Quick answer: Yes, Sitka is worth it, and it’s easy to do yourself. Ships dock at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal outside town, and a free shuttle (Virgin Voyages runs one) takes about 10 minutes to Harrigan Centennial Hall downtown. From there everything is walkable: the Russian Orthodox cathedral, the harbour, great bars and food, and the free Sitka National Historical Park with its totem poles.
“We’ve already had a moose fart. Apparently there’s a gopher one too.”
That pretty much sums up Sitka. Before our Brilliant Lady sailing in May 2026, it was the Alaska port we knew least about. So we booked one thing, left the rest of the day open and hoped for the best. It could have gone very well or been an absolute disaster.
What we got was a haunted bar crawl through venues we’d never have walked into on our own, four hundred years of Russian, Tlingit and fishing history, a national park full of totem poles a 15-minute walk from town, and roughly every animal in Alaska available as a cocktail. Here’s how the port works, what we booked, where we ate, and what we’d do differently.
Watch our day in Sitka
Getting from the ship into Sitka
Brilliant Lady docked at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, which is out of town. There’s a small area by the pier with a few food options and some shops if you just want some fresh air. For everything else, you need to get into downtown.
Virgin Voyages runs a complimentary shuttle from the terminal to Harrigan Centennial Hall in downtown Sitka. We were told it was a 30-minute drive. It’s actually about 10 minutes (the bloke who told us had no idea either!). The coaches are a squeeze, though. My knees can confirm.
On the way in, look out for Mount Edgecumbe. It’s a dormant volcano shaped very much like Mount Fuji, and it last erupted around 4,000 years ago. In 1974, a local man hauled old tyres into the crater and set fire to them as an April Fool’s joke, which briefly convinced half the town the volcano was active again.
Centennial Hall: your base for the day
The shuttle drops you at Harrigan Centennial Hall. It’s the hub for the ship shuttles, and it’s where cruise line excursions pick up too, so it’s worth getting your bearings here.
Top tip: ask at the information desk inside. A really friendly guy gave us a map and showed us exactly what was within walking distance, including the Raptor Center and the totem pole park on the other side of town. If you’re after something free to do, start here.
Everything downtown is walkable from the drop-off. The Russian Orthodox cathedral is about a two-minute walk away, and there are plenty of shops for stickers, souvenirs and, in my case, a new pair of socks. Two days of Alaska port walking had already taken their toll.
Local food tip: our guide told us locally caught halibut and chips is a Sitka speciality. If you’re a Brit missing fish and chips, that’s your one.
The Haunted Sitka bar crawl
The one thing we did book was the Haunted Sitka tour, run by Dr Emily. It’s four venues, with a drink in each, plus the stories behind them. Dr Emily says she’s pieced the stories together from local news archives.
What really impressed me wasn’t the ghosts, though. It was the sheer sense of community. Every venue Dr Emily has picked is a true linchpin of the town, and each shows a different side of Sitka’s history, heritage and community life.
Stop 1: The Moose Lodge
This sounds like a joke, but it’s a genuine international fraternal order with lodges all over the world, and this one has been a pillar of the community for decades. The walls are covered in licence plates from across America, alongside local memorabilia, stuffed animals and artefacts.
You’re handed a scavenger hunt, which I think is genius because it makes you actually take in all the detail. The drink here was a “moose fart”, made with peanut butter and Kahlúa. Then we headed upstairs to the old community dance hall for our first tale: a wartime story of lost love. Some say you can still hear dancing upstairs and find wet footprints on the floorboards.
Stop 2: Sitka’s Russian past
Between bars, Dr Emily walked us through downtown and explained how Sitka became the capital of Russian America in 1808. Russia ran its North American empire from here, stretching as far south as Northern California.
To hold on to it, they built a wall. On one side was New Archangel, Russian Orthodox and fortified with cannons. On the other was the Tlingit village. A church was built into the wall with two doors, one for Tlingit worshippers and one for the Russian priest. You can still see the remains of that dividing line in the graveyard, along with a surviving stretch of the original boardwalk. It’s not the most dramatic monument, but it shows how much history has moved on here.
Stop 3: The Pioneer Bar
The Pioneer Bar, known locally as the “P-Bar”, is a genuine fisherman’s bar. Its walls are coated in decades of photos of crews, boats, catches and faces (some not exactly broadcast-safe!). If the graveyard tells you what happened in Sitka, the Pioneer Bar tells you what it became: a fishing community that happens to get cruise ships in summer, not the other way round.
Stop 4: Ernie’s Old Time Saloon
We finished at Ernie’s with a duck fart, a layered shot. The original was created in Anchorage in 1987, but Ernie’s will tell you theirs is the best in Alaska, and four bars in, we weren’t going to argue. Basically, if an animal lives in Alaska, there’s a “fart” named after it that you can drink in Sitka.
How to book: you can book direct at hauntedsitka.com. On days when Virgin Voyages is in port, though, Virgin has exclusive access, and booking through Virgin also gets you a drink at every stop rather than just one. It’s the same tour either way, and we highly recommend it.
Lunch at Mean Queen
We needed food, and found Mean Queen, a gay-friendly bar and restaurant overlooking the harbour that does pizza and wings. I was very tempted by a burger. Then I spotted buffalo wings with house-made blue cheese dressing, and that was that. Buffalo sauce just doesn’t taste the same back in the UK, so whenever we see it on an American menu, we’re in.
The best bit? The wings are gluten-free, which is rare, so Phil could have them too. Sadly, that meant I had to share. Add strong cocktails and a stunning view over the harbour, and it was a genuine 10 out of 10, one of the best meals we had in Alaska. If you’re in Sitka, have lunch at Mean Queen.
Sitka National Historical Park and the totem poles
We’d left it a bit late, with about an hour and a half before our shuttle, but the totem pole park is only a 10 to 15-minute walk from Centennial Hall. Follow the path along the waterfront and stay on it, and you can’t get lost. (If anyone could, it’d be me.)
Sitka National Historical Park is free. It covers 113 acres, with totem poles along a loop trail through the forest. Many of the poles were collected from Tlingit and Haida villages in the early 1900s. It’s a lovely, peaceful coastal walk and an easy way to see some of the region’s Indigenous heritage.
As for wildlife, we could hear eagles overhead the whole time and saw one in the distance, and there were seals and whales out in the sound. But after five days in Alaska, the closest we’d got to an animal was a squirrel eating a pine cone. We were thrilled.
The Alaska Raptor Center is right next to the park if you want to see eagles and falcons up close. We ran out of day for it, so it’s top of the list next time.
What else to do in Sitka
- Whale watching and boat tours leave from the harbour.
- The Alaska Raptor Center, walkable from town.
- Shops, cafés and coffee spots are all around Centennial Hall.
What to pack
Take a waterproof! The day before in Ketchikan was glorious, so we didn’t dress for rain in Sitka, and it drizzled most of the day. It never ruined things, but we were very glad the bar crawl kept us indoors between walks.
So, is Sitka worth it?
Yes, 100%. We arrived with no plan and left having had one of our favourite days of the trip. Sitka is a really easy port to do yourself: a free shuttle, a walkable downtown and a free national park, packed with history. The Haunted Sitka tour was the highlight for us. It’s a fun, slightly boozy way to get under the skin of a real Alaskan town.
This was one stop on our Virgin Voyages Alaska trip, which started with two nights in Vancouver. The day before, we were in Ketchikan: here’s our Ketchikan port guide. Next up on our sailing was scenic cruising at Hubbard Glacier. If you’re new to Alaska, start with our first-time guide to cruising Alaska, read our full Virgin Voyages Alaska review, and see our ultimate guide to Virgin Voyages.
FAQs
Where do cruise ships dock in Sitka? Brilliant Lady docked at the Sitka Sound Cruise Terminal, outside town. Virgin Voyages runs a free shuttle to Harrigan Centennial Hall downtown, about a 10-minute drive.
Can you walk around Sitka from the shuttle drop-off? Yes. Downtown is compact. The Russian Orthodox cathedral is a two-minute walk from Centennial Hall, and Sitka National Historical Park is a 10 to 15-minute walk along the waterfront.
Is Sitka National Historical Park free? Yes, and it’s one of the best free things to do in Sitka: a peaceful loop trail with totem poles through the forest by the water.
What is the Haunted Sitka tour? A bar crawl around four of Sitka’s most historic venues, with ghost stories and local history along the way. When Virgin Voyages is in port, Virgin has exclusive access and you get a drink at every stop.
Where can you eat gluten-free in Sitka? Mean Queen, overlooking the harbour, does gluten-free buffalo wings. It was one of the best meals of our Alaska trip.
Plan it with us
Phil and I are award-winning travel specialists and Virgin Voyages First Mates, and we’d love to help you plan your Alaska cruise. Book Virgin Voyages with us and you’ll get our bonus Sailor Loot as a thank you. Call 07307 602030, email hello@magical-traveller.com or get in touch.