Guide · On foot

Walking tour of Juneau, Alaska: downtown at your own pace

Downtown Juneau is small enough to cover on foot between ship and lunch. This walking tour of Juneau, Alaska links the waterfront, the gold rush streets, the Capitol and the hillside church, with guided walks if you prefer company.

Check availabilityfrom $52 · no cancellation fee

Editorial team, juneaucitytour.comUpdated October 16, 20266-minute read13 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 a nutshell

01Start: The red tram building on South Franklin Street, by the cruise docks.
02Highlights: The Capitol, St. Nicholas Church, the museums and the waterfront.
03Guided, cheapest: A haunted history walk runs 2 hours from $30.
04Guided, history: A walk to the Treadwell mine ruins runs 2.5 hours from $119.
05Bring: Rain gear and good shoes: downtown streets climb steeply.

Why downtown Juneau works on foot

Downtown Juneau grew up on a narrow strip of land between Gastineau Channel and the slopes of Mount Juneau and Mount Roberts. The result is a small, walkable center where the cruise docks, the shops, the government buildings and the old residential streets sit within a short distance of each other. You can see a lot in a couple of hours without a single bus ride.

The town owes its existence to gold. In 1880 the prospectors Richard Harris and Joe Juneau, guided by Tlingit Chief Kowee, found gold at the mouth of Gold Creek, and the town was built in the rush that followed.¹ Juneau became the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government moved here from Sitka.² Both stories are still visible in the streets.

A walking tour of Juneau, Alaska is also the cheapest way to see it. All you need is a map, a rain jacket and comfortable shoes. The route below follows a loop you can cut short at any point, and the map on this page shows where each stop lies.

The route

A loop through downtown Juneau

Start

Tram building

Get your bearings by the red Goldbelt Tram building on South Franklin Street.
Old town

South Franklin

Walk the shopping blocks past the Red Dog Saloon toward the government quarter.
Government

State Capitol

See the domeless Capitol, dedicated in 1931.³
Hillside

St. Nicholas

Climb to the small church consecrated in 1894.⁴
Back down

State Museum

Pass the Alaska State Museum on the way to the water.
Finish

Tahku

End at the humpback whale fountain in Overstreet Park.⁵

The waterfront and South Franklin Street

Start where most visitors arrive: the waterfront near the cruise docks. The red building of the Goldbelt Tram is an easy landmark, and from here the tram cars rise 1,800 feet through the rain forest to the Mountain House.⁶ Even if you skip the ride, the base is a useful meeting point and a good spot to get your bearings.

Walk north along South Franklin Street into the busiest blocks of the old town. This is the shopping strip of jewelry stores, gift shops and seafood counters, along with the Red Dog Saloon, a name you will see on T-shirts all over town. On a ship day it is lively and crowded, so start early if you want photos without people in them.

Keep your eyes up as well as on the shop windows. The wooden and brick fronts give the street its old-town look, and the steep side streets that climb away from Franklin give a first sense of how the town is built into the hillside. From the end of the strip, turn uphill toward the government quarter.

Stops

What to see on the walk

Stop	What it is	Worth knowing
Goldbelt Tram	Aerial tram	Rises 1,800 feet
State Capitol	Seat of government	Dedicated in 1931
City Museum	Town history	Open Wed to Sat
St. Nicholas	Orthodox church	Consecrated 1894
Overstreet Park	Waterfront park	Tahku whale fountain

From the tram operator, the Alaska Legislature, the City and Borough of Juneau and the parish.⁶ ³ ⁷ ⁴ ⁵

Three ways

On your own, with a ghost story or to the ruins

Free

Self-guided loop

Map and good shoes

Start: Tram building
Pace: Your own
Cost: Nothing

See the walks

Lowest price

Haunted history

Saloons and legends

Price: from $30
Length: 2 hrs
Rating: 4.79

See the walks

Juneau: Treadwell City Ruins Guided Walking Tour

History

Treadwell ruins

Mining history

Price: from $119
Length: 2.5 hrs
Pickup: Included

See the walks

Decision helper

Which walk is yours?

Choose by time, budget and interest

Spend nothing Stories and saloons Gold mining history Walking is hard for you

Self-guided loop

Follow the route and map on this page.

Haunted history walk

2 hours past the old bars and the Capitol.

Treadwell ruins walk

2.5 hours with pickup on Douglas Island.

City Highlights bus tour

1.5 hours of the main sights by bus.

The Alaska State Capitol is one of the few state capitol buildings that does not have a dome and the only one that was not built for the purpose of being a state capitol.

Alaska Legislature, Legislative Budget and AuditSource 8

The Capitol and the government quarter

The Alaska State Capitol does not look like a typical statehouse, and there is a reason for that. It was built of concrete, brick and native marble between 1929 and 1931 and dedicated on February 14, 1931, as the Federal and Territorial Building.³ It is one of the few state capitol buildings without a dome, and the only one not built to be a capitol at all.⁸

Opposite the Capitol on Fourth Street is the Juneau-Douglas City Museum, the place to go for the history of the town itself. From July to September 2026 it opens Wednesday to Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.⁷ Check the opening days before you plan around it, as a ship day early in the week may fall on a closed day.

If a Juneau city museum walking tour sounds like the right way to see the quarter, ask at the museum desk whether a guided walk runs on your day; schedules change through the season. Otherwise, a few minutes inside the museum before you continue gives your own walk far more context.

Map

Downtown Juneau and the channel

The old town climbs the hill above the cruise docks; the hatchery and the Treadwell ruins sit further along Gastineau Channel.

Map of downtown Juneau with the tram terminal, State Capitol, museums, St. Nicholas Church, the Governor's House and Overstreet Park — Downtown

Map of Gastineau Channel with downtown Juneau, Overstreet Park, the Macaulay Salmon Hatchery and the Treadwell Glory Hole on Douglas Island — Gastineau Channel

1
Goldbelt Tram terminal
The city tour meets on the water side of this red building, and the tram cars climb 1,800 feet from here to the Mountain House.⁶
In Google Maps ↗
2
Red Dog Saloon
A saloon on South Franklin Street, in the busy shopping blocks the bus drives through.
In Google Maps ↗
3
Alaska State Museum
The state museum of Alaska, a short walk from the waterfront.
In Google Maps ↗
4
Alaska State Capitol
Dedicated in 1931 as the Federal and Territorial Building, and one of the few capitols with no dome.³ ⁸
In Google Maps ↗
5
Juneau-Douglas City Museum
The city's own history museum, opposite the Capitol on Fourth Street.
In Google Maps ↗
6
St. Nicholas Orthodox Church
A small onion-domed church consecrated in 1894.⁴
In Google Maps ↗
7
Governor's House
The white-columned residence of Alaska's governor, passed on the drive through town.
In Google Maps ↗
8
Overstreet Park (Tahku)
Home of Tahku, the bronze humpback whale fountain, and a stop on the city tour.⁵
In Google Maps ↗
9
Macaulay Salmon Hatchery
Adult salmon climb the ladder here from early July through September.⁹
In Google Maps ↗
10
Treadwell Glory Hole
What is left of the Treadwell mines on Douglas Island, whose output peaked in 1915.¹⁰
In Google Maps ↗

Open the map in Google Maps

Checklist

For a walk in Juneau

Pack

A hooded rain jacket
Shoes with good grip
A warm layer

Keep in mind

Your ship's all-aboard time
Crowds on South Franklin on ship days
Steep stairs on the hillside streets

Cost calculator

Guided walks for your group

Enter your group size and compare the totals.

Haunted history2 hrsfrom $30 Treadwell ruins2.5 hrsfrom $119 Bus tour1.5 hrsfrom $52

People 2

Total from$60

per traveler from $30

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

Walking the streets of downtown Juneau

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Up the hill: St. Nicholas Church and the Governor's House

Climb a short way above the Capitol to reach St. Nicholas Orthodox Church, a small wooden church with an onion dome tucked among houses. It was consecrated by Bishop Nikolai in 1894 and has been part of the town ever since.⁴ Its scale is part of its charm, and it makes a quiet contrast with the bustle down by the docks.

From the church, wander west along the hillside streets to the Governor's House, the white-columned residence of Alaska's governor. You cannot tour it on a casual visit, but the facade and the view down over the town make the short climb worthwhile. The streets here are residential, so keep your voice down and stay on the sidewalk.

This upper part of the walk is where Juneau feels most like a real town rather than a port. Wooden houses, steep stairs used as streets and glimpses of the channel between buildings are what most visitors remember. Take your time here; it is the stretch the bus tours pass fastest.

The state museum and the walk to the whale

Heading back toward the water, you pass the Alaska State Museum, a modern building devoted to the state's history and its Native cultures. It rewards a slow visit rather than a quick look, so decide before you go in whether you have the time. Allow at least an hour if you do.

The most photographed sight in town sits a little further on. Mayor Bill Overstreet Park features Tahku, a humpback whale fountain, along with restrooms, a picnic shelter and educational signage.⁵ The walk there follows the waterfront away from the cruise docks, which makes it a good stretch to escape the crowds for a while.

From the whale, you can return the way you came or cut back through the streets behind the waterfront. The full loop with short stops fits into a morning, and with museum visits it fills most of a port day. If your legs give out, the City Highlights bus tour also stops at the whale and saves you the walk back.

Guided walking tours you can book

If you prefer a guide, there are themed walks. Haunted History is a 2-hour stroll priced from $30, with a 4.79 average over just 4 reviews. Its stops include the Red Dog Saloon, the Alaskan Hotel and Bar, the Crystal Saloon, the Silverbow Inn, the Alaska State Capitol, City Hall and the Patsy Ann statue.

For mining history, a guided walk to the ruins of the old Treadwell mine town runs 2.5 hours from $119 and includes pickup. The Treadwell mines on Douglas Island once ran 960 stamps, and their production peaked in 1915.¹¹ ¹⁰ Two years later a cave-in flooded three of the four mines and ended that era.¹²

Each of the guided walks can be called off at no cost until a day before, and the ghost walk is listed as wheelchair accessible. If walking is hard for you, the 1.5-hour City Highlights bus tour covers the main sights from the seat of a bus instead.

Practical tips for walking in Juneau

Rain is the rule rather than the exception. July averages 164 mm of precipitation over 13 rainy days, and September 333 mm over 20 days.¹³ Pack a hooded rain jacket and shoes with grip, as the hillside steps and wooden stairs get slick when wet.

The hills are steeper than they look from the water. The uphill part of the loop is short but sharp, so take it slowly and use the stairways rather than the winding streets if you want a shortcut. The views from the top over the roofs and the channel are the reward.

Finally, mind your ship's timing. Downtown is close to the docks, but a slow lunch or a long museum visit can eat the time faster than you expect. Set an alarm for when you need to start walking back, and leave a margin for the crowds on South Franklin Street in the afternoon.

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