alaska in july
 

we( wife and daughter) plan to visit Alaska in July. Plan to spend 12 days. since this is our first trip please suggest an itenerary based on the following interests-glaciers,fjords,bear and wild life viewing.
Some thoughts are as follows-denali national park,kenai fjords, bear viewing at brook falls or katmai national park. Amongst the glaciers( mendenhall or stan stephens).
We wil hire a car and can fly in/out of anchorage/juneau.
Any other suggestions are welcome.

I think you should include Sitka on your list.

With only 12 days, I think Anchorage is best choice. If it's early in July, keep in mind some AK towns really celebrate the 4th of July and Seward will be one of the popular places for the annual race.
Probably give priority to bear viewing. Schedule that and work around it. If your budget can handle it, you could cut out some travel time by flying from Anchorage to Homer and back. We've flown to Kenai. It won't be a scenic flight because it's a commuter line but we were able to check our bags thru. Also keep in mind that there is more to see and do between Anchorage and Homer than between Anchorage and Denali. We liked Independence Mine State Park north of Anchorage so that's a good stop on the way to Talkeetna and Denali. Hard to imagine a mining town in the middle of the mountains back then.
Loved the longest boat trip out of Seward to Kenai Fjords. Lucked out on a perfectly calm day and a mostly empty boat. But DH had been afraid of getting seasick so we were prepared with sea bands etc.

Drafted an initial plan.

Day 1. Arrive at anchorage
Day 2. Visit seward for kenai fjords, overnight at girdwood or anchorage
Day 3. Whittier glacier tour
Day 4. Leave for Homer-bear viewing at katmai national park or visit brook falls from anchorage for the bear viewing
Day 5-7-drive to denali national park and spend a day at denali and drive back to anchorage.
Day 8. Knik River Glacier Adventure in Palmer
Day 9.portage glacier cruise and city tour including tram ride to Alyeska.

please suggest changes accordingly,i can a add a day or two.

With this i am missing Juneau

You are rushing it way to much IMOP. Alaska is huge. You might consider doing a bear viewing/salmon fishing/floatplane from Soldotna to edge of Lake Clark National Park(wolverine creek area). You will be within feet of bears and you are virtually guaranteed to catch all the salmon you can imagine. You could see brown bears but might be just black bears. You also might want to dogsled/helicopter at Alyeska/Girdwood. Add another day to Denali. You need one FULL day there to do the all day bus.

www.highadventureair.com is out of Soldotna

We also pkan on a trip to Alaska, thinking first 2 weeks of June. When would be the optimal time to visit using an itinerary similar to the one suggested here?

I like July over June.

If you do make it to Juneau, there are various trips available to Admiralty Island to see the bears at Pack Creek. I did an overnight float plane trip to Thayer Lake Lodge in late July about 10 years ago and the bears were everywhere along the shoreline, the meadows and Pack Creek. I was in Alaska for almost a month and while I saw a lot,it felt like I had just scratched the surface. I too would add a night to Denali on your proposed itinerary.

ih - your initial itinerary has FAR too much overlapping and back-tracking. Using it as a start, though:

Day 2 you want to overnight in Seward - lots of options.

Day 3 you want to overnight at Alyeska - lots of good B&Bs as well as the hotel

Day 4 could be an Alyeska and Portage Glacier day - the Portage cuises are dirt cheap online.

Day 4 (or 5 now?) - delete Homer - you're leaving from Anchorage for the bear viewing.

Days 5 & 6 (or 6&7) overnight at Denali or to save money, Healy.

Day 7 (or 8) back to Palmer - a few options for lodging.

Day 8 & 9 (or 9 & 10) - explore Anchorage - Native Heritage Center, city tour etc.