Drive from Fairbanks to Washington State

[booklover12]

Has anyone driven from Fairbanks to Washington? Looking for cost to drive, rental car information, and hotels along the way. Any other tips?

[dustyroad]

i have not read of anyone doing that. it will be a very long drive that will take you in a very round-about-way too get too seattle. i am envious that you can take that kind of vacation. im sure it will be lovely and well worth the time and money. are you going to rent a rv or just take a car ?? good luck in your hunt for information.

[Pssunshinegal]

Can't help you but we drove the Al-Can from Healy to Vancouver, WA Christmas 2005. We made it in five days (of course this was winter, so it may have taken longer). Gas was expensive. We stayed at little hotels along the way and had to plug in the truck because of freezing temps at night. We paid less than $100 US a night. It was a beautiful interesting trip and one I hope to do again in the summer when I can spend more time on the route. We drove two days without seeing another car. This trip was not for lightweights.

[Yukon]

I've done it a few times over the years. You're looking at about 40 hours of behind-the-wheel time. I've heard that there are companies who will do one-way rentals but can't tell you who they are - it's certainly not common. One-way RV rentals in the Spring are easy to find as companies move rigs up for the season.

[PennyAgain]

You can't drive straight south if that is what you are thinking. You have to drive the long way around.

[mapleleaves]

Is this a leisurely scenic trip or a get from Point A to Point B trip? taking the ferry at any point? A car rental will include a pricey one-way drop off fee. You can find that cost on-line easily enough. As for the cost of hotels along the way, how can anyone tell you that when you don't specify which route you're taking? Many many people take this trip with RV's in the summer from as far away as Florida so it's certainly do-able.

Have you done any research? Go to a bookstore and get a copy of the Alaska Milepost. It provides a few different itineraries for you to consider and several maps. It will also tell you the milepost of number of any gas station, lodging, scenic viewpoint, restaurant,etc along the way.

[booklover12]

Thanks for all your help. We haven't done any research or even looked at a map. Thanks for the information on getting the Alaska Milepost. I will definitely look into that. We are cruising on the Princess Coral on July 30th and disembarking at Whittier. We are then going on a 4 day land tour and ending up at Fairbanks. We can fly home from there but my husband and I love to do road trips. We like to stop and look when we want to. I'm even not too sure about doing the princess land tour, but we are going to be with some other people so it just makes it easier. It's just the two of us driving home and we are planning about 4-5 days to get home, driving 8-10 hours a day. We would prefer to drive a car and as long as there are gas stations and stores along the way we can handle it.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this and would like to know what you thought about the drive.

[Yukon]

I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this and would like to know what you thought about the drive.

 

You can see a few dozen photos and commentary from some of my trips along the Alaska Highway part of the route (1200 miles of it) at http://AlcanPhotos.com/

[booklover12]

Thanks Yukon for the website. Your pictures and information are great.

[Budget Queen]

. We are then going on a 4 day land tour and ending up at Fairbanks. We can fly home from there but my husband and I love to do road trips. We like to stop and look when we want to. I'm even not too sure about doing the princess land tour, but we are going to be with some other people so it just makes it easier. It's just the two of us driving home and we are planning about 4-5 days to get home, driving 8-10 hours a day. We would prefer to drive a car and as long as there are gas stations and stores along the way we can handle it.

I'm just wondering if anyone else has done this and would like to know what you thought about the drive.

 

Frankly with your traveling style, you are making a big mistake taking a cruisetour, which is the MOST restrictive mode of traveling Alaska, which misses plenty. Only my touring priority, but I never, do any "touring" that I don't want to, or that is lacking.

 

I would suggest you take advantge of ALASKA, and add a couple weeks, so you can redo your cruisetour, then drive home.

[tetleytea]

IMHO this is a the-more-the-merrier type thing. I'd hate to drive the AlCan just the two of us. We need a big massive CruiseCritic RV caravan doing this. At the Whitehorse stop everyone stays at Yukon's house, of course.

 

Whitehorse is a modest town, but after a trip like that I'm sure it takes on a new mysterious golden glow, angel chorus singing "aaaah" in the background,.... I thought it was worth a day's visiting when I was there. You gain a new appreciation for certain tourist attractions Whitehorse has...like Subway...Walmart....

[Yukon]

IMHO this is a the-more-the-merrier type thing. I'd hate to drive the AlCan just the two of us. We need a big massive CruiseCritic RV caravan doing this. At the Whitehorse stop everyone stays at Yukon's house, of course.

 

We can park a dozen or so rigs in front of the house - come on down :)

 

Whitehorse is a modest town, but after a trip like that I'm sure it takes on a new mysterious golden glow, angel chorus singing "aaaah" in the background,.... I thought it was worth a day's visiting when I was there. You gain a new appreciation for certain tourist attractions Whitehorse has...like Subway...Walmart....

 

I've never been in the wilderness for THAT long! :D

[PennyAgain]

IMHO this is a the-more-the-merrier type thing. I'd hate to drive the AlCan just the two of us. We need a big massive CruiseCritic RV caravan doing this. At the Whitehorse stop everyone stays at Yukon's house, of course.

 

Whitehorse is a modest town, but after a trip like that I'm sure it takes on a new mysterious golden glow, angel chorus singing "aaaah" in the background,.... I thought it was worth a day's visiting when I was there. You gain a new appreciation for certain tourist attractions Whitehorse has...like Subway...Walmart....

 

However, my RV of choice is a Subaru. Small, relatively cheap and handy.