wellstnj

We are taking a 1 week cruise on HAL in late June with another couple, first time in Alaska for all of us. The second week we are doing the land travel from Seward. Plans are to spend one night in Seward, one night in Anchorage since the train from Seward gets in in the evening, drive to Denali, spend 3 nights there, then to Palmer, flying out of Anchorage after that. My question is: should we spend 2 nights in Palmer (reserved Alaska Garden Gate for Friday and Saturday) or.. Friday only in Palmer, and Saturday night in Anchorage at Marriott Springhill, flying home Sunday night out of Anchorage??? Bear in mind we would have seen alot on the cruise from Vancouver to Seward, train to Anchorage, Denali. Is there enough to do in Palmer area for a 2 night stay? That would cut out doing much in Anchorage wouldn't it? This may be our only trip to Alaska, since we live in New Orleans and it is a long way to go back. Appreciate any advice.

repete

I'd say one in Palmer and another in Anchorage. You'd have a lot more options, especially if you hit wet weather.

You could work in a glacier trip, Hatcher pass or the musk ox farm easily from Palmer.

In Anchorage, there's the Heritage Center, the Museum of History and Art, the Coastal Trail, a nice hike at the Eagle River Nature Center or a trip down to Girdwood to see all the things that passed by too fast on the train trip.

If dining's important, there's not much in the Palmer/Wasilla area, but Anchorage and Girdwood have some real gems.

amdc

I'd agree, one night in Palmer is sufficient. Palmer is a small farming community, cute and quaint. Downtown is about 2 blocks long and there's really not a whole lot to do there. They have a few annual events (State Fair in August, etc.) You could check and see if they have any events planned at the time of your travel. As the last post mentioned there are some fun things to see between Palmer and Anchorage. Musk ox farm, museum in Anchorage, summers in Anchorage there's often things happening downtown too (music in townsquare, etc.) Have a great time and welcome to Alaska!

BudgetQueen

These two cities are only 45 minutes apart and definately agree, one night is more than enough. My preference is to overnight in Talkeetna, so consider at least a stop there. Palmer is a good point if you want to include the drive for glacier trekking??

wellstnj

Budget Queen, you hit on the main reason I'm thinking of staying in Palmer, everything I read says the Glenn Highway is a pretty drive and we are interested in seeing Matanuska Glacier, vistas and wildlife. How is walking on the glacier for 60 year olds? Is it strenuous? Driving from Denali, is it too far to make it to Palmer the next night or should we instead stay in Talkeetna as you suggest?

wellstnj

Would it be better if we stayed only 2 nights in Denali/Healy rather than 3? If so, how should we spend our remaining 3 nights before flying back to New Orleans? So far , I have reserved 2 nights at Garden Gate in Palmer and 1 in Anchorage. Should I shorten Denali to 2 nights, Palmer for 1 night and Anchorage for our last 2 nights? All this land travel follows our HAL cruise which ends in Seward. We are spending 1 night in Seward and 1 night in Anchorage after arriving late on the train,( so we won't be seeing much of Anchorage the next day, since we are picking up our car and heading to Denali).

BudgetQueen

Matanuska Glacier, is necessary to go on a guided trek, so to have proper equiptment and the guides assistance and knowledge of conditions. I went with Mica guides for an excellent adventure, should be no problem with your ages- if you have no significant mobility limitations.

I would rework your routing and stops. Determine IF you have enough interest and activities planned for Denali park??? If you are on a single day shuttle bus, probably 2 overnights are enough?? I would do some more homework- you could add in another area?? Fairbanks, Homer, Valdez???? Anchorage is an ok city, again determine if this is your interest?? Request visitor guides, head to your library and take out Alaska travel books. You have some "down time" in your itinerary that could probably be put to better use?

dfrostnh

Think about the details of your trip. If doing a flightseeing trip from Talkeetna you will need more time there but otherwise a few hours might be sufficient and a good stop between Anchorage and Denali. Arrive Denali late, next day bus tour, 2nd night Denali, doing something else before heading south. This time visit Independence Mine and Iditarod Headquarters before going to Palmer. Stay at the b&b (my favorite!!!), do Matanuska hike, etc from that location. It's only about 1 1/2 hours north of Anchorage so spending two night there would give you a break from moving to another hotel for your last night. There's plenty of time to do things on the drive to Anchorage and in Anchorage itself before your flight (although plan to be at the airport 2 hours early). Hatcher Pass won't be open. You might be surprised at how much time gets taken up by photographing the scenry, talking and just having a leisurely visit. I enjoyed spending time with Karen, owner of the Alaska Garden Gate B&B and learning about why she moved to AK. You are right that you will have seen a lot on your cruise, etc but after awhile you've seen a lot of mountains so I think you would be wise to plan some time to investigate a little deeper whether it be a talkative bus driver in Denali, a B&B host, or a chance encounter at one of your stops. One of our highlights was talking to a net fisherman on a Kenai beach and leaving with the gift of a fresh salmon (his wife told him not to come home with more than 250 lbs but he loves to fish). Another was a visit to the tiny museum in tiny Hope where two old timers quizzed my husband on his knowledge of different tools and parts. At Independence Mine he loved the things that were left behind, the restored buildings and I loved photographing the wildflowers. We also had to stop by a glacier stream just to marvel at the color of the water. Best wishes for a great trip.

earlxx

Why Hatcher Pass won't be open in the end of June. I understand beginning of June or in May. But in the end of June?

dfrostnh

This website says the road is usually open by late June or early July. It's an improved gravel road without guard rails. Travel with trailers is not recommended. Conditions of the road depend on weather and snowfall.
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail...lid=XFA104-021
There is another website that shows the road. Remember, it's at high elevations so travel is going to be a lot different than using paved roads in the valley. If there is any chance of bogging down in mud, it's not safe. It may be clear of snow but not necessarily recommended for travel without 4 wheel drive. It could be fine this year in late June or it could be still closed. Best to double-check and make sure it's okay for rental vehicle which it might not be at any time depending on the agency. When we visited around June 23 one year it wasn't open. We stayed in Palmer but drove around to Wasilla and drove in from that direction.

earlxx

I know the road!! I been on it several times and never heard of being closed in the end of June.

wellstnj

You all have such good advice. I think I'm leaning toward changing to 2 nights in Denali/Healy, (Tuesday and Wednesday) rather than 3, leaving 3 nights before flying home to New Orleans. Now I'm confused - if do 1 night in Palmer Thursday, where stay on Friday and Saturday? Saturday in ANchorage? If so, where on Friday?