Skagway--which railway tour?

[dtyble@aol.com]

We are trying to decide between the shorter "White Pass Scenic Railway" tour at 3 1/2 hours (($97) and the longer "Yukon Expeditrion and White Pass Scenic Railway" tour at 8 hours ($169). What does one get in the longer one? We are not interested in panning for gold or spending time lunching. Is the scenery much better in the longer trip?

 

We are booked for the 6 night land tour to Denali later so will have train experience.

[ajdegumbia]

We did the similiar 8 hour tour on HAL last summer. We also did the 3 1/2 tour a number of years back. The 3 1/2 hour is a roundtrip which means you see the same thing. Does the 8 hour tour go into the Canada? Ours did, it really was very pretty. What made our trip last year, if you recall due to the dryness interior Canada was on fire and we could see the smoke from 300-400 miles away. We did see quite a bit of wildlife which according to the guide was somewhat unusual. We actually saw a black bear crossing the tracks right in downtown Skagway. Also, does your tour stop in Lairsville? A little "hokey" town but provides alot of history what the miners went through and how the lived back in the gold rush. Also, your tour if you do go into Canada will stop at the border, really neat picture sight. (make sure you have your passport) they did stop and check ours.

 

Hope this helps.

[Budget Queen]

There is no comparism between the White Pass RR and Alaska RR of your land tour- actually you are missing the most scenic portion. The difference in the Skagway tour is the distance. The train goes about 22 miles north of Skagway, superior for history and scenery. The combo long tour goes to the Yukon, usually as far as Emerald Lake, mile 75. The trip is pure scenery and if it's a priority to get into the Yukon, this is a way to do it. It's a great trip if of interest.

[cruznliz]

We did the 3 1/2 hour train ride and enjoyed it. It is round-trip, but in our case it was overcast on the way up and sunny on the way down, so our pictures are different due to the lighting. We always prefer not to take full day excursions if possible. With the shorter train ride you still have time to explore the town of Skagway. With an all day tour you probably won't see much of Skagway. :(

[Cruisin' Chick]

We did a shorter bus trip instead which my hubby said afterward he was glad to take -- we avoided the fumes from the train (apparently no windows on the train or else they were all opened). We saw the same scenary, had many opportunties to stop and take photos and it was quicker.

[mr green]

Go for the shorter White Pass trip, then, if time permits, take the 'Yellow Bus Tour'. Between these two you should get a better history ofthe area. john

[sunprincess]

I did the White Rail Pass & loved it. ;)

[stungazed]

I did the White Rail Pass last July. The views and scenry were amazing. I did find the tour pretty boring though. Since you get to the top of the mountain and turn around, the second half of the trip is the same as the first half. I also felt it was a little too pricey for what you got but I was still glad I did it.

[rhea2day]

I did Royal in 97 and was told to take the local tour not the ship tour when we got to skagway and it was the best advise. The tour vans were located right off the boat and we got to see more then the rail tour - we got to see what they were missing there is so much history..

 

My two cents ;)

[Coral]

Definitely the long tour - you want to go into the Yukon. You will not regret it :)