Anyone rented a car in Homer?

[RoupMom]

I know we won't be in Homer for very long, but I'm wondering if that's the place we might like to rent a car and go for a drive to see the scenery. Has anyone done that? Where did you go, and was it worth it? It seems it might be a nice drive north (or is it south?) to Anchor Point, then the loop which would head back to Homer. The ship tours there either don't appeal to us or are more money than we want to spend at that point.

I know lots of folks rent in Anchorage, but we're thinking of doing the more urban thing there, and the museums in Kodiak sound more intriguing than the one in Homer -- to us at least.

[Assateague Island Princes]

I can tell you what its like when we get back on Aug. 19th! LOL! We rented a car for our 10AM-6PM visit to Homer on the lovely Amsterdam (sailing 8/5). I went on this same itinerary last year, and we just took the free bus to the Spit and rented electric bikes, which was a ton of fun! This year, my DH isn't joining me, but my niece and her boyfriend area. We want to visit the Saturday Farmer's Market, and of course spend some time on the Spit in the morning. Around noon, we will head out of town to see some sights, then we have a 2 hour tour scheduled with Linda Chamberlain, an Iditarod racer at her Howling Huskies Homestead, which we are very much looking forward to! There are some great driving routes outlined in the Homer Vacation Guide - you can view it on-line if there isn't enough time to have it mailed to you. Love Homer and am so looking forward to spending some time there with a vehicle to come and go as we please.

 

I don't recall the company I booked with, however they are located at the airport, and will be picking us up at the dock to go get our vehicle.

[greatam]

I know we won't be in Homer for very long, but I'm wondering if that's the place we might like to rent a car and go for a drive to see the scenery. Has anyone done that? Where did you go, and was it worth it? It seems it might be a nice drive north (or is it south?) to Anchor Point, then the loop which would head back to Homer. The ship tours there either don't appeal to us or are more money than we want to spend at that point.

I know lots of folks rent in Anchorage, but we're thinking of doing the more urban thing there, and the museums in Kodiak sound more intriguing than the one in Homer -- to us at least.

 

Adventure Alaska car rentals-locally owned by a young couple. NOT new cars but generally cheap in the scheme of things, well maintained and excellent service. We rent from them frequently when we need an extra vehicle (we co-own a condo in Homer). http://adventurealaskacars.com/

 

Depends on how much time you want to spend driving. The drive out East End road has some spectacular scenery. The little "hippie commune/grocery store/post office" in Fritz Creek is a total throwback to the 60's and has some of the best bakery goods in the USA. Their soups aren't bad either.

 

Going North out of Homer, the "pull out" just North of town offers a very special view of Kachemak Bay. In Ninilchik, there is an interesting Russian Orthodox church and cemetery. On the East side of the road in Ninilchik, there is a restaurant that sits back off the highway (large parking lot in front) that has really good chicken fried steak (if you like chicken fried steak). The beach in Ninilchik looks out over Cook Inlet. Enjoy!!!

[Assateague Island Princes]

Greatam, that place in Fritz Creek is where Linda Chamberlain told us to stop for some good eats! Thanx for confirming that!

[rollnoles2]

We rented from Adventure Alaska Cars when we were in Homer this summer and would recommend them. Like greatam said, the cars aren't new, but I also didn't feel that we were driving around in car that proclaimed "tourist".:)

We drove up to Anchor Point and took the North Fork road back to Homer. We weren't impressed at the beginning of the drive, but once we got to gravel portion of the road, the scenery improved considerably!

 

We also took the East End Road, bought sandwiches at the Fritz Creek store, and enjoyed them at a scenic overlook. Of the two drives, we enjoyed the East End Road more, but we also had much sunnier weather on that drive.

 

If you have time, we had dinner at the Homestead Restaurant and thought it was one of the best meals we had in Alaska (and we were there for almost 3 weeks!).