I’m really excited to interview Sara Bornstein of A Suitcase Full of Books about Juneau, Alaska. Sara’s tips for the best things to do in Juneau are awesome because she grew up in the city and returned after school. She missed the mountains and loves having hiking trails within a five-minute drive from any part of town. And when it is sunny, Juneau is beautiful and an outdoor activity lover’s paradise.
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Auke Lake reflections. Photo by Kayti Coonjohn on Unsplash.
Juneau, Alaska
We share a lot of resources and local suggestions in today’s podcast, but you should also check out Travel Juneau, the local visitor’s bureau. They are a wealth of information and can help you plan an itinerary based on your time, budget, and interests.
If you’d like to learn how to travel for free using airline miles and hotel points, check out my free 7-day email course.
Downtown Juneau. Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash.
Getting around Juneau
The local airport is Juneau International Airport (JNU), which is about a fifteen-minute drive to downtown. Use our Expedia tool below to find flight, hotel, and rental car options.
Sara says that it is difficult to get around without a vehicle. Public transportation isn’t that great, but there are rideshares (like Uber and Lyft) and taxis available. If you want to see Juneau like a local and do a lot of hiking, you’ll need a car to get to the trails. For the best offers, use our affiliate links from Avis, Budget, or Hertz.
If you sign up for a summertime tour, transportation is usually included.
Mendenhall Glacier. Photo by Rod Ramsell on Unsplash.
Places we talked about on the podcast
Here is a map of all of the places we talked about on the podcast episode with Sara about Juneau, Alaska. You can zoom into the map and click on each dot to explore the city.
- Red dots = best places to eat in Juneau, Alaska
- Green dots = best things to do in Juneau, Alaska
- Yellow dots = best places to stay in Juneau, Alaska
Who is Sara Bornstein?
Sara Bornstein is a publication specialist for the State of Alaska during the day and a travel blogger on nights and weekends. She has been writing about her travel adventures at A Suitcase Full of Books since 2015. As part of her travel adventures, Sara combines her love for travel and books by seeking out real-life destinations from books, indie bookstores, and public libraries while on vacation.
While cleaning out papers from a box labeled “Kindergarten” she found a page that asked, “When I grow up I want…” and in shaky scrawl below she’d written, “to own my own library.” Proof that from a young age, she knew that her life would center around books. However, Sara just had no idea that the world would become my library. Sara even got to live out her dream as a librarian for the Alaska State Library for almost eight years.
Here are a few articles that she’s written:
- Salem Witch Trials and Hawthorne’s House of the Seven Gables (and listen to our episode on Salem, Massachusetts)
- Was Poe Creepy, or Coping? | All 4 Edgar Allan Poe Museums Vlog
- The Mark Twain House and A Conversation with the Curator
You can connect with Sara on her website and on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Click here to download our one-page guide of Sara’s tips for Juneau.
Big thanks to today’s podcast partner – Bluffworks
This episode is brought to you, in part, by Bluffworks. Whether I’m traveling for business or pleasure, it’s important to have clothes that make me look good AND feel great. I wear Bluffworks jeans, slacks, dress shirts, and blazers because they’re wrinkle-free and are designed for the modern traveler. And if they get dirty, a quick spin in the washing machine and they’re good as new.
Save 10% with promo code “LEE”
Go to WeTravelThere.com/bluffworks and use the promo code from the image below to save 10% off your order. There are many styles to fit your needs so you can stay wrinkle-free when you travel.
Sara enjoying fresh crab legs at Tracy’s Crab Shack
Stay tuned for our next episode
Listen to the next episode when Joseph Hogue of Let’s Talk Money with Joseph Hogue shares the best things to do in Medellin, Colombia. In this episode, Joseph tells us about the Flowers Festival that has happened every year since 1957, takes us to explore Pablo Escobar’s old farm, and then we visit a museum inside a medieval Gothic-style castle. We hope you’ll join us when We Travel There.
What’s your favorite part of Juneau? Send us a Tweet, let us know in the comment section below, or continue the discussion in our Facebook group!
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To see which cities we’ve interviewed and scheduled, please visit WeTravelThere.com/map. If you’d like to be a guest on the show, please submit an application at WeTravelThere.com/guest.
Related episodes
To learn more about Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, please listen to our other episodes:
