Our tour guide Tom was full of knowledge and very pleasant to get to know. He quizzed us on information that he gave us about the state of Alaska trivia. Overall it was a wonderful trip trip. The weather in Ke this day was just awesome. A+ read more

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The booth at berth 4 in Ketchikan says Bears and Saxman village. We went to Harring Cove and saw an adult ale black bear, no fish. The driver passed by Saxman Village, the largest totem collection, twice. Instead we went to Potlatch Torem Park. It was packed with buses. We found out that the other totems parks, like Saxman, charge the bus company $5 per person and Potlatch is free. Also Bight Totem Park does not allow this company in any longer. False advertising and a rip off read more

They lied about where we were going. Bus leaked all over us (air conditioning) took us to the side of the road to see bears and different totem park than promised. This is a money grab stay away read more

Northern Tours - Water for bears - Tours Near Me

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DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY. They take you to 3 small areas for 5 mins each. These places are filled with tourists. You have no chance at seeing any wildlife. This was a total cash grab for Northern Tours LLC. The owners/promoters of this company know that you will not see Bears/Wildlife at these stops. We shouldve walked through Ketchikan instead. read more

Given a brochure and sold a tour during shoulder season for Saxman Village and Wildlife viewing. Told tour leaves at 9. Waited on bus an extra hour for the owner to intercept additional bus loads of tourists to peddle the tour package ($75 each). Once loaded, the bus driver told us the owner was sending us all somewhere different. Avoid this at all costs! The owner will waste the short time you have in Port and be dishonest. read more

Had a fantastic tour guide. Tour of the city and Creek street was so neat! Tyler showed us a great time and gave us some delicious recipes for cooking salmon. Can't wait to visit Ketchikan again soon!! read more

Super fun experience!!! Had a great time and saw several bears as well as beautiful scenery. Ask for Tyler, he was super knowledgeable and friendly. Overall, and awesome tour and awesome guide. 10/10 thank you!! read more

This was a very interesting and informative tour and our tour guide Albert was fantastic especially since he is a native Alaskan and put his personal touch on many places. We covered a lot of are in the 2 hours and saw many things the only downside was not spotted any bears. Those tour is a must especially if like me you only had a half day in Ketchikan. read more

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We were on the White Trolley Bus, We had a blast Our Driver had Us laughing from the time We boarded the Bus until We left the Bus. It was one of the best Tours I have ever been on, We saw lots of Animals Eagles and Bears Our Driver made sure We seen everything We possibly could See. At the Totem Pole park Our Driver had Us laughing with the story of the shame pole, If You have the opportunity to take this tour I would highly recommend it I just wish I could remember the Drivers name read more

Rosie did a fantastic job with our tour. Her knowledge of the area made our excursion a wonderful experience.

Great tour led by Jeff! We didn't see any bears, but if you demand to see bears, go to the zoo. Lots of history about totem poles, as well as stories behind some of the poles. Also, a bit of info about the forest, the salmon, the natives, and other Alaska things. We did see several bald eagles. read more

we didn't have anything planned in Ketchikan so we caught this tour in town. Our tour guide Corey was amazing! He was very funny and knowledgeable of the area. We would recommend this tour and Corey as your tour guid. read more

Cool little tour. Ben the bear specialist took the tides into consideration before we left. It was a small group which was perfect. We had two bear sightings. One came as close as 70' His stories of the poles were good too. Thanks Ben read more

Northern Tours - Tours Near Me

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It was a rainy day in Ketchikan, but we were determined to take in the sights. Come to find out, it rains about 300 days out of the year in Ketchikan. Our tour guide, Hal, was a native of Alaska and seemed very knowledgeable. He narrated throughout and was a good source of information. They advertise that they cannot guarantee you will see wildlife, but Hal was determined. The tour consisted of a scenic, nine mile coastal drive to Herring Bay. We had so many in our group that we had a tour van to ourselves and were able to make many stops along the way. We saw numerous bald eagles and even got to set our sights on a bear. It was kind of surreal standing there as a bear went waltzing by down to the watering hole. We got a brief history lesson on totem poles and stopped at the Saxman Native Village. Regular price for the tour is $54 per person, but they offer a healthy discount for large groups. We were able to partake for $40 a piece. The only knock here would be that the brochure says binoculars and umbrellas are provided. It's a good thing we had our own binoculars, as none were available. Hal did have plenty of umbrellas though. All in all, it was a great experience and worth every penny. read more

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They are right there at the port if you arrive by cruise ship. I did not prebook anything for Ketchikan whatsoever. I walked by them and they offered me the 2.5 hour trolley tour for $50. i then asked about a further discount and for cash I got it down to $45. I probably could have tried lower but I felt $45 was fair. I think I got a good deal considering from reviews that were in 2013 that people spent $50 and that was discounted. The trolleys came with blankets for everyone and umbrellas. I don't remember there being binoculars as I brought my own. The trolley is more like an opened bus. It's not the most comfortable but was good enough. I did see a few bald eagles in the distance, salmon in the creeks (hard to see though), 2 seals in the distance (although the driver didn't stop...she just pointed out that she sees a couple of seals), and 1 bear cub eating grass from a distance. Many of the reviews for this company are mixed on Tripadvisor and on Yelp. I could sort of understand why based on expectations. Their display poster and brochures show up close pictures of animals. I knew you wouldn't see wildlife that up close and they don't specify that they guarantee wildlife. I personally just wanted to take this tour because they stopped at Herring Cove where you have a decent chance of seeing bears. Because I planned my cruise last minute, all the car rentals were sold out and there is no public bus which takes you to Herring Cove. I believe if I took a taxi each way it would have cost a total of maybe $45-$60. I treated this tour more as a cheaper way of getting to Herring Cove as there is no public bus that takes you strictly to the Cove. The 4 workers I met at their little booth were friendly, genuine, interesting, and very helpful. I really enjoyed talking to them. The trolley driver was a wealth of information. She was more of a driver than a guide but if you asked her any question, she would tell you. The tour is also more like 1.5--2 hours which was fine with me again for the price. It was plenty of time to see 1 bear. I saw a bear cub eating grass. Wasn't particularly exciting but I got to see a bear. Again for my purposes the company did what I wanted. The only thing I wish that they did differently was to actually do a stop where the seals were. We just drove past it so that was a bit annoying. read more

You will NOT likely see a bear, as in the photo for this tour. What you will see is about 10 touring vehicles stopped along the side of the road where fishermen are on one side of the road but not allowed on the other. The "other side" has 400 tourists HOPING to see a bear come down out of the woods to catch a fish or two. Our tour guide was from Hollywood, California, and only comes to Alaska for the tourist season; otherwise he lives in Hollywood and does tours there the remainder of the year. Tourists asked him questions, and I really doubted the validity of his information. eg, "How long does a totem pole last?" "It depends. Some of them have been around for many years and then others they take down and replace." Another example, "What are totem poles made of?" "Uh... Pines!" (A simple search on Google tells us red cedar.) Not worth the $54/person we paid! read more

We originally planned to see the sights on Ketchikan on our own. But, we passed by the booth for this tour and saw that the tour promoted included both what we had already planned on (the Saxman native village) plus a drive through town and the chance to see wildlife. They were offering an end of season discount so we paid $35 each figuring that we'd do what we originally planned plus some. Unfortunately what we were told and what the brochure said were not the same as was the bus driver was told was on the tour. Our main interest was the Saxman native village, which on this particular tour consisted of the driver pulling over and pointing at it from across the road. We ended up having to spend extra money to go see what we originally wanted to. When we called the company after to register our frustration, they didn't seem to care. Wish we had skipped this one! read more

This tour is the biggest waste of money and the company should be ashamed of how deceitful they are. They will tell you, "The salmon were swimming yesterday and we saw so many bears yesterday". Somehow the wildlife is always out "yesterday" but not the day of your tour. Save yourself $60 per person and look elsewhere. When we got off our cruise ship, we were approached by a gentleman selling this event and describing it as a wildlife tour. In the 2-3 hours we spent, we spent the first half looking at totem poles which we had no interest in, which for clarity, we were never told was part of the tour. Then the next half, we went into what looked like someone's backyard to view salmon and bears... and there were none. If what draws bears is salmon, wouldn't you come when the tide is high and salmon are around? At the time we went, the stream/river was little more than a trickle. We literally saw no wildlife on this tour. read more

Awful lying company who claims 3 hour tour but only delivers 2. Our driver was inexperienced and ignorant of Alaska history or culture. We didnt see any bears or up close wildlife but then again reviews on different sites show this is the norm. You will see fish a few hundred feet away and a bird in a tree. Thats it. Management agreed with us that our tour was awful and promised to refund us. Instead they later sent us a letter claiming our tour was more valuable than we paid and therefore they wont be doing anything for us. We had one day in ketchikan while we cruised alaska and its a shame we wasted it with this company. read more

I've been working with Nils and Diane from Northern Tours for 3 years now. Each year I organize 8 summer tours, each with approximately 30 travelers, and I know they are in good hands. Nils and Diane are super friendly, helpful and well experinced. after 3 years of workign together and more than 700 happy travelers I want to thank Northern Tours for their great work, and no doubt we will meet again next summer! Rod Silverstein Target Tours Tel Aviv, Israel read more

I ask "how much?" The lady at the booth near the first store off the Cruise boat goes on and on about what the tour is all about. She says its the last 2 seats. I ask again for the price. She finally says $50. I ask "each or total?" She says total. She charged us $100. There were so many overweight people, it was hard to get by them to the back of the trolley. We had to sit separately. (If sum of the fat peeps lost weight, they cud sell more seats & health insurance wub be cheaper) On the last leg of the trip, we moved to sit together as one fat family hogged up the whole back side where one of us was sitting. So we both sit together on the other back side "bench" style seat and another lady complains where are they gonna sit? The tour was ok. Got to see a bald eagle, a few fish jumping around, and a bear in the distance. The trolley looked better than the other tour company buses but it was uncomfortable. The plexi-glass was out on one side of the trolley near the back so it was cold. read more