Whittier
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Details
Whittier, Alaska — where it all begins
Embarkation · Gateway to Prince William Sound
Your cruise starts in one of the odder towns in America, and I mean that as a compliment. Whittier sits at the head of a fjord in Prince William Sound, hemmed in by mountains and waterfalls on every side. The U.S. Army built it during World War II as a secret, ice-free port with a tunnel drilled straight through the mountains — and the town never really let go of that Cold War bones-and-concrete character.
Here's the part people don't believe until they see it: most of Whittier's roughly 270 residents live in a single 14-story building, Begich Towers. School, post office, grocery, police station — all under one roof. Locals call it "the town under one roof," and it's earned. Just up the hill sits the Buckner Building, a massive abandoned WWII barracks slowly losing to the weather. And the weather here is committed: Whittier is one of the wettest places in the country, so pack a good rain shell and treat a clear day as a gift.
The way in is half the story. The only road into Whittier runs through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel — 2.5 miles of single lane bored through the Chugach Mountains, shared by cars and the Alaska Railroad, with traffic alternating direction on a schedule. It's the longest tunnel of its kind in North America. You drive through a mountain, on train tracks, in the dark, and come out the other side at the edge of the sea. Not a bad opening act.
Port Info
Schedule
Start Time
Jun 10 8:30PM AKDT