Which is better: Glacier landing in Denali or Juneau

[debinnh]

We are trying to pick our excursions to determine if it is worth purchasing the Great Alaskan Toursaver discount book. Which glacier landing is better, the one in Denali (from Princess Mt McKinnley lodge) or one from Juneau while on the cruise portion? Also if we want to do a Glacier treck, is that only in Juneau? How about dog sledding on a glacier, not on a wheeled sled? Which place is best? We are doing our land/cruise in late June.

[Budget Queen]

My preference is a helicopter glacier landing out of Juneau. I have gone with Coastal the most. As for a ski plane- depends on your flying experience but there are more trips out of Talkeetna, I also WOULD not cut into your Denali Park touring is you don't have the Tundra Wilderness tour???? You can glacier trekk 2 hours northeast of Anchorage- if you have transportation and time?? Otherwise Juneau with Northstar Trekking is the top vender. AND yes, glacier dog sledding consistantly gets raves. Consider this trip out of Skagway or Seward if you are don't more than one flight??? There are also McKinley summit flights which are my clear preference and I have done all the others at McKinley too including the ski plane landings. Just my opinion. :)

[Budget Queen]

Looking up your tour- you are on 3-south? Again- I would NOT do flightseeing at Denali Park and would definately at all costs attempt to upgrade your tour. You are 2 days at the McKinley lodge- this is the place to do your flightseeing, not at Denali Park. You are 50 miles from Talkeetna but plan and take their shuttle bus and book a flight there, plenty of venders and wonderful tours to consider. There is little else to do at the lodge and if McKinley is not viewable- usually not- then head to Talkeetna. A great town to spend time in.

[debinnh]

BQ your advice is always desired and appreciated! I am hoping I can upgrade the Denali tour we get as part of the package, if we have time. The tour right now is the lamest one, (history tour) I think. I went with the package because hotels are already booked up in some places and I won't have a car so was worried about how to get from the train to hotels, ship, tours, etc. Plus my DH wanted to enjoy the scenery without worrying about a rental car and driving etc. I chose the "packaged" tour that had the least amount of pre-planned tours for the amount of time we have. I have contacted Capt Larry about a price for a whale watch followed by a glacier trek in Juneau. I thought that looked the best of all the excursions for what we were looking for. Our 20th anniversary is the day we are at Mt McKinnley lodge, so I want to celebrate by doing the summit flight.

 

Do you think I will get my money's worth by getting the Alaskan Toursaver?

[Budget Queen]

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Do you think I will get my money's worth by getting the Alaskan Toursaver?

 

 

 

Probably not. You don't have a lot of time to use it except for the flight?

 

I think your husband has a skewed idea of how driving in Alaska really is. Actually VERY relaxing, simple 2 lane roads, plenty of pull offs, easy driving, no hair pin turns- excellent well paved roads, mostly consistant 55mph driving. Frankly for an anniversary- I wouldn't want to be with group fixed travel. My opinion only. If you so desire- there is PLENTY of help on this board that will fine tune your desires for this trip- including some great scenery- a great trip into Denali Park (don't settle for this definate "lame" and useless Natural History tour) etc. Do you really want to spend 100 miles on a shuttle bus on your anniversary??? I'm just thinking how I would want it- sorry. :)