Just 48 miles south of Anchorage, the one-hour Portage Glacier Cruise aboard the 80-foot mv Ptarmigan is hands down the easiest glacier-up-close experience in Alaska. The purpose-built boat motors across a drifting iceberg-dotted lake to within 300 yards of the face of Portage Glacier — close enough to hear the ice groan, crack, and occasionally calve into the water in a thunderous roar. The cabin is heated and wrapped in floor-to-ceiling glass, and there's an open-air deck up top when you want to feel the glacier breeze on your face and smell the clean ice-cold air.

A U.S. Forest Service ranger narrates the entire trip, weaving in geology, wildlife, and the story of how Portage Valley was reshaped by the 1964 earthquake. Sailings leave five times a day (10:30, 12:00, 1:30, 3:00, and 4:30) from mid-May through mid-September, so you can easily pair the cruise with a drive along Turnagain Arm — one of the most beautiful stretches of road in America — and a stop at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center just down the highway. Watch for Dall sheep and beluga whales along the drive in. Perfect for travelers short on time who still want that big glacier moment for the scrapbook.