Juneau to Sitka: Ferry, Flights and What to Know Before You Go

Stand on the waterfront in Juneau and the question comes quickly: Sitka sits on the far side of Baranof Island, and no road links the two towns. The short answer is that you go by sea or by air. The Alaska Marine Highway ferry connects them, and Alaska Airlines serves Sitka’s airport, which sits on a causeway.

How do you get from Juneau to Sitka?

You get from Juneau to Sitka by water or by air, because Sitka is reached only by air and by sea. Juneau is no different: it is not completely accessible by car either, which is why the two towns are tied together by ferry lines and flight paths rather than a highway. Both ends of the trip ask you to plan transportation early.

By ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway

The Alaska Marine Highway System runs year-round service for passengers and vehicles to Sitka, and Juneau is one of its regional hubs. The Southeast mainline routes link the two towns: one runs from Bellingham through Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines, Skagway and Sitka, and another runs from Ketchikan through Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, Haines and Skagway.

That means a sailing is a trip through the islands rather than a hop. Mainline vessels serve the larger communities, so you travel the way the region has always moved, with the coastline of Southeast Alaska passing outside the window. If you bring a vehicle, the ferry is the way to do it, since the system carries passengers and vehicles to Sitka.

To pick a sailing, the system offers a Sailing Calendar that shows ferry schedules in a monthly view. You can sort it by month, port or vessel, and clicking any entry opens the full schedule in a pop-up window. Arrivals appear in plain text and departures in bold, which is worth knowing before you read a row.

By air from Juneau to Sitka

Sitka Rocky Gutierrez Airport has a single terminal with a jetway, and Alaska Airlines operates air service there year-round. Juneau International Airport is just 10 minutes from downtown Juneau, so the airport leg on the Juneau side is a short one. Alaska Airlines also offers year-round daily jet service to Juneau from Seattle and Anchorage, which helps if you are building a longer trip around the two towns.

The airport itself is part of the experience of arriving. It is named after Sitka’s former mayor Rocky Gutierrez, and its one paved runway sits on a causeway that juts off Japonski Island. You land with water on both sides, which is a fitting first look at a town that can only be reached by air and sea.

Which options are there?

There are two options for the trip itself, the ferry and the flight, plus a few connecting services that matter once you are in either town.

Choosing the ferry

The ferry suits travelers who want to see Southeast Alaska from the water, and anyone who needs to bring a vehicle along. Most communities in Southeast Alaska receive year-round ferry service, with mainline vessels serving the larger towns and day boats supplying regularly scheduled service to smaller ones. Scheduled routes out of Juneau include Angoon, Haines, Kake, Pelican, Tenakee and Skagway, so the same port can start several different trips.

Riders can also use regional hubs in Ketchikan, Juneau, Whittier or Homer, combining one or more vessels to reach a final destination. If your plans stretch beyond Sitka, that hub system is how a longer chain of sailings gets built.

If the Sailing Calendar does not answer your question, the Sailing Search tool lets you enter a port and a travel date. The Colored Schedule Grids show a region or a vessel by month and display the entire sailing route, and you can sort them by month or schedule.

Choosing the flight

The flight suits travelers who are building a trip around Alaska Airlines connections, since the carrier serves both Juneau and Sitka year-round. Juneau sits close to its airport, and Sitka’s airport has one terminal, so there is little to navigate on either end. A traveler flying into Juneau from Seattle, where the nonstop takes about 2.5 hours, can continue to Sitka without leaving the Alaska Airlines network.

Delta Airlines provides seasonal service to Juneau, and Alaska Airlines runs a seasonal summer route between Juneau and Gustavus for Glacier Bay. Neither goes to Sitka, but both can shape how you arrive in Juneau or what you add to the trip.

What should you know before you travel from Juneau to Sitka?

Know that the ferry runs year-round to Sitka, that the schedule tools do the real work, and that Sitka’s town services follow their own hours once you arrive. A few details about the Alaska Marine Highway are also worth having in mind if your plans reach beyond Southeast Alaska.

Reading the ferry schedule

Start with the Sailing Calendar if you like to see a whole month at a glance. Sort by port to isolate Juneau and Sitka, or by vessel if you are following one ship. A click on any entry opens its full schedule, so you can see the stops along the route rather than only the endpoints.

Use the Colored Schedule Grids when you want the bigger picture of a region or a vessel across a month. Remember that arrivals are plain text and departures are bold, in both the calendar and the grids. Reading them the wrong way round is an easy mistake to make on a first try.

The network is large. The Alaska Marine Highway ferries cover 3,500 miles of coastline and serve over 30 communities from Bellingham, WA to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Chain. Prince Rupert is not part of the picture for the proposed winter 2026/27 schedule, which will not travel there.

Once you arrive in Sitka

Sitka is on Baranof Island, and the town runs its own local bus, the Ride, on three lines named Green, Red and Blue. It does not run on New Year’s Day, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Alaska Day, Thanksgiving Day or Christmas Day. Cruise passengers arriving at Old Sitka Dock have a free shuttle bus to Harrigan Centennial Hall in downtown Sitka.

Fortress of the Bear is one stop to plan around, since its hours change between summer and winter. The table gives both seasons, so you can match a visit to the day you land.

Good to know before you go

Plan the transportation early on both ends, since neither Juneau nor Sitka can be reached by road in full. The ferry and Alaska Airlines both run year-round to Sitka, so the choice rests on whether you want the water route or the air route. Sitka’s bus stops on a handful of holidays, and Fortress of the Bear keeps shorter winter hours, so match your plans to the day you arrive.