dbprincess239

Hi all;

We are taking a trip to Alaska Summer of 2014. We booked a cruise on June 27th (Vancouver -> Seward) and then will spend 5 days on the land.

I have a couple of questions

1. It might be too early to watch bears in June, so we were thinking to do a bear viewing trip after the cruise. We arrive to Seward on Friday, July 4th at 5a.m. and need to be in Denali on Sunday morning. Where is the best place to do the bear viewing trip between Seward and Denali? Or do you think that trying to do it in Ketchikan on June 29th should be Ok?

2. What is the best way to get from Seward to Denali and what can we see/do along the way?

3. Any recommendations on which tour companies to use or avoid? (bear viewing, dogs sledding, etc etc)

Thanks in advance

Gardyloo

First, unless you have already booked accommodation in Seward itself for the night of the 4th, you'll need to go up to Anchorage that day - train, cruise line transfer, rental car. On the 4th in Seward is a big race - Mt. Marathon - that draws thousands and thousands of people to the little town, and it will be completely packed.

If it were me I'd go into Anchorage and do a bear viewing flight with one of the Lake Hood floatplane operators, such as Rust's - http://www.flyrusts.com/ on the 5th.

Rent a car to travel to Denali, where I assume you have already booked accommodation? If you haven't then that becomes job one. I also assume you've booked for two nights at Denali?

So my assumption for your 5 days would be like this -

Fri - Arrive Seward, transfer to Anchorage
Sat - Bear/flightseeing
Sun - to Denali
Mon - At Denali
Tues - Ret. to Anchorage, fly out.

If your flight out is early in the day on Tuesday then you'll have to drive back from Denali late in the evening - around 5 hours on the road. If your flight is any sooner than that then I'd question including Denali at all, or substituting a second flightseeing trip - this one to Denali - instead of driving there yourselves. You really need a full day - morning to evening - within the park.

dbprincess239

Thanks! Great to know about 4th of July!

No, I have not booked anything out of Seward and your plan seems very logical - we'll go to Anchorage and do Bears on Saturday and start driving towards Denali.

Our bus is booked for 11a.m. on Sunday, so we should be fine making it there on Sunday morning.

We booked a hotel in Denali close to the Wonder Lake for one night (Sunday) and need to book something outside of Denali for another night (any suggestions)? We are flying out of Anchorage on Wednesday, so we have plenty of time to do a Denali trip (in my opinion )

Thanks!

emalloy

If your cruise stops in Juneau, you might find bears at the outflow of Mendenhall glacier. You can take a city bus out there and spend as much time as you like (the glacier is interesting in its own right) there is a VC there too then take the bus back to town. The ship may have a land trip there, but I would bet it would be much more expensive and you would have to leave when it does.

dbprincess239

Yes, we do stop in Juneau, but I think it's still might be too early for bears (salmon)