RV rental - including Fairbanks too ambitious?
Oct 11th, 2010, 08:04 AM
#1
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RV rental - including Fairbanks too ambitious?
First time for visiting Alaska & renting an RV - albeit a small 20-something footer. Not sure if we should include Fairbanks in our vacation or scale it back and add an extra day in Anchorage or Denali???
Starting last week of May/first week of June:
Day 1: Seward - disembark ship, drop off luggage. No rental car. Possibly stay at Breeze Inn. Visit Sea Life Center, shuttle to Exit Glacier walk & Salmon Bake.
Day 2: Seward - Kenai FNP boat tour (6 or 8.5 hour tour depending on which is offered).
Day 3: Seward - dog sledding; kayaking but unsure of which day-trip yet. 6pm train to Anchorage.
Day 4: Anchorage - pick up RV. Stock up on RV food supplies. Drive to Matanuska and take 2pm glacier tour. Overnite here.
Day 5: Drive to Denali. Check out Visitor Center and Savage River if have time.
Day 6: Denali NP - take EVC shuttle bus.
Day 7: DNP - check out more of Denali, including dog sled demo, possible Ranger walks. Drive to Fairbanks.
Day 8: Fairbanks: Riverboat tour, pipeline exhibit, El Dorado tour, Pioneer Park.
Day 9 Drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage, drop off RV by 5pm. Catch 9pm flight home.
Any suggestions on our itinerary much appreciated!
To save kind Fodorites some typing...
- know of Milepost and the northern & toursaver couponbooks
- no interest in fishing or flightseeing
- DH and I are active and will be doing this after our 7 nite Vancouver > Seward cruise
- I'm happy to make simple breakfasts and lunches in the RV but will be eating dinners out and are flexible - if we seet/hear of a great place we'd be fine to stop and enjoy it, especially if it's crab as DH loves crab but I am allergic so rarely cook it.
I have tried to do a lot of research to get to this point but there is so much to learn about Alaska - thx for any insights - enjoy-la!
Starting last week of May/first week of June:
Day 1: Seward - disembark ship, drop off luggage. No rental car. Possibly stay at Breeze Inn. Visit Sea Life Center, shuttle to Exit Glacier walk & Salmon Bake.
Day 2: Seward - Kenai FNP boat tour (6 or 8.5 hour tour depending on which is offered).
Day 3: Seward - dog sledding; kayaking but unsure of which day-trip yet. 6pm train to Anchorage.
Day 4: Anchorage - pick up RV. Stock up on RV food supplies. Drive to Matanuska and take 2pm glacier tour. Overnite here.
Day 5: Drive to Denali. Check out Visitor Center and Savage River if have time.
Day 6: Denali NP - take EVC shuttle bus.
Day 7: DNP - check out more of Denali, including dog sled demo, possible Ranger walks. Drive to Fairbanks.
Day 8: Fairbanks: Riverboat tour, pipeline exhibit, El Dorado tour, Pioneer Park.
Day 9 Drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage, drop off RV by 5pm. Catch 9pm flight home.
Any suggestions on our itinerary much appreciated!
To save kind Fodorites some typing...
- know of Milepost and the northern & toursaver couponbooks
- no interest in fishing or flightseeing
- DH and I are active and will be doing this after our 7 nite Vancouver > Seward cruise
- I'm happy to make simple breakfasts and lunches in the RV but will be eating dinners out and are flexible - if we seet/hear of a great place we'd be fine to stop and enjoy it, especially if it's crab as DH loves crab but I am allergic so rarely cook it.
I have tried to do a lot of research to get to this point but there is so much to learn about Alaska - thx for any insights - enjoy-la!
Oct 11th, 2010, 08:45 AM
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My major concern is with your last day - driving from Fairbanks to Anchorage. The distance is 350+ miles and it's not interstate highways. That puts you under a lot of pressure to drive fast and still arrive by 5 PM, and you risk not making your evening flight if there are any hitches. If it were me, I'd add one more day at the end to allow for more breathing room. With that additional full day in Anchorage, you could see the Anchorage museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center.
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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie
Oct 11th, 2010, 10:07 AM
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I agree. You could explore Talkeetna and visit Independence Mine on the way back from Denali instead of going to Fairbanks. There's also a transportation museum in Wasilla with a lot of info about early bush pilots. If you are interested in sled dogs there's also the Iditarod Museum near Wasilla.
Oct 11th, 2010, 07:31 PM
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Thx a mint for your thoughts, Orlando_Vic & dfrostnh! I will have to rework this.
Today I was looking at glacier kayaking from Seward to Bear Glacier or Aialik Glacier and they are long tours: 8-12 hours including travel time to the glaciers.
Anyone have any experience with glacier kayaking from Seward - is one glacier better than another, especially since I plan to do a 6hr Kenai FNP boat tour and it would be good to see different sights. With kayaking being such a long activity, doesn't look like I will be able to catch the 6pm train to Anchorage either...hmmm.
Enjoy-la!
Today I was looking at glacier kayaking from Seward to Bear Glacier or Aialik Glacier and they are long tours: 8-12 hours including travel time to the glaciers.
Anyone have any experience with glacier kayaking from Seward - is one glacier better than another, especially since I plan to do a 6hr Kenai FNP boat tour and it would be good to see different sights. With kayaking being such a long activity, doesn't look like I will be able to catch the 6pm train to Anchorage either...hmmm.
Enjoy-la!
Oct 11th, 2010, 07:50 PM
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I used www.kayakak.com and thought they were good. I only did a 4 hour trip around resurrection bay. Why not just use them(or similar operator) and skip the KF trip as they are going to take you to Ailik anyway.
why do a dog demo on dirt, if you are going to do the real thing on snow in Seward? Am I missing something, or are you not going to take a bus into Denali?
Don't under estimate how big Alaska is. It is hard to put it into words.
One other thing, Most of the RV Rentals like for you to pick up the rental in the afternoon not the morning. I suppose you could pay for an extra day and pick it up early. Pickup time is usually like 3:00pm or so. It's a lot different than renting a car. You will spend far more money on rental than you will a car a lodging.
why do a dog demo on dirt, if you are going to do the real thing on snow in Seward? Am I missing something, or are you not going to take a bus into Denali?
Don't under estimate how big Alaska is. It is hard to put it into words.
One other thing, Most of the RV Rentals like for you to pick up the rental in the afternoon not the morning. I suppose you could pay for an extra day and pick it up early. Pickup time is usually like 3:00pm or so. It's a lot different than renting a car. You will spend far more money on rental than you will a car a lodging.
Oct 12th, 2010, 06:26 AM
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spirobulldog, thx a mint for the great info!
I had not considered not taking the KF trip - only that I was hoping to avoid duplication. Of course your suggestion is brilliant, especially given my timing issue.
The dog sledding in Seward is on dirt too - not on glacier. Plans are to take the EVC shuttle bus in Denali. I thought it would be fun to see the dog demo at Denali too, even tho we don't get to ride. In Seward, we get to ride on the cart. I guess we can omit the Denali dog demo if time prohibits it.
As for the RV, my estimate is for renting it for the day we arrive but not getting to it until we get off the train, late at night. The RV company has a provision for this so we can just sleep in the RV on the lot that night. I think the benefit will be that we won't have to schlepp our luggage or unpack/pack and twice with a hotel. Also, it will give us time to figure out what questions we have about the interior of the RV and check everything out. Thx for heads up on rental times - we've rented it for an extra day on the end to get around that.
Do you have any RV rental tips for Alaska to share?
Enjoy-la!
I had not considered not taking the KF trip - only that I was hoping to avoid duplication. Of course your suggestion is brilliant, especially given my timing issue.
The dog sledding in Seward is on dirt too - not on glacier. Plans are to take the EVC shuttle bus in Denali. I thought it would be fun to see the dog demo at Denali too, even tho we don't get to ride. In Seward, we get to ride on the cart. I guess we can omit the Denali dog demo if time prohibits it.
As for the RV, my estimate is for renting it for the day we arrive but not getting to it until we get off the train, late at night. The RV company has a provision for this so we can just sleep in the RV on the lot that night. I think the benefit will be that we won't have to schlepp our luggage or unpack/pack and twice with a hotel. Also, it will give us time to figure out what questions we have about the interior of the RV and check everything out. Thx for heads up on rental times - we've rented it for an extra day on the end to get around that.
Do you have any RV rental tips for Alaska to share?
Enjoy-la!
Oct 12th, 2010, 06:49 AM
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We did a 2.5 week RV trip through Alaska a couple of years ago.
For 9 days, I think you should skip Fairbanks unless you can add a day or two at the end of your trip. Driving from Fairbanks to Anchorage is a long haul. RV travel is much slower on Alaska's 2 lane roads than car travel is in the lower 48 on interstates. We determined than we averaged aobut 40 miles per hour when traveling between cities/towns due to summer road construction, getting stuck behind other RVs and slow moving trucks, etc.
For 9 days, I think you should skip Fairbanks unless you can add a day or two at the end of your trip. Driving from Fairbanks to Anchorage is a long haul. RV travel is much slower on Alaska's 2 lane roads than car travel is in the lower 48 on interstates. We determined than we averaged aobut 40 miles per hour when traveling between cities/towns due to summer road construction, getting stuck behind other RVs and slow moving trucks, etc.
Oct 12th, 2010, 12:49 PM
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If you going to the Iditarod museum, you should know that for the dogs, the Iditarod is a bottomless pit of suffering. What happens to the dogs during the race includes death, paralysis, frostbite (where it hurts the most!), bleeding ulcers, bloody diarrhea, lung damage, pneumonia, ruptured discs, viral diseases, broken bones, torn muscles and tendons and sprains. At least 142 dogs have died in the Iditarod, including two dogs on Dr. Lou Packer's team who froze to death in the brutally cold winds. GO TO WEBSITE HELPSLEDDOGS.ORG FOR MORE FACTS ABOUT THE IDITAROD.
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