4 short days in Anchorage area-please comment on itinerary
 

Hello-

We will have 4 days in the Anchorage area next July and was hoping for feedback on this itinerary. For reference, family of 4 with 2 kids ages 18 and 20. We have traveled all over including Antarctica. We initially thought about doing a cruise but decided to do a land only that concentrated on Alaskan glaciers. Therefore I removed Denali NP from the itinerary. I also removed Whittier and the PWS 26 glacier cruise after speaking to a few people that this will be similar to Fjords cruise in SEW but with different terrain. I am open to suggestions here in making any changes. Thanks in advance.

Day 1-pick up rental car from ANC and Drive to SEW. Stop along the way. Wildlife Conservation Center. SeaLife Center. Exit Glacier hike (1 to 2 hrs) Overnight Seward

Day 2- Major Marine Kenai Fjords cruise.Overnight-Seward

Day 3- Drive to Portage and take Alaskan railroad train 1:25-5:15 Portage to Grandview with stop at Spencer Glacier RT -And then drive to ANC

Day 4- Drive to Mantuska glacier and do 3 hour trek and take late flight to Seattle 6:40 pm -11:06 pm Delta

Thanks for all your help!!! If I need to move things around, I can.

The Whittier cruises are all about tidewater glaciers; the Kenai Fjords tours are more about wildlife. I personally would do both; I find the whole Whittier tunnel thing quite interesting, but of course it's your call.

Nothing to criticize in your plans; it's obviously a very short itinerary and you're including quite a lot. I think if it was me - and it's not - if I wanted to add just a little diversity to the itinerary I'd skip the Matanuska Glacier day (lots of time in the car) and consider swapping it for some flightseeing out of Lake Hood (pricey but OMG) and maybe a visit to the Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, just to get a notion of the complex human geography of Alaska. It's more than moose and mountains, y'know.

Thank you. Any particular ones you recommend. I see Rusts but there are many options. I can add another day in and do Whittier as well.

I think Rust's is probably the gold standard. With four of you I might ask Rust's (on the phone) if there was a custom charter (hourly, not fixed price) that you might set up, maybe a "pilot's choice" based on the current conditions. It might save you money (maybe quite a lot) and you could customize your flight plan to make it more interesting to you - Knik Glacier overflight, for example, or down to Kachemak Bay and back via the Harding Icefield, or across Cook Inlet to volcano country...many options.

I am looking into getting Flightseeing in with Rusts. In the meantime, the kayak/fjords boat combo looks fantastic. Would you recommend Millers Landing vs Sunny Cove vs Liquid adventures. Millers seems to be the lowest price. We are not expert kayakers but we would really enjoy kayaking for a bit in front of the glaciers. Thanks.

I've never been in a kayak so can't comment. You might want to raise the question on the TripAdvisor Alaska board, which is quite active.