cbdurf

Hello - if any of you Alaska lovers could review this itinerary and make any suggestions for some FUN, it would be greatly appreciated!

here goes:
Day 1 - arrive Anchorage 9pm
Day 2 - head toward Denali, stop at Independence Mine - overnight Denali
Day 3 - shuttle bus tour of Denali - overnight Denali
Day 4 - hike trails in Denali - overnight Denali
Day 5 - drive to Talkeetna, check out the town, do a flightseeing tour, drive to Girdwood area - overnight - Girdwood area
Day 6 - Mt. Aleyska tram, hiking, suggestions??, drive to Seward - overnight Seward
Day 7 - Kenai Fjord Glacier cruise - overnight Seward
Day 8 - suggestions??, drive to Homer - overnight Homer
Day 9 - kayak or fish?? - overnight Homer
Day 10 - explore Homer? drive to Anchorage - overnight Anchorage
Day 11 - explore Anchorage - suggestions?? - flight leaves at 9pm

Husband would like to fish for salmon - your thoughts on best place to do it?

Kayaking - Homer or Seward beast place to go?

Thanks so much in advance for your review and suggestions!!

Alaska here we come!

HappyTrvlr

We fished for king salmon in the Kenai River between Seward and Homer on yur itinerary. Make sure you check the dates for salmon season. You'll need to buy a permit.

mrscpa10

I'm not really big on touristy things, but if you can do a helicoptor ride and land on a glacier, it is well worth the time and money.

spirobulldog

In Girdwood, Hike The Winner Creek Trail---very unique way of crossing the creek in a handpulled cable car thingy. Not sure exactly what you call it.
The dogsledding/Helicopter/glacier landing was really nice out of Girdwood. Eat lunch(cheap) or dinner(expensive)at the top of the tram.

In Seward be sure you take the Full Day tour(one that goes all the way to a tidewater glacier). Sea Kayaking is nice there.

we enjoyed the train to Seward.

Gardyloo

What month?

cbdurf

Thanks for all the info - we are traveling in the middle of July 2010

BudgetQueen

You have a very nice itinerary, with plenty of time at your destinations. As already mentioned, you need to consider boat tours of at least 6 hours on the water out of Seward. If McKinley flightseeing is a priority, then I suggest you fly out of Denali Park, or out of Talkeenta on your first pass. The way, it's left now, you have one day only.

Gardyloo

The reason I asked about month has to do with fishing. Given your timeframe, for salmon I'd look at Anchor or Ninilchik Rivers near Homer, or the "fishing hole" (a man-made lagoon) on the Homer Spit, where Kings and Silvers can get trapped and harvested by fisherfolk from the bank - not the most sporting fishery I'd say, but effective.

For halibut, Homer is full of charters that will happily let you get cold and sick (just a personal observation, sorry) while fishing for the mutant fishy that live down yonder.

padams421

We did some fishing near Soldotna. I'd also recommend Homer. You do, as suggested above, need to check the dates for salmon fishing. If you contact one of the Homer fishing charters, I'm sure they would help with those dates and where to go.

padams421

Forgot to include above, your itinerary looks great!

here4u1979

Hai cbdurf ,
We are going to Alaska for the first time in July 1st week for 5 days.
Can you recomend places to stay in Denali and Seward.

Thanks in Advance

BudgetQueen

Here4u- what is your price range, and will you have your own transportation??

JC98

What hiking trails are you going to do in Denali? I think there are only a few hikes at the park entrance, but they're not spectacular as what you see on the bus ride. You could always hop off the bus and hike, and back on to another one. No trails out there, so just wander wherever you want, and watch out for bears. We hopped on and off 4 different busses when we went.

JC98

spirobulldog, how long is the hike to the handpulled cable car? Is there a cost to use it?

Thanks!

lia018

Here is a link describing the hike:
http://www.alaskahikesearch.com/Hikes/Winner.htm

There is no cost to hike the trail by yourself. I've done this trail several times. It's relatively easy b/c it is level, but there isn't a whole lot to see except for forest until you get to the hand tram.

JC98

Thanks lia018 for that great link!

JC98

Just want to let you know that we did the hand-pulled tram recently when we were in Alaska. It was awesome! So glad I stumbled upon this thread.