Virgin Voyages' guide to Haines, Alaska
Haines is where Alaska pulls everything back — and turns everything up. Fewer crowds, wider horizons, and wilderness that doesn’t compete for your attention… it just has it. This is space to breathe, roam, and take it all in.
Wild, Quiet, Wide Open
Haines doesn’t try to impress you. It doesn’t need to. You feel it the second you step off the ship.
The air’s sharper. Cleaner. Like it’s been waiting for you. Mountains rise without warning, straight out of the water — thick with timber, still holding onto snow. And long before any of us arrived, this place already had a story.
And then there’s the quiet. Not empty. Not still. Alive. Water moving through the Chilkat Valley. Wind pushing through the trees. Wings overhead — because this is one of the few places on Earth where bald eagles don’t just pass through… they gather. Thousands of them. Watching. Waiting. Owning the sky like it’s theirs.
Haines runs on its own rhythm. No rush. No noise. No need to keep up with anything except where your feet take you next. One minute, you’re tracing the edge of a river that looks like it was carved yesterday. The next, you’re deep in the forest, where the ground softens. The air cools. Everything around you becomes a little more real.
This isn’t Alaska turned up for visitors. This is Alaska, exactly as it is. Unfiltered. Uncrowded. Wide open in a way that’s hard to find — and even harder to forget.
Shore Excursions
Where The Wild Takes Over
Big landscapes. Bigger moments. No holding back.
Haines Whales & Lighthouse Tales
Cruise Lynn Canal aboard the Fjordland catamaran from the Haines dock. See waterfalls, eagles, sea lions, and humpback whales up close. Visit historic and picturesque Eldred Rock Lighthouse, an octagonal lighthouse that was first lit in 1906 and the oldest remaining lighthouse in Alaska. As we navigate the shoreline around the island of the lighthouse you will hear tales of the shipwrecks and get up close views of harbor seals basking on the rocks and nesting sea birds playing in the surf.
Alaskan Wilderness UTV Tour
Explore Alaska’s beauty on a guided UTV adventure. Drive through the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve and enjoy stunning river valley views before arriving at the trail. After a safety briefing, follow your guide for approximately 12 miles along a wilderness road that winds deep into the countryside. Keep an eye out for wildlife! You will cross over Little Salmon Creek before climbing to a series of panoramic viewpoints. After descending back to the staging area, enjoy a relaxing picnic-style lunch.
Wilderness Odyssey by Jet Boat
Experience a half-day jet boat adventure in Alaska’s Chilkat River Valley. On board your specially designed, shallow draft jet boat, glide through the many channels of the glacially fed Chilkat River and into the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. Your naturalist guides will share fascinating insights into the region’s ecology, geology, and wildlife behavior. Afterwards, relax with a riverside lunch and hot beverage.
More Shore Things for your wishlist...
We have even more in our curated catalog.
Haines is home to one of the largest bald eagle gatherings on Earth
Each fall, thousands fill the Chilkat Valley — wild, loud, unforgettable.
It feels like something you’re still in. The mountains soften into the distance. The water stretches wider. And for a moment, everything slows just enough to take it in one more time. You start replaying it all.
The kind of quiet you don’t hear everywhere anymore — deep, real, and everywhere at once. The river moving through the valley. The wind through the trees. Eagles overhead, circling like they own the sky. Then the movement comes back. Heading deeper into the wild. Climbing higher for those wide-open views.
Skimming across the river with nothing but mountains, water, and raw Alaska in every direction. Moments that didn’t need much — just your full attention.
Then, the flavors linger just a bit longer, too. Fresh halibut. Something warm from the oven. A meal that hit exactly right after a day this big. A table, a view — and that rare feeling there was nowhere else you needed to be.
Long after the shoreline slips away, part of you is still there — somewhere between the river, the ridgelines, and that wide-open stillness that quieted everything else.
Set Sail the Virgin Way
Set sail the Virgin way and find a new approach to cruise vacations. Select a cruise itinerary and let's sail.
