Juneau Travel Guide

Juneau (JOO-noh) is the capital of Alaska, in the state's Southeastern region. Juneau is on the North American mainland and yet cannot be reached by land. Effectively, the rugged mountains surrounding it make Juneau into an island city, reachable only by air or by sea. Juneau experiences a daily influx of thousands of people from visiting cruise ships between May and September.

Juneau is Alaska's capital and is on the mainland, but you can't get there by road or rail. Southeast Alaska is sandwiched between the rugged coastal mountain range and the Pacific Ocean. Constructing roads between many of the towns and cities of SE Alaska is prohibitively expensive and sometimes impossible. Only three towns (Haines, Hyder, and Skagway) in the SE Panhandle are connected by a roadway to the lower 48 states (often called "down south"). Access to the rest (including Juneau) is only

Downtown Juneau is compact and very walkable, though above 4th Street it gets very hilly. The downtown streets are on a slanted grid, with Franklin, Seward, and Main Sts running parallel, and with Front, First, Second, Third, Fourth, etc., cutting across. The State Capitol is at Fourth and Main, City Hall is at the foot of Seward and Marine Way, and touristy grazing is along Franklin. Watch for the 20 historical plaques that detail the fascinating history of Juneau.