Drive from Anchorage to Seward

[Travel_Maven]

We are considering driving from Anchorage to Seward and back in June 2010. Can anyone tell us if the scenery is the same on the drive as on the train. Will we miss a lot if we drive? Thanks!

[PennyAgain]

Most of the way the highway runs along the train's tracks. There is an area where the train goes off on its own, but you can live without seeing that.

 

A car will give you freedom. You will be able to pull over and stop when you see animals. I prefer to have my own wheels.

[greatam]

There is so much to see and so many places to stop if you have a car-Beluga Point, Wildlife Conservation, Alyeska (don't miss a tram ride and the perfect place for lunch-simply fantastic views), Portage Glacier, Cooper Landing, the little town of Girdwood. You can even drive to the Kenai Princess (lovely place, just not a place to be without a car) for a drink on the deck and the spectacular scenery there.

 

The train is recommended over the cruise transfer buses (which don't stop and just drive on by). But if you have a car, the car is far superior to the train.

[Travel_Maven]

There is so much to see and so many places to stop if you have a car-Beluga Point, Wildlife Conservation, Alyeska (don't miss a tram ride and the perfect place for lunch-simply fantastic views), Portage Glacier, Cooper Landing, the little town of Girdwood. You can even drive to the Kenai Princess (lovely place, just not a place to be without a car) for a drink on the deck and the spectacular scenery there.

 

The train is recommended over the cruise transfer buses (which don't stop and just drive on by). But if you have a car, the car is far superior to the train.

Perfect! Thanks so much! Looks like the car is the way to go!

[poolwife]

also, a ways after passing the wildlife conservation center, Summit Lake comes up on the left. It is a good place to eat or a stop to go to the bathroom. The scenery is gorgeous there with this big mountain behind the lake. Every time we have stopped there it has been overcast/misty and really added to the ambience of its beauty. Just gorgeous! At least stop for 10 min.

[Travel_Maven]

Great ideas folks! Thanks for the suggestions. I would love some suggestions on where to spend a night south of Anchorage. We will be driving back from Denali in the afternoon but don't want to drive all the way to Seward that day. I was thinking of staying at Alyeska but not sure if it is overpriced. Are there any other nice places to stay that have good scenery/views in the Girdwood area?

[DaveFr]

Great ideas folks! Thanks for the suggestions. I would love some suggestions on where to spend a night south of Anchorage. We will be driving back from Denali in the afternoon but don't want to drive all the way to Seward that day. I was thinking of staying at Alyeska but not sure if it is overpriced. Are there any other nice places to stay that have good scenery/views in the Girdwood area?

We're staying at the Hidden Creek B&B in Girdwood in August.. (http://www.hiddencreekbb.com/) They have received uniformly good reviews on Trip Advisor and other web sites. I'm not sure how much of a view they have but it might fit the bill for you. You can check availability online. Hope this helps.

 

Dave

[Travel_Maven]

We're staying at the Hidden Creek B&B in Girdwood in August.. (http://www.hiddencreekbb.com/) They have received uniformly good reviews on Trip Advisor and other web sites. I'm not sure how much of a view they have but it might fit the bill for you. You can check availability online. Hope this helps.

 

Dave

 

This place looks great! Thanks for the suggestion:) If anyone else has ideas, I'd love to hear them.

[Jeanine&Jim]

We are also planning to rent a car in Anchorage explore Denali and Seward.

Has anyone rented a car in Anchorage and returned it to Seward? Is that what the poster is planning on doing? Just wondering what the drop of fee would be? Thanks Jeanine

[Travel_Maven]

We are also planning to rent a car in Anchorage explore Denali and Seward.

Has anyone rented a car in Anchorage and returned it to Seward? Is that what the poster is planning on doing? Just wondering what the drop of fee would be? Thanks Jeanine

 

You might want to check with Avis. We are renting with them and returning ours to Whittier. You might be able to do the same to Seward. It is a little more expensive but is much more convenient.

[decr]

We just retured from Alaska today. We rented from Avis in Whittier, dropped off in Anchorage. They charge a $125 one-way fee. We could not reserve an SUV or van in advance for 1-way, only a car. However, they gave us a van at the dock. Be prepared for a large bill.

 

We drove from Seward to Denali in one day. It's 6 hours of driving, not too bad. I would rather knock out the driving in one day that stopping in Anchorage and then getting up to finish the drive the next day. That kind of wastes a whole day.

[Travel_Maven]

We just retured from Alaska today. We rented from Avis in Whittier, dropped off in Anchorage. They charge a $125 one-way fee. We could not reserve an SUV or van in advance for 1-way, only a car. However, they gave us a van at the dock. Be prepared for a large bill.

 

We drove from Seward to Denali in one day. It's 6 hours of driving, not too bad. I would rather knock out the driving in one day that stopping in Anchorage and then getting up to finish the drive the next day. That kind of wastes a whole day.

How was the drive from Seward to Denali? We are considering doing the reverse but thought it was too long and we would stop in Girdwood. Did you stop anywhere along the way?

[WestfieldTraveler]

We are also planning to rent a car in Anchorage explore Denali and Seward.

Has anyone rented a car in Anchorage and returned it to Seward? Is that what the poster is planning on doing? Just wondering what the drop of fee would be? Thanks Jeanine

 

We're going the other way and renting a minivan for the six of us. Our one-way, one day cost is about $400 from Hertz, the only game in town (Seward). I seem to recall that regular cars go for closer to $200 (must be based on the train fare!).

[Pusniski]

Hertz is the only rental car company in Seward. I found Hertz pretty unreasonable for a one way rental for my entire trip in June. I took the suggestions of others. I got a round-trip rental from Anchorage for our Denali portion. You can pick up another one-way rental in a downtown Anchorage location on your way to Seward/Whittier in Anchorage to significantly cut down on the rental car costs. The airport location is not always the cheapest.

[PennyAgain]

The drive from Seward to Denali is 6 + hours if absolutely everything goes well. Remember Alaska has a state fair so check the dates for that. Anything can go wrong and screw up your timing. Summer is construction season in Alaska. The highway department has to get as much done as possible.