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Seward - Rental Car? Public Transit?

quiescentlyfrozen

By quiescentlyfrozen,
in Alaska

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quiescentlyfrozen

quiescentlyfrozen

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

 

I'll be disembarking the Millenium in August in Seward with then-hubby for the start of our honeymoon. We're thinking to stick around Seward for a day or two for the aquarium / wildlife center / etc.

 

So my question is - is there anywhere other than Hertz to rent a car? They seem pretty pricey, but we'll of course bite the bullet if necessary.

 

Second part - is a car necessary, or is there good public transit in Seward? Coming from FL, where there's basically no good public transit, I assume there's not much in Seward either, but thought I'd ask!

 

Please also be sure to tell me if Seward sucks and we should get out sooner than that :-)

 

Thanks!

Caroline

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Yukon

Yukon

Posted
Posted

A rental car allows you to see Exit Glacier easily as well as the town stuff, and there are unlimited options on the highway north - some truly beautiful places to stop and just soak up Alaska (hopefully Alaska sun!).

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GlacierLady

GlacierLady

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Seward has won the All American City Award three times!!!

 

I feel Seward is the best of Alaska and why I've lived here 13 years.

 

Seward is very small and can easily be walked. 1.5 miles from downtown to the small boat harbor with the historic Iditarod trail connecting them via a paved trail along the waterfront. Lots of wildlife such as sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals and many birds can be seen.

 

Having a car depends mostly on where your staying. If out of town such as at my favorite place, http://www.alaskasaltwaterlodge.com, then a car might be better.

 

Hertz is it and is very spendy.

 

A taxi is $6 for a van around town with all the drivers being locals and most would love to show you around for a few $$.

 

Stay away from the trolley at $5 or more pp and it's unreliable besides being slow.

 

Lots to do such as the Sealife Center, Exit Glacier, wildlife cruises, fishing charters, kayaking, 2 kinds of dogsled rides, flight seeing.

 

The train is a great way to get to Anc.

 

Feel free to ask me any questions. :)

 

http://www.seward.com

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quiescentlyfrozen

quiescentlyfrozen

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Thank you all for the fast response - and all the details, GlacierLady! (I'm sure I'll take you up on questions once I formulate them!)

 

Sounds like what we may do is a car one day (Hertz only!) to head out of town to Exit Glacier, and then stick on foot for in-town the other day. And who knows, perhaps I'll be tacking on a third day as well. I'm sure I'll post more in this forum as I have a theory of our iteniary for AK.

 

Thanks for the help!

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Yukon

Yukon

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Yup, Shuttle for $10pp or taxi for $60 rt for a van. I think that's still cheaper than renting a car + gas minus the advantage of a local. ;)

 

It is if you only want to go one or two places, but the Seward area has a LOT of places to explore.

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JerseyJaguar

JerseyJaguar

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Is there a movie theater there? I'm not a drinker and I'm staying in very low rent accommodations so if there's a place to go see a movie the night I'm there (after I get back from my boat trip), that's be great.

 

Also, what about nail salons? It'd be great to be able to wait till the day my cruise departs to go to the nail place, otherwise I'll go in Anchorage before I get to Seward.

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GlacierLady

GlacierLady

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Liberty Theater has movies at 7-7:30pm each night. It's a very old place so that in itself is kewl.

 

Library has an earthquake film at 2pm.

 

There's a musuem on the Iditarod/history of Seward under the senior center, costs like $3 and they also have films I believe tues n thurs evenings but check 1st.

 

A friend of mine..Angel does nails. I had heard she might be moving to a different location and I've been out of town for a bit. Starting to head back that way today....waaa Check back next week and I'll have a # for you.

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GlacierLady

GlacierLady

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Sea otters can be seen anywhere along the waterfront, no special places. I was having lunch 1 day at Chinook's and watched 4 fighting over a fish carcass. That when I decided they aren't so cute on land and are actually mean and over grown rats. LOL They do look cute floating on their backs with the chubby cheeks though. You can also see them at the Sealife Center.

 

You can take rentals out to Saltwater Lodge. The road is 3 miles long and can get pretty nasty with potholes but if you go slow you'll be fine. I wouldn't want to walk or ride a bike on it, though many do. This road is my favorite for spotting wildlife and I have seen whales and porposies along with the usual otters, seals etc. Once I witnessed an eagle swoop down and take a salmon out of a seal lion's mouth..National Geographic type stuff!!

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  • 2 weeks later...
luvtwotrvl

luvtwotrvl

Posted
Posted
Seward has won the All American City Award three times!!!

 

I feel Seward is the best of Alaska and why I've lived here 13 years.

 

Seward is very small and can easily be walked. 1.5 miles from downtown to the small boat harbor with the historic Iditarod trail connecting them via a paved trail along the waterfront. Lots of wildlife such as sea otters, sea lions, harbor seals and many birds can be seen.

 

Having a car depends mostly on where your staying. If out of town such as at my favorite place, www.alaskasaltwaterlodge.com, then a car might be better.

 

Hertz is it and is very spendy.

 

A taxi is $6 for a van around town with all the drivers being locals and most would love to show you around for a few $$.

 

Stay away from the trolley at $5 or more pp and it's unreliable besides being slow.

 

Lots to do such as the Sealife Center, Exit Glacier, wildlife cruises, fishing charters, kayaking, 2 kinds of dogsled rides, flight seeing.

 

The train is a great way to get to Anc.

 

Feel free to ask me any questions. :)

 

www.seward.com

 

 

GlacierLady,

We are doing a B2B cruise this summer in July. We will dock in Seward at 6:00am and will leave at 8:00pm. I was thinking about renting a car and drive north to Anchorage or drive to Homer if it is scenic. Is renting a car worth it or should we just stay in Seward and do som stuff there???

 

David

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morebeaches

morebeaches

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I can answer that one from the research I have done. Mid-summer you don't want to drive round trip to Homer, you are looking at at least 10 hours provided you don't get stuck behind an RV or 4. Same with Anchorage though not quite as far. There is plenty to do closer to Seward for your turn around time

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luvtwotrvl

luvtwotrvl

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I can answer that one from the research I have done. Mid-summer you don't want to drive round trip to Homer, you are looking at at least 10 hours provided you don't get stuck behind an RV or 4. Same with Anchorage though not quite as far. There is plenty to do closer to Seward for your turn around time

 

 

Since you do not recommend driving, what would you do during our time in Seward???

 

David

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NancyIL

NancyIL

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GlacierLady,

We are doing a B2B cruise this summer in July. We will dock in Seward at 6:00am and will leave at 8:00pm. I was thinking about renting a car and drive north to Anchorage or drive to Homer if it is scenic. Is renting a car worth it or should we just stay in Seward and do som stuff there???

 

David

 

I'm not GlacierLady - but I agree with morebeaches. To drive to Anchorage or Homer - you'd be spending most of the time in your car. Enjoy Seward while you are there.

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morebeaches

morebeaches

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And if you want to drive for scenary, certainly you can do that, just don't expect on making it that far. Different folks have different taste. Personally, I would do like Nancy said, and do the Sea Life center in the morning the the 6 hour Kenai Fjiords tour. But, don't mistake me for an expert as I haven't even been there yet. I am obsessive about researching vacations and been researching this one for about 3 years. We were planning on spending a few days in Homer, but those plans changed.

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GlacierLady

GlacierLady

Posted
Posted
Now my question for Glacier Lady: Are there any restaurants in Seward that serve razor clams? And what is the best seafood restaurant? We will be there in August.

 

I'm sure someone probably does serve razor clams but I don't eat them so haven't any suggestions.

 

As for seafood, most is shipped in frozen. The Crab Pot has had live crabs in the past. Halibut and salmon can be found fresh as that's what is fished in this area. No local fresh scallops, shrimp ect.

 

Thorn's Showcase Lounge has some great, fresh halibut with a small bowl enough for 2 to share.

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