Juneau Food Tours “A Tour with Taste” Review
Juneau Food Tours “A Tour with Taste” is a must do tour in Juneau for foodies! This is the only tour I know of like this in Alaska, and it’s exceptional. Anyone who loves food will love this tour along with anyone who makes a special effort to seek out unique and authentic hyper local experiences when traveling.
I lived in Alaska for many years and have spent a lot of time in Juneau, but my June 2023 visit was my first time doing this tour. I had the owner, Midgi, as a guest on my podcast this spring (Episode 17) and I knew I had to experience this for myself.
I loved everything about it, from the wonderful and unique food and drink tastes to our fantastic local guide who provided lots of extra context about food and culture in Juneau. I also learned a lot about Juneau and I have spent a lot of time there, so it’s a great opportunity to learn different things about the town in addition to getting to know it’s food.
This makes for an excellent afternoon if you’re on a cruise ship visiting Juneau, and if you’re lucky enough to be visiting Juneau for several days on your own, this is a great introduction to Juneau’s food! I highly recommend doing this on the first day of your trip. That way, you’ll have time to go back to anything you want to and you’ll also be able to decide if you want to try something different.
Who is the Juneau Food Tour best for?
“A Tour with Taste”, Juneau Food Tours excellent day time tour is best for anyone who loves food, particularly seafood and authentic and unique local experiences when traveling.
It is a walking tour, so you’ll need to be able to navigate about a mile and a half of slow paced walking throughout the tour (with plenty of rest opportunities in between stops).
I would not recommend this tour for anyone who doesn’t like seafood, since many (not all) of the tastes involve seafood, it’s probably not for you if you don’t want to eat it.
Where does the Juneau Food Tour start?
The tour starts at the Fisherman’s Memorial, which is near the base of the Goldbelt Tram and near the cruise ship docks. When you book they will give you more details about where to meet.
The Juneau Food tour will take you around downtown Juneau from there.
What to expect on the Juneau Food Tour
How much food will I be eating?
Over the course of the entire tour, I felt like the amount of food we had was just perfect. There was always room for the next thing, but I was never hungry! At the end of the tour I felt like the food served was equivalent to a good lunch.
On the tour we had everything from fudge to crab and from local beer to smoked salmon and even salsa with kelp in it. If you’re feeling skeptical, you gotta try it, it was amazing. I had no idea how wonderful and nutritious it would be and now I’m addicted to kelp salsa!
How much walking is involved?
Over the whole 2.5 hour Juneau Food Tour, there is about a mile and a half of walking. It’s all walking on sidewalks or boardwalks with no hills (a big deal since Juneau is very hilly!). The walking is spread out throughout the tour so you never walk far in between stops.
What if I have dietary restrictions?
If you have dietary restrictions, it’s critical to let them know at the time of booking. It’s also really important to realize that the tastes are all set based on Juneau Food Tours work to find the very best local foods for you to experience and this includes a lot of seafood. If you don’t eat seafood, I don’t recommend this tour (and they don’t either).
They will do their best to accommodate dietary restrictions as long as they know in advance and they will let you know if they can’t accommodate them.
What if I don’t drink alcohol?
There are a couple of alcoholic drink tastes as part of the tour. If you don’t drink alcohol, or if you’re traveling with minors, they will provide another drink for you at those stops.
On the tour I did, there were two teenagers and they had soda options at each stop where alcohol was served instead. By the way, they both really loved the tour!
What to wear for the Juneau Food Tour?
You can really wear anything that you’re comfortable standing, walking and eating in. Over the course of the tour, you’ll be going to six or seven different places and do about a mile and a half of mellow paced walking outside. This tour will happen no matter what the weather is, so make sure to wear (or at least bring) a rain jacket or umbrella. Waterproof footwear isn’t necessary but is helpful if you want to make sure your feet stay dry.
Costs and Booking
Juneau Food Tours is available on some cruise ships and if it’s available on your ship you can book there. You can also book directly through their website. The cost is $129 and the tour is about two and a half hours long.
They have other tours as well, including a combo food and jeep tour and an evening “Prohibition Progressive Tour”. I haven’t been on those personally, but I would not hesitate to go on them or recommend them with this fantastic local company in Juneau.
