Is this a realistic itenerary?

Is this itenerary do able? Also if anyone has any other ideas or places to stay please let me know.

Day 1Arrive in Seward take the bus to Anchorage. Pick up rental car spend the night in Anchorage.

Day 2 Drive to Denali, stopping along the way to see places of interest. Spend the night in Healy.

Day 3 Do a bus tour of Denali. Spend the night in Healy

Day 4 Head to Fairbanks, stopping along the way to see places of interest and explore Fairbanks. Spend the night in Fairbanks.

Day 5 Maybe take a tour of the Artic Circle or explore Fairbanks some more. Spend the night in Fairbanks.

Day 6 Drive to Glennallen, stopping to see places of interest along the way. Spend the night in Glennallen.

Day 7 Drive to Anchorage, stopping along the way to see places of interest. Spend the night in Anchorage,

Day 8 Explore Anchorage. Turn rental car in and fly home either the 28th or 29th.

On Day 3: be sure and use the shuttle, not a "tour". Same roads, same views, much cheaper. https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

On Day 7: I'd recommend a hike on the Matanuska Glacier: https://micaguides.com/

totally do-able ! and I agree with AKStaffford's comments.

A couple of additional thoughts … If you're taking the direct transfer you reach Anchorage before noon. Since you didn't mention any plans to sightsee in Anchorage, why not pick up the car and go? Talkeetna is only about 125 miles north so you could still stop for any sights and be in town for diner.

I love the Richardson Hwy drive !! Such beautiful scenery.

We've had great moose sightings between Denali and Fairbanks (grazing along the hwy), and again along the Richardson Hwy (usually in the ponds by the hwy).

Be sure to stop at Big Delta Historical PArk to see Rikka's Roadhouse. Interesting displays.

http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/deltajct/bigdelta.htm

If you don't have an Alaska Milepost, order an old edition off Amazon … great resource.

These are from the web site but the book is much more detailed.

https://www.themilepost.com/highways/richardson-highway/

https://www.themilepost.com/highways/glenn-highway-tok-cutoff/

Have a great trip !

Certainly a realistic itinerary.

But just a few comments -- if you don't want to backtrack off the George Parks Hwy to and from Talkeetna, then consider staying at the McKinley View Princess (you don't have to be on a Princess cruise tour to stay there). I almost always have odd things happen regarding food at the McKinley View Princess, so we check out before breakfast and head down to Mary's McKinley View roadhouse for a hearty breakfast.

Depending on road construction, the drive from Healy to Fairbanks usually takes a little longer than two hours. So it would be easy to stop at the Museum of the North (if of interest) as you head into Fairbanks. On Day 5 another idea is to drive the Chena Hot Springs road to the hot springs itself.

On Day 7, if the weather is great, a quick visit to Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine State Historical Park is another consideration.

I'd certainly recommend adding another day. Alaska has multiple stops to consider that can really take a lot of time. You are not taking advantage of being in Seawrd? Certainly a gem. With the current plan, I would be leaving there in the evening, and at the least, take advantage of some superb touring opportunities.

There is nothing in Glenallen, so consider the Matanuska guided trekking mentioned and stay closer to there. Then time to add Hatcher Pass/Independence Mine etc before heading back to Anchorage.

As mentioned, do a Denali Shuttle bus to at least Eielson.

Have you posted or researched on Trip Advisor? A lot of information for exploring Alaska by land on the Anchorage forum for the surrounding areas.

Totally agree w all the posts. Just remember that drives in AK can take longer than you think they will as most of the roads are 2 lanes and there are lots of RVs. Also, they have to do all of their road construction in AK during the summer so you are likely to encounter construction delays.

DON

Quite doable - we did some of those journeys on our recent tour. In hindsight I would have tweaked a couple of things.

I would agree that you might like to get as far as Talkeetna on the first day rather than stay in Anchorage. If you decide to stay in Anchorage, Talkeetna certainly is somewhere to visit on the way up to Denali (due to my poor navigation just at the point of some roadworks we missed the turnoff on the way up). A meal at the Talkeetna Roadhouse is a great reason to visit.

We are not used to long journeys so in hindsight I would not have done the shuttle into Denali the day after two long travelling days which included the 24 hour journey to get to Alaska and then the longish drive up to Denali.

We should have some fresh air and done hiking and rafting on the day we arrived and then on the second day we should have taken the shuttle to Wonder Lake.

We did not go up to Fairbanks. On our trip we went to Matanuska directly from Denali. It was a pleasant journey. We called in to Talkeetna on our way down, set off for Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine but just did not feel we would make it to the Mine and then get to our cabin before the few restaurants in the area closed. I know that we missed a treat.

We did have a big treat though when we did the guided hike on the glacier. There were people accessing the glacier without a guide but they really could not go far without the equipment the guides give you. I really would recommend it. I am nearly 60 and only 6 months prior I fell and broke both arms. I was perhaps a little wary during the hike, but it really was not that hard. Opening and closing the balcony door on the ship required more effort!!