jessiemcc

Hi Everyone -

I'm planning a 2 week trip to Alaska with my husband and two boys (ages 2.5 and 6.5) and I'm looking for (family friendly) itinerary help. This means less time in the car and more activities (these boys never seem to tire out!!).

Full disclosure, my dad lives in Anchorage Alaska and I have been to Alaska - but that was ~20 years ago. I remember hiking along Turnagain arm and Flattop (I'd like to do both again - so long as I can find family friendly hikes). It's likely that my dad will meet up with us for some part of the trip (who am I fooling...probably for the fishing part of the trip:- aka Homer).

So let me know your thoughts. Does anything seem too rushed? Does it seem like I'm spending too much time in one area (remember packing up daily is difficult when you've got two kids in tow). Am I leaving anything out?

Day 1 - Arrive Anchorage (Evening)
Day 2 - Full Day in Anchorage (with Dad) perhaps walk/bike along the Coastal Trail (are there any museums or activities that are good for kids in Anchorage?). Overnight in Anchorage
Day 3 - Depart for Seward in the morning and arrive in time for an afternoon boat trip. Overnight in Seward
Day 4 - Seward Dog Sled tour in morning/Exit Glacier or Kayaking in the afternoon (I don't think the 2.5 yr old can go on a kayaking trip but I'll have to check) Overnight in Seward
Day 5 - Drive to Homer (either a morning activity in Seward or an afternoon activity in Homer?) Overnight in Homer
Day 6 - Husband gets to go Halibut fishing - I don't know if I will bring the 2.5 year old on the boat - but I expect the 6 year old will want to go. Overnight in Homer
Day 7 - Girdwood (stay at Alyeska) Maybe take the tram? Maybe do some rafting or salmon fishing? Overnight in Girdwood
Day 8 - Girdwood full day - hiking, fishing rafting?? (Overnight in Girdwood)
Day 9 - Depart for Denali (Overnight Denali)
Day 10 - Denali (Overnight Denali)
Day 11 - Denali (Overnight Denali)
Day 12 - Return to Anchorage / half day in Anchorage overnight in Anchorage
Day 13 - Full day in Anchorage (Overnight in Anchorage)
Day 14 - Depart for home.

Thanks for all your help!
Jessiemcc

BigRuss

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Best to break that drive a bit - can go to girdwood wildlife conservation center en route to Homer or somewhere else (not sure how long a detour via Whittier could take - may depend upon the tunnel).

Note the halibut limit was 2 pp (only one under 30") when we went so if dad and son1 go, they can pull 4 fish. The question will be what you'll do with the catch - you're likely going to have to ship it (won't be cheap) after processing unless you expect to grill up a boatload of 'but right after the fishing.

jessiemcc

Thanks! I haven't look much into what we can do on the way to Homer (or what to do while in Homer if the little one is not going to go fishing). So all suggestions are welcome!

Whatever we catch and don't eat or ship home we will leave with my dad. He regularly goes halibut fishing has a large freezer for his catches.

happytrailstoyou

Sounds good. We also liked the excellent 26-Glacier cruise out of Whittier and Hatcher Pass, which isn't far from Anchorage.

HTtY

Gardyloo

Regarding Denali, if your kids aren't happy in the car, how will they be sitting on a bus for several hours while you travel into the park and back out?

happytrailstoyou

When I was at Denali we took an 8-hour bus tour into and back out of the park, but I got the impression that the park also has busses that take shorter drives to hiking and camping destinaitons. HTtY

sandragoodlife

In Denali we drove our car to the Savage River trailhead(that's as far as you can drive in) and then took a great hike along the river. There were families with young children on this hike, it's fairly flat but very scenic. Also be sure and visit the Sled dogs in Denali - they gave a nice demo and have the dogs out for petting and photo ops.

volcanogirl

Bookmarking for a future trip.

jessiemcc

My kids are pretty good travelers! Thankfully! I don't think we'd do the entire 8 hr trip into Denali. I was thinking of going to other mile markers along the road and getting out frequently to hike/do the dog sled demonstration/ maybe Wonder lake... I will admit that Denali is the least planned out part of the trip (at least when it comes to catering to the kids). I have heard that if you travel with a child under 4 on the Park buses you need to have a car seat. We will have a car seat with us since we will be renting a car, but lugging a car seat on and off a bus does seem a bit difficult. I was toying with the idea of renting an RV for this portion of the trip and camping at the campground in Denali (I think it's only to mile 36??) and we would be driving ourselves so it would be a lot easier to deal with the car seat issue. Then I would use that campground as the base for Denali activities. Any thoughts on this would be great! Keeping the 2.5 year old in mind.

Gardyloo

Wonder Lake is six hours each way on the park shuttle.

When is this trip?

JenniferWilson

During your full day at Anchorage you might go to the 26-Glacier cruise near Whittier, jessiemcc. The views of the glaciers are breath taking. We’ve been there twice with by husband and 2 children. It’s always so much fun! And our little ones love these cruises. The last time we saw a lot of wildlife from the boat – sea lions, sea otters, birds.