What can we do in Homer that we can't do in Skagway, Ketchikan, or Juneau?

[stacyh270]

We are spending 10 days RV'ing in Alaska before our 7 day southbound cruise.  Denali/Fairbanks/Richardson Hwy are a must see but I'm trying to decide if a visit to Homer/Kenai Peninsula is truly necessary.  If so, we'd likely do that on the front end of our trip.  I only have possibly a couple of days that I could spare for Kenai Peninsula area.  We'd like to see the Russian River and salmon run but not sure if making the trek all the way to Homer will yield any experience that we can have in Skagway, Juneau, and Ketchikan.  Glacier cruises aren't really a priority since this is our second Alaskan cruise and since we have one day at Hubbard Glacier and one day in Glacier Bay on our cruise.  We are more interested in wildlife (eg, bears, etc.) viewing.  Right now, I'm considering only going as far as Kenai before heading north to Denali. Will going that far get us a Kenai Peninsula experience to remember or will it be waste of time?

[dyeadave]

When will you be here?

DD

[SuperCrewBear]

Knowing your dates in Alaska and where you're departing from (Seward or Whittier) for the cruise would help with opinions.

[stacyh270]

3 hours ago, dyeadave said:

When will you be here?

DD

 

2 hours ago, SuperCrewBear said:

Knowing your dates in Alaska and where you're departing from (Seward or Whittier) for the cruise would help with opinions.

 

Oops, sorry.  June 26-July 6.

[AKStafford]

I might not do Homer with a 10 day trip but you'd have time for Seward.

[Anita Latte]

Are you flying into Fairbanks? Or Anchorage?

[mapleleaves]

Agree with AKStafford ... with only 10 days you can't do Homer, but you will have time for Seward.

 

I can remember a 10 RV trip where we picked up the motorhome in Anchorage and did a loop,..... Talkeetna,  Denali,  Fairbanks, then down the Richardson to Glennallen,  the Glenn Hwy to Anchorage and down to Seward.  I think we only got to spend 2 nites in Denali, Fairbanks , Seward and the other stops were one-nighters.  Don't underestimate how much time you will need to get to each destination ..... it's not just the drive time, but also stops for wildlife and scenery, or some point of interest you stumble upon.

We saw moose at several places along the Richardson and HAD TO stop for each one.  We stumbled onto Rikka's Roadhouse near Delta and spent half a day there, going thru the exhibits and enjoying the scenery.   The harbor at Seward is fascinating and always something interesting to see. Don't shortchange it.

 

On a separate 10 day triip we picked up the RV in Anc then drove to Seward and Homer, then went to Denali.  

There's just too much to see and do, so with only 10 days you need to make cuts to the itinerary otherwise you'll spend all your time sitting in the motorhome.  

Edited March 22, 2019 by mapleleaves

[stacyh270]

13 hours ago, AKStafford said:

I might not do Homer with a 10 day trip but you'd have time for Seward.

 

We have been to Seward before on our last cruise, so it's not a priority for us.  I'd rather have time somewhere else.

 

11 hours ago, Anita Latte said:

Are you flying into Fairbanks? Or Anchorage?

 

We are flying into Anchorage.

 

 

10 hours ago, mapleleaves said:

Agree with AKStafford ... with only 10 days you can't do Homer, but you will have time for Seward.

 

I can remember a 10 RV trip where we picked up the motorhome in Anchorage and did a loop,..... Talkeetna,  Denali,  Fairbanks, then down the Richardson to Glennallen,  the Glenn Hwy to Anchorage and down to Seward.  I think we only got to spend 2 nites in Denali, Fairbanks , Seward and the other stops were one-nighters.  Don't underestimate how much time you will need to get to each destination ..... it's not just the drive time, but also stops for wildlife and scenery, or some point of interest you stumble upon.

We saw moose at several places along the Richardson and HAD TO stop for each one.  We stumbled onto Rikka's Roadhouse near Delta and spent half a day there, going thru the exhibits and enjoying the scenery.   The harbor at Seward is fascinating and always something interesting to see. Don't shortchange it.

 

On a separate 10 day triip we picked up the RV in Anc then drove to Seward and Homer, then went to Denali.  

There's just too much to see and do, so with only 10 days you need to make cuts to the itinerary otherwise you'll spend all your time sitting in the motorhome.  

 

 

The itinerary you mention is basically what we plan to do.  At first, I wasn't even going to venture to the Kenai peninsula area but then thought that since this may be our last trip to Alaska with kids, it might be worth spending a day or so there.  I don't want to shortchange the rest of the itinerary by adding it, though.

[Anita Latte]

When we booked our flights and gave ourselves some days in Alaska after our northbound cruise, we had originally thought that we would go to Denali...but my research showed that we didn’t have enough time post cruise to really see Denali and the surrounding areas the way we would want to. We would be in the car more than at the sites or doing anything and that just didn’t sound like fun at all. I knew I could plan a super fun stay on the Kenai Peninsula though. So we passed on Denali *gasp*.

 

I feel like you are second guessing your plans...thinking that you have so much time and why not see something more with all that time? I think you should stick with your original thoughts and skip Kenai Peninsula and concentrate on your travels in the opposite direction.

 

You think you have a lot of time but in my experience, things usually take longer to do than anticipated and often we wish we had just a little more time to enjoy the things we’ve planned. Right now, I think your schedule has room for spontaneity and discovery...whereas, if you tried to add Kenai to your agenda, you would tighten up your schedule and that feels less fun to me.

Edited March 22, 2019 by Anita Latte

[mapleleaves]

The nice thing about RV'g is that your itinerary doens't have to be rigid.   You're not bound by a reservation every night. You can always find a campsite or boondock, and you always have your bed, kitchen and bathroom with you.   Denali is the only place I make reservations.   Sometimes it's nice to be able to follow the good weather.  We arrived to Homer on a glorious sunny day ;it was breathtaking to stand on the bluff,  look down on the Spit and across the Bay to the glaciers.  But a fierce storm blew in that night and it became miserably rainy, windy and cold.  So instead of being trapped in Homer with a 3 nite reservation we packed up and headed north to the sunshine in Fairbanks.   Be flexible.

[Eileen G]

We did the loop around Denali, Fairbanks and Richardson Highway a few years ago with a RV. We went to Valdez for one night. The scenery is beautiful on the road to Valdez and it's not too far out of the way. It passes Worthington Glacier which is right off the road. This was after Labor Day so I'm not sure how crowded the road will be in the middle of summer.

[mapleleaves]

Love Valdez.   It reminds me of how Homer used to look before it became so touristy .

[Northern Aurora]

This Alaska resident actually prefers Homer over Valdez.  I just find Valdez too "gritty" for me, and I also unfortunately remember what it looked like before the seafood processing plant was built across from the small boat harbor.

 

But back to the original question.  Homer offers fly in bear trips over to the Katmai area.  I haven't checked the status of the fast ferry from Homer to Seldovia, but Seldovia is lovely and off the beaten pass.

 

But with only ten days I wonder if the OP has considered a stop at Independence Mine Historical Park and a visit to Matanuska Glacier (they are located in close proximity).

[SightCRR]

Homer is the area where we have seen the most moose from the car. 

On the way is the most western part of the US that you can drive to and Anchor Point tractor boat launch is something to see. One more is the Norman Lowell art gallery and homestead just out of Homer. The art is amazing but out of our price range. If the weather is clear at about 15 min out of Homer be ready for your mouth to drop open when you come around a curve and see the bay for the first time. fyi Matanuska glacier is really worth a stop because you can walk on the ice. Don't forget to get a Milepost which is a must for any Ak driving. It will list anything on the roads of interest and most things even not of interest like where to see just about everything there is to see. Many road tips like when the road goes from one lane to two lanes for passing. Might not need 2019 but at least 2017-18. 

[stacyh270]

On 3/22/2019 at 8:54 AM, Anita Latte said:

When we booked our flights and gave ourselves some days in Alaska after our northbound cruise, we had originally thought that we would go to Denali...but my research showed that we didn’t have enough time post cruise to really see Denali and the surrounding areas the way we would want to. We would be in the car more than at the sites or doing anything and that just didn’t sound like fun at all. I knew I could plan a super fun stay on the Kenai Peninsula though. So we passed on Denali *gasp*.

 

I feel like you are second guessing your plans...thinking that you have so much time and why not see something more with all that time? I think you should stick with your original thoughts and skip Kenai Peninsula and concentrate on your travels in the opposite direction.

 

You think you have a lot of time but in my experience, things usually take longer to do than anticipated and often we wish we had just a little more time to enjoy the things we’ve planned. Right now, I think your schedule has room for spontaneity and discovery...whereas, if you tried to add Kenai to your agenda, you would tighten up your schedule and that feels less fun to me.

 

We didn't do Denali on our first Alaskan cruise (just DH and me) because we knew we didn't have enough time to do it justice and that we wanted to bring the kids to Alaska one day, which has come 4 years later.  I think we're going to just plan on spending our 10 days north of Anchorage and be able to be flexible. 

[stacyh270]

On 3/22/2019 at 9:40 AM, mapleleaves said:

The nice thing about RV'g is that your itinerary doens't have to be rigid.   You're not bound by a reservation every night. You can always find a campsite or boondock, and you always have your bed, kitchen and bathroom with you.   Denali is the only place I make reservations.   Sometimes it's nice to be able to follow the good weather.  We arrived to Homer on a glorious sunny day ;it was breathtaking to stand on the bluff,  look down on the Spit and across the Bay to the glaciers.  But a fierce storm blew in that night and it became miserably rainy, windy and cold.  So instead of being trapped in Homer with a 3 nite reservation we packed up and headed north to the sunshine in Fairbanks.   Be flexible.

 

The more we think about it, the more we want to be flexible and not rigid so you're advice is sound. 

 

 

On 3/22/2019 at 10:15 AM, Eileen G said:

We did the loop around Denali, Fairbanks and Richardson Highway a few years ago with a RV. We went to Valdez for one night. The scenery is beautiful on the road to Valdez and it's not too far out of the way. It passes Worthington Glacier which is right off the road. This was after Labor Day so I'm not sure how crowded the road will be in the middle of summer.

 

We may consider Valdez depending on how much time we have left at the end of our trip.