Ketchikan to Juneau: Ferry Routes, Flights and Planning Your Trip

Standing on the waterfront in Ketchikan, with rainforest climbing straight up from the harbor and floatplanes buzzing overhead, the next question comes quickly: how do you get to Juneau? There is no road between the two towns, so the answer runs through the water or the air. The Alaska Marine Highway ferry links them along a mainline route, and flights connect through the airline network.

How do you get from Ketchikan to Juneau?

You get from Ketchikan to Juneau by ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway, or by air, since Juneau is not completely accessible by car. Neither town sits on a highway network, so the trip is always a matter of choosing a boat or a plane and planning transportation early, as Juneau’s own visitor planning advice puts it.

Ketchikan is an island community surrounded by rainforest and sea, and it is one of the regional hubs of the ferry system. Riders can reach communities through hubs in Ketchikan, Juneau, Whittier or Homer, using one or more vessels to get to a final destination. That hub role is what makes the Ketchikan to Juneau connection natural: both towns are anchors of the Southeast network.

By ferry along the mainline route

One mainline route in Southeast Alaska runs from Ketchikan to Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, Haines and Skagway. Juneau is on that list, so the ferry is a true link between the two towns, calling at other communities along the way. Another mainline route starts farther south in Bellingham, Washington, and reaches Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg, Juneau, Haines, Skagway and Sitka.

Most communities in Southeast Alaska receive year-round ferry service. Mainline vessels serve the larger communities, while day boats supply regularly scheduled service to the smaller ones.

By air through the airline network

Juneau International Airport is just 10 minutes from downtown Juneau, so a flight puts you in town quickly. Alaska Airlines offers year-round daily jet service to Juneau from Seattle and Anchorage, and Delta Airlines provides seasonal service. Seattle is Juneau’s only direct departure city in the Lower 48, and the flight from there takes about two and a half hours nonstop.

The airport itself keeps its EVAR and Airport Dike Trail open, a pleasant detail if you have time to spare before a departure.

Which options are there?

There are two options, the Alaska Marine Highway ferry and a flight, and the ferry has the most tools to help you plan. The system covers 3,500 miles of coastline and serves over 30 communities, from Bellingham, Washington, to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Chain, so Ketchikan and Juneau are two points on a very long line.

Reading the ferry schedules

The Alaska Marine Highway System offers a Sailing Calendar that shows ferry schedules in a monthly calendar. You can sort entries by month, port or vessel, and clicking any entry opens the full schedule in a pop-up window.

If the calendar does not help, the Sailing Search tool lets you enter a desired port and travel date. The Colored Schedule Grids take a different view, showing the schedule for a region or a vessel by month and displaying the entire sailing route. In the grids you can sort by month or schedule.

One reading tip applies to both the calendar and the grids: arrivals appear in plain text and departures in bold. Once you know that, a line of times becomes easy to follow, and you can see at a glance when a vessel reaches a port and when it leaves.

Ferry or flight

The ferry is a service built around the communities it connects, with mainline vessels for larger towns and day boats for smaller ones. The airline option is built around jets from Seattle and Anchorage into Juneau, with a seasonal summer route from Juneau to Gustavus for Glacier Bay as an add-on.

Smaller scheduled routes also fan out from Juneau, to Angoon, Haines, Kake, Pelican, Tenakee and Skagway, and Gustavus to Hoonah. These matter if your trip continues beyond Juneau, because the capital works as a hub for the smaller communities nearby.

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

Before you go, know that the trip depends on the ferry schedule or an airline connection, and that Juneau should be planned for early. Juneau is relatively remote, and the visitor bureau advises travelers to arrange transportation ahead rather than leave it to the last moment.

Planning around the schedule

Because most Southeast communities receive year-round ferry service, a sailing is not tied to a single season for the towns on this route. Still, the vessel and the sailing days change from month to month, which is exactly why the Sailing Calendar sorts by month, port and vessel. Check the month you plan to travel rather than assuming a pattern.

If your plans stretch toward Canada, note that the system will not travel to Prince Rupert during the proposed winter 2026/27 schedule. For a Ketchikan to Juneau trip that stays inside Alaska, this does not change anything.

Using your time in Ketchikan

Totem Bight State Historical Park and the Totem Heritage Center are places to visit, as are the Tongass Historical Museum and the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center. The Arts Humanities Council is also based in town.

Once in Juneau, the airport sits close to downtown, and the Glacier Bay summer connection to Gustavus is there if you want to continue by air. Plan the Ketchikan end and the Juneau end together, and the long stretch of water between them becomes part of the journey rather than an obstacle.

Good to know before you go

Two things are worth carrying with you: the Alaska Marine Highway’s Sailing Calendar for the ferry, and the habit of arranging Juneau transportation early. Juneau is not fully reachable by car, so the water and the air remain your two ways in, and the Sailing Search tool is there when you already know your port and date.