8 days in Alaska
 

Hi Fodorites
I'm taking my boys (19+22)to AK for a 'taste of Alaska' I wish we could stay longer as there is so much to see. With your help,I've spent the past 6 mos planning this trip. I've started to plot the day to day events and have become nervous about the 1000miles of driving. My question, is it doable? I love road trips but have I done too much? Not sure what I should or could change. Thank you in advance

May 19 Overnight in Anchorage after late arrival.(Aspen Extended Stay)
May 20 P/u car Hertz($462) drive to Seward(Harborview Inn-Seaview Apt)
May 21 Captain Choice Fjords tour
May 22 Drive to Homer(Land's End Condo)
May 23 Change to Alaskan Suites(they had only 1 night available)
May 23 DRIVE TO DENALI (Mt Mckinley Creekside Cabin)
May 24 Visit Park,
May 25 Drive Talkeetna (Talkeetna Lodge)Flightseeing
May 26 Drive to Anchorage (depart 7pm)

Oops, I double dated the May 23rd

Way, way too much time in the car. Road travel here is 45mph plus you will want to stop along the way.
Are your boys not interested in hiking, kayaking, fishing?
I would skip one of your destinations and spend those couple days in the other places - a couple days at Denali or Seward or Homer.
Personally, I would skip Homer and spend a night in Anchorage or Wasilla on your way north to Denali and the extra day each in Seward and DNP.

Dear playmak:

I agree with tigerman. Distances are deceiving in Alaska and it takes much longer to destinations than here in the lower 48. I would also skip Homer in favor of more time in Seward. You could also do some fishing and enjoy yourselves more.

Good luck,

MY

Is it doable, yes. Is it advisable, no. Even if your goal is a peddle-to-the metal whirlwind, which wouldn't surprise me considering the ages of your boys, it's too much.

In your proposed itinerary, you're spending less than 24 hours in Homer which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The scenery there is impressive, but if the weather is bad, you won't see it. As you probably know, one can't plan on having ideal weather every day in Alaska -- if it happens, great, but 8 straight days of glorious weather would be the exception. Even if it's a gorgeous day in Homer, the scenery is not so phenomenal that it's worth the long drive just to get there and leave less than 24 hours later. But if you're determined to see Homer, Seward, Talkeetna and Denali in 8 days, I'd make the following changes.

First, on Day 2, I'd drive to Homer becuz that's the longer drive compared to Seward, which will be critical when you head north. It's about 5 hours from Anchorage to Homer without stops.

Spend Day 3 in Homer. The Ocean House Inn is where we stayed and it was terrific. We stayed in this 3 BR unit: http://homeroceanhouse.com/seabreeze.htm An all day bear expedition from there is great fun and educational, but also very expensive. It was absolutely amazing, certainly one of our highlights. The boys would love it. Another option in Homer would be a boat ride to Halibut Cove. The boat ride would prabably be the highlight there. I suspect the boys would find the Cove to be on the boring side. Another Homer option is a fishing trip, also very expensive. Frankly, I'd skip Homer if bear watching or fishing isn't an option.

If you're in Homer, then head for Seward on Day 4. You could stop for a visit at Exit Glacier just outside Seward en route to your lodging. The boys would enjoy that experience.

On Day 5, do a fjords tour, knowing it's heavily weather dependent.....

On Day 6, get up early and drive to Talkeetna and do a late afternoon flightseeing trip. But this trip is also heavily weather dependent. Spend the nite in Talkeetna. We stayed here and it was very nice with multiple bedrooms: http://www.talkeetnatravel.com/lodgi...x8a&id=001 The picture here doesn't do it justice. Very nice property ouside and especially inside. The "downstairs suite" is a small unit in the basement and wouldn't be large enough for you guys.

On Day 7, get up real early and head to Denali (about 2.5 hours) for a school bus trip into the Park. You'd have to reserve one of the later departing busses that morning and not go as far as Wonder Lake, but at least you'd see quite a bit of the Park in the time you do have. Stay in Healy.

On Day 8, you have 5 hours to get to Anchorage and catch your plane and your breath.

You'll be exhausted. Perhaps the boys will be, too. Hope this helps.

Dave

Playmak,
Homer is beautiful but I would skip it. Give yourself and the boys (if they like to hike)more time to hike and really take in the scenery. Do the Harding Ice Field Hike and visit Exit Glacier. A strenuous hike but well worth it for the views going up, the view up there and the views coming down. I didn't realize how much I loved to hike until I went to AK then I couldn't get enough of it and was sorry we didn't have more time and we were in AK for 17 days. I would probably only do Seward and Denali with a stop in Talkeenta. Are you staying in hotels, B&B or RV. We RV'd and thought it was the best for us.

im w kygirl on this one...
we rv'd alaska last year for 9 days..2 adults and 4 children , ages 10-12..and yes, we still get along ! ha...
the best reason for the rv was this....due to the weather ( not knowing what ur going to get ) and my girlfriend being vetoed by us all for this trip, w rv'd with the weather in mind...if we were stuck in the rain we could always pack up and change plans and go elsewhere ( other side of mtns ) and see things out there in the sun...we were quite surprised because it rained the 1st 4 days and we still loved it..campfires in the rain, fishing, hiking...my girlfriend LOVES alaska now...
we did the harding icefield w/ the park ranger..saturdays only...about 20 people started the hike and only 10 of us finished...yup, all 4 kids finished the hike...i was hurtin but they were fine...Alaskan SummerAle fixed me right up tho....
again, w the rv, plans can change easily..i see some people in the group like seward better, me, i liked homer..now if u go to seward and dont want to stay any longer, no hotels to worry about, jump in the rv and try homer....fyi, the rv's are not expensive in alaska, unlimited miles, generator use, etc...not like in the rest of the US...good luck and enjoy

I agree with other posters. Skip Homer. If you could take the train to Seward that would be awesome as well. You might want to stay one night in Girdwood in between Seward and Anchorage. I would take from Anchorage to Seward and then rent from Hertz in Seward.

We shared a flight-seeing trip over the Harding Ice Field. A truly amazing site. The fastness of the ice is hard to comprehend, since you have no point of reference to compare to, such a building - just the miles of ice and glacial formations. We considered this one of the highlights of our trip, besides me catching a 58# salmon in the Kenai River!!

Good luck and have fun,

MY

Thanks for all your suggestions. We are actually spending 2 nights in Homer, we're just changing lodging.I am going to rethink my route. I think of the driving as part of the adventure. Well, at least some of the driving. I am a little concerned about the weather and conditions of Denali on May 24/25. To make that long trip from Homer to Denali and have it be closed would be disappointing. I know there is no way to predict so we plan to be flexible.

When you speak of driving from Homer to Denali, do you realize that it is about a ten hour trip with no stops included?

Yes,I do realized that. My plan would be to drive 5 hours, rest 2 hours, than drive 5 more. We've done it before.(12 hr Chicago to Colorado)
If the weather is bad or there is a problem with the roads,we will have a plan B. What I am concerned about though, is that the next day we would go to Denali. I don't know if we could handle a 6-8hr bus ride. Is it enough to just do the 15 miles by car? What will the park be like at this time of the year? How much of spring has sprung?

If you're not going to go into the Park, that is, past the point where cars are allowed to drive, I'd skip Denali. The entrance area is nothing special. The road you can drive is nothing special. The scenery is marginal at best there. The real beauty in the park is well past the point where cars are no longer allowed. Yet your boys might be bored with the school bus tour if they aren't into wildlife, if you're lucky enough to see some, and raw natural beauty. And that's OK. Denali isn't for everyone. It's not like the National Parks in the lower 48 where you get multiple vantage points, multiple roads, etc. Sightseeing in Denali is limited to a single road. It's an absolutely humongous park yet there's just this one road from which you get to see but a tiny fraction of it.

Well traveling from Chicago to Colorado is considerably different than driving from Homer to Denali. No interstate driving here. From Chicago to Colorado you can easily average 65/70 mph, in Alaska the usual speed will be closer to 45/50. Then being only being able to spend a very limited amount of time in Denali really doesn't make sense. Making that kind of trip and only going into the park for 15 miles seems a waste of time and effort.

I suggest you skip Homer and spend more time in Denali, or skip Denali and make better use of your time on the Kenai Peninsula.

It's Memorial Day weekend so you might check to see if there are any special events going on that you would like to see. I used to read Anchorage Daily News on-line before a trip and to check events. The most spectacular scenery is on the Anchorage to Seward leg. The tram ride up Alyeska in Girdwood is fun. We did not hike around Girdwood and I'm sorry we didn't. Don't miss Indpendence Mine just north of Wasilla. It was in our top five favorite stops. There are hiking opportunities as well. The restored mine buildings are very well done. Great glimpse into Alaska's history. The drive north of Anchorage can get pretty boring. If weather is bad I hope you can change your plans (i.e. flightseeing is cancelled). I think there is more to see and do in less miles on the KP. I loved Homer. The Pratt Museum is great.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions.I think I've figured a way to make it more doable. We're going to go from Homer to Talkeetna(7hr) on Sat. On Sun,we can flightseeing in am, then drive to Denali(3hr). We will then have a full day at DNP on Monday without being too exhausted from the long drive. Tuesday we will drive to Anchorage for our late night flight home. Luckily, I can change reservations without a problem. This should also give me some wiggle room if the flightseeing has to be rescheduled due to weather.
Happytraveler, I know the speed will different but I was thinking in terms of time in the car. Besides my college kids don't usually wake up before noon so I'll just move them to the car and take off.
I'll let you know how it works out.

It's historytraveler ;) Yes , do post when you return as it is always helpful to get input on different schedules.

Dear playmak:

I still think you should skip Homer.

MY

"..my college kids don't usually wake up before noon so I'll just move them to the car and take off."

I got a real chuckle out of the visual there. Maybe you can borrow a 2-wheeler from the hotel and just cart them out like so much baggage! Our son didn't wake up until he graduated and got a job that required him to be on the jobsite at 6 or 7 am. Too funny!