We are a family of 4 from India. Are planning a first visit to Alaska - May end. Planning a land tour and not a cruise. Need suggestions, please.

1. We shall land into Anchorage from NY. Which would be the least expensive airline to fly by?

3. We have about 10 days. Are willing to rent a car and move around.

Need advice on making the best of those 10 days. Which itinerary would give us the best of Alaska in 10 days starting from and ending in Anchorage? Please give suggestions.

Thank you.

air - I use kayak.com when I want to research airfares. I entered random dates for May and found that Continental is the least expensive, flying from Newark, NJ (considered a NY area airport) and Northwest is the least expensive if you want to fly from LaGuardia in NY. I was surprised that there are no non-stop flights from NY to Anchorage and limited my search to one-stop rather than more stops. I would check out the site for your specifics and then book with individual airline.

There have been many requests for suggested 10 day itineraries so do a search here on Fodor's. I think the most things to see and do in the shortest drives/times are between Anchorage and north (Independence Mine) to Seward. Keep in mind your flight will probably not arrive until early evening and your departure flight may be around the same time so you will have to sleep on the plane on your return flight. Some suggestions depend on the age of your children. If they are young it might be better to visit the wildlife center near Portage rather than attempt Denali's long bus rides. Best wishes for a great trip.

At least one and probably two days have to be spent at Denali National Park. That is simply amazing.

Also a good thing to do is a Glacier Cruise.

Definitely rent a car, but stay with the namebrand outfits. We chose one last July that was about $100 cheaper than the namebrands, and we were burned, first with a car with no working windshield wipers or radio (which is only good around inhabited areas, by the way)and the second didn't have a heater, which wasn't a huge deal in July because it stayed above freezing.

Stay away from High Country, I believe it was called.

Car Rentals are very expensive. When I say expensive, I mean at least $100 a day, unless you have some kind of coupon or something.

Have a good time. You can[t go wrong when going to Alaska.

Here is a rough suggested itinerary for your time frame that you can obviously tailor to your interests:

Anchorage to Denali: 2-3 nights. Recommended activities: park shuttle to Wonder Lake; ranger guided hikes; visitors center exhibits; dog sledding demonstration (that's expendable, IMO, but a lot of people like it).

Denali to Talkeetna: 2 nights. Activities available: flight seeing, boating; Best views of Denali.

Talkeetna to Seward: 2 nts. Activities available: full or half day cruise; kayaking; fishing; visit to Exit Glacier; aquarium.

I haven't been to Homer but most people recommend it and you can drive there from Seward, then wind up your trip in Anchorage for a day or two.

You might want to travel part of the way by RR and part by car. I think every visitor to Alaska should experience the RR b/c it's a wonderful way to travel and a distinctly Alaskan experience.

Finally, the highlight of my trip was a 3 day drive/fly excursion up to Prudhoe Bay, via the Dalton H'way. The scenery was spectacular, and the town of Deadhorse is a real frontier town. You can tour the oil fields and have a dip in the Arctic Ocean if you like.

Have a look at Alaskatravel.com. It's a great website that is full of helpful information to assist in planning your trip.
I booked my trip thru' them and was very pleased.

For those making suggestions---keep in mind that they are going at the end of May. Some parts of Denali may not be open yet (the shuttle bus is scheduled to go as far as Toklat but not beyond to Fish Creek and Wonder land until June 1).

You can read about the park shuttle and other information on Denali on the park's website:

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/destinations.htm

I believe you need advance reservations and they do book up early. You will also need a reservation for lodging at the park for 2 nights.

If you have 10 days, you could rent a car for 5 or 6 days to tour the Kenai Peninsula, then return the car in Anchorage and use the train to travel to Denali and back.

I posted on their other post, but they are NOT going to get to Wonder Lake, unless they are there June 8 or later, and with 10 days and their end of May reference, it's doubtful. That is why I suggest they consider Denali park at the end of their routing, so to get there June 1 or later for the shuttle bus to Fish Creek.

I do not recommend 2 nights in Talkeetna, 1 is enough.

I meant Wonder "Lake", not Wonder land (but it is indeed a wonderland).

BudgetQueen and I were posting at the same time, and our point is the same---you won't get very far into Denali Park in May; certainly not to Wonder Lake.

But I think their trip timing is connected with a daughter's graduation---at least I saw that on a different post of theirs.

So if they are limited to a late May visit, what would you experts suggest for them? (I'd love to help but haven't been back to Alaska in years, so my first-hand information is not up to date).

What about recommended boat tours from Seward or elsewhere? Recommended "must-sees" on a loop trip around the Kenai?

One night in Talkeetna was not enough for me, especially after arriving in the afternoon. I didn't get to do many of the available activities that I would have enjoyed.

There's a lot to do there and it's a charming little town. People should know what's available and decide for themselves how much time they want to spend there.

I think if you're going to declare that one night is enough, you should give a reason.

4 of you?
Want to see as much as possible?
Rent a motorhome
You will be completely self-contained and get to drive wherever there are roads, which isn't a lot.

What did you occupy your time in Talkeetna with??? I've been there many times, flightseeing is excellent. Fishing, if a priority, raft tours so so. Park Service exhibit, small museum, library??

With time short- 10 days isn't a lot, I still would not recommend 2 nights in Talkeetna. An option would be one night then a stop when going the other direction for meal or rescheduled flight.

Well, if you've been there many times you obviously feel that it is worth more than one night.

As I said before, I did not get to do much there. I arrived in the afternoon on the train from Denali and left the next morning on the bus to Seward. I just about had time to visit the town, have dinner, speak with a few locals, visit a few shops, and do a short hike near my hotel. If I'd known about the flightseeing and the boating I would have planned on another night.

That's why I "suggested" and "recommended" places to go and informed the OP about activities in each place, and mentioned that they can tailor their plans to their own interests.

Declaring that one night is enough without saying anything further, as you did, is not, IMHO, helpful, especially when you don't know what their interests are.
Everyone is different. Maybe they would want to spend 2 nights, maybe one, maybe none. That's their decision, but give them some information on which to base it.

Maybe you know more factual information about Alaska travel than many people on this board but that doesn't make your opinion the final word, especially when dealing with what might or might not appeal to people you don't know.

Depending on price of course, but Alaska Airline is always a favorite of Alaskans.

I live in Alaska and would say there might be more to do or see in Seward of Homer than in Talkeetna.

Everyone often slights Anchorage, but it should be worth a couple of days at least to see and do. A car would be better than an RV there because of parking.

Another vote for Alaska Airlines (from a former Alaskan now living in Seattle). They fly from Newark airport to Seattle for a connection to Anchorage.

Hello, my family of 5 went for 10 days the 1st of August last year. mom,dad,son-15 dau's 10,11

we were lucky, and stayed most of our nights at friends house in anchorage. we rented our car out of Eagle River car rental, they picked us up at the airport, for the 20 min ride to Eagle River. we also stayed a few nights at the Eagle river hotel. both were much cheaper rates than in anchorage or car from the airport ( about 100/night each)
we spent the weekend at Denali river cabins, and did the 12 hr tour that goes to Kantishna roadhouse. we all had a wonderful experience. there were kids younger than mine on the bus, but not much. they stopped every 2 hrs. and we saw so much, were never really bored.
there are so many day trips out of anchorage. the drive to and at independence mine was out favorite. check the schedule, because they have mine guided tours about once a month. we rode the train to seward, and did a day cruise to fox island. that was fabulous, food was great, but the boat cruise was long enough ( 6hrs) any longer would have been too much..
the drive down to the portage wildlife place, and girdwood, was a nice 1st half day thing to do. we flew for 6 hrs out of dallas on american, and sat with a couple from NY who had to go through Dallas(b/c american) 6 hr flight was disgusting! no room, no quiet, no sleep, (we flew home at 10pm, so we had been up all day already, and still did not sleep.
other than the air, the whole trip was great, and i would encourage anyone to go. we ate twice at "Teelands" in Wasilla, we ate at the world famous "double musky" and were not impressed, but did not get the signature prime rib. Humpys in downtown anchorage is fun, and pretty good, but a bar after 8 or 9, and a great pizza place on old seward hwy( moose something). the speed limits change frequently and are patrolled
i called alaska tour and travel directly, and they booked the denali weekend. i called alaska railroad, while we were there, and did the train trip. luckily we had a "local guide" flat top mountain in anchorage, is easy hikes, and great berry picking, and very accessable. I got the book "alaska for dummies" it was great and accurate.
we did not get to go rafting, go see the "eagle lady" at homer, or go toward Valdez, maybe next time- Have Fun!!

forgot: its very easy to get around, there are only a handfull of major hwys, hard to get lost, I would def. "self guide"

I also strongly suggest you rent a motorhome. They are not hard to drive, you don't have to worry about finding a hotel or B & B. Get a Milepost book from the book store and you will have loads of information.

We rented a motorhome after our cruise and it was one of the best trips we have taken.

You are advising a family from India to rent a motorhome? Driving on rough Alaska roads, dealing with the hookups and whatever else is involved in setting up the RV, finding camping places---not to mention the price of gas.

I think they are much better off renting a car, staying in hotels/inns/ B & B's and meeting some Alaskans without the worry of driving, parking, and setting up an RV.

Yes, I still would recommend a motorhome. There are as many campsites available in Alaska as hotel rooms. The roads are fine. The extra money you have to pay for the gas used, makes up for not having to pay for expensive rooms. As far as "being from India" I would assume they drive there. I have rented cars in England and Ireland and certainly could handle driving on the other side of the road. I know B&Bs have more rooms available in May as it is early season, but that many places are are full for the months of July and August. My husband and I just felt that by renting a motorhome, it was more of an adventure for us.

I agree with enzian. you do need experience to drive these big things. most other places in the world, the average person drives a somewhat small car. why worry yourself with something happening, and dampen your trip enjoyment. and if your not worried if its your first time driving something big like these, you really should not be driving one.