Alaska 2012 - Need help with trip planning

Planning might make more sense if you also figure in the distances/driving time. Cooper Landing to Seward is about an hour (what time does boat leave, what time is breakfast, etc). I really liked Homer but it's more than a 2 hour drive which is ok as long as you figure it in but maybe not a good idea after driving from Palmer to Cooper Landing.

In the Palmer area I would also visit Independence State Mine. Read the signs/tour the buildings - imagine building a mining town back then.

On the drive back to Anchorage you can stop for the tram ride up Alyeska and the visitors center at Portage.

Be prepared for the long drive to Denali. Figure out where to have lunch or take a picnic lunch. Have snacks and bottled water. Wasilla is the last place with good shopping until you get to Talkeetna and there groceries are very limited.

www.greatalaskanholidays.com

Way I did it last had a blast saved a tonne...

Good luck!

qwovadis - Thanks for the RV suggestion, but that's not an option for us. My daughter and I travel together and I don't think we could handle an RV

dfrostnh - I realize it is a long drive to Denali, but I think renting a car gives us more flexibility and is less expensive than 2 of us taking the train. I thought we could go to Safeway or WalMart in Anchorage and buy a cooler and stock up on snacks & drinks. I realize dining in Alaska is very expensive.

I checked out the Kenai Fjords cruise we will take. It departs from Seward at 10 AM. If we get up early and leave Cooper Landing by 8:00 I think we should be okay if the drive is about 1 hour.

I have thought about adding day in Homer and spending one night there. Any suggestions?

Or should I plan to add an extra day in Denali? We will arrive there late in the day. We plan to do an all day bus trip the next day, spend the night, and begin our trip south the next day. We will be driving to Palmer and hope to stop in Talkeetna for a flight seeing tour. Is this a reasonable plan for that day?

Once we leave Cooper Landing, we will have the entire day to stop anywhere we want before returning to Anchorage. We don't need to be there until around 9 PM. I read good reviews about the tram at Alyeska. There is a coupon in the tour saver book. There is also a coupon for the Portage Glacier Cruise. Perhaps after the Kenai Fjords tour, it wouldn't be worthwhile. I also read about visiting a very interesting museum in Anchorage. Perhaps that would be a good choice for a late day activity before having dinner prior to going to the airport.

Thanks again for the suggestions from both of you.

We liked Girdwood/Alyeska for a stop between Anchorage and Seward. My parents did Denali/Glacier landing from Talkeetna and loved it. We did some dogsledding/helicopter/glacier landing in Girdwoods, flyout salmon fishing in Soldotna, Kayaking in Seward.

You might consider just keeping the car for the Denali portion. The train is pretty sweet to Seward from Anchorage.

We will likely be able to leave anytime after August 6th.

Last week in Aug is peak for tundra colors at Denali, and the later you wait the more active the bigger animals are (moose and caribou are shedding velvet and getting ready to fight for mates, more bears visible as they munch on blueberries near the road).

The tour saver book has lodging coupons for the following:
Denali - Denali Bluffs Hotel
Palmer - Knik River Lodge
Cooper Landing - Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge.

Since each of these hotels have a buy 1 get 1 free offer, this would cover 6 nights of lodging, if these would be good choices.

Denali Bluffs looked OK from the outside (didn't stay there), especially if you have a 2-1 deal. Kenai Princess is beautiful (we had lunch there once) but is very isolated. I prefer either Seward or Homer on the Kenai, but 2-1 is pretty hard to pass up, though there are decent places in Homer that are probably half the cost of the Princess, so it would be a wash $$-wise.

spirobulldog - I considered the train to Seward, but depending on where we stay, it may not be an option. Wouldn't work from Kenai Princess. I am not interested in kayaking or fishing. My daughter would love the dogsledding and that is a possibility. We can add an extra day if we decide to do this. I don't think it would fit in the schedule I have now.

Bill_H - Thanks for the in-sight on visiting Denali later in August. Perhaps crowds would be less since school is back in session in much of the US by then. I will look into Homer. The 2 for 1 offer at Kenai Princess is much better than 2 nights in Seward, although I hadn't looked at later in August. I think we could arrange our schedules so we could travel late in August. Is the weather usually good this time of year? Thanks again.

We loved Denali!!! If you can squeeze in a second day - that would be my advice. The bus ride is the entire day - its amazing - go as far in as you think you can take - we did the bus to Eielson, got off, ate our box lunch, checked out the visitor center, and did a ranger hike before heading back. The next day we hiked closer to the visitor center that you can reach via your personal car and then we visited the sled dogs.

We spent 2 nights in Girdwood before heading back home (it was the end of a 2 week trip.) We enjoyed gold panning in that area. Not much else to do, but relax. We had a great dinner at Jack Sprat.

We were in AK a few years ago, we flew to Anchorage and rented a car for two weeks.
We stopped to purchase a cooler, fruit, snacks, before we left Anchorage, and it came in very handy. When you take the bus trip into Denali, there is a break for lunch; by that time, we were pretty hungry and glad we had food with us (you can't take cooler on the Denali bus)
When we left Anchorage, we drove thru Wasilla and Palmer, then to Valdez. In Palmer, we saw some of the large produce that you hear about, and saw a small but beautiful garden. It was near a city building or library if I recall correctly.

We loved Valdez but I will skip that part. From Valdez we took the Alaska Marine Highway ferry to Whittier, then drove to Seward. In Seward we took a helicopter to a glacier and then took a dogsled ride. My husband still talks about it. Lots of fun! We did not take a Kenai boat trip because we had already taken a glacier boat trip in Valdez.

Then we drove to Homer...very pretty. Had a rainy day there but it gave us a chance to rest up.

Then we drove back to Anchorage, via Girdwood. We enjoyed the tram but would not consider it a "must see".

After we were back in Anchorage, we took a bus to Seward so that we could take the train. Some Fodorites did not recommend for us to do that, but we enjoy train rides and this was well worth it. They watched for wildlife and stopped to let everyone view it. The ride around the Turnagain Arm was very beautiful as the sun was just starting to set.

We stayed at all B & B's. It was a great experience and a nice way to meet people that live in Alaska.

... late in August. Is the weather usually good this time of year?

Risky trying to predict Alaska weather, but I'll tell you what we saw on our trips. We've been there five times, usually for two weeks per trip, roughly the last week in August (usually Denali), then the first week in Sept (usually Katmai for bears, Kenai for short trips on three longer trips).

One year in Denali it had been exceptionally dry all summer and they had large fires to the north (south of Fairbanks), so we had smokey skies over Denali until it snowed one day and cleared up. This was an unusual year, the worst year for us.

Most years it was clear about half the days (a big deal since it means you can see Mt. McKinley), overcast about half the days (meaning no McKinley views). Occasional light, misty rain on the overcast days.

I understand it was more likely to be overcast a higher percent of the time in July and early August, something to do with the weather patterns off the Bering sea (warmer summer air bringing moisture as it hits the high peaks with their cold temps).

I remember at Eielson visitor center seeing a summer calendar where they drew in clouds or sunny skies each day and in July it was about 90% cloudy days that year, for example, while we had our usual 50% clear days in late August.

So it's always a bit of a gamble with the weather in Alaska but late Aug and early Sept are good times to go to Denali and Kenai (and Katmai for bears).

I like your plan and would take the car from Anchorage to Denali with the cooler for snacks and drinks. The train was ok, but I'd much rather be able to stop and look, like when the moose was crossing the river and we were flashing by on the train or when Denali showed her face and the train went around a corner.

At Denali, I would plan on the longest possible bus trip into the park. We did the 6-8 hour tundra wilderness tour, but there is a longer one that goes farther into the park. We were there the first week in September and saw lots of animals, Dall sheep, moose, grizzley bears etc. and the colors of the tundra and aspens were fantastic.

Have a great trip.

You wouldn't want to do Portage Glacier cruise after the great Kenai one but the visitors center is very interesting. You can listen to recordings of what it was like during the earthquake. Portage was abandoned after the earthquake.

It's probably better to do Denali at the beginning of your trip because it's not as picturesque as the drive south of Anchorage. Talkeetna is an interesting little town. I thought each town in AK had its own personality. The Pratt Museum in Homer is small but very interesting.

I agree that having a car gives you a lot more flexibility. We even stopped on our way to Independence Mine to look at a glacier stream because the color was so pretty. Another trip early August stopped to watch fisherman at Bird Creek on the Seward Hwy. By long drive, I mean looooong drive to Denali. Anchorage is a big city. From there to Wasilla there's a lot of suburbs, but after Wasilla. Not much at all. A lot of miles between gas stations. No restaurants. No shops. Keep in mind how much time you will spend driving during your vacation compared to other activities. Unfortunately, places in AK are far apart.

One other advantage of a late Aug vs earlier Aug trip to Denali is fewer bugs. We were there in late June once and the mosquitoes were unbelievable, you were constantly waving your hand in front of your face to keep them out of your eyes and nose (the "Denali Wave"). Especially bad near Wonder Lake, but pretty bad everywhere in the park.

In late August there were only a few bugs left, mostly white flies that don't bite.

Thank you all very much for so much information. I think we will leave the last week in August, prior to Labor Day. I am still considering the original agenda, but may add one or two days, probably for Denali & maybe Homer. A lot depends on air fare. It can vary greatly from one day to the next. I will likely book with Frontier and they don't have their schedule open yet into late August/early Sept. I think even with the tour saver coupon, we won't stay at Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing. As someone pointed out, it is quite a distance from anywhere else. I think we can find a room in Seward and pay for 2 nights for about what one night at Princess will cost. Plus, there will be many more options for dining. I'm sure Princess is very expensive since they have a captive audience.

I appreciate hearing that bugs won't be as bad in late August. My daughter seems to be a bug magnet! We will take bug repellant.

I realize it is a long way to Denali, but still think this is more flexible and less expensive than the train. Does anybody know if there is Verizon cell phone service once we leave Anchorage? A little bit of a worry since we are 2 women traveling alone through desolate country.

Can somebody tell me if I need to book the Denali bus tour months in advance? We plan to take the park bus. We don't want to miss out. I think we will take the bus to the Eielson visitor center. I am not a person to get off the bus and hike, but hope to see a lot from the bus tour, although I realize that isn't guaranteed.

We are so excited and can't thank all of you enough who have give us your help.

No doubt about a car is less expensive, faster, and you can be on your own schedule. Most people thing the train to Seward is more scenic than the train to Denali. It is a shorter ride. Most people think that you see the same thing from the road. Parts of it are the same, but a lot of it is very different. The draw of the train is that is is such a unique experience.

We found it unusual that mosquitoes on glaciers. Just seemed odd to us.

I would definately try to do a bush pilot experience to somewhere-fishing, dogsledding, or a glacier landing, etc.

You can go on line to make the reservations for the tours in Denali ahead of time, but there were people making reservations for the next day on the afternoon we stopped in the reservation lodge.

Does anybody know if there is Verizon cell phone service once we leave Anchorage? A little bit of a worry since we are 2 women traveling alone through desolate country.

Not really all that "desolate" on the main highways. Shouldn't be a problem.

Can somebody tell me if I need to book the Denali bus tour months in advance?

Sometimes the first bus out in the morning books early but in general you can book once you get there and get practically any trip. If you are certain of a specific day and time then might as well book in advance but it's not a necessity.

I always liked the Eielson trips best when busing in from the park boundary, this is 8 hours round trip and gets you to the best parts of the park. Wonder Lake is another 25+ miles from Eielson but those trips take 12 hours round trip, which gets tedious. But then we always got off for hours on the Eielson trips to hike, and were always spending part of our trip days at the 'wilderness' lodges near Wonder Lake, so we saw the Wonder Lake area practically every day while at those lodges.

For just one trip, to see it all, the Wonder Lake version is OK but makes for a very long day.

I think we can find a room in Seward and pay for 2 nights for about what one night at Princess will cost.

Holiday Inn Express in Seward was pretty good, especially rooms on the harbor side. Rates went down shortly after Labor Day last time we were there (I think 2008).

Sorry, I'm just now getting back to the board. I've had internet issues for a few days. I've read all of your posts, checked out the Alaska Tour Saver Book, and read a lot of other posts on Fodors. I have a tentative agenda, but have a few questions about some activities that are in the tour saver book.

Any input on the following would greatly be appreciated.

Fri, Aug 24 - Fly to Anchorage. Arrive 1 PM Anchorage time. Check in at hotel. Find Wal-Mart and buy supplies. Maybe look a bit around Anchorage. Not sure if we will feel like doing much except eating dinner and going to bed. It will be a long day. May try bidding on a hotel on Priceline since it's only for 1 night.

Sat, Aug 25 - Drive to Denali. Hope to go to visitors center and dog kennels on Saturday afternoon. Planning to stay at Denali Bluffs (tour saver coupon).

Sun, Aug 26 - Denali bus tour to Eielson. Spend night at Denali Bluffs.

Mon, Aug 27 - Leave Denali. Stop at Talkeetna and do flightseeing tour-hope weather is good (tour saver coupon). Drive to Palmer. Stay at Knik River Lodge (tour saver coupon). Depending on time, might stop at Independence Mine.

Tues, Aug 28 - Palmer area. Not sure yet what we will do. The Alaska State Fair will be going on when we are there and that would be something we might enjoy.

Wedn, Aug 29 - Drive to Seward. Spend night. Not sure what we will do that day but know there is plenty to do.

Thur, Aug 30 - Kenai Fjords 8 hour tour. Spend night in Seward.

Fri, Aug 31 - Drive back to Anchorage. Our flight won't leave until 8:30 PM. We will have the day to spend doing whatever we want. Tour saver coupons: Tram at Alyeska; there are round trip train trips from Portage to Whittier or Grandview, or we can go to Anchorage and spend the day. Someone recommended stopping at the visitors center in Portage and we will plan to do that. Any input on these activities, or suggestions for others?

Perhaps it sounds like we are trying to do to much. We both like to be on the go from morning until evening. A hotel is just a place to sleep and shower. We realize we can't do everything, but want to do a variety of activities to get a real "Alaska experience"

Thanks again to all of you who have been so helpful.

Arrive 1 PM Anchorage time. Check in at hotel. Find Wal-Mart and buy supplies.

The Anchorage Wal-Mart isn't too convenient to the hotel areas.

The next day, when you drive to Denali, there's a Wal-Mart in Wasilla right beside the main highway, that's where we always stop to get supplies. It's a lot more convenient.

Drive to Seward. Spend night. Not sure what we will do that day but know there is plenty to do.

SeaLife Center is well worth some time. Cruise to a fjord is also highly worthy ...

Sealife Center is nice. A couple of hours was enough for us. Exit Glacier is another option just outside of Seward. There were several bears there when we were there.

We had lunch at the top of the tram. Just at the little restaurant not the nicer one that is open for dinner(7 Glacier or something like that). Anyway, they had awesome fish chowder and the view while dining is very good.

Fred Meyer has some larger Grocery Stores in Alaska. The one that we went to had a better grocery selection than your average Walmart Super Center. The other areas were similar to Walmart(clothing, camping gear etc). Expect things to be a bit more expensive.

We didn't do our dogsledding in Seward, but it seems like I read about one there too. I think you could even spend the night with the dogs. Nothing like 70 dogs to keep you awake. lol. We did our dogsledding in Girdwood.

Thanks again spiro & Bill for your replies. You two have been most helpful.

Thanks for the info about Wal-Mart in Wasilia instead of Anchorage. We've been to Fred Meyer stores when traveling in the west and they are very nice. We will purchase supplies before heading to Denali and will probably need to restock by mid week. I believe I read that on the bus trip through Denali there is a light lunch included, but a person needs to take water & snacks. Do you know if they allow a small, soft-sided cooler?

I think during our first day in Seward we will visit the Sea Life Center (coupon in tour saver) and Exit Glacier. I understand it is easy to reach. We are going to do the 8 hour tour of Kenai Fjords on Thursday.

Depending on our final plans for Friday, we would like to take the tram at Alyeska. Thanks for the info about the cafe at the top.

Does anybody have an opinion about the train from Portage to either Whittier or Grandview? One of my daughter's friends told her we must do a train trip while in Alaska, although she was in a different area than where we will be. The train to Grandview sounds like the best trip. However, it doesn't leave until 1 PM and doesn't return until around 5:45 PM. The flight I am looking at leaves at 8:20 PM, but I could choose the 11:30 PM flight. I wouldn't want to miss the flight. I've checked Google Maps and it appears to be about an hour to the airport from Portage. I'm afraid that might be cutting it close since I will have a rental car to return.

Dogsledding is another option for Friday. I will look into what is available in Girdwood. There is also a coupon in the northern lights coupon book for Back country jet boat tours. The tour gets good review on Trip Advisor. It leaves at 1:00 and returns at 4:30. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks again.

Wal-mart and Fred Meyer both have stores in Wasilla, just off the main Parks highway about 2 1/2 miles apart, Wal-Mart on your left heading north, FM on your right a short distance further. Can't miss seeing either one.

I believe I read that on the bus trip through Denali there is a light lunch included, but a person needs to take water & snacks. Do you know if they allow a small, soft-sided cooler?

No lunch served on the shuttle busses, which is what I recommend. The "Tundra Tours", which are not shuttle busses but are more expensive, do serve lunch. There are lengthy Fodors threads discussing shuttle bus vs Tundra tours options.

You wrote above you were going to Eielson, which implies the shuttle system since the Tundra Tours don't go that far (or at least haven't in the years we visited).

Anyway, on the shuttle busses we've always carried on large heavy photo backpacks and tripods so I'm sure a small soft cooler that would fit under the seat would be fine. Never really felt the need for a cooler though, the air was cool enough.

Bill,

You are so helpful. Thanks for the directions to Fred Meyer and Wal-Mart. We may stop at both. As you mentioned, FM has better food selections and we will need to plan for lunch on Sunday.

Sorry, I've read so much I get things confused. I realize now the buses that provide lunch are the tour buses. No, we plan to use the shuttle bus. We like the lower cost and flexibility. We don't want to carry too much. Daughter and I are both planning to take a back pack. She is the photographer. Hadn't thought about taking a tri-pod. I will mention it to her. I think she has one that wouldn't take up too much space. I presume we should dress in layers and prepare for a cool morning and hopefully warmer in the afternoon. We will do this trip on August 26. I thought a cooler might be a good idea if we will take deli sandwiches. Don't want to get food poisoning!

When you took the shuttle bus tour, did you take the first bus of the day? I believe it leaves at 6 or 6:30, although they don't have the 2012 schedule posted yet.

When you took the shuttle bus tour, did you take the first bus of the day?

We've taken the shuttle trip maybe a dozen times. First year we did try to get on the first bus out but it is usually pretty full.

Since we (wife and I) had large backpacks with photo gear we found it was better (on subsequent trips) to catch the 2nd or 3rd bus to Eielson since it wasn't as crowded and we could usually snag two adjacent seats near the back. This let us set the packs on the seat so we could get to lenses etc quickly, and also since half the time the animals are on one side, half the time the other side we could slide across and share a window.

If you go out really early and have the stamina then I'd suggest getting off and either walking the road or hiking the more open areas, then catching another bus. Particularly good to do the road walking from high passes (walk down, then catch a new bus) like Polychrome and Sable etc, and hiking in open areas between Highway Pass and Eielson, which is my favorite area.

Primrose Ridge area is usually wonderful for tundra colors in late Aug but I think the last time we were there the busses weren't picking people up on Primrose since it was close to the paved road, but they tweak the rules practically every year so doesn't hurt to ask.

If you are doing this (walking or hiking) the cooler will be a hassle, and any food smells might be attractive to the bears, so I'd just take packaged food.

Hello There,
As a born and raised Alaskan, mostly in Anchorage I have a couple of recommendations for you.
First off driving to Denali is at least a 5 hour excursion if not longer and the second thing Palmer isn't really that exciting of a place to go so I would not dedicate a whole evening/night to the place. I would recommend on Day 2 driving to Talkeetna and staying out there for a night. Try to get your flightseeing trip in while there (the ones where you can land on a glacier near McKinley are fantastic).

I would stay 2 nights in Denali if possible because of all the traveling involved. The Denali bus tours or the worthwhile one is 8 hours and it's the SHUTTLE BUS tour to the Eielson Visitor Center. The shuttle buses make a lot of stops for wildlife and the view from that center of McKinley is fantastic!)

I wouldn't waste a day in Palmer. You'd probably find a lot more to do in Anchorage and it's only 30 minutes south of Palmer. The Anchorage Museum is really fantastic and has an awesome Alaska Native exhibit. There's also the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the paved coastal trail which is a gorgeous walk and tons of great food places in downtown Anchorage.

The Kenai River is gorgeous and I'm sure you'll love the Princess hotel at Copper Landing.

Other places I would recommend going,: Whittier ( tons of different sea-wildlife viewing tours available and it's about 45 minute drive from Anchorage and you get to go through a 2 mile long tunnel through a mountain), Seward (only a 2 hour drive from Anchorage), Alyeska (take the tram to the top of the mountain. Chair 5 (their pizza), Double Musky, and Jack Sprats are all really great places to have dinner in Girdwood.

Welcome to Fodors Jen. I am interested in visiting Alaska so I follow the Alaska posts--would love to go there in 2013, so it's great to read all the suggestions--Alaska is so big,it is more difficult to plan a visit there. It's great to get advice from someone born and raised in Alaska.

mlm--looks like an exciting trip you have planned.

It was great to see my post come back to the top. I haven't looked at it in a while. AKJen - thanks so much for all of the suggestions. We have booked our airline tickets on Alaska Air. We will arrive in the afternoon of Aug 24 and depart at 11:30 PM on Aug 31, giving us 7 full days in Alaska. Our tentative schedule is as follows, but we are open to suggestions.

Friday afternoon-arrive in Anchorage. Spend the night. Maybe do some sight seeing, however it will be a long day. Not sure how late I can stay awake.
Saturday-drive to Denali. Stop in Wasila for supplies. Spend the night.
Sunday-8 hour bus trip to Eielson. Spend the night. We have a 2 for 1 coupon at Denali Bluffs.
Monday - We will spend the night in Palmer, but not in a hurry to get there. We plan to take a flight seeing trip from Talkeetna. Have a two for one deal at the Knik River Lodge.
Tuesday - We are thinking about going to the Alaska State Fair.
Wednesday - We will make our way to Seward to spend the night. We might deter to Whittier for a cruise at Prince William Sound.
Thursday - Kenai Fjords cruise. Spending the night in Seward. We decided not to stay at the Princess Lodge at Copper Landing. It seems very remote and I think there is more to do around Seward.
Friday - We plan to take the Alyeska tram. We are also considering the round trip train from Portage to Grandview. We could also go back to Anchorage. We don't have definite plans for this day

Jen-since you are very familiar with Anchorage, which area do you suggest for us to spend the night on Friday? We are arriving Friday afternoon and will leave for Denali on Saturday morning. I have looked at several B & B's that offer a room with 2 beds and a private bath (that is a requirement). Hotels are very expensive and many don't get good reviews on Tripadvisor. Some things I have read say at least part of the downtown area is not very desirable.

Thanks again for your post. I welcome any advice you can give.

I am going to Alaska in May and wondered if anyone had 2012 Tour Saver coupons for Stan Stevens Boat tour in Valdez and for McKinley Flight Tour that you aren't planning to use. These are the only two I need from the book. I would really appreciate it!