When you have finalized your "land tour" plans....

[Silverwing]

Congratulations on your Wedding - I am sure it will be a wonderful day for you all. Now I know who booked the Saltwater Lodge! We tried ages ago for the nights of 15th & 16th July, following our HAL cruise, but were told that all the rooms had been booked by a wedding party. Instead the four of us are staying at Dairy Hill in Seward (owned by the same people) which should be fine.

[phabric]

I don't think I'll ever have a FINAL itenerary - because I want to make sure we can stay as long as we want, wherever we want. The only land reservations made will be Denali, and the rest will be played as we go.

 

Monday - go to Anchorage; pick up RV; stock RV; see Alaska Heritage Center and may or may not start north

Tuesday - Independence Mine, Eklutna, possibly helo in Talkeetna all depending on time without rushing

Weds & Thurs. - Savage River Campground in Denali with early shuttle to Fish Creek Thursday morning

Fri & Sat - Fairbanks - sternwheeler planned and MUST visit North Pole for grandkids!

Sunday & Monday - To Copper Center and on to Valdez

Tuesday - to (or towards) Palmer

Weds. - AK State Fair, or on to Kenai Peninsula

Thurs - Sun - Seward, and Homer

MON - Back to Anchorage and fly home :mad:

 

(The BAD part of this itenerary is that we'd be on the Kenai Peninsula Labor Day Weekend :eek: so Kenai Peninsula may get switched to start of trip)

 

We are thinking of renting a RV next year. Would be interested to read anything about your trip after your return.

[phabric]

The "one stop" company is http://www.alaskatravel.com (Alaska Tour and Travel). The base tour we selected included McKinley Princess but you can also use that as option ... also you can book that lodge direct BUT it's difficult to get dates on some weeks since tour groups use up so much space. Setting is divine... IMHO of course only :rolleyes:

 

After your tour and cruise can you come back and give a review. I have looked at the tour company and there are so many tour options, it is hard to pick one. Which tour # did you pick.

[Lisette]

We went with a travel company that allows you to customize what you want when you want it, so we were able to incorporate our hotel points to decrease the cost of the landtour.

 

June 4th- Ship arrives at Whittier, taking our only ship tour that takes us on the portage glacier tour and drops us at the Anchorage Airport where we will pick up a car and stay and downtown Marriott on points.

 

June 5th- drive to Seaward visit wildlife refuge on the way, also visit Seaward Sea life center, stay at Edgewater hotel overnight.

 

June 6th- taking the Kenai 6hr boat trip, then driving back to Anchorage for an overnight at the Marriott downtown.

 

June 7th- 7am bus to Denali Park entrance, then taking the shuttle in to the Denali Backcountry lodge, over night here, expensive but wanted to treat ourselves.

 

June 8th- Backcountry Lodge

 

June 9th- Backcountry lodge

 

June 10th- Shuttle to Denali Park entrance and train to Anchorage, decided to go all out and take the gold service for the dome rail car. Overnight in Anchorage Springhill suites

 

June 11th- Overnight in Springhill suites rent a car for the day and explore Anchorage area.

 

June 12th- Flight leaves at 2:15pm to Vancouver then to Toronto.

[fti]

We went with a travel company that allows you to customize what you want when you want it, so we were able to incorporate our hotel points to decrease the cost of the landtour.

 

June 4th- Ship arrives at Whittier, taking our only ship tour that takes us on the portage glacier tour and drops us at the Anchorage Airport where we will pick up a car and stay and downtown Marriott on points.

 

June 5th- drive to Seaward visit wildlife refuge on the way, also visit Seaward Sea life center, stay at Edgewater hotel overnight.

 

June 6th- taking the Kenai 6hr boat trip, then driving back to Anchorage for an overnight at the Marriott downtown.

 

June 7th- 7am bus to Denali Park entrance, then taking the shuttle in to the Denali Backcountry lodge, over night here, expensive but wanted to treat ourselves.

 

June 8th- Backcountry Lodge

 

June 9th- Backcountry lodge

 

June 10th- Shuttle to Denali Park entrance and train to Anchorage, decided to go all out and take the gold service for the dome rail car. Overnight in Anchorage Springhill suites

 

June 11th- Overnight in Springhill suites rent a car for the day and explore Anchorage area.

 

June 12th- Flight leaves at 2:15pm to Vancouver then to Toronto.

 

Your itinerary sounds great. Most people don't spend three nights at Denali (I try to spend at least that many). What are your plans at Denali? I like to hike in the park and/or take the shuttle busses to spot wildlife (staying that far west and taking the busses is a distinct advantage - you are always going in the opposite direction of the crowds).

[Lisette]

The reason I decided to do 3 nights in Denali was because I did not want to rush around trying to see everything too fast. I want to do some hiking and really be able to see and apprecaite the park. I also want to go on a flight seeing tour over Denali at some point. With three nights we have choices. I am so excited about going and I am constantly reading this board it is a fantastic wealth of information.