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Alaska itinerary - Anchorage, Seward, Denali, Juneau.

Alaska itinerary - Anchorage, Seward, Denali, Juneau.

Old Jul 30th, 2015, 09:34 AM
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hga
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Alaska itinerary - Anchorage, Seward, Denali, Juneau.

Hi all - we are a group of 6 traveling to Alaska at the end of August. 2 adults, 2 kids (8 and 10), 2 seniors (fairly active). Please can you let me know your thoughts on the below itinerary. We will be based in Anchorage for 7 days with a rental car so will be driving everywhere. And will then fly to Junea for the last 2 days.

Please also give your recommendations on how far we should go into Denali 3-4 hours round trip max (we will take the shuttle bus, so which points should we stop to see the most wildlife).

Day 1 - Anchorage - Alaska Heritage Center, Ekultana Drive
Day 2 - Seward - Kenjai Fjords 5 hour cruise.
Day 3 - Anchorage- Saturday market, Biking Tony Knowles
Day 4 - Whittier - Prince William Sound cruise
Day 5 - Denali - drive early morning. do a 3-4 hour bus tour. drive back late night (is this crazy to do?)
Day 6 - Anchorage - Matansuka glacier
Day 7 - Fly to Juneau in the afternoon
Day 8 - Walk around Juneau, see Mendenhall glacier (any other suggestions?)
Day 9 - Tracy Arm Fjord cruise 10 hours

I want to do activities that will balance the interests and abilities of the kids and the grandparents. So can't do too much hiking/kayaking. Trip is geared more toward sight-seeing.

Many thanks!
HA
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Old Jul 30th, 2015, 11:26 AM
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Trying to get to both Denali and a Kenai Fjords cruise as day trips from Anchorage is really not very feasible. I would drop Denali altogether and add a night in Seward so that you can take a longer Kenai Fjords cruise - you want to get out of Resurrection Bay.
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Old Jul 30th, 2015, 12:29 PM
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Way too much driving in too short of a time. I agree with the previous poster on dropping Denali and adding time to Seward (I'd spend the Seward time at a hotel or VRBO in the Seward area). The Girdwood/Portage/Whittier area can be done form Anchorage though I'd stay in Girdwood (hotel or VRBO).
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Old Aug 9th, 2015, 12:43 PM
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Your trip sounds very much like the one I did last year, except we spread it over 14 days and did it in the reverse.

Going back and forth to Denali in one day would not be worth the time.
I would add to Denali and skip Seward. It rained for the 3 days we were in Seward. We took the 5 hour cruise, but had to return to port due to stormy seas and the majority passengers getting sea sick. This was my least favorite part of trip, but it could be due to the weather.

We had the 3 day bus pass in Denali. The mountain was out all 3 days and we saw animals pretty quickly into the bus ride. There's no real need to make stops.
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Old Aug 9th, 2015, 03:44 PM
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Loved Seward. So beautiful. If you add time to Seward, make sure to do a longer cruise. So worth it.
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