs	from $205

Per-adult "from" prices on GetYourGuide; date and option change the total.

Three choices

Bus loop, tram or hatchery ride

Closest match

City Highlights

Narrated bus loop

Price: from $52
Length: 1.5 hrs
Rating: 4.44

Check dates

With a view

Tram, trails, ale

Up Mount Roberts

Price: from $125
Length: 2 hrs
Rating: 4.67

Check dates

Juneau: Private Bike Tour with Glacier Views & Hatchery Stop

With salmon

Bike and hatchery

Private, active

Price: from $205
Length: 3 hrs
Pickup: Included

Check dates

Decision helper

Which ride fits your plan?

Pick by what you want to see

An overview of the town A view from above Salmon in season The glacier

City Highlights

1.5 hours, narrated.

Goldbelt Tram

1,800 feet up from the dock.¹

Hatchery visit

Adult salmon return from early July.²

Glacier trolley

Covered by our sister guide.

Cars rise 1,800 feet from the cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau through the rain forest to the Mountain House, offering expansive, panoramic views of Juneau and Gastineau Channel.

Goldbelt TramSource 1

Trolley or tram? Riding up Mount Roberts

Visitors searching for a trolley sometimes mean the tram. The Goldbelt Tram is an aerial tramway: its cars rise 1,800 feet from the cruise ship dock in downtown Juneau through the rain forest to the Mountain House.¹ From the top you look down on the town, the channel and Douglas Island, and trails lead further up the mountain.

Several bookable tours build on the tram. A tram ride with an app and a map runs 1 hour from $100. A guided tram, trails and ale tour runs 2 hours from $125, and an Alaska Native tour with a tram ride and a meal runs 135 minutes from $145.

The tram and a city loop make a good pair. Ride the bus or trolley in the morning for the overview, then take the tram up in the afternoon when the cloud has had time to lift. If the summit is in cloud, save the ride for later in the day rather than paying for a view of the fog.

Checklist

For a narrated ride

Bring

A warm layer against the wind
A rain jacket
A camera within reach

Check

Departure times on your ship day
Your booking or a fallback option
Steps on and off the vehicle

Cost calculator

Rides for your group

Enter your group size and compare the totals.

Bus loop1.5 hrsfrom $52 Tram ride1 hrfrom $100 Tram and ale2 hrsfrom $125

People 2

Total from$103

per traveler from $52

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Sums 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

What to do in Juneau on a cruise stop

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A Juneau city trolley and hatchery tour

A good way to round off a town tour is a stop at the salmon hatchery. If a Juneau city trolley and hatchery tour is what you are after, the hatchery to know is the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery, run by DIPAC on the channel north of downtown. From early July through September, the salmon ladder is running and adult salmon are returning.²

The hatchery itself recommends July 4 through August 10 as the best time of year to visit.³ Plan on at least 45 minutes to see the visitor center and watch the videos, and add more time in the salmon season if you enjoy watching the fish.⁴ Early in the summer there are fewer fish to see, which is worth knowing before you build a day around it.

You can reach the hatchery as part of some tours, or on your own by taxi or public bus. A private bike tour with glacier views includes a hatchery stop, runs 3 hours and starts from $205. Our guide to the salmon hatchery covers the visit itself in more detail.

The glacier trolley is a different trip

Trolley-style tours also head out to the Mendenhall Glacier from Juneau, and that is a different outing from a loop of the streets. Those rides take you out to the visitor center in the valley and give you time at the glacier, rather than touring the old town. If the glacier is your goal, our companion site on the Mendenhall Glacier trolley covers it in detail.

Pick by what matters most to you on this stop. A city loop shows you the capital and its history; a glacier trolley takes you to the ice. With a long port call, you can do both: the town in the morning, the glacier in the afternoon, with lunch downtown in between.

Whichever you pick, leave a margin before your ship sails. Traffic out to the valley can be slow on busy ship days, and the glacier always tempts you to stay a little longer than planned.

Pairing a ride with a walk

A narrated loop works best as an introduction rather than the whole visit. Ride first, note the streets and buildings that catch your eye, then go back on foot to the ones you want to see properly. The Capitol, the hillside church and the waterfront all reward a slower look than a passing vehicle allows.

The Alaska State Capitol is a good example. From a bus it looks like an office building, but on foot you can see why it stands out: it is one of the few state capitols without a dome, and the only one not built to be a capitol.⁵ A guide can tell you this in passing; standing in front of it makes it stick.

Plan the walk around your energy. The waterfront is flat, but the streets behind it climb steeply, and a ride saves your legs for the parts worth walking. Older travelers and families with young children often find that a short ride followed by a short walk makes the most of a port day without wearing anyone out.

When to ride and what to bring

Cruise ships dock in Juneau almost daily from late April until the end of September, and the tours in town are busiest when several ships are in.⁶ The earliest departures are the least crowded, and the light on the channel is often softest in the morning. If you want a seat on a particular tour, book it before your ship arrives.

Juneau's weather shapes every ride. In July the average daily high is 17.4 °C, with 164 mm of precipitation over 13 rainy days.⁷ An open trolley can be chilly in the wind off the water, so bring a warm layer and a rain jacket even on a bright morning.

Finally, keep your camera within reach. The best views come and go quickly as the bus or trolley turns a corner, and the commentary will often point out a sight just as it appears. Sit on the water side if you can, for the channel and the floatplanes.

Book your seat