rodcarol

We are booked on the Diamond Princess southbound out of Whittier on the 26 June 2010. I booked this cruise so we get to see the Hubbard and Glacier Bay.
We are finishing our Rockies travel on 20 June and we can either fly to Fairbanks or Anchorage on the 20th.
Help please re our itinerary in Alaska -appreciate we won't have long but wish to see bears/wildlife. We intend to do whale watching out of Juneau when we are on the cruise.
We will get into Anchorage or Fairbanks late on the 20th, but at least the cruise doesn't leave til 8.30pm, so we will have 6 days to travel.
Not sure re a rental car versus bus/train and whether we should fly to Fairbanks and train to Denali and carry on to Anchorage and if so- will it make it difficult in getting to the shuttle bus in Denail without a car etc. Or, will we see enough wild life if we stay in the Ancorage area. And if so, where to go on the Kenai Peninsula.

Thanks everyone -some wonderful tips on this forum - I am a first timer on this..

gail

Start at the end - even though your cruise does not leave until 8:30 and even though it is a relatively short distance from Anchorage to Whittier, it takes far more time than you realize. The only viable way to get from A to W is train or cruiseline shuttle bus. The train operates on a schedule that proved incompatible to cruise for us. The cruiseline shuttle bus was more convenient, but we ended up having to leave Anchorage early afternoon -not leaving much time to do anything.

I had not considered Fairbanks as a possible airport when we were in Alaska June 2008. If it really works flight cost and schedule, I might rent a car in Fairbanks, drive to Denali - that would be the 21st unless your flight gets in early enough to do it on the 20th. Spend the 21st, 22nd in Denali and leave early on the 23rd. Drive to Anchorage - that takes most of the day if you stop and see anything. Then you have the 24th and 25th to go to Seward.

In Denali, decide which shuttle bus options you want. We did the 13 hour all the way into Denali trip. Saw grizzlies, moose, fox, lots of birds - quite a few animals, but considering it was a 13 hour trip, not many animals/hour. On the second day you might do a little day hiking or a white water raft thing.

In Seward, take a day trip on a smaller boat - we did a wildlife trip from kenaifjords.com and saw all sorts of water mammals, some creatures on the shore, and more birds. Also glacier calving.

That would be my outline of an itinerary. If it makes sense, go from there to fill in the details.

dfrostnh

Keep in mind the one-way toll tunnel schedule to get into Whittier. We loved the kenai fjords trip esp seeing orcas. You might have to go to Seward first from Anchorage then north again ending up with cruise-sponsored transportation to Whittier. But that section of Seward Hwy is most scenic part of the area. You'll have to weigh that against long drive to Denali which isn't so scenic. Pretty but not spectacular. We have seen moose on the KP. Moose and calf are often in suburban areas in town of Kenai with lots of marshy area for feeding. Salmon run starts in the Russian River around the time of your visit. You'll know when it starts because it will be in the papers and there will be a lot of traffic heading south from ANC to KP. Seeing all those fish is amazing. There's a popular fishing spot right near the hwy/Russian River ferry on the way to the town of Kenai. We also walked beach near Kenai to watch some net fishermen who had no trouble filling their freezers with salmon.

Since you are whale watching out of Juneau you might do best to concentrate on Denali and area north of Anchorage. Independence Mine is also a wonderful, interesting spot north of Anchorage. We didn't see any wild animals but the scenery was so great we had to stop by a rushing stream just to see color of water. There's a lot of wildflowers blooming that time of year so make sure to get out and do some walking.

gail

Agree with much of above - we were in Seward prior to cruise and found no reasonable way to get from Seward to Whittier other than to return to Anchorage and go from there - makes no geographical sense, but when you see Whittier it may make more sense - Whittier is a unique place where everyone must live in govt housing - and the entire town is essentially a couple of buildings - the main one being an apartment/grocery store/clinic/school. There is essentially nothing - except some docked boats.

BudgetQueen

With your wildlife priority, the top two areas are Kenai Fjords boat tours and Denali Park. In your time frame I would look at at least 2 overnights in Denali park, and the shuttle bus to Eielson. Wonder Lake is a significant bug problem in June, so I would only opt to go there, when at Eielson and Mt McKinley is Out. You can purchase the tickets at Eielson.

I would fly into, Anchorage. Drop charges are significant and rentals are limited for one way Fairbanks. You only have 5 days, and I also suggest, make the most of your time in Whittier. Are you interested in a Prince William Sound boat tour? IF not, then use your budget and get a one way Anchorage/Whittier rental car and include Seward. After Denali park, return to Anchorage, pick up the one way car, then head to Seward with at least 1 overnight. Do your touring, plenty to consider, then in the afternoon, drive direct to Whittier, with considering the 5:30pm tunnel opening, the latest.

gail

We were unable to find a one-way car rental with drop off at Whittier - this was June 2008.

rodcarol

Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions -I had been checking out rental cars and see Avis offers one way rentals and with drop off at Whittier but it is expensive, and same price whether pick up is in Fairbanks or Anchorage. Would it make more sense to pick up in Fairbanks and spend part of first day say doing riverboat tour before driving to Denali for 2 nights? Guess if I'm not limited to Avis then other car rentals will be cheaper but won't get us to Whittier??

BudgetQueen

There is very limited availablity for one way rentals Fairbanks/Anchorage.

I would suggest you find out about flight options as well and schedules, first. (if you haven't already done so).

There is plenty to do besides the "boat" tour of the Chena River.

But frankly, have you your itinerary in place, and what you are going to do, where staying and what activities??

It is frequently a "mistake" to get caught up in rentals, prices, drops etc, when you don't know your whole plan of travel.

I mention above cost saving by booking a one way rental for only as long as you need it. At that time, you didn't know if you were coming into Fairbanks or Anchorage. You know now?

It would off you more, if you list your itinerary, then suggestions could be made pertaining to that.

rodcarol

Hi Everyone
At long last making some progress on trip. We are flying into Fairbanks on the 20th June, then train to Denali arriving late morning, 2 nights at Denali Princess Lodge, then 12md train to Anchorage,arriving late on 23 June.The plan is then to have a rental car til we take the Whittiershuttle tour tranfer to Whittier early afternoon on the 26th. We will have 2 days free to visit Seward/Hope and Anchorage - returning to Anchorage on the morning of 26th.

Would love some suggestions on the best way to utilise our time in Denali,and also in the Anchorage/Seward area.I have been unable to find a rental car company open downtown when the train gets in (8.15pm)so will only have the rental car for 2 days - ? visit the Anchorage Museum before we collect car at lunchtime. Should we do any of the Kenai Fjord boat trips as we will do the whale watching from Juneauand also wish to visit the Alaska Sealife Centre in Seward.

Thanks for your help

BudgetQueen

You need to do your homework, find out what these areas offer- which is plenty.

"2 days", is not enough time for Anchorage and Seward. I suggest you skip the car rental entirely, not sure why you want to pick up at noon anyway??. IF you want to get to Seward, do a round trip train there. No need for a car, it's a compact city, with cabs available if needed. A whale watch is in NO WAY comparable to a Kenai Fjords boat tour. Again, you have to decide what you want to do.

www.seward.com

rodcarol

Thanks for this but if we take the train we will have to return to Anchorage on the 25th rather than the 26th, so either way reduces time, plus we will not be able to either stop and eg visit Hope en route. Appreciate time is tight but we will have a full day and two evenings this way in Seward, which would enable us to do a Kenai Fjords boat tour and go to the Exit Glacier with the daylight hours available.

BudgetQueen

Not sure what you think Hope is, but it is basically a short drive to a small "town" on the Arm. The road is rough which a lot of frost heaves, but hardly scenic.

You need to allow 3 hours for a drive Seward back to Anchorage. Then you are looking to backtrack to Whittier? You are already short on time, as noted. Far better option would be for you to consider a one way, Anchorage/Whittier car with Avis. Costly, certainly, but makes much better use of your short time.

The train Seward/Anchorage leaves at 6pm. So, again, not sure about your concern about it being a bad timing for Seward?? There is plenty you can fill up a day with prior to 6pm. The scenery is way superior via rail, compared to the Seward Highway, and certainly worth skipping Hope.

For Denali- book a shuttle to Eielson. Key in mind the lodge shuttle bus schedules, since this bus leaves from the Access Center. Take advantage of the visitor center as well. Shuttle bus reservations need advance reservations.