Iditarod Aurora With Race Checkpoint Fly Out

Welcome to Alaska! Fly directly into Anchorage to start your adventures and take a taxi/uber to downtown Anchorage for your stay at the Copper Whale Inn. This hotel is located in downtown Anchorage, within walking distance of the Iditarod Starting Line! You will also have an easy walk to many of our favorite shops and eateries and the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and Fur Rendezvous Winter Festival. Enjoy a welcome dinner to meet your fellow travelers, your local guide and preview the itinerary! (Dinner Included)

Enjoy a city tour of Anchorage highlighting the Charlotte Jensen Native Arts Market & the 2027 Iditarod Musher’s Banquet. This annual market features Alaska Native artisans selling and demonstrating their air-basket weaving, dolls, beading, carving, and more. This is a rare opportunity to meet and greet the artists and watch them create one-of-a-kind items. Upon returning to downtown Anchorage, you will have tickets to the Musher’s Gala, the premier fundraising event for the 2027 Iditarod, this week. Enjoy dinner, a presentation by Iditarod Trail Committee, and see veteran mushers. Enjoy a hearty dinner and chat with fellow travelers about their favorite teams on the trail. Today’s tours and evening events include transportation by your Salmon Berry Tours local guide. (Breakfast & Dinner Included)

Take the drive along the Turnagain Arm along the Seward Highway and through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, the longest highway tunnel in North America, to enjoy a 3.5 hour cruise into Prince William Sound’s Blackstone Bay! During our adventure we’ll step ashore for a beach walk to experience the natural geology and thick rainforest. (Breakfast & Lunch Included)

Today is the start of the 2027 Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race! You will be on your own to walk downtown today to witness the ceremonial start on 4th Avenue. Marvel at the organized chaos; please participate in the Running with the Reindeer (following the race) or one of the other Fur Rondy Activities taking place today! Please stop by our office (2 blocks from the start!) for hot chocolate and some authentic Alaskan hospitality. (Breakfast Included)

Now the real competition begins… Head north with Salmon Berry Tours today to the Official Start of the 2027 Iditarod! Your guides will serve fresh baked scones and hot chocolate on the way, telling stories of the race, information/details about the race rules and giving you Alaskan insight into the Last Great Race, a race of both survival and strategy. Once you arrive at Willow Lake, visit the Salmon Berry Tours tent for good company, hot food served all day, race information and friendly faces. Our private tents are there just for our group – warm up with some hula hooping or ask a guide to take you out snowshoes to get a look further down the race trail. Once all the mushers have gotten on their way, we head to Talkeetna for our cabin stay after an exciting day on Willow Lake. (Breakfast, 2nd Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included)

Rainy Pass Lodge is an official Iditarod Checkpoint! Enjoy the amazing bush plane flight north from Anchorage, with a great view of the city before leaving it behind for pure wilderness. Fly over mountains, valleys, distant glaciers, and the Iditarod Trail on your way to land on the lake. The ski plane will land you right in front of the lodge, where you will immediately see the Iditarod volunteers in action. Spend the morning watching and learning as mushers come through the checkpoint, booty their dogs, get vet checks, sign autographs, and move on down the trail! Today is hosted by your guide who will set up “camp” with hot drinks, snacks, provide lunch hosted by our friends at Rainy Pass Lodge! (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included)

This morning, check out of your Talkeetna accommodations and join us for a breakfast fit for mushers at the iconic Talkeetna Roadhouse. Following breakfast, experience Alaska’s official state sport, but this popular activity is a unique and unforgettable “mushing school” experience at Dallas Seavey Racing, the only 6 time Iditarod Champion kennel!

Every set of two guests will share a traditional sled and dog team of Alaskan huskies for the 10-kilometer mini-expedition! There will be a lead musher guiding and a tail musher following for quality, safety, and comfort during your ride through the private, birch tree-lined trails. For the first half of your ride, you will guide your four-legged team through a snow-capped boreal forest with complete winter silence except for the occasional sound of excited barking, paws pounding, and the sled’s runners gliding across the snow. Take a break for photo opportunities with your dog team as they bask in the sun, and to trade places from driving in a standing position to riding in the seated sled position. Continue our adventures after the sled dog ride & hop aboard the iconic Alaska Railroad to the Golden Heart City of Fairbanks, Alaska!

The Aurora Winter Train is a single-story railcar offering comfortable assigned seating with large windows. This 8-hour rail tour is a full day and an absolutely beautiful way to spend the day! A dining car is available to enjoy meals, and your local guide will provide lunch & dinner vouchers. Along the route, a rail guide will be on board, pointing out interesting features of the towns and landscape. Keep an eye out for moose, caribou, eagles, and other animals seen along the tracks! Upon arrival in Fairbanks, your local guide will pick you up at the Fairbanks Rail Depot. (Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner Included)

Today check out the 2027 BP World Championship Ice Art on display at Ice Park. Your local guide in Fairbanks will pick you up from your hotel to bring you to the Ice Park to enjoy an ice carving demonstration, a tour through the ice carvings, time on your own at the Ice Park, and complimentary warm beverages from your local guide. We go to the ice park in the late afternoon to enjoy the beauty of the park, with colorful lights accenting the details of the ice the artist worked tirelessly to create. The activities continue with a private Aurora viewing  tour at a cabin outside town to marvel at the beauty of the aurora borealis with our friends at Aurora Bear. The best part of this aurora viewing tour? Not only is it private but if you need to warm up, feel free to take a guided snowshoe walk with our hosts and their canine companions! (Breakfast & Dinner Included)

Sleep late today because it will be a late night of aurora viewing with a visit to the Chena Hot Springs Resort! Once at Chena Hot Springs, you will tour the ice hotel and have time to swim/soak in the rock pool. Tonight is our farewell dinner & private aurora viewing. Enjoy an exclusive evening with local Alaskans, living off the grid! Your hosts and their canine companions open their home to you 25 miles from Fairbanks and the city lights. Enjoy the silence, remoteness and get a good glimpse of off-grid living. No matter if you sit in front of the huge panoramic windows from the comfort of the cabin or head outside to search for aurora under the porch swing, this will be a special evening. There will be a variety of delicious food served to you throughout the evening. (Breakfast & Dinner Included)

Farewell from Alaska today! Take the hotel courtesy shuttle to the Fairbanks International Airport in time for your departure flight home. (Breakfast Included)