maribethp

We would like to plan a 8-10 day tour of alaska in 2009. Our hope is a rail/cruise combo. Will anyone suggest a few good options? thanks

spirobulldog

Have never cruised Alaska before. To me the best train trip is from Seward to Anchorage. Most scenic and 4 hours was enough time on a train for me. I would reccomend helicopter/dog sledding on a glacier and salmon fishing/bear viewing on a flyout floatplane trip on your trip. A glacier/wildlife tour is good also. Alaska is very scenic, and very very big. We went this summer and it was a very memorable trip.

choco1

We did a fabulous cruise/drive combo a few years ago. Started in Vancouver with a spectacular 7 day 1-way cruise to Seward. In Seward, we took an awesome 1-day boat excursion into Kenai Fjords and ate fresh Alaskan king crab. Drove to and explored Anchorage, Denali National Park, and did the Fairbanks river boat ride. It was one of the most memorable trips ever. Suggest you pick up a copy of the Alaska Milepost (gives you mile by mile info for driving Alaska), consult AAA tourbooks if you are a member, and read up on cruises -- I found the Unofficial Guide to Cruises very helpful in planning my trip.

Gardyloo

If you want to combine a cruise and land tour, 8 to 10 days probably isn't enough time. The one-way cruises (northbound or southbound) take 7 days, so any additional land-based touring would be on top of that.

You can, of course, fly to Alaska and take a ferry - across Prince William Sound, for instance - and see plenty in that time frame, but an Inside Passage cruise will be somewhat out of the question if you also want to see Denali etc.

maribethp

ARe some of you explaining trips you planned on your own as opposed to a guided tour? A week cruising in the passage- does that seem long and a bit tiresome or never? We also like the idea of some canadian rail with this trip, may be a bit old for some of the adventuresome things suggested.

spirobulldog

My parents are going to Alaska next summer they are mid 60's. They are doing the dogsledding and fishing. They are not really in that good of shape. It really wasn't that adventurous. Most people who I have talked to about cruising were more impressed with Alaska while on land than while on water. You can certainly see a full day on the water in Seward or somewhere like Glacier Bay or Prince William Sound. You will see marine life and calving glaciers. I would spend an entire day on one of those cruises. We had our 13 year old with us and she didn't get bored at all with it. I am afraid a week of cruising may be long. Most cruises are 7 days. 3 days on land in alaska would be like spending 1/2 day at Disneyworld. It just isn't near enough time. The biggies to see in Alaska are Seward or Glacier Bay, and Denali. I don't think a trip is complete without a train trip or a floatplane or ski plane trip. You really get a different appreciation of it from the air. on our bear viewing/fishing trip we saw over 20 bears, over 20 eagles and caught tons of fish. We had them shipped back to us. Really good fish!! One thing I would like to do if we ever go back is to land on a glacier on Mt. Mckinnley. That looks awesome as well. I do know that the cruise lines do have awesome combo tours, but most of those are around 20 days to do it right. Alaska truly is another world that you will love. Maybe you should keep your Canadian trip idea for a later date or consider adding several more days onto your trip, or maybe fly into Anchorage and do everything from rail and driving. At the same time, a cruise would probably be fabulous. Have Fun!

spirobulldog

Yes, I prefer planning trips on my own. This way I see exactly what my interests are. If you enjoy cruising and relaxing that way, then perhaps that is for you. We are more "doers" on vacation than relax. My big hangup with cruises is you are tied to there schedule and there food. I prefer eating local places for getting a real flare for areas. With a travel book Alaska and Fodorites, Alaska is fairly easy to plan. Maybe you could tell us what you are interested in seeing or doing and we could help more.

maribethp

My husband likes to see wildlife, we want to see the blue glacier ice, eating is always good,but I don't like generic tours.However, it does take a lot of the work out of planning and being unsure where to stay and so forth. I was told that people who do the land tours and then cruise, get very exhausted.We live in PA, so would need to fly to some point west and continue from there.

spirobulldog

Check out Redoubt Lodge in Lake Clark National Park, Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park, or Denali National Park. You are pretty much guaranteed to see bears in Redoubt or Katmai. I don't mean 1 or 2 I mean a bunch of them.