Guide · Into the air

Juneau flight tours: helicopter or floatplane, and why it matters

Juneau flight tours split into two families: helicopters that set you down on the ice, and floatplanes that cover more glaciers from the air and land on water. Here is how to choose.

Check availabilityfrom $429 · no cancellation fee

Editorial team, juneau-helicopter-tours.comUpdated October 17, 2026read in 6 minutes11 sources

The tour this guide is about Juneau helicopter glacier landing tour 4.9 (49 reviews) 2.5 hoursAbout 25 minutes on Herbert GlacierPickup from your ship or hotel from$429per person Check availabilityFree cancellation until 3 days before start

The difference in brief

01Helicopter: Lands on a glacier: about 25 minutes on Herbert Glacier, from $429.
02Floatplane: Five glaciers in 40 minutes from downtown, from $383.
03Floatplane and meal: A landing on the Taku River for a salmon meal, about 3 hours.
04Booking terms: Floatplanes: pay later, cancel up to 24 hours ahead; helicopters: cancel up to 3 days ahead.
05Where they leave from: Floatplanes from the downtown waterfront, helicopters near the airport.¹

Two ways to see the icefield from above

Travel Juneau sums up the choice for Juneau flight tours: helicopter, fixed-wing and floatplane tours all show you the Juneau Icefield, and if you want the glaciers up close you should look for a tour that touches down on the ice.² That one line contains the whole decision. Do you want to stand on a glacier, or see as many glaciers as possible?

A helicopter can land on the ice, and a helicopter tour is built around a walk on a glacier. A floatplane lands on water, and a floatplane tour gives you a longer view of the icefield from the window and, on some trips, a landing on a river or lake. Both cross the same mountains and the same rainforest, and on a clear day both are spectacular.

Thousands of visitors take helicopter or fixed-wing flightseeing tours each year; neither choice is exotic.³ The differences that matter are practical: where you board, how long you are in the air, what you do on the ground, what it costs and how flexible the booking is.

A floatplane morning

The 5-glacier flight, step by step

Check-in

Merchants Wharf

The check-in office is in the blue Merchants Wharf building downtown.
Boarding

A de Havilland Otter

A classic floatplane takes off from the downtown seaplane base.¹
In the air

Five glaciers

Norris, Hole-in-the-Wall, East Twin, West Twin and Taku.
Narration

Headsets on

The pilot's commentary comes through narrated headsets.
Back

Downtown again

The whole flight lasts 40 minutes.

Helicopter flights from Juneau, Alaska

Helicopter flights from Juneau, Alaska start near the airport rather than downtown. On the landing tour sold on this site, a van brings you about 15 minutes to Juneau International Airport, where a safety briefing comes first, then about 15 minutes of flying over the Tongass National Forest to Herbert Glacier. You spend 25 minutes on the ice with your pilot as guide before flying back.

With pickup, the outing takes 2.5 hours and starts from $429, rated 4.90 from 49 reviews. If you want more than a short stop, the helicopter offers longer formats: dog sledding on the ice from $709, or a dog camp with a second landing for a glacier walk from $839.

The helicopter's strength is the landing itself. Standing on a glacier, hearing the ice and looking into a meltwater pool is something no window seat can give you. Its trade-off is a short flight, about 15 minutes each way, with most of the outing spent getting to the airport and back.

Length of the outing

Hours from start to finish

hours

Total length as each GetYourGuide listing states it; the 5-glacier floatplane loop takes 40 minutes.

Side by side

Helicopter and floatplane compared

Feature	Helicopter landing	5-glacier floatplane
Leaves from	Juneau International Airport	Downtown seaplane base
Time in the air	About 15 min each way	40 min
Lands on ice	Yes, about 25 min	No
Price	from $429	from $383
Cancellation	Free up to 3 days ahead	Free up to 24 hours ahead
Pay later	Not listed	Yes

From the two GetYourGuide listings.

Three flights

Land, loop or lunch

Lands on ice

Helicopter landing

A walk on Herbert Glacier

Price: from $429
Length: 2.5 hrs
Rating: 4.90

See flight times

Juneau: 5-Glacier Flightseeing Discovery by Seaplane

Quickest

5-glacier floatplane

From the downtown waterfront

Price: from $383
Length: 40 min
Rating: 4.95

See flight times

Juneau: Taku Glacier Lodge 5-Glacier Flight & Feast

With a meal

Taku Lodge flight

Floatplane and salmon meal

Price: from $532
Length: 3 hrs
Rating: 4.89

See flight times

Decision helper

Helicopter or floatplane?

Decide by the moment you want

Helicopter

About 25 minutes on Herbert Glacier.

Floatplane loop

Five glaciers in 40 minutes.

Floatplane

Pay later and cancel up to 24 hours ahead.

Taku Lodge flight

A salmon meal at Taku Glacier Lodge, about 3 hours.

Pack Creek flight

6 hours, private or small groups.

Choose from a variety of helicopter, fixed-wing, and float plane tours that provide awe-inspiring views of the Juneau Icefield and beyond. If you want to explore glaciers up close, look for tours that touch down on the ice.

Travel JuneauSource 2

Floatplanes from the downtown waterfront

Floatplane trips leave from the heart of town. Wings Airways flies classic de Havilland Otter floatplanes from the downtown seaplane base, and it is based in the blue Merchants Wharf at the head of the harbor.¹ ⁴ If your day starts downtown, you board where you already are.

The 5-glacier flight lasts 40 minutes and passes the Norris, Hole-in-the-Wall, East Twin, West Twin and Taku glaciers, with narrated headsets. Its starting price is $383, and 19 reviews give it 4.95. Wings Airways says every seat on its route is a window seat.⁵

The longer version lands on the Taku River at Taku Glacier Lodge for salmon grilled over an open fire, with an optional nature walk after the meal; it takes about 3 hours and starts from $532. Travel Juneau calls the Taku the thickest glacier in the world, at 4,845 feet.⁶ It is a leisurely way to spend time near the ice without walking on it, and the meal makes it feel like a proper day out rather than a quick flight.

Checklist

Before any flight

Check

Starting times against your ship's schedule
The cancellation deadline of your listing
Where you board: downtown or the airport

Bring

A warm layer, even for a short flight
A camera with a wrist strap
Sunglasses for the glare off the ice

Cost calculator

Flights for your party

Enter how many are flying and compare the totals.

Floatplane loop40 minfrom $383 Helicopter landing2.5 hrsfrom $429 Taku Lodge flight3 hrsfrom $532 Bear viewing flight6 hrsfrom $1,600

People 2

Total from$766

pp from $383

Check availabilityfree cancellation

GetYourGuide from-prices, converted with the ECB reference rate. The exact figure comes at checkout.

Video

The five-glacier floatplane flight and the Taku Lodge meal

The video starts loading once you tap play.

Further afield by floatplane

Floatplanes also open routes a helicopter tour does not cover. The Norris Adventure flies a six-passenger floatplane to a lake fed by the Norris Glacier, continues by single-person packraft and ends with a glacier walk in micro-spikes. It takes 5 hours, starts from $851 and needs at least 4 guests to run.

For wildlife rather than ice, a floatplane takes you to Pack Creek for a day of bear viewing. The listing runs 6 hours, starts from $1,600 and offers private or small groups. It is a different kind of day from a glacier flight, and a reminder that a floatplane is transport as much as sightseeing here.

These longer trips need a full day and a fair amount of mobility. The Norris trip asks guests to climb in and out of the floatplane and hike over uneven ground. Check the requirements of any trip that combines a flight with walking or paddling before you book.

Safety and weather, both ways

Both kinds of aircraft fly under the federal rules for commercial air tours. Before take-off every passenger must be briefed on seatbelts, the smoking ban and how to open the exits.⁷ On air tours over water beyond the shoreline, occupants wear life preservers from before take-off until the flight is no longer over water, with exceptions written into the rule.⁸

Weather affects both. The 5-glacier floatplane listing promises a full refund if Wings Airways cancels the tour for weather, and wildlife sightings are not guaranteed. Helicopters over snow face their own hazard: flat light, which comes with overcast skies and hides the shape of the terrain.⁹ ¹⁰

In practice, plan both the same way. Book an early slot, leave a gap after it, and keep a ground plan for a gray morning. Juneau's rain is part of the deal: July in downtown Juneau brings 13 days of 2.5 mm or more, on average.¹¹

Which flight suits which traveler

First-time visitors who dream of walking on a glacier should take the helicopter. The landing is the moment the whole outing is built around, and even a stop of about 25 minutes on Herbert Glacier gives you time to walk, take photos and look up the valley toward the plateau. Families with children who love animals can add a dog camp and turn the flight into a half day on the ice.

Photographers and anyone who wants to understand the icefield as a whole may prefer the floatplane. Five glaciers in one flight is a lot of ice, and the narration explains what you are looking at as you go. Wings Airways says every seat is a window seat.⁵ Travelers who are uneasy about stepping onto ice, or who move with difficulty, also find the floatplane the easier option: you stay seated from take-off to landing.

Couples or small groups with a free day and a taste for effort can go further. The Norris Adventure combines the floatplane with a paddle and a glacier walk, and the Taku Lodge trip adds a long meal by the river. If your time in Juneau is a single port call, though, keep it simple: one flight, booked early, with a margin before you have to be back on board.

Booking terms compared

The booking terms differ more than you might expect. Both floatplane listings let you reserve now and pay later, and both allow free cancellation up to 24 hours before. That flexibility helps if your port times are not yet fixed.

The helicopter listings on this site allow free cancellation up to 3 days in advance, so you have to commit earlier. In exchange, pickup from the cruise terminal or from hotels near the airport is included on the helicopter tours.

Whichever you choose, check the starting times for your date on the listing and compare them with your ship's schedule. A floatplane leaves from downtown and needs less transfer time; a helicopter tour needs the drive to the airport and the briefing, which together take a good part of the 2.5 hours.

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