exparrot

Hello!

I am planning a trip to Alaska July or August 2012 and need advice, please!

I am a middle-aged woman, who will be traveling solo. I'd like to spend a week (Sa-Sa, probably). What I want to do is fish (charter/party boat, but riverside fishing would be great, too), light hiking, a glacier boat tour, and perhaps some kayaking, as well as general sightseeing a driving around.

A friend advises Seward, but I've found nice places to stay in Homer and Whittier. I would prefer to have one location as my "base" for the duration of the trip, either at a upscale hotel or condo/vacation home rental.

Is any one of these locations better than the other for meeting all this criteria? I will be flying into Anchorage and renting a car.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Denise

Connie

Seward gives you most of what you are looking for. It's also more centrally located. It's pretty hard to stay in one place in Alaska because everything is so far apart--much farther than it looks on a map.

spirobulldog

Fly into Anchorage and just take the train to Seward.
Rent car there, if you want/need one.

www.kayakak.com for kayaking in Seward

Do an all day trip to a Tidewater Glacier. The half day trips don't go all the way to a glacier.

Hike to Exit Glacier

Perhaps drive to Alyeska/Girdwood and ride tram.

Drive to Soldotna and do a flyout/bearviewing/fishing. AWESOME, but expensive.

You can just fish at the Kenai River too.

Maybe consider an overnight(2 or 3day) kayaking trip to Ailik Glacier and then you wouldn't need to do the big boat tour.

You won't find really any upscale hotels. Alyeska is nice, but I would only stay there for a day. There is a helicopter/dog sledding from there that is really good.

http://www.highadventureair.com/
good for fishing

Have Bear Spray if you hike. Be wary hiking by yourself. We saw plenty of bears and nearly even hit one in our car.

spirobulldog

The Sealife Center in Alaska is worth couple of hours visit.

spirobulldog

I meant to say "in Seward"

Bill_H

Seward would be a good fit, as would Homer (probably in that order). Seward better for glacier tours, Homer better for river fishing a bit to the north. Both are good for charter boat fishing, check out the Homer halibut derby. I don't think Whittier would work as well for what you are after.

It would be easy to do 3 days at both Homer and then Seward to get the best of both. That's probably what I'd do; it's a relatively short drive from one to the other (Mapquest says 3 1/2 hours).

dfrostnh

Whittier is a different kind of place since it's a former secret military base. Keep in mind the only access is a one way toll tunnel that is only open at scheduled times.

I think splitting time between Homer and Seward would be ideal. Kenai and Soldotna are about halfway between so provide additional options that wouldn't be a bad drive. Although big on fishing, Homer still had an artsy feel (see Cafe Cups). The small weekly (friday?) farmers market was fun. The Pratt Museum is small but great. Both Seward and Homer have a variety of restaurants. Seward might have more day visitors due to cruise boats. I agree Sea Life center is a nice visit.

Not sure when net fishing is allowed but when we strolled the beach in/near Kenai on a late June visit, we enjoyed talking to one of the fisherman (his wife told him not to come home with more than 250 lbs of salmon).

exparrot

Thanks for all the responses!

Gardyloo

Fishing, August: Seward, for the Silver Salmon Derby. (Lots of combat fishers out on Resurrection Bay, but it's for a good reason - a lot of great fishing to be had.) As said, you could also go over to the Kenai River drainage (Kenai River, Skilak Lake etc.) for salmon or trout (or Dolly Varden) fishing, or down to Homer for mutant halibut.

I think Seward is pretty good for a main base, but lodging might be problematic. I'd get on it ASAP. You could cover some of your other requirements in day trips from Seward - Kenai Fjords obviously, kayaking in Prince William Sound.

Note Seward in peak season can be full of people - cruise ship passengers, the fisherpersons, etc. Still, a fairly fun place.