Train from Anchorage to Seward???

[Whirlwind]

I am staying at the econo lodge in Anchorage, and am taking the train to seward the alaskan railroad at 6:45am, what time do I need to be there????

Where is a good place to sit???any info helpful

[OrangeCallaLily]

Just returned from our Alaskan cruise (it was amazing!). We road the train from Anchorage to Seward. They ask you be there 1 hour prior to depature. We arrived 45 minutes prior and had plenty of time to get our boarding passes. Note, even if you ordered tickets in advance you still need to go to the ticket counter in the train depot, present your voucher and your ID, then they will present you with a boarding pass.

 

Seats are assigned, you will not have a choice of where to sit. I think the left side had more scenery, but both sides have wonderful views.

[Kenwoody]

We only arrived 15 minutes before departure, not by our choice. We did fine.

 

They are there waiting on your luggage when you exit the cab. The area you unload, get tickets, and board is a small area.

 

More time would of been better, but it worked out.

 

I agree, sit on right side. Going above to the dome is really nice. And they have a nice gift shop. Didn't eat in the dinner car, but we went down and sit awhile and had coffee and cokes.

[Budget Queen]

The right side is the scenic side for the Arm and left for the glaciers, so you have an ideal trip ahead. As mentioned seats are assigned, but get to the dome car and look out the vestibules. 30 mins. ahead is enough time.

[CheshireCat]

we stayed at the Econo lodge the night before we sailed out of Seward (June 17, 2005) There is a free shuttle van to the train depot- make sure that you reserve the night before! By the way, the econo lodge is far from deluxe, actually it is rather unusual, but at least it is clean, and there is free coffee and muffins in the morning. It was very crowded at the train station when we arrived at about 5:45 AM. Make sure that your ship luggage tags are on your luggage, then the bags will be delivered directly to your cabin! ( even if you book the train directly and not through your cruise line)

[wickedawesomemom]

This is an incredible experience with gorgeous scenery. We took the opposite way (from Seward to Anchorage) and both sides have great scenery. Seats are assigned but you should be able to move if there are open seats. I was not completely thrilled with our seats (they were right by the wall between windows). The car we were in was pretty full so I asked someone if there were cars further back with any open seats. I was told that we could choose any seats we wanted (as long as they weren't assigned) and that the cars further back had plenty of space. We chose a car much further back that only had about 10 people in it, plus the seats had a TON of legroom. I was so glad we moved because I was able to bounce from left to right side for photo ops, the seats were way more comfortable with so much more leg room, and we practically had the car to ourselves. I was fortunate to be able to experience both sides of the train the whole way, but personally I enjoyed the glacier side better. As BQ stated earlier, that would be the left side.

[Whirlwind]

On the econo lodge...is there anywhere close by that we can get dinner the night before????