my2boys99

We have taken a cruise to Alaska where we visited Ketchikan, Juneau, etc. This summer we are going to visit again because our son is being stationed near Fairbanks for a year. We are planning on flying into Fairbanks and then visiting Denali. We would like to stay there a few nights. Any suggestions on where to stay that's near the entrance of the park? We cannot afford to stay at the ones located way inside the park. Also, if we're going to stay about 10 days, where else would you recommend visiting? I see that Anchorage is quite a ways away but we will rent a car so it's doable. Just looking for things to do. I know it's kind of a vague question, but we don't really know where to go besides Denali.

oldemalloy

Look in the town of Healy, about 10 miles from the entrance to Denali.

Use the search box or click Alaska in the by state pull down for lots of trip reports with great ideas.

when you get off the plane in Fairbanks’s, look south to see if you can see Denali, the mountain. Very impressive if not covered by clouds.

janisj

Before planning a trip around a visit to Denali - you might want to read Gardyloo's post on this thread Alaska trip itinerary - help needed with itinerary and logistics

It is post #7. Lots of logistical issues with Denali - especially if the road won''t be repaired by then.

tomfuller

Believe me, you will only want to take the 8 hour bus trip out to the Eilson Visitor center once. It is 66 miles each way on a school bus with several stops along the way with other stops when wildlife is spotted. My DW and I did not stay near the entrance of Denali but drove south from Fairbanks (North Pole) early in the morning for a 10AM bus trip start. It was a very long day. We got back to our B&B at 10PM but it was still daylight in June.
Among the things we enjoyed in Fairbanks was Pioneer Park which had a lot of history of the Fairbanks area. In the center of the park is an aircraft museum which is quite interesting. I saw a part of the plane that Eilson died in in Russia. In the SE corner of Pioneer Park is a great salmon bake place. It is a bit expensive but very good food and plenty of it.
We also enjoyed the museum of the University of Alaska - Fairbanks which has some small dinosaur skeletons found in Alaska. We also drove a few miles north of Fairbanks where I did a virtual geocache with a picture of me standing underneath the Alaska Pipeline.
Buy your bus tickets online for the date & time you will be there ($43.50/person) plus $15/person National Park entrance fee if you don't have a National Park Pass of some type. The people who run the buses are hopeful that the road will be repaired by the June 1 start of season.

dfrostnh

You might do what we did, borrow your son's car. For one three week trip our son happened to be in the process of buying a used car they needed for a second car. We gave him money towards the purchase which was a lot less than a 3 week rental with the requirement that we had full use of it for three weeks. He happened to get a good deal from someone who was being transferred.