Alaska after a looooong research. Experts pls help
 

Hello guys
I am reposting with Alaska in the title as per suggestions. Also trip time is mid-end August.
Thanks a lot for all your posts. It was really useful in planning my trip.After reading lots of posts I am including my iterinery to you. Kindly suggest changes if needed. I am using the toursaver and my plans are tailored to an extent by it. Here goes..
day 1 : Arrive late in Anc. Stay overnite.
Day 2 : Pick up car from Enterprise and drive leisurely to Homer. Do the Halibut cove dinner cruise on Danny J. overnite homer
Day 3 : Full day bear viewing with Emerald Air service. Drive back to Cooper Landing. Overnite Hutch bed and breakfast Cooper landing.
Day 4 : Drive to seward to take the NW fjord long cruise and drive bak to cooper landing. Overnite Hutch
Day 5 : Have a relaxing morning and drive to Whittier to catch the 1.30pm cruise of Prince William Sound. Drive to Palmer. Overnite Alaska Garden gate B and B.
Day 6 : Drive to the Hatcher Pass and afternoon drive to Talkeetna . Do the 6.30pm flightseeing. Overnite Mckinley Princess.
Day 7 : Do the 11am shuttle to Fishcreek and drive back to Princess for overnite stop.
Day 8 : Relax in the morning and drive to Matanuska in the evening for a midnight sun glacier hike with MICA. Overnite Palmer garden gate B and B.
Day 9 : Have a relaxing morning. Drive down to anchorage. Shop arnd downtown. Evening do the girdwood ayeska/ double musky dinner. Drive to anchorage for late night flight home.

how does this sound? any major things that i am missing on this plan. Would you suggest inclusion of Valdez? My wife hasnt rafted. So am looking for a non dangerous white water. Dont really want a float trip but want easy white water.
Is the MICA 1.5 hr hike enuf to get a sample of glacier hiking?
Your advice is really appreciated.
Regards
Rocky

1) Too little time in Homer. I would add one more day to get a sense of community there. Homer is simply beatiful. I would schedule the following activities in one extra day in Homer:
- Spit & downtown with Pratt Museum
- Hiking in Kachemak Bay state park (accross the Bay) to the Glacier Lake.
BTW. Get ready to be shocked at Halibut Cove. Nothing can prepare you for this beaty, no matter how high you set your expectations.
You would not make a mistake by switching either Day 7 or 8 for 1 more day in Homer area.
2) PWS right after Kenai Fiord? Can you switch them somehow? May be you can take PWS at the beginning of the trip?

3) Your plan is

Okay, I'm just going to put in my two cents and if I'm wrong on any distances, someone please correct me. I'm not really sure why you would want to drive all the way back to Cooper Landing if you are going to Whittier after Seward. There is a place called the Summit Lodge http://www.summitlakelodge.com/ that I stopped at on my way back from Seward. The rates seem really reasonable and it was quite lovely. I would stay there rather than back-track. You might also want to do Girdwood and do your dinner that night so you aren't driving back down there on your last day. There are nice restaurants in Anchorage too (Glacier Brewhouse is one of them). Do you have any ideas of where you are staying in Homer?

One more thing, I meant that you could overnight in Girdwood instead of Cooper Landing and do your dinner at the Double Musky, then drive to Whittier for your cruise.

Frankly, you are making a mistake, using routing, especially with your Cooper Landing plan. NOT a good one. First off there is little in the area except fishing, and it is a far better option to just drive Homer/Seward- 4 hours instead of your back and forth time consuming backtracking?? The Kenai fjords tour leaves at 9am, you are best there around 8:15am, it's already a long day, why are you making it longer?? Far better would be 2 nights in Seward, plenty to see and do there as well. Then it's 2 hours to Whittier- plus tunnel time, most tours are in the afternoon and would be a nice morning drive.
You are also staying at the McKinley Princess, again not a good option as you are 100 miles from the Denali Park and driving all this in one day PLUS the Park Shuttle is a mistake, just to use a coupon. You are seeing nothing else of wonderful Denali Park on this marathon day. I definately would change this lodging location. From Denali Park you can easily get to your MICA trek by nightime.

No you don't have time for Valdez in my opinion and the 1 1/2 hour glaicer hike is short, I did a 4 hour with them and the time flew. But this is a special tour so I would definately think it will be just excellent. :)

Thanks oleg deborah and budgetqueen. You guys really made a lot of sense and I have cancelled all the bookings and have rebooked with the following schedule.
day 1 : overnite anc teddy bear b and b.
day2,3 : homer , skyline b and b.
halibut cove dinner and emerald air .
day 4 5 : seward, morning calm b and b
seward city and kenai fjords.
day 6 : drive to talkeetna, flightseeing and onto denali parkhotel. overnite denali park hotel.
day 7 : fish creek shuttle denali park
day 8 . hatcher pass and mica guides. overnite palmer/anchorage.
day 9 : whiitier pws (since i have a lat e nite flight).
i really appreciate your help guys.
I just have two questions more.
1. on day 9 do i stay at palmer or anc?. if palmer where in palmer?
2. Budgetqueen, other than shuttle what are possible things to do in denali? I dont wanna take a chance with my wife and hike in the woods with grizzlies arnd :). Please advise.
thanks a lot guys

Make sure that you drive out to Exit Glacier while you are in Seward. In Denali you can join a ranger for a guided hike, walk or educational talk or go to the sled dog demonstration. There are also some companies that over mild river rafting. The area is small and most of the things to do relate to enjoying the wilderness. There are some dinner shows if that's more your things(one at the Princess Lodge and one at Sourdough Cabins). As far as Palmer goes, I just drove up there from Anchorage and drove back. I stopped in Eklutna and really enjoyed learning about it. Good luck. You will love Alaska.

Whoops, I meant to say "offer" mild river rafting excursions.

Your routing is excellent and you have budgeted enough time for some great activities. As for Denali park www.nps.gov/dena has activity listings. You are staying in my top budget choices, be sure to let me know how you liked them. :)

You may want to stay in Anchorage your last night and do some local activities? There are more lodging choices as well.

In reading your original plan, I would say don't be too leisurely about driving to Homer from Anchorage or you'll miss dinner!
The advantage of the McKinley Princess or the Talkeetna Lodge is that you might actually be able to see Denali from them. However, yes, McKinley Princess is a long drive still from the park.
Also, as someone mentioned there are good restaurants in Anchorage, Orso, Simon & Seafort, The Marx Brothers, Southside Bistro, etc.

Hi rock2rocku,

I see you have stayed at the hutch bed and breakfast. We were thinking about staying here in July 06. How did you like it?

Thanks,
Jamie Epping

Sorry about the previous message on hutch bed and breakfast. I see you haven't stayed here yet.
Jamie Epping