Skagway - Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion or Bennett Scenic Journey?

[azmaui]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between the two Chilkoot Charters bus & train tours:

Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion

or Bennett Scenic Journey

 

I would appreciate any feedback! I understand Bennett trip has much more train time, is more expensive. Is it worth it? Or does it cover most of the area that Yukon trip covers?

 

Never been in the area so don't know how to decide!

 

:-)

Thanks for any advice!

[mapleleaves]

There are several threads (and photos) on pg 2 of this forum. The information might help you with your decision.

[bonvoyagie]

You have the gist of it - the Bennett Scenic Journey is the longer trip and does spend more time on the train - but you get to see the town of Bennett - which is where the white pass and Chilkoot trails both end. It is an important part of Gold Rush history - the lunch there is also good - as long as you like beef stew :D.

 

The journey along lake Bennett is also great - it is something you won't see from the highway. This trip only runs on certain days and sometimes you do the van portion first and then train back to Skagway - the lunch stop is the same either direction. I did it on a Wed when the train runs first. I think that this is probably better as the van ride back is not on a fixed time schedule (except to get back before the ships leave :eek:)

 

Once in Carcross, you will get on the van and head to Emerald Lake and the Carcross Desert before heading back to Skagway.

 

On the train, once you get into the Yukon they start selling special hats that are only available on this train and the Carcross depot store - they have Carcross YT on the back neck strap and 68.7 on the bill - the MP for Carcross.

 

On the other tour, the train ride is between Skagway and Fraser BC and then bus to Carcross and lunch at Caribou Crossing - this is also where they have the sled dog tour (additional $$) The lunch here is BBQ Chicken. For more details visit http://www.cariboucrossing.ca/ . On the Bennett tour you drive by this place but do not stop.

[azmaui]

Thank you - very helpful. Sounds like lake Bennett is a way to go :)

 

 

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[Cornishpastyman1]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between the two Chilkoot Charters bus & train tours:

Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion

or Bennett Scenic Journey

 

I would appreciate any feedback! I understand Bennett trip has much more train time, is more expensive. Is it worth it? Or does it cover most of the area that Yukon trip covers?

 

Never been in the area so don't know how to decide!

 

:-)

Thanks for any advice!

bonvoyagie's summary is excellent. This is the Bus and Rail Excursion (actually rail and bus for me). It was a great day out but if I had been on my own I think I would have chosen the Bennett option just to say I had "done" the historic Gold Rush route - but we were a party of 6 and the extra cost was hard for me to justify, as so much is common to both tours. All the best, Tony

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[sherryf]

I have done both of these tours and enjoyed them both. I did the Yukon tour first, because I wanted to see the sled dogs and do the cart ride. My husband especially liked the wildlife museum.

 

A few years later, we did the Bennett tour with my mom and aunt. We loved the longer train ride and the scenery. If you enjoy the history of the gold rush, you will appreciate this trip.

 

If I was going to repeat one of these trips, it would be the Bennett tour, but that is just me.

 

We have also rented a car and done the drive ourselves, which is also a good option. For me, if time and money were not an issue, I'd choose the Bennett tour every time.

 

The food is better on the Bennett tour also, but that shouldn't be a major deciding factor. ;)

[maggieworkman]

So a couple of questions about these tours:

 

1. The Yukon Rail and Bus tour goes to the musher camp where you can pet the dogs?

 

2. The Chilkoot Tour website says you get a turkey sandwich box lunch on the Bennett Tour while on the train. But many reviews are saying beef stew while in Lake Bennett.

 

Trying to decide between the 2 tours. (Currently I have a car rental booked but my daughter is nervous about something happening and us missing the train. Plus if we do the tour I can watch the scenery and take pictures instead of driving.)

 

My 2 children will be with us (24 and 21). I thought they might like the dogs but don't know if it is worth it over the Lake Bennett trip.

 

Maggie

[gpb11]

We did the Bennett Lake / Carcross trip in early June booked via HAL. I don't know what caused the change to the box lunch from the stew thing, but we were advised of the change a couple days prior. My wife and I found the box lunches to be plenty; turkey on a roll, ham/pasta salad, chips, cookie, and I think a fruit rollup thing if I'm not misremembering. Not five star fare, but decent and served the purpose.

 

At Carcross YT after a little while of walkaround time we boarded our coach for the drive back down to Skagway. Our driver made a couple of stops for getting out and picture taking, as well as stopping for a bear eating dandilions at the roadside.

 

I'm unsure of the details of the other trip, and only you can really decide how important visiting the dogs will be for your family. What I will say is that Bennett Lake is gorgeous and we really enjoyed the train portion. The coach portion was okay, and it was nice to see the scenery, but the train was the centerpiece of the day. (its route also diverges from the road for a substantial portion)

 

Personally I wouldn't have wanted to be responsible for driving. At least not on my first trip there. While it'd have been nice to be able to make more stops and/or take longer at stops for unrushed photography, I valued the ability to truly take in the environment as afforded by someone else doing the driving.

[titangas]

We just got back and did the Bennett Scenic Journey with Chilkoot Charters.

 

It was absolutely fabulous.

The Bennett station house has been converted into a museum which is why the change to a box lunch. The box lunch was fantastic - Great meaty turkey sandwich, grapes, chips, macaroni salad and a delicious brownie.

 

We received the lunch as soon as we boarded the train, I couldn't have imagined waiting until we got to Bennett to eat. We had about a 45 minute stop to walk around the Bennett historical site and it was quite fascinating.

 

We did the bus up and train back down, Our guide Mike was the hands down the best tour guide we had the entire trip, he was extremely knowledgeable and filled in with a lot of personal experience. His opinion was that the bus up and train down was the better option, from his perspective he said he gets a lot of sleepers and disinterested riders on the bus when they take the train up first.

Edited July 15, 2016 by titangas

[sherryf]

 

We received the lunch as soon as we boarded the train, I couldn't have imagined waiting until we got to Bennett to eat. We had about a 45 minute stop to walk around the Bennett historical site and it was quite fascinating.

 

Only 45 minutes? I was hoping that when they eliminated the time for lunch, they would keep the total time in Bennett the same so you would have plenty of time to tour the museum and explore outside.

[xlxo]

I have done both of these tours and enjoyed them both. I did the Yukon tour first, because I wanted to see the sled dogs and do the cart ride. My husband especially liked the wildlife museum.

That would be Cariboo Crossing...

 

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[sherryf]

That would be Cariboo Crossing...

 

Yes, I know where it was, but it's spelled Caribou Crossing. :rolleyes: I don't normally correct spelling, but it's easier for people to google things on their own if they know how the correct name.

[Aegis1984]

Yes, I know where it was, but it's spelled Caribou Crossing. :rolleyes: I don't normally correct spelling, but it's easier for people to google things on their own if they know how the correct name.

 

Cariboo Crossing is in the Cariboo-Central Interior of BC, in my neck of the woods. Don't want to get those two mixed up based on a typo!