Alaska 3 week honeymoon
 

First ever post – fingers crossed! We have just over three weeks in Alaska in end July/August. I’ve read a number of the excellent posts here on Alaska and they have given me plenty of ideas and I wanted to sound you out on what we plan to do (and what we’ve left out!).

Just on us, we are a couple, one Irish, one British. We have done a fair amount of travelling and want to have quite an active holiday – including hiking and sea-kayaking. We’ll be travelling far so we expect this will be a once in a lifetime trip and want to ensure that we don’t miss out on any must-sees or must-dos

So what we plan

Arrive in Anchorage.
Travel to Juneau by flight and then on to Skagway by ferry.
Hike the Chilkoot trail.
Fly back to Anchorage and pick up car.
Travel to Homer for about 2 nights and include half day’s bear viewing.
Travel to Denali via Talkeetna – take flight over McKinley
Stay at Wonder Lake for 3 nights (too long?) hike around Denali
Travel to Valdez – overnight at Matanuska Glacier
3-5 days sea kayaking out of Valdez.
Back to Anchorage.

Is there anything we might regret not seeing/doing?
I think we could fly direct from Anchorage to Skagway – is it worth travelling by Juneau to see Juneau and also experience the ferry trip to Skagway?
Should we try and see Glacier Bay – instead of?? Can we do it in a day?
We’ve picked half day’s bear viewing to cut costs, is half day still worth it?
Should we be including Seward and the Fjords trip – again instead of?

Any help appreciated.

Galwaygirl, I don't have any opinion about visiting Juneau and Skagway, I just don't know enough about that area.

However, I can give you my personal opinion about bear watching trips from Homer. We took many of them. There are no half day bear watching tours from Homer. If there were such tours there is no way it would be half a price since the big part of your fee probably goes to cover a flight to Katmai National Park and back to Homer. It takes about 90 minutes to get to Katmai so it wouldn't be a profitable for a tour operator to have half day tours. By the time your plane lands on a lake, then you get to a dry land and walk to a place where you see bears it would be time to go back. No way such short time would give you any satisfaction for $$$ you have to pay. I would skip it all together or save money and include a full day bear watching tour. Further, you need more than two nights in Homer. There is more to Homer than bear watching trips.

This is what I would do and not including your travels to Juneau and Skagway

2 nights in Anchorage
1 night in Girdwood
3-4 nights in Homer
2-3 nights in Seward
2 nights in Valdez via ferry from Whittier
2-3 nights in Wrangell- St. Elias
1 night Sheep Mountain Lodge for Matanuska Glacier
1 night in Talkeetna
2-3 nights in Denali
Back to Anchorage
Total 20 nights

If you won't take a ferry to Valdez I suggest you skip this town. It is a beautiful part of Alaska but you just can't cover everything on this trip.

Truly, I think I would skip flights to Juneau and ferry to Skagway and concentrate on Anchorage, Denali, Talkeetna, Valdez, Wrangell-St Elias National Park, Seward and Homer.
There is just so much to do and see in Alaska. You have to include the Fjords trip from Seward. Homer, Seward and Valdez are great destinations for sea kayaking. Homer and Valdez have wonderful hiking trails. I would skip Wonder Lake in the end of July beginning of August because of mosquitoes.

You may ask why two nights in Anchorage? There are lots of opportunities in Anchorage to familiarize yourself with history and culture of Alaska. Many wonderful hikes around Anchorage too. I would suggest spending at least two nights in Anchorage

Galwaygirl~ I'm an Alaskan resident, though I choose not to post advice because there are multiple experts on the travel/timing aspects of each schedule.
However, I do agree with Pat2003, especially on the opportunities to kayak in Kachemak Bay in Homer and the Whittier area as well. Good luck with your planning. J.

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

I’ve just a couple of questions on what you’ve written.

We liked the idea of overnight sea kayaking trips. Are the ones out of Whittier/Homer as good/better than those out of Valdez? Any overnight trips recommended? – we’re fairly novice kayakers

What would you recommend in Wrangell St.Elias? and what’s the best way to get there? I didn’t include it as I thought it would be more difficult to get there than other places I mentioned.

We included the Chilkoot trail as we wanted to have one overnight multiday hike and this one seemed to be the one most recommended. Would love to see if others agree or if we could do such a hike in the Wrangell St Elias park for instance.

I did actually find a company offering half a day trip to Katmai. http://www.hallobay.com/ it was for five hours and yes it wasn’t half price. I take the point that if we’re going to do it, we should go for the day.

Finally when does the mosquito situation improve at Wonder Lake and where would you recommend to stay instead. We’d like to camp.

Many thanks.

Because you are going to include Valdez in your itinerary it is much easier to get there than to Juneau from Anchorage. You take a small plane from Chitina where you park your car and a flight is very scenic. We did overnight stay in a remote cabin own by National Park service. Check information on McCarthy Air. They would not only fly you from Chitina to Kennicott but they also do fly-in backpacking, day and multi-day wilderness hikes and remote camping. Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is spectacular but not as popular as Denali. Scenery is simply breathtaking.

check also www.mccarthy-kennicott.com

We used Wrangell Mountain Air for our transfers to remote areas of the park. Are you interested in rafting? They do that too.
www.wrangellmountainair.com
www.kennicottguides.com
www.kennicottlodge.com

First, welcome to Fodors, and second, congratulations!

As you can surmise from the comments that have already been posted and from the research you've already done, Alaska is such a big and diverse place that (a) you can't do it all, and (b) it's so big that moving around is difficult, time consuming, and expensive.

That said, my first question would be where are you coming from before arriving in Anchorage? Or, where are you going upon departure?

If the answer to either is Seattle or Vancouver (and BTW it really ought to be - there, done with the tourism board adverts ;) ) then a stop in Juneau en route to/from ANC is much easier - and way cheaper - than flying down from Anchorage and then returning. It's over an hour's flight time and quite costly; conversely there are numerous planes that fly from Seattle to Anchorage with a stop in Juneau where you can get off, do your Chilkoot Charlie thing or go to Glacier Bay, then get back on the next day or a couple of days later.

You can see numerous glaciers around Prince William Sound - not Glacier Bay maybe, but not far behind, and much more convenient to your other destinations. The "26 Glacier" tour boat from Whittier (where the Valdez ferry docks) is spectacular and can be done in a day, vs. an (expensive) overnight and transfer from Juneau to Glacier Bay.

Even if you're not coming via the Pacific NW, then I would still suggest reconsidering your Alaska Panhandle (Juneau etc.) side trip. You could use the time and money to spend a day or two "off the road system" - fly out to a bush village, maybe to Nome or Kotzebue (or better, both) - historic mining town on the Bering Sea and eskimo town above the Arctic Circle respectively. It will give you a better picture of the vastness and diversity of the state, along with some real insight into the native and non-native history of the place.

Alternatively, you could hop on Air North from Fairbanks to Dawson City (Yukon, Canada) and get a real feel for the Klondike gold rush and all the stories associated. Have a flutter at the tables at Diamond Tooth Gertie's, or try the Sour Toe Cocktail at the Downtown hotel (alledgedly a human toe in the booze bottle.) Dawson is a fascinating destination. http://www.dawsoncity.ca

You'll find plenty to occupy three weeks. Happy planning and congratulations again.

You have so many options and after our suggestions YOU have to chose what you want to do and what places to visit in Alaska.
Gardyloo is so right, Alaska is such a big and diverse place. In three weeks you get a nice introduction. You cannot do all but try to slow down and experience each place. Good luck and ask more questions.

I still think that if you are interested in hiking and backpacking then Wrangell St. Elias National Park has endless opportunity for these activities. Once there you could find yourself in places nobody visited before you.

We took a 2.5 week vacatin in Alaska May 2005 and absolutely loved it!!! If you are spending 1 day in Talkeetna area I would recommend staying at the Princess Mckinley Lodge because it has best view of Mckinly. You can sit in the hot tub and watch the sunset at 0300. That lodge was by far our favorite on our trip but it can sometimes be crowded by cruisers. Unless you need to go to Valdez, my opinion was it wasn't worth driving across the Glenn Allen to see (only reason I did it was my friend's parents live on that side.) but that is only my opinion!! I think Seward has the same things as Valdez, but I went in shoulder season w/ less tourists. FLight see is a must-do. Find 2 for 1's in toursaver (well worth the $100 if you plan on staying in any of the featured hotels and doing any of the activities. See (http://www.toursaver.com/) for further info on that. It saved us about $700. We stayed at TalkeetnaAlaska Lodge/Mckinley Princess and used flightsee coupon and cruise coupon. Also look up Northerlights coupon book for other coupons for 2 for 1. It can save hundreds. In Seward we stayed in Edgewater Hotel and it looked like nicest in town. Close to water and next to Sea Life Center. (2 for 1 nights in Northern Lights book.) Take gondola ride at Alyeska in Girdwood for nice views, you can also pan for gold in Girdwood. We did not go to Homer, but the Kenai Pen. is gorgeous! One other recommendation is buy a copy of the MILEPOST. It costs about $25-30, but well worth it.

Three weeks really isn't a lot of time. :) As a suggestion, skip Skagway and Juneau, no flights out of Skagway except charters.

Already you have excellent suggestions for areas, spend time in them. Are you camping?? There is no staying at Wonder Lake unless you are and you are going PRIME bug season, so you may want to rethink this?? It is one of the worse areas in Denali Park.

I'm sorry to disagree with Colorado37 about Valdez but I think it is a gorgeous drive there and, the most important, it is a real paradise for hikers.

Besides flying to Wrangell-St. Elias there is also a shuttle from Chitina to Kennicott. I don't know where the shuttle pick you up and where you park your car. If you decide to fly with Wrangell Mountain Air, there is a tiny airport a few miles before Chitina where you park your car as well. They also have a place where they can securely store your luggage.

Skagway was fun but the town is really geared for the cruise boat visitors. You should be able to find an overnight hike someplace else that wouldn't be so expensive. If you want to see an historic town without all the gift shops, stop at Hope on your way to Homer. It's a bit out of the way.

I guess I should qualify my idea to skip Valdez by saying, it is a gorgous drive. Especially the drive down into Valdez where the waterfalls make you feel like you are in a frozen Hawaii. I just would recommend it to someone with more time since it is out of the way of most their other plans. It is still nice. Also, consider the glass coverage on the rental car. I did not get it and got a rock chip withing the first 50 miles. They charged $450 for the window and my insurance covered everything by the $120 admin fee and $40 loss of use fee. If you don't get insurance and something does happen to window, the admin fee is negotiable!

No matter what your plans, remember, none of us are experts!! We base our opinions on our particular experiences.

Here are some thoughts I had reading over your thread. You have already gotten a lot of great advice.

Have you considered ice climbing on Matanuska Glacier?

Do you have a copy of The Milepost?

Our overnight kayaking trip went out of Seward, but if I did it again, I'd go out of Whittier . . . closer to Blackstone Bay.

Highly recommend the 9.5 hr Northwestern Kenai Fjords boat tour out of Seward.

Great day kayaking trips out of Valdez to varied areas of interest . . . glaciers, wildlife, sea coasts, etc. Homer does not really have a glacier kayaking trip, although there is a hike/kayak glacier trip out of Homer. Homer has lots of outdoor activities including kayaking.

Day kayaking out of Seward not great (Resurrection Bay only) unless you take a trip that transports you by boat to the location where you'll be kayaking. All overnight kayaking trips are quite expensive.

If going that far for a one time only trip, then definitely save up to go bear viewing if that is a real interest of yours.

Great hikes in TONS of places in Alaska. Search "repete" on this board . . . he has given lots of good hiking recommendations. Valdez has great hiking, as does the Kenai Peninsula. If spending time in Anchorage, consider renting bicycles to ride the Tony Knowles trail.

Good luck with the planning. Alaska is beautiful!

Thats just brilliant everyone, please keep the suggestions coming. Thanks to everyone who has given their time to help us. Lots of food for thought.

I think you’ve convinced us that including Juneau/Skagway might be too much. We’ll be travelling from London and might be routed via Seattle but the cheapest flights could just as easily be via Chicago. I’ll check out repete for the hiking.

So now we’re thinking

Anchorage – we’ll probably need two nights to recover from our flight. Like the biking idea. (2)
Seward – Kenai Fjords trip (2)
Homer - Possibly sea-kayaking – although maybe that in Valdez, possibly bear trip – any other trip suggestions or activities around Homer? (3)
Night in Talkeetna – flight over McKinley (1)
Denali – still wondering where to camp if Wonder Lake is so bad? (2)
Matanuska Glacier – (1) would like to include ice-climbing
Valdez – overnight sea-kayaking. Hiking. As we’re now planning to go to Wrangell St Elias, seems like Valdez is now more within our route, plus the drive down does sound impressive. (4)
Wrangell St. Elias. We checked out those websites Pat2003, and there’s obviously plenty of hikes to choose. Any areas you (or anyone) would recommend? (3)
Back to Anchorage.

That’s 18 days, and we have 21-23 days, so some flexibility, could add days for hikes here and there. Any noticeable areas where we should be adding days?

We will also check out toursaver, northern lights book and milepost .

Thanks so much again.

galwaygirl, am I correct? Is this what you are planning?
Anchorage 2 nights
Seward 2 nights
Homer 3 nights
Valdez 4 nights
Wrangell-St. Elias 3 nights
Sheep Mountain Matanuska Glacier) 1 night
Talkeetna 1 night
Denali 2 nights

I think I would add one night to Homer and Denali and also include one night in Girdwood (before your stay in Homer)which is south of Anchorage. This way you have 21 nights total.

Seward is a shorter distance to Whittier where you would take a ferry to Valdez. If you take a ferry you won't be driving on the same roads between Palmer and Valdez.

There are nice hikes in Girdwood and if you do a topic search here under 'Girdwood hiking' you should be able to find a detailed description at least of one trail.

Thanks Pat2003 – that’s out itinerary.

Just another question on it.

We plan on being there from July 24th to August 14th (approx). I’m guessing that most of the following we would need to book in advance, but is there any we could be more flexible on do you reckon?
- Katmai bear viewing
- Kenai Fjords trip
- Ferry from Whittier to Valdez
- Valdez sea kayaking
- Flight into Wrangell St Elias, both from Chitina and into the backcountry
- Accommodation in Anchorage, Homer, Seward, Denali, Valdez

I think I’ll probably end up posting more specific questions as we sort it out in more detail.

Thanks very much again for some really valuable insight.

The only "bad" thing about Wonder Lake is the mosquitoes (and they are no worse there than lots of places in Alaska). The scenery is spectacular---the classic view of Denali. You can prepare for the skeeters with proper clothing and a tent, and it's well worth it to stay in such a beautiful place. I don't know what the situation is now for camping in the park; you probably need reservations.