My husband and I are planning a trip to Alaska for the summer of either next year or 2022 (depending on what happens with the COVID-19 situation).

i have a (very) draft itinerary which I would love some input on. It is as follows:. Anchorage (1 night) - Visit the Native Heritage Centre and Eklutna Village.

. Brooks Lodge (1 or 2 nights) - if we can’t get accommodation here, we would use the day to do a flight (maybe Rusts) to view the bears. If we can get accommodation, would 1 night be enough or should we do 2 nights?

. Anchorage (1 night) - if we don’t stay at Brooks Lodge and do a flight to view the bears than we would just spend 2 nights in Anchorage.

. Talkeetna (1-2 nights) - if we have spent 2 nights in Anchorage we will only spend one night here but if we have done 3 one nighters, we will probably spend 2 nights here simply because I don’t like the idea of 4 one nighters in a row.

. Denali National Park (3 nights)

. Fairbanks (2 or 3 nights) - the Athabascan Village, the good dredge and museum of the north.

. Paxson (1 night) - maybe stay at the Denali Highway Cabins. I understand that this is about a 5hr drive even without stops so am a bit concerned that it will be too far to really experience the scenery. Should we stop earlier than this?

. Palmer (1 or 2 nights) - independence mine, ox farm, reindeer farm. Again this would be a long day (6hrs driving) so should we be breaking this drive earllier on?

Will probably go down to Copper Creek and then back to the Junction of the Richardson and Glenn Hwys. This does mean we will miss Willow Creek, Worthington Glacier views and Keystone Canyon. Is it worth going further south to see these things and then back tracking.

. Seward (2 nights) Cruise, sea life centre, history museum.

. Anchorage (1 night). Drop car off and catch train to Whittier and do the 26 Glaciers Cruise. We would then cruise to Vancouver.

Other towns that have been recommended to us are Hope and Girdwood so if possible, we would try and make stops there.

Any comments/suggestions would be really appreciated. Thanks

I think when you go might determine some of your itinerary. For example, we enjoyed the tram ride up Alyeska and views from the top (plus snow in early August) but I loved the Forest Fair that is held around 4th of July in Girdwood. Great place to find handmade souvenirs and some fun food. Hope is a tiny town that could be skipped but I would stop at the visitors center in Portage Glacier. Portage was abandoned after the big earthquake. Depending on what you want to do Talkeetna could be an overnight or just a stop on the way to Denali. The other side of the Kenai peninsula from Seward is not on your itinerary. Although Kenai and Soldotna are very suburban, this is the area where we saw the most moose and also enjoyed late June wandering beach and talking to net fishermen. There is some great scenery as you approach Homer and can see the Homer Spit from a highway rest area. I liked Homer a lot and enjoyed the museum there. We did any overnight across the bay but the nature cruise over is not as interesting as the one out of Seward. Homer is artsy as well as a popular fishing area. We took a short flight over a glacier. This was also the area of most eagles but that may have changed since the Eagle Lady of Homer died. Watching salmon fishing is possible if you're in the right area at the right time. The salmon run for the Russian River which you could see when you are in the Seward area is late June. The number of fish is incredible and easily seen in the clear water. Traffic on the Seward Highway from Anchorage south multiplies tremendously as everyone goes fishing.

Check on the access to Brooks Lodge (dirt road? fly in?). To go into the heart of Denali is an 8 hour trip on a tour bus-school bus (reservations required). You don't want to do that trip two days in a row.
We stayed at a B&B on the hill above Homer. We saw a mom moose and yearling while eating breakfast.
Instead of staying at an Anchorage hotel we stayed at the Microtel in Eagle Creek. Palmer is a one night stay.

Of course it's your trip but if it were me I'd be looking at a couple of possible alternatives, just to see what might resonate with your own tastes. We don't know much about your likes and dislikes - hiking, photography, history...?

One alternative would be to reduce time spent in the Matanuska/Susitna area (Palmer, Talkeetna) and reallocate some days to the Kenai Peninsula. I'd probably also give consideration to dropping Fairbanks and Paxson, too. It's not that these aren't worthy destinations, but it's something of a zero-sum exercise - a day in Fairbanks vs. the same day in Homer, for example...

As a thought experiment, imagine something like this - arrive Anchorage, drive up to Denali and back, fly out to the bears and back, then take the train to Whittier or Seward and get a car there. In Whittier Avis is the only game, in Seward it's Hertz (and it would be important to know if Hertz's bankruptcy is going to leave their operation going, but you'll know soon enough.) The idea would be to rent the vehicle from the same town you're sailing south later, to avoid horrendous one-way surcharges. Then use that vehicle to explore the Kenai peninsula and Prince William Sound area. Visit Homer, maybe go across Kachemak Bay to Seldovia or Halibut Cove; see the Russian churches in Ninilchik and Kenai, maybe go fishing on the Kenai River, visit the old mining village of Hope... lots to see and do.

Another thought would be to fly out to a bush community. Nome would be my choice, since you can rent a vehicle there and head off into the Seward Peninsula bush - wildlife, lots of human and natural history, Native communities - for a real taste of rural Alaska off the main road system. Round trip air from Anchorage to Nome (or to Kotzebue, a Native village above the arctic circle) is around $300. Look at https://www.alaska.org/destination/nome/scenic-drives and https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cf...ewardpeninsula for some ideas.

You have plenty of time to research and evaluate things. I'd think outside the box, at least for a little while.