Skagway is a gold-rush town preserved in amber, seven blocks of 1898 storefronts wedged into a fjord, and it exists on most itineraries for one headline reason: the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad. The vintage narrow-gauge climbs nearly 3,000 feet in twenty miles, tracing the cliff route where forty thousand stampeders hauled their required ton of goods toward the Klondike.

Sit on the left side going up for the drop-side views, and book the earliest departure; morning light fills the pass and the afternoon trains sell out first on busy days. Back in town, the National Park Service walking tour is free and better than it needs to be, and the Red Onion Saloon pours history with the beer.

If the schedule allows only one splurge in Alaska, this railway and Juneau whale watching are the two locked in a permanent tie.