Train or Car in Skagway?

[rayliang]

hi all

 

is it actually better do do the train or just a van at Skagway? Or would it actually make more sense to rent a car?

 

This is our first Alaska Trip. Me, my wife (who's pregnant), my parents, and my 3 yr old.

[LeftcoastBC]

YOU "HAVE" to do the train ...... :D really there is no sense going there if you don't.

 

PS if Canadian a car rental is a no go.

[Laurie7]

We did the train a few years back and it was beautiful. Granted our weather was really good so we had great views. The only thing that was bothersome was that we had to cross into Canada for just a few minutes; we had to produce our passports and were all inspected on the train before we were allowed to get off and go board our bus for the ride back down. Other than that great trip!

[DougH]

There is no real right answer to this, but here is my opinion. If this will be your only trip to Alaska do the train/bus combo to see the most. If you plan on another visit I'd do the train first and then on the next trip rent a car for the drive into the Yukon. If cost is a major factor rent the car, its by far the best value for your $$$

[GoVikes]

We did the train up/van down trip last summer. Stunning views! The nice thing on the train is that everyone in your group can enjoy the view, as opposed to one of you being focused on driving a rental car. :)

[rayliang]

awesome thank you all.

 

Seems like everyone will do Train up Van down... does anyone do the reverse? or I don't need to worry about crowd?

[dustyroad]

there are wonderful advantages to driving yourself up the mt. but the traffic can be heavy so the driver might not get much looking done while keeping his eyes on the road. my vacation is built around letting someone else do the driving for me so i can set back , relax and enjoy the scenery. i also want too be on the lookout all the time for wildlife and waterfalls. but everyone is different so it is hard too tell which is best for you. good luck and have a great time.

[Jen1000]

I did the train and while I enjoyed it I don't call it a must do.

 

If you do a tour, look at Chilkoot with the train/coach/lunch/dog cart optional combo. That is the one we did and if your 3 year old likes dogs, the dog cart will be a highlight. Everyone in your group does not need to book the dog cart (pregnant wife won't want to do it because it is bumpy). Everyone on our tour did not do the dog cart. Our group of 7 and another family with a little girl did the dog cart. The others walked around Caribou Crossing while we did the dog cart. It was a lot of fun, highlight of the day.

 

One good thing about your own car is stopping when the 3 year old wants out. The little girl on our trip (probably about 4) was very good but I know many kids are not that good on a tour.

 

Jen in SoCal

 

hi all

 

is it actually better do do the train or just a van at Skagway? Or would it actually make more sense to rent a car?

 

This is our first Alaska Trip. Me, my wife (who's pregnant), my parents, and my 3 yr old.

[hexdragon]

Hmmm, let's do some math

Train:

You - $125

Your wife $125

Your parents - $250

The Child - ???

That's $500 to start with :eek:

 

Rental car:

You - $150

Everyone else - FREE....

 

If someone sees something cool, you can pull over to look at it too.... ;)

[Cbears]

We rented a van in Skagway from Avis. Very nice riding, roomy Toyota Sienna. We saw three bears and a moose on our drive. We were able to pull over, roll down windows for pictures, back up or turn around as needed and watch for as long as we wanted. Busses pulled over briefly if at all. Hardly any car traffic on the beautiful saturday we were there in late May this year.

We found a beautiful place to picnic (Emerald Lake is just a big gravel pullout full of busses and cars so we went a little further for some privacy).

It was definitely the best and cheapest (a van is $170 for 5 people) "excursion" of our trip.

[EatPrayCruise]

As stated, it's really all a matter of opinion on which is "best". We did the train (not into Canada) two years ago and we rented a car last week when we were there. We felt that not only was the car the best value for our money, but we felt it was just plain better overall for us as well.

 

The train was only ok for us the last time:

 

The narration was nice.

 

On our ride a lot of folks talked over the narrator and the mixture of loud voices became somewhat irritating at times.

 

The seats became very uncomfortable after awhile. I'm attaching a photo...

 

You couldn't get up and stretch your legs.

 

I think that they gave you a bottle of water and a snack perhaps but other than that, you couldn't really pack a lunch for the family.

 

We are not difficult to please, but we just enjoyed the car ride much more. As others have mentioned, you can stop when you'd like for photos and to stretch your legs, etc. The train doesn't do that of course. :mad: The traffic was a little heavy going up at first (we got our car at about 8:30am after about a 1/2 hour wait in line) but a lot of the buses and RVs in front of us stopped for photo opportunities so the line in front of us whittled down within about 20 minutes I would say.

 

It was suggested by the Avis folks (at the suggestion of a previous rental customer) that it might be wise to drive up without stopping at the areas clogged by buses and RVs and stop at those spots on the way back down. This way you get by some of those larger vehicles and kind of get ahead of the pack so to speak. Not that this is a race of any type, but so that your drive/speed is not regulated by all of the vehicles on the road in front of you.

 

Make sure that you take your passports if you rent a car as you will go through Canadian Customs on the way up and US Customs on the way back. Oh, yes, and we bought Murray's Guide which was extremely helpful and inexpensive at $5.00 (and I think he updates it twice a year?). His guide can be found at murrays guide dot com. We just bought some pop and snacks from the grocery store in town instead of stopping at the limited places for food. (Murray's guide tells you where to find the grocery store, restaurants, potty stops, etc.) At this point we were just about "eaten out" so to say - plenty of food on the ship so we were certainly not hungry other than for some pretzels. We ate lunch on the ship after we had gotten back from our drive/hiking/shopping.

 

Again, both the train and the car rental are great options. Your selection might be based on cost and/or the comfort and freedom that best fits your family/group. Either option is beautiful no matter how you slice it!

[tampafish]

My kids were older (5 and 8) when we were in Skagway and we chose for monetary (and sanity) reasons to drive. It was great! We enjoyed stopping where we wanted to, walking around a bit, throwing the football to get out some energy, singing, etc. You can't do that in the train. I know better than to expect my kids to be able to act like adults and be happy sitting for that long. So driving was definitely the better option for us. We especially liked stopping at Bove Island where they collected and played with rocks for 30 minutes and in Carcross we walked around and took some pics of the Carcross Desert which we used for a project for school last year.

 

I would think with one pregnant person and 3 year old that I'd personally rent a car and then switch off drivers, but to each his own. The view is breathtaking and ever changing so whatever way you go it's going to be fun. I would just think about what would be better for your 3 yo, because there is nothing worse as a parent as your child having a bad day and a train car full of adults giving you "the look" because your child isn't being perfect. Too much pressure for me personally!

[VicKen]

We just got back and we booked with Dyea Dave - it was a 20 passenger bus. We had the option of staying with him both ways or taking the train one way. We chose to stay with Dyea Dave and were not sorry. We stopped many time for photos and twice for bears along the road - great pictures. He also takes you up to Emerald Lake which is spectacular!! The road goes basically the same route as the train - just the other side of the ravine. We got some great pictures of the train going over the falls. Dyea Dave charged us 69 pp for 7 hours (we paid for our own lunch) and he was very informative and entertaining.

[bermuda_fm]

I just got off the Infinity today. Renting the car from Sourdough (they were great, even though budget queen gave them a bad review) was the best thing we did. For $80 plus $30 in gas we had the best time. Picked up the car at 7:30am dropped it off at 4pm. Scenery was fantastic, with clear blue sky's, we even stopped on highway with a bear for about 20 minutes.

 

I have done the train before, this was a much better choice.

[pattyj 1204]

Can't wait for our Alaskan cruise. Glad for the reminder to get the new update for the Murry's guide that we got in the winter. Should have waited to print it out, but that is water under the bridge. We have a car reserved and am happy to see good reviews of this option. Thanks to all for sharing.

[CP3o]

hi all

 

is it actually better do do the train or just a van at Skagway? Or would it actually make more sense to rent a car?

 

This is our first Alaska Trip. Me, my wife (who's pregnant), my parents, and my 3 yr old.

 

Just in case you are new to cruising, wanted to point out this restriction. Had a friend who thought it was crazy, did not go on cruise with others b/c of the restriction, ended up having a premee a week before the cruise. (He's fine but it would have been bad had he been born without neonatal service.)

 

ps Pregnant women need to pee frequently so a car might be nice for that and I've read train can be bumpy and cause motion sickness but generally gets good reviews.

 

 

Pregnancy and Cruising

 

We have recently reviewed our pregnancy policy in light of current medical research on gestation risks and infant mortality outside of specialised neonatal intensive care units. As a result, pregnant women are only allowed to sail if pregnant for 24 weeks or less at the date of cruise disembarkation. All pregnant women are required to produce a doctor or midwife's letter stating that mother and baby are in good health, fit to travel and that the pregnancy is not high risk. The letter must also include the estimated date of delivery (EDD) calculated from both Last Menstrual Period (LMP) and ultrasound (if performed).

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/answer/before_you_leave/ready.jsp

[rayliang]

holy cow

 

thanks for the Pregnant Woman policy thing

[fleckle]

hi all

 

is it actually better do do the train or just a van at Skagway? Or would it actually make more sense to rent a car?

 

This is our first Alaska Trip. Me, my wife (who's pregnant), my parents, and my 3 yr old.

Do all the adults in your party want to ride the train?

 

If not, a very easy compromise is to rent a minivan and have the train riders book the train one-way from Skagway to Fraser.

The adult non-train-rider takes photos of them as they board the train in Skagway, and then drives the van up to Fraser and waits at the Fraser train station for the train to arrive.

 

(The road trip to Fraser is much faster than the train ride. The 3 yr old would probably be better off in the van. There is plenty of time to make stops along the way on the drive up to Fraser and still arrive there long before the train does.)

 

The train riders get off at Fraser and into the van. Then everyone continues together in the van on the drive up to Emerald Lake and back.

 

Another recommendation here for Murray's Guide. It describes everything to see and do along the way, mile by mile.

 

By the way, if you have at least 2 drivers in your party, the original driver can still get the train ride if desired by checking the train schedule and catching a southbound train at the Fraser station on the way back.

 

The only disadvantage to doing that is needing to get back to Fraser at a specific time, whereas otherwise you are free to spend the day stopping when and where you wish at your leisure with no time constraints at all (other than being back on board before your ship leaves).

[InternetAgeTraveler]

For the group you have, the rental is a good option. The 3 year will enjoy the train for a bit, but its pretty much the same just better scenery as you go, and 3 years typically don't notice that. Just sitting is okay, but getting out on one of the ends to look is better, not sure how into this your group might be. With the rental, you can make your schedule. Regular stops to keep the 3 year old from getting too restless and no bother at nap time. Of course, you will need a car seat.

 

Some folks really do enjoy the train as a bit of history, but there are a lot of pictures / videos out there to give you a feel for it. As noted, there is the option to book a one way (up or back) and let some of the group do that. The good news is that with 4 plus the toddler, you can probably get by without a van and just do a standard. As mentioned, there are bus combo's as well which is an option, as well as many things to do in the general Skagway area without doing either.

 

We have done both and had good experiences on both, the train/bus was a good introduction, but the rental car and going further into Yukon was one of our favorites.

 

You will need passports for the adults and birth certificate for the 3 yr old if you do any train/bus excursion except the round trip train.

 

pictures from both in this photo collection

http://www.flickr.com/photos/roseoftexas/collections/72157601829385443/

[iluvcruzin]

I'm going to echo the suggestion of the car rental. The 4 of us rented from Avis the end of May. I downloaded Murray's guide to my ebook reader and one person was our "tour guide" announcing all the stops along the way. We didn't have traffic as others mentioned. The rental was about $113 which includes tax. Add the cost of gas and it's more reasonable than the train. We were going to do the afternoon train but opted out after we saw that we were basically following the same route as the train.

[rayliang]

Just in case you are new to cruising, wanted to point out this restriction. Had a friend who thought it was crazy, did not go on cruise with others b/c of the restriction, ended up having a premee a week before the cruise. (He's fine but it would have been bad had he been born without neonatal service.)

 

ps Pregnant women need to pee frequently so a car might be nice for that and I've read train can be bumpy and cause motion sickness but generally gets good reviews.

 

 

Pregnancy and Cruising

 

We have recently reviewed our pregnancy policy in light of current medical research on gestation risks and infant mortality outside of specialised neonatal intensive care units. As a result, pregnant women are only allowed to sail if pregnant for 24 weeks or less at the date of cruise disembarkation. All pregnant women are required to produce a doctor or midwife's letter stating that mother and baby are in good health, fit to travel and that the pregnancy is not high risk. The letter must also include the estimated date of delivery (EDD) calculated from both Last Menstrual Period (LMP) and ultrasound (if performed).

 

http://www.princess.com/learn/answer/before_you_leave/ready.jsp

 

thanks a ton on this heads up CP3o. I have now switch to a cruise 2 weeks earlier :)

 

And I'll be getting a car afterall.

[misha1]

For those who drove this highway, is this mountainous with hairpin curves? I don't do well on those types of car trips so I want to be forewarned.

[InternetAgeTraveler]

For those who drove this highway, is this mountainous with hairpin curves? I don't do well on those types of car trips so I want to be forewarned.

No, not really that type of mountain pass. The start from Skagway is pretty gradual and yes, a few turns but not windy turns. There is a steep climb as you approach the summit but only a few turns here as well and large sweeping ones, not sharp windy ones. There are also several places to stop for pictures (either going or returning depending if you want to let the buses get ahead of you which we did or you want to beat them). Once you crest the summit, the other side is at higher elevation and not much down at all and pretty mild driving.

[happylady]

We rented a car from Avis a week ago. The drive wasn't hard at all and we really enjoyed it. We were able to stop when we wanted and how long we wanted. When we arrived at the Carcross Trading Post, the buses had already left and we were alone with one other group, also with a rental car.

 

I have a problem when I'm driving over a bridge. I drove most of the way from Carcross back to the summit. At one point, I had to pull over and let my DH take over. :o Around the summit was the only area that I was uncomfortable driving.

 

The views are breathtaking and well worth the drive.

 

(There is a city bus shuttle that picks up very close to the ship and their first drop is at the corner where the Avis office is located. I think the cost was around $2.00 per person.)

[dodger1964]

trying to decide if we want to rent a car/jeep or take the train....do u know if the train ride and the road go a similar route?

 

I usually just rent a car to give us maximum flexibility, but sometimes, if the views are much better, we will use train in places like this.

 

thanks for any insights.