Juneau

Currency

Juneau charges a 5% city sales tax where the rest of Alaska charges none, and summer prices reflect a town of 32,000 people receiving up to 16,000 cruise passengers in a day. Everything is cheaper in the shoulder weeks of May and September.

ATMs & cards

Bank machines downtown near the docks. Prices are high and cards work everywhere, but carry some cash for the smaller charter operators and the shuttle drivers.

Juneau is the Alaskan exception that does charge a 5% city sales tax, and summer prices are set for a town receiving up to 16,000 cruise passengers a day.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

A safe, small town where the hazards are entirely natural: bears on the trails, unpredictable coastal weather, and cold water that will incapacitate in minutes. The Mendenhall river valley floods from a glacier-dammed lake most summers, sometimes seriously. Cruise days are the other thing to plan around — five ships and up to 16,000 passengers can land in a day, with a 12,000 cap on Saturdays, so Saturday is the calmest day downtown.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date

Getting treated

The care is excellent and the bill is the risk. There is no universal system, an ambulance ride alone can run into four figures, and an uninsured hospital stay can be genuinely ruinous. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is essential — this is the one destination where skipping it can cost more than the trip by an order of magnitude.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

Halibut, salmon, spot prawns and Dungeness crab, at their best from a place that buys off the boats rather than one on the dock aimed at the two-hour visitor. The Alaskan Brewing Company is here and is better than the souvenir cans suggest.

Getting around

• There is no road in or out — you arrive by plane or by ferry, and that fact shapes everything about the place
• Alaska Marine Highway — the state ferry through the Inside Passage, slow and one of the great boat journeys
• Capital Transit — the city bus runs out towards the glacier for a couple of dollars
• Floatplane and helicopter — how you reach the icefield, and the reason half the visitors come
• Walking — downtown is six blocks, and cruise days fill every one of them

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 2.4× the global median of 128 Mbps. Mobile runs at 1.7× the global median of 110 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Walk to the face of the Mendenhall Glacier, or kayak to it
• Take a boat into Tracy Arm for the ice and the seals
• Ride the Mount Roberts tramway and walk the ridge
• Go out for humpbacks in Auke Bay, where they bubble-net feed
• Fly onto the icefield by helicopter and walk on it
• Take the ferry rather than the plane, at least one way

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

American English — local usage

• HelloHey / How are you doing?
• The bill, pleaseCan we get the check?
• To go, not eaten inTo go
• Fizzy drinkSoda
• The undergroundThe subway
• QueueLine
• Ground floorFirst floor
• Thank you very muchThanks so much

Religion

Christian majority, no state religion

Constitutionally separated from the state, and enormously varied by region — the south is far more observant than the coasts.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Tip 18-20% at restaurants and bars — servers are paid below minimum wage and depend on it
• Expect sales tax to be added at the till, not shown on the shelf price
• Make small talk with strangers; friendliness is genuine and not a prelude to anything
• Carry ID if you look under about 35 and intend to drink

Don't

• Do not skip the tip to make a point — take it up with the manager instead
• Do not discuss politics, guns or healthcare with strangers unless invited
• Do not stand too close; personal space is larger than in Europe or Latin America
• Do not joke about security at airports or borders