Any DIY Alaska Land Tour Advice or Suggestions?

[Northern Aurora]

6 hours ago, Roo said:

Similar but different question for y'all re: DIY.  We are flying to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks to begin our southward cruise tour.  We were thinking of DRIVING from Anchorage to Fairbanks, instead of flying (we have as many days as needed to do so).  Since we will be staying in Fairbanks, Denali and Mckinley during the official tour, can anyone advise what else there is to do/see along the way that we wouldn't necessarily do on the escorted tour portion, if we take a few days to do this appx. 6 hour drive [I know, I know, it depends on many factors in terms of driving time ;-)]. Thanks.

 

 

Roo:  You might want to start a new separate thread with your question.  But since you are interested in driving from Anchorage to Fairbanks would you be interested in a DIY land tour?  And by "Denali" and "McKinley" I am again assuming you mean the Princess lodges, as there are no towns named Denali or McKinley.  

 

I have just bumped the very useful thread of helpful resources for planning a trip to Alaska to the first page of this forum index.  That should be helpful.  Also skim through the trip reports posted at the top of this form index page.  They are organized by year.  

 

But without knowing your particular interests I might consider stopping  the Alaska Native Heritage Center before leaving Anchorage.  And I would also head south first, stopping at Potter Marsh and at the several scenic pullouts south of Anchorage along Cook Inlet to look for belugas.  If the weather is nice that day I would go into Girdwood and take the Aleyeska tram to the top of the mountain.  I would then head north toward Fairbanks.  Stops could include the spirit houses at Eklutna or the Iditarod headquarters.  A side trip would be to the Independence Mine State Historical Park.  And then there are a number of scenic viewpoints north of Mary's McKinley Lodge with views of Denali if the mountain is "out."  Once reaching the entrance to Denali National Park I would go to the park entrance visitor's center to view the exhibits, and also walk over to the Murie Science Center to view the exhibits including the casts of dinosaur footprints found inside the park and admire the quilted vegetation map.  From there is is about a two hour drive north to Fairbanks.  Once in Fairbanks I would visit the Museum of the North (University of Alaska campus) and the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum.  Actually, I've given you several days worth of ideas.  If you start a new thread others will give you even more ideas.

[SuperCrewBear]

8 hours ago, Roo said:

Similar but different question for y'all re: DIY.  We are flying to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks to begin our southward cruise tour.  We were thinking of DRIVING from Anchorage to Fairbanks, instead of flying (we have as many days as needed to do so).  Since we will be staying in Fairbanks, Denali and Mckinley during the official tour, can anyone advise what else there is to do/see along the way that we wouldn't necessarily do on the escorted tour portion, if we take a few days to do this appx. 6 hour drive [I know, I know, it depends on many factors in terms of driving time ;-)]. Thanks.

 

Two years ago we flew into Anchorage then drove to Fairbanks via Glennallen and Delta Junction.  Look at that route as it's likely completely different than what your cruise-tour will do.  Take the Glenn Highway from Anchorage to Glennallen.  Than the Richardson Highway north from Glennallen to Delta Junction.

 

We spent two full days getting to Fairbanks by spending the 1st night at Glennallen.  There is so much scenery in Alaska that you're going to be amazed no matter where you go.  Between Anchorage and Glennallen is the Matanuska Glacier that you can actually walk out on if you wish - it's on private land and you must pay the landowner an access fee.

 

There are several great viewing locations of the Alaska Pipeline when you're on the Richardson Highway.  You won't see many houses or stores on the Richardson so have a full tank of gas and plenty of snacks and drinks.  It's all worth it because the scenery is spectacular - we had perfect days on both legs of this trip.

 

A great little eating place in Glennallen is Tok Thai Food.  A small portable type building that sells some of the best Thai food I've ever had - it's sitting just on the west side of the "The Hub" store in Glennallen.  It's painted with purple trim - you won't miss it.  And at Delta Junction is a small "drive-in" style restaurant where they have great burgers and other items.  They even have carhops who will wait on you while you sit in the car if you like - we loved that place too.

 

On your way into Fairbanks on this route you'll pass through North Pole and Santa's House.  Santa is there every day, I believe!

 

Good luck!

[rwa]

4 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

rwa:  Again, opinions about scenery are very subjective, but there are two train trips in Alaska considered to be scenic by most.  One is the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Anchorage.  The other is the historic White Pass and Yukon Railway out of Skagway.  Most folks are happy with one or both.

 

We'll have a car for the majority of our land tour. We love the flexibility that it'll allow for us to make stops along the way whenever we want! We decided that we'll take the Glacier Discovery train from Anchorage to Grandview and then back to Whittier.  We haven't made a final decision for Skagway yet but White Pass & Yukon Railway is an option that we've considered also.

 

 

4 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

But there is another option -- the DNP shuttle bus system.  The DNP shuttle buses, which stop along the way to drop off and pick up hikers, go into Eielson Visitor's Center (mile 66) for one fee or even further (for an additional fee) to Wonder Lake.

 

Yes, this is the shuttle that I was referring to and that we're planning to take!  Would you recommend that we get tickets ahead of time or is this something that we can easily get when we arrive at the park?

 

 

[sadoan]

19 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Looking at your itinerary, seems to me that you spent most of your time hanging around (Anchorage) and going to places that are not worth visiting (Talkeetna - have never been able to figure out what people see in that place).  The only day that you spent in an interesting place was day 4.  Even there you had to take the short cruise because you drove from Anchorage to Seward on the day of the tour.  Very badly planned in my opinion.

 

DON

We had to play it safe as I had back surgery and was wearing a back brace so I think I planned it as best I could. 

[donaldsc]

1 hour ago, sadoan said:

We had to play it safe as I had back surgery and was wearing a back brace so I think I planned it as best I could. 

 

1 hour ago, sadoan said:

We had to play it safe as I had back surgery and was wearing a back brace so I think I planned it as best I could. 

 

I apologize.  I was very much out of line on this one.  I am sorry.

 

DON

[cruisingrandy]

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 1:20 PM, Roo said:

Similar but different question for y'all re: DIY.  We are flying to Anchorage and then to Fairbanks to begin our southward cruise tour.  We were thinking of DRIVING from Anchorage to Fairbanks, instead of flying (we have as many days as needed to do so).  Since we will be staying in Fairbanks, Denali and Mckinley during the official tour, can anyone advise what else there is to do/see along the way that we wouldn't necessarily do on the escorted tour portion, if we take a few days to do this appx. 6 hour drive [I know, I know, it depends on many factors in terms of driving time ;-)]. Thanks.

 

 

We did this trip 3 years ago with my wife and 7 year old son.  We flew to Anchorage from Lima, Peru and got a rental car for 10 days one-way to Fairbanks.  we stopped the first night in Wasilla at  a very nice small motel.  We took our time driving to Denali and saw several Moose and Elk on the way up.  We stayed in a motel near entrance to Denali for 3 nights.  DNP had a deal if you booked the shuttle for 2 days you get the 3rd day free so we did that.  We got lucky and got a good view of Mt. McKinley on the first day and saw all the wild life we hoped to see on the 2nd day so the 3rd we just went back in the park a little ways and got off and hiked some.  After getting to Fairbanks we went to the North Pole to go to Santa Claus house which was the best part of the trip. Santa and the reindeer were Great. Our son is tri-lingual and Santa spoke to him in English, Spanish and German.  They let you take photo's and videos and there is no charge,  Any way I highly recommend getting the one way rental.  We flew out of FAI 

 

 

[Northern Aurora]

20 hours ago, rwa said:

 

......

 

 

 

Yes, this is the shuttle that I was referring to and that we're planning to take!  Would you recommend that we get tickets ahead of time or is this something that we can easily get when we arrive at the park?

 

 

 

I believe that the Denali National Park shuttle bus concessionaire holds back a certain percentage of tickets for immediate booking.  But if you know what date you want to go in to the park then I would suggest just pre-booking.  Saves some time in the morning.  

 

And remember the there is no food sold in the park (outside of the immediate entrance, such as at the Morino Grill near the park entrance visitor's center).  But this isn't a problem.  The Wilderness Access Center (if my memory is correct the Fairbanks newspaper Denali-Healy reporter reported several  months ago that there has been some discussion of some name changes of park buildings so it may have a slightly different name this coming summer) is where you board the shuttle bus, and there is a park concessionaire who sells "grab and go" options at the WAC.  The Subway sandwich shop in "Glitter Gulch" is another popular option.   Also a number of hotels and B&Bs also can sell you packed lunches.

 

[rwa]

1 hour ago, Northern Aurora said:

And remember the there is no food sold in the park

 

Yes thank you. We fly into Anchorage late in the evening so we've decided to make a quick stop at the grocery store the following morning on our way to Girdwood & Seward to pick up some fruit & snacks and water to have for the week. The B&B where we're staying in Healy does offer sack lunches to take so we may decide to do that since the park tour will be a long day. 

 

We called the DNP today and they also suggested buying tickets ahead of time so we plan to do that tomorrow. We'll have a nice breakfast at the B&B and probably reserve the 9am shuttle. 

 

At this point, I think all of our flights, land transportation, lodging and tour reservations/tickets (except the above park tour) are complete! We have several months now to fine tune or make last minute changes. Yay!  We're so excited!  This forum has been such a great help! 🙂

[cltcruzer]

On 1/24/2019 at 1:31 AM, rwa said:

 

At this point, we're thinking ahead on what will be the easiest and least expensive mode of transportation to get from Anchorage to Whittier. We need to arrive in Whittier a day early because we want to take the Princess William Sound tour on the day before our cruise. It looks like we can take the train for $89 pp but haven't found a cost for uber or taxi. We can take Princess transfer but they won't get us there the day early. We realize that there's not much else to do in Whittier but we'll enjoy the leisure time after the tour and before our cruise. Has anyone done this? What's the easiest way to get from Anchorage to Whittier in July if its not a day to board your ship?

 

Which Prince William Sound Tour are you doing? Last July we stayed in Anchorage the night before our cruise departed from Whittier, used "The Magic Bus" (http://www.themagicbus.com) to transport to Whittier in the morning, and had time to do the 26-Glacier Cruise before our Princess Cruise departed that evening. It was my first trip to Alaska and my first cruise, so I was pretty nervous about the timing of everything that day, but I got assurances from Phillips Cruises (26 Glacier Cruise), Princess, and several people here on the message board, and the timing worked out perfectly. It felt like we really maximized our time instead of "wasting" time in Whittier, where there isn't much to see or do. 

 

Oh, and The Magic Bus transportation was great... the driver was really friendly, narrated the entire drive, made a couple scenic stops (indulging Explorer Glacier), and offered to take our luggage from the bus over to Princess so it would be in our room waiting when we checked in, after we got done with the 26 Glacier Cruise. 

[rwa]

11 hours ago, cltcruzer said:

Which Prince William Sound Tour are you doing?

 

We're also taking the 26-Glacier Cruise. We decided that we're going to take the Glacier Discovery train that leaves from Anchorage, passing through Whittier and goes to Grandview and then returns back through Whittier to Anchorage. We're going to stay on the train for the ride to Grandview and then get off in Whittier on it's return trip back to Anchorage. The train is schedule to be in Whittier to drop us off at 6:05 pm.  We will have had 8 busy days on our land tour by this time on our trip and think we'll enjoy having the evening for dinner and a time to rest up a bit!

[mlmalone3]

If you have time in Denali...we loved the whitewater rafting! Special Dry suits to protect from the Glacier waters....really fun. We've done this twice while visiting Denali.  Enjoy your trip...it sounds like a good one!

[rwa]

6 hours ago, mlmalone3 said:

If you have time in Denali...we loved the whitewater rafting! Special Dry suits to protect from the Glacier waters....really fun. We've done this twice while visiting Denali.  Enjoy your trip...it sounds like a good one!

 

That sounds like so much fun! I don't think we'll have time but will check in to it just in case we have extra time once we get there. We're doing land tour for 9 days prior to cruise and have full days planned for most of that time! Just so much to see and do. There's some type of rafting tour in Skagway that we may do if we don't have time in Denali. That's our only port that we haven't decided for sure on an excursion. 

 

Thank you for the suggestion! We're 'almost' neighbors! :)  We're from Amarillo.

[Raella B]

I just recently finalized a similar DIY pre-cruise land tour.  My cruise sails out of Seward, and my plan is to spend 6 nights exploring on land first.   When I found this thread I slapped myself for not thinking of asking or looking here sooner.  I had most of my plan together already, but I still found helpful info and appreciate all different options suggested.  I thought I’d share my plan too, in case there are others still planning. 

 

My cruise is Southbound in mid May, so my land portion will basically be the first week of the season.  Pros and cons to this, obviously.  Way less crowded, way fewer skeeters, more budget friendly, iffy weather, colder, and not all tours\excursions open or available yet – including limited Denali shuttle and bus tours.  One of my objectives for the land portion of my trip was to see inside Alaska and get away from the crowds so for me the Pros definitely outweighed the Cons.  I have a friend joining me for the cruise, but I'm doing the land portion solo so the price breakdown is for 1 person, not two.  This is the itinerary I put together:

 

I land in Anchorage at 2:25 p.m. on a Saturday.  Since I’m not staying in Anchorage my first night I’ll pick a car up at the airport. That afternoon I’m hoping to visit the Anchorage Market (1^st one of the year) and possibly the AnchorageMuseum.  I’ll hit Walmart and a grocery store for cooler stuffings (food and drink for the next few days) then on my way out of town stop at a brewery for dinner and a taste. 

 

Night 1 -  Cabin for 1 night about an hour outside of Anchorage, between Anchorage and Talkeetna.  I considered staying at a hotel in town this night, but it doesn’t get dark until 10:30 and I think I’ll be itching to get out into Alaska more than into a bed so decided on the cabin.  It was also $22 cheaper than the hotel I originally booked.  Score.  And I’m also already spending Tuesday night in town. 

The next day I’ll continue on towards Denali, stopping in Talkeetna for a flightseeing tour of Denali, before heading up to a cabin in Cantwell which is about 30 miles south of the Denali Park Entrance.

 

Night 2 and 3 – Cabin for 2 nights near Denali.  Far enough away from the crowds but plenty close to explore the area and Park for a Sun-Tues “weekend”. 

 

On Tuesday I’ll take my time driving back to Anchorage.  I booked a hotel in Anchorage for this night so I’ll check in and leave my luggage then drop the car off at the airport and shuttle back to my  hotel.  I’ll spend the night in Anchorage…  more breweries, no doubt.

 

On Wednesday morning I’ll take the train from Anchorage to Seward. 

 

Night 5 and 6 – Hotel in Seward.

 

In Seward I’ll spend the first afternoon checking out the town, the SealifeCenter and Museum, VistorCenter, ect.  On Thursday I’ll take the all day Kenai Fjords Cruise, spend my second night in Seward (anyone know if Seward has a brewery?)   and board my cruise the next day.

 

Price breakdown, not including flights since I’d be flying in anyway for the cruise.  Food, gas, souvenirs, and incidentals are also not included, and I’ve been warned are expensive.  Overall, not as expensive as I’d expected, and way cheaper than it would have cost to be herded on a rigid schedule with the cruise ship crowd. 

$186    SUV rental for 3 days

$123    1 night cabin rental outside of Anchorage

$290    1 1\4 hour flightseeing tour of Denali

$313    2 night cabin rental near Denali

$70      1 night hotel in Anchorage (free shuttle to\from airport and train terminal)

$98      Alaska Railroad Anchorage to Seward

$322    2 night hotel in Seward (free shuttle around town and to\from both train terminal and cruise port)

$179    Kenai Fjords Cruise

Edited February 3, 2019 by Raella B