Post-cruise DIY from Seward for 4 days?

[travelingirl70]

We have a Northbound Celebrity Milennium cruise next July.  We arrive in Seward on a Friday and want to add a few days.  I'm thinking we can do this on our own but I'm at a loss for how to plan.  I've also looked at hotels near Denali Park and everything seems full.  Can anyone share a good itinerary arriving Seward on Friday and flying out of Anchorage on Tuesday?  We want to include the must-see's but I'm not really sure what they are other than Denali.  Should we spend Friday in Seward?  We can rent a car, take a train, whatever.  Totally flexible with a reasonably flexible budget.  This is my 50th birthday trip so I want to do it right.  Thanks!

[AKStafford]

You are looking too early for booking hotels in the Denali Region for next year.

And with just 4 days, getting to Denali and experiencing Denali will be a tight fit. Can you add a few days?

[GettingMyShipTogether]

we did a denali leg in 4 days but from whittier:

 

Day 1 - disembark ship, shuttle to anchorage, pick up rental car, drive to denali

Day 2 - hiking on our own on frontcountry trails

Day 3 - bus trip deeper into the park (we did the shuttle to Eilson but there are also guided tours and guided hikes)

Day 4 - back to anchorage, brief stop in Talkeetna, drop off car, fly out that night or next day

 

lodging was scarce and expensive when we booked but ended up finding something on airbnb. i think seward is a bit longer of a drive, you could do a 4 day itinerary on the Kenai peninsula instead, i wish we'd had time to spend there. 

 

have a great trip! 

[rkacruiser]

My suggestions with an arrival in Seward on Friday and departing Anchorage on Tuesday:

 

Friday:  Upon arriving in Seward, obtain a rental car and book a Kenai Fjords cruise.  The one that I enjoyed in July left at 11:30 A. M. (allowing for ample time for a somewhat tardy ship arrival, getting the car, and being ready for the Fjords cruise).  Drive to Anchorage for a Friday overnight stay.

 

Saturday:  Drive to Denali, leaving late morning which will allow you some time to briefly visit Anchorage, i.e Earthquake Park, the Native Cultural Heritage Center, etc.)  Overnight at Denali.

 

Sunday:  Tundra Wilderness Tour at Denali or another tour that lasts beyond this 8 hour tour; overnight at Denali.

 

Monday:  Return to Anchorage and complete doing whatever sightseeing you might wish to do.

 

This possible itinerary could also be adjusted by staying overnight in Seward and adding the Sealife Museum there, a visit to Portage Glacier en route to Anchorage, or a number of other possible combinations.

 

Driving direct to Denali from Seward is not an impossible drive.  It's about 2-2.5 hours to Anchorage and about 5-6 hours to Denali from Anchorage.  But, driving straight through, one is missing other attractions that may be of interest.

 

If you are a AAA member, I'd suggest getting their Tourbook and Map to help you learn and plan.

 

If you have a late flight from ANC, as it is likely that you will, you will have much time in Anchorage on Tuesday for which to plan.

 

Not being able to find hotel/motel availability near Denali this early is not surprising to me.  I STRONGLY recommend that you find an accommodation very near the entrance to the National Park.  So much more convenient than having to drive whatever miles to get to/from one's hotel/motel.  It's likely not going to be inexpensive.  At the motel/RV Park where my Nephew and I stayed, we payed $199 for an economy room.  It was an economy room in comparison to a property such as a room in Fairfield Inn, Holiday Inn Express, etc.  But, it was very acceptable and served our purposes well.

Edited September 14, 2019 by rkacruiser

[LeesaB]

It's really about what YOU (and whoever is with you) want to do while there.  Thhis is what I have so far for my trip next year:

 

What all do we want to do?

1. Riding a tram would be cool
2. Hiking!
3. Whales!
4. Pan for gold
5. Eat -

1. Seafood
2. Reindeer

6. Native American culture
7. Ride a train
8. Glaciers

Anchorage

Friday - Monday morning

• https://www.alyeskaresort.com/resort/about-aerial-tram  Dine-and-Ride option looks good.  Would make a great lunch or dinner spot.  $39/32 apiece.
• https://www.alaskawildlife.org/  Could do this and Alyeska the same day maybe.  $16/11 per person entrance.  Sounds like it would be a great and restful Saturday thing to do, maybe with some wandering around Anchorage in the afternoon or morning.
• http://indianvalleymine.com/  AND add this to Saturday!  Admission is only $1 per person, and you can buy a bucket of “pay dirt” guaranteed to have gold, and they’ll show us how to swill the pans properly, AND they can tell us where else we can go!
• Alaska Native Heritage Center would be a great option for Native American culture.  $25/adults, $17/kids.  https://www.alaskanative.net/ 
• Shopping in Downtown Anchorage (5th Avenue Mall has Lush!)
• Don’t forget - the hotel has a “full” kitchen, including outside picnic and bbq area.  Also, it has an indoor pool and whirlpool.
• A float trip would be great.  There’s two tour companies in Talkeetna (2 hour drive North) that offer 2 hour tours (one does a 4 hour tour as well).  Approximately $84 per person ($139 for the 4 hour one).  BUT would be an excellent chance to see wildlife and hopefully Mount McKinley.  http://denaliviewraft.com/ OR https://www.talkeetnariverguides.com (for some reason TRG looks more fun)
• Rent bicycles and ride the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail http://www.alaska-bike-rentals.com/  $16 per bike for 3 hours, small fees over that.  This might be a great thing to do Friday afternoon, to help stretch our legs and get some movement in after all that flying.
• https://knikglacier.com/tours.html  Sounds like a rather spectacular glacier tour.  Looking hard at this as a good option.  Sunday?

 

Northern Lights coupon book available October 2019

Alaska Tour Saver book or app (not sure when 2020 version comes out)

*example 2-for-1 tickets on Alaska Railway

 

Alaska Railway $110 per person for Adventure Class.  Anchorage to Seward train is 6:45-11:05.  Supposed to check in 1 hour before departing.

 

From the notes you'll see that we have the opposite itinerary from you, but the concept is similar.  Going all the way to Denali isn't a priority to me... I'm finding a ton of great options using Anchorage as our home base.  Too much, actually.  I'm going to have to cut some of these activities.  ☺

[beeandkmon]

We really enjoyed our two days in Seward- we loved our Major Marine boat tour and had a spectacular time ice climbing. If you decide you can't make it to Denali make sure you at least stay in Seward for a few days. 

[Kellybc]

Hertz is the only option for car rental in Seward. Costs can be prohibitive with dropping it off in Anchorage. Start checking prices now. 

[SuperCrewBear]

I would see if the cruise line has some sort of transfer to the Anchorage airport from Seward - train or bus.  Do that (or arrange your own transfer) then rent a car at the airport so when you return to Anchorage (from wherever you decide to go) you'll have a trouble free rental return.  If you work for a company that has some sort of contract rate with one of the rental companies you might can take advantage of that for a less expensive car.  My company has a contract rate that I use while in Alaska and the total rental price is about half of the normal rate plus I get a midsize car (not an econobox), the extra insurances, roadside assistance and extra drivers for free - a very good deal.  Going all the way to Denali and having a reasonable amount of time there will be tight with only  4 days - if you can add a day or two  you'll be much more satisfied!  Good luck!

[Mommyof3sweetboys]

We are doing this in the opposite direction. We're starting with Denali and ending with a cruise. We have 6 people in our group so we rented a round-trip van from Anchorage Airport. We fly in early afternoon, will pick up the rental car and drive to Healy where we are staying at an Air BnB. We will do the non-narrated bus tour in Denali National Park and return to the cabin in Healy. The next day we are planning a dog sled excursion in Cantwell and Denali State Park. We are staying in Talkeetna at another Air BnB cabin and then driving the next day to Anchorage to return the car. We are hiring a private van transfer through Bear Paw transportation to Seward because it was cheaper than a one-way car rental. We had originally thought we could do it in 3 days, but added a 4th day so we had time to check out other things. Never enough time on vacation to see everything you want to see! 

[AuroraRose]

We did something like this after our Celebrity cruise on the Millennium this past August, but we gave ourselves a little more time to work with. But I think it could be manageable with you itinerary. 

 

We took the train from Seward to Anchorage, spent a night in Anchorage, picked up a rental car in the morning and drove to Denali that day. I believe the train from Seward-Denali would also require an overnight in Anchorage. There is also a Park Connection Bus that can be taken from Seward to Denali. The train leaves Seward in the evening, and I believe there are boat tours of Kenai Fjords that can be fit into a schedule where you can still catch the evening train. 

 

I personally think I would do this all by train given your short timeline, as the trains are reliable, and you don't run into the construction zones (we got held up a few times driving our rental car between Anchorage and Denali, and it added probably an hour to our drive). 

 

So with the train, an itinerary might look like this

Friday: debark ship, Kenai Fjords boat tour, catch train to Anchorage (6 pm-10:30 pm), overnight in Anchorage. 

Saturday: train to Denali (8:15 am to 3:40 pm), spend the afternoon/evening exploring shops/restaurants, overnight in Denali

Sunday: Explore Denali/ go on a tour (full day in Denali)

Monday: Breakfast in Denali, Train back to Anchorage (12:30 pm to 8 pm), overnight in Anchorage

Tuesday: Fly out of Anchorage

 

Edit to add: We loved our Millennium cruise; I'm happy to answer any questions you might have! Also, Celebrity offers a Kenai Fjords boat tour and Anchorage airport transfer excursion that you should look into as well! You could grab a taxi, hotel shuttle, or rental car (if you go that route) from the airport to your hotel. 

 

Edited December 7, 2019 by AuroraRose

[laurabegorrah]

This is how we planned out post cruise from Seward with a similar timeframe:

 

Day 1 - disembark ship and do a Kenai Fjords boat tour.  Take the 6pm train north to anchorage.  (Major Marine took care of getting our luggage to the train).  The train north from Seward has the most beautiful scenery in the whole Alaska RR Line.  We were there in July, and it was light for the majority of the trip.  We got to see an amazing sunset about an hour outside of Anchorage.  Spent the night in Anchorage (@ Quality Inn near the train station)

Day 2 - picked up rental car and drove to Denali (we rented from Enterprise).  Stopped for lunch and a bit of wandering in Talkeetna.  Stayed @ McKinley Cabins just south of the Denali park entrance. 

Day 3 - Short am hike at the mouth of Denali park. 11am plane tour up around summit of Denali and landing at Kantishna.  Took the park bus back out.  This saved us 6 whole hours on a bus (seeing same scenery twice) and was worth every penny as we were trying to maximize our time. Another night @ McKinley Cabins

Day 4 - drove straight back to Anchorage.  We decided to spend another night in Anchorage (@ Dimond Center Hotel) so we didn't have to worry about traffic issues on the drive home, but we could've easily made an early evening flight out.

Day 5 - Returned rental cal and flew home

 

[Jimbo]

2 hours ago, laurabegorrah said:

This is how we planned out post cruise from Seward with a similar timeframe:

 

 

Day 3 - Short am hike at the mouth of Denali park. 11am plane tour up around summit of Denali and landing at Kantishna.  Took the park bus back out.  This saved us 6 whole hours on a bus (seeing same scenery twice) and was worth every penny as we were trying to maximize our time. Another night @ McKinley Cabins

 

 

Tell me more about the 11am plane tour up to the Summit and landing at Kantishna, What company did you use and how much per person? The Park bus going back out, how much is that bus and is it narrated or not?

[mapleleaves]

This is probably the air:  https://www.katair.com/excursions/denali-park-day-excursions/

 

The shuttle AND transit buses both go to Kantishna.  When the schedules come out you can see which one works best with the air schedule. 

 

I guess it depends on your level of interest, but  I sure don't see this as "saving 6 hrs on the bus".  I see it as 6 hrs of missed scenery and wildlife.  I happily spend 2 days in a row on bus rides in Denali !  and next summer I will have a full week of daily rides.  

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, mapleleaves said:

This is probably the air:  https://www.katair.com/excursions/denali-park-day-excursions/

 

The shuttle AND transit buses both go to Kantishna.  When the schedules come out you can see which one works best with the air schedule. 

 

I guess it depends on your level of interest, but  I sure don't see this as "saving 6 hrs on the bus".  I see it as 6 hrs of missed scenery and wildlife.  I happily spend 2 days in a row on bus rides in Denali !  and next summer I will have a full week of daily rides.  

Wonder how many times people take this 6 hour bus trip into the park and then find out weather isn't good for flying back and then   can't take the flight back to arrive there 1 hr later only to find out they have to take the 6 hour ride back on the bus.

 

I assume the weather changes quite fast up there right?

Edited December 10, 2019 by Jimbo

[mapleleaves]

yeah, I wonder the same thing. 

I haven't seen a huge weather change within the same day, but definitely yes from one day to the next !  One yr, in late August we experienced  rain at the start of our trip, which turned to snow flurries just beyond Polychrome Pass.  The next day was sunny and warm and we were wearing shorts by the time we left the campground at noon. 

 

[laurabegorrah]

On 12/9/2019 at 6:27 PM, mapleleaves said:

This is probably the air:  https://www.katair.com/excursions/denali-park-day-excursions/

 

 

That was the excursion we took.  We were planning to do the bus both ways, but made a last minute call and booked through the cabins.  Having spent all day the day before and knowing we were going to be all day in the car the day after, the though of 12 hours on a bus just didn't seem appealing.  I think if we were spending multiple days in Denali, the bus both ways would be amazing....but on a tight schedule, it just made sense for us to maximize.

 

The bus pass price was included in the price of the tour.  We ended up on the camper bus back, but you could take any of the park buses back.  While not narrated per say, the driver will point out and stop for animals along the way.  

 

Our pilot was telling us that they have multiple flight paths that they can take, and they can't always circle the summit if the weather is crappy.