The glacier-carved landscape of Alaska is home to some extraordinary wildlife. In the summer months the salmon run attracts its most famous, albeit reclusive, resident: the brown bear, which will sit watchfully beside the brooks and weirs, or wade into the water, to catch its fill.

You should see breaching whales and whole rafts of sea otters, soaring eagles and vultures drying their wings in the sun. Home to the largest national park in the United States, the area is a haven for some of the nation's most iconic animals.

Alaska also has a rich history with former frontier towns boasting impressive stories of fortunes made and lost, and famous local characters that could easily have featured in a Hollywood Western.

The days here are changeable; you can wake in the morning to torrential rain, and by lunchtime be soaking up the sun as you ride your mountain bike across a glacier. But the climate is temperate, and you are in a rainforest, so the overall impression is one of lush green vegetation interspersed with glaciers, rather than one of snow and ice.