Alaska in September
 

Hello guys,

We are planing a trip to Alaska

1) Are 6 days enough to cover the most of it?

2) How is the weather? We are going from Aug 31 to Sep 6th. Hope its not gonna be very cold that time...

3) Do you recommend car rental from Anchorage as we are flying to Anchorage?

4) How expensive are the hotels? Any recommendations of where to stay?

5) Is it possible to visit Fairbanks also? As in map it shows its

pretty far (380 miles)

6) Should we book Denali tour in advance?

7) I think juneau, Glacier, Sitco and whittier are very far from

Anchorage. Is it possible to cover them?

8) Wat r the things u recommend as must to do?

I know its a lot of questions. I appreciate you taking time to answer

these.

Thanks

Swati

We've been to Anchorage in September - weather was acceptable, days getting a bit shorter, autumn colors spectacular. Things are closing down - not so much traffic.
Six days is hardly enough time, but it whets your appetite for more! We stayed at the Park View Motel, which is handy to the main road out of Anchorage, and another time at the Days Inn, in town. Both OK pricewise, certainly nothing fancy.
Whittier is a day trip from Anchorage, through the railway tunnel, and you could do a glacier cruise from here. Portage Lake glacier may be closed already.

Seward is another long day trip, and Valdez a VERY long day trip, but we did do it. You can walk to the Exit Glacier from Seward, and we loved walk to Lake.the Byron Glacier at Portage

Juneau, Glacier and Sitka are too far, only available by ship or plane. Fairbanks is too far, and your six days can be better spent.Denali will be closing - you can drive in some of the way, and there's a lottery to drive all the way after the tours stop.

I think you need a good guide book to get started!

Alaska is bigger than Texas and you think you can do it

all in 6 days? Dream on ...

alaskatravel.com

alaska.org › Alaska Destinations › Denali National Park

for me fly into AK carrentals.com cheap car rental to Denali

Nice lodges campgrounds oe cruiseamerica.com RV but lot of $

www.greatalaskanholidays.com

Great sales 50% off now...

Swati,
<u>Please</u> do some basic research first and then come back to us with specific questions. Here are several suggestions: http://www.frommers.com/store/9780470638651.html
http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...uidebooks.html

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie

<b>1) Are 6 days enough to cover the most of it?</b>

No but you can cover one area pretty well in 6 days, or two areas lightly. Something like several days in Denali, maybe 1-2 days skimming Kenai (Seward or Homer), maybe a day for a bear viewing trip.

<b>2) How is the weather? We are going from Aug 31 to Sep 6th. Hope its not gonna be very cold that time...</b>

Have been to Denali and Katmai several years in this time frame and it's our favorite time for Denali because the tundra is changing colors and the animals are more active and visible. Great time to visit, won't be too cold (usually) at Denali and south of there.

<b>3) Do you recommend car rental from Anchorage as we are flying to Anchorage?</b>

Yes.

<b>4) How expensive are the hotels? </b>

Wide range ...

<b>5) Is it possible to visit Fairbanks also? As in map it shows its pretty far (380 miles)</b>

Possible but I wouldn't advise it. There are more interesting things to see and places to visit for such a brief trip, I feel. Maybe pick one main area (say Denali), then add on as possible for the remaining time.

<b>6) Should we book Denali tour in advance?</b>

No real need, you can book a shuttle bus ride into the park easily enough that time of year when you get there.

<b>7) I think juneau, Glacier, Sitco and whittier are very far from Anchorage. Is it possible to cover them?</b>

Not in 6 days ... SE Alaska is best visited as part of a cruise, I feel. Totally different trip.

<b>8) Wat r the things u recommend as must to do?</b>

Depends on your interests ... I was always most interested in the wildlife and scenery so most of our trips were split 50-50 between Denali (usually a week) and Katmai (wilderness bear viewing). Homer is a cool place to visit, also Seward, maybe Talkeetna for a brief visit on the way to Denali. Those four plus Anchorage are a good place to start planning. But if you're interested in native culture or salmon/trout fishing or something else there are other places to add to your list ...

Plan of action:

Day 1: 31st: Land and go to Hotel. Springhill suite

Day 2: 1 Sep: Start drive to Denali (4 hrs drive). Stop in Talkeetna for sometime. Collect park passes.Denali princess hotel. Ranger led day hike

Day 3: 2 sep: Wonder lake shuttle (early morning) 11 hrs (already booked); drive to fairbanks

Day 4: 3 sep: leave fairbanks at 4 for talkeetna

Day 5: 4 sep: Drive to seaward. Exit glacier.

Day 6: 5 sep: Kenai Fjords national park (cruise)

Day 7: 6 sep: Day cruise to Whittier. Drive back to ANC and take the late night flight (9:30 PM).

We really want to see the Northern Lights in Fairbanks. So are ready to stretch a little more on driving. Do you guys think this is feasible to do? What is else there to see in Fairbanks? Also for Whittier day cruise, how can I get buy one get one free deal?

Thanks for your earlier suggestions.

Swati

<i>We really want to see the Northern Lights in Fairbanks.</i>

On 2 September in Fairbanks civil twilight is at 10:05 PM and "astronomical twilight" (i.e. good for star/aurora viewing) doesn't occur at all. In Talkeetna, astronomical twilight is at 12:45 AM, so you might consider skipping Fairbanks altogether and returning to Talkeetna - if you're going to see the Northern Lights (and you do know, presumably, that it's a complete crap shoot) then Talkeetna will do as well as Fairbanks, maybe better.

That would free either another night for Denali, or for Seward, or for Anchorage, any of which (IMO) would offer more than Fairbanks with a late arrival (after Wonder Lake.)

Hey Gardyloo...

Thanks so much for your reply. Its really a great point which you made and I had no idea about this thing. I did search for Astronomical twilight and seems like u have a valid point.

Thanks so much!!!

Swati

The only time I've seen the Northern Lights on our three Alaskan trips, was once, on a past- midnight flight on the way home, from the plane window. I was so glad to see them at last, and watched for a couple of hours.

I don't think driving to Fairbanks for a day is worth it! If you have a 4 wheel drive, the Denali Highway, at least some of the way and back, would be more exciting, I think.