Alaska Itinerary - Fairbanks or Talkeetna
 

Hi all. Hubby and myself are planning a trip to Alaska next August and are just finalising our Itineray. Our dilemma is do we spend a night in Fairbanks or Talkeetna. Our trip looks like this-
Anchorage (2 nights) -picking up rental car
Homer (2 nights)
Somewhere in between (1 night)
GIrdwood (1 night)
Somewhere in between (1 night)
Valdez (2 nights)
Fairbanks (1 night)
Denali (3nights)
Anchorage (1 night) - to drop rental car off
Seward (2 nights) - picking up cruise on evening of 2 night to Vancouver

How does this look? We were thinking of skipping Fairbanks and driving from Valdez to Denali then spending that extra night in Talkeetna on the way to Anchorage. We are very interested in wildlife, small hikes, kayaking etc and are planning a bear trip (Homer) and husky snow mushing trip (Girdwood). We are not in the least interested in museums.

Any thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated. Many thanks.

Do you have a late flight into ANC or a morning flight?
Girdwood is in between Anchorage and Homer. I drove from Anchorage to Homer in one day with enough time to make a side trip to Hope. http://www.alaska.org/destination/girdwood/things-to-do
We did not stay in Anchorage but out at the Microtel in Eagle River.
We also spent a night in Palmer on the way back to Anchorage.
We had a red eye flight out of ANC so we spent 2-3 hours in the airport after we turned in our car.
You will probably only want to make one 8 hour bus trip out to the Eilson Visitor Center in Denali.
We got up early at the B&B near North Pole AK and drove back to Denali to get the bus into the park.
We got back to the B&B about 10 PM but it was still daylight.
If museums do not interest you, you may want to spend less time in Anchorage.
I did enjoy the University of Alaska museum in Fairbanks.

Two of our favorite overnights were in Girdwood and Talkeetna. We had an incredible view of Denali from our hotel in Talkeetna and took a small plane on a flight around it.

I found Fairbanks to be uninteresting.

Looks like your first post on Fodor's, <b>DawnRoss.</b> Welcome!

Like a lot of visitors, you're faced with Alaska's very limited road system which makes places like Homer or Valdez "dead ends" requiring lengthy "backtracking."

Since you're a year out I wonder if you might not consider emailing one of the local car rental companies in Anchorage that allow cars on unpaved roads, such as Midnight Sun - https://ineedacarrental.com/ - or A1 - http://www.anchoragea1carrental.com/ .

Renting from one of these companies would allow you to drive the Denali Highway, which runs between Paxson on the Richardson Hwy (Valdez - Fairbanks) and Denali Park on the Parks Highway (Anchorage - Fairbanks.)

You might also investigate the option of traveling by ferry from Seward to Valdez or v.v. - http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/ . The combination of the ferry and the Denali Highway would allow you to turn your itinerary into a more compact "loop" like this: https://goo.gl/maps/UBszAm385SN2

This would allow you to skip both Talkeetna and Fairbanks and replace them with the spectacular Denali Hwy. You could shorten your land portion or spend more days in these places rather than spend long hours driving. Just a thought, anyway.

It might also be useful to learn what your priorities are in visiting Alaska. You'll see plenty of terrific scenery and wildlife on your route, but coming from the South Island of NZ (according to your profile) you're probably no strangers to great scenery; in fact some of it is going to look pretty familiar.

Just as a thought experiment at this early date, let me throw out an idea to consider that would get you way, way off the beaten path. For around US$300 you can fly round trip/return from Anchorage to Nome, an historic gold rush town on the Bering Sea. In Nome you can rent a vehicle and explore the various roads radiating from the village out into the bush of the Seward Peninsula. There will be lots of wildlife (muskoxen, bears, moose, caribou, birds galore) along with native (Eskimo) villages and scenery like you won't see on the rest of your trip. It would give you a view of Alaska that 90%+ of visitors never experience, and the cost might surprise you (hotel prices similar to Anchorage, the airfare cheaper than a "flightseeing" excursion or other activities on your trip or cruise. Look at http://www.alaska.org/destination/nome/scenic-drives for some description, also http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm...ewardpeninsula

Thank you all for your replies. Each and every one has truly helped.
Tomfuller - We fly into Anchorage around midnight after around 27 hours of flying and in transit lounges, hence the day to chill after we arrive.
Gardyloo, wow, you have certainly given us something to seriously think about. Yes, we do come from the beautiful South Island and have travelled around our beautiful mountains many many times. It's winter here at the moment and further south of Christchurch its snowing. Very beautiful and we are so looking forward to the beauty of Alaska, which I am sure will be spectacular. We don't have much in the way of wildlife here and that will certainly be a highlight for us. Many thanks for your kind words and very helpful ideas.
Kind regards all, Dawn