pittsburgh

Looking for a mi-late August getaway to Alaska for ~10 days.
Family of 4 -- 2 kids (6 and 8 -- they are fairly seasoned travelers...)

Goals: Denali, Kenai Fjords

Option 1:
Day

1 Depart PDX--Arrive Anchorage, Drive to Alyeska
2 8/23 Alyeska
3 8/24 Alyeska-->Kenai
4 8/25 Kenai
5 8/26 Kenai
6 8/27 Kenai-->Denali
7 8/28 Denali
8 8/29 Denali
9 8/30 Denali-->Anchorage,Fly Home

Would rent a car in Anchorage for the entire trip. Looks like that is running ~$300/day right now (ouch!)
Not sure yet on which lodging option in the Kenai Fjords area.
Denali area is trending to Tonglen Lake Lodge.
No train availability

Option 2:
1 8/18 Depart PDX--Arrive Fairbanks
2 8/19 Fairbanks
3 8/20 Train Fairbanks-->Denali
4 8/21 Denali
5 8/22 Denali
6 8/23 Train Denali-->Anchorage
7 8/24 Alyeska
8 8/25 Alyeska-->Kenai
9 8/26 Kenai
10 8/27 Kenai
11 8/28 Kenai-->Anchorage, Depart Anchorage

Trains are available.
No car yet in Fairbanks though.
Not yet chosen lodging in Fairbanks/Denali/Kenai

Thoughts if the # of nights per site make sense?
And for this length of trip, are these the best places to hit, focusing especially on the outdoors.
Will be hectic with the kids, but a lot of transportation time interspersed.

Gardyloo

Could you clarify what you mean by "Kenai?" It's a vast peninsula that encompasses many communities and tourist destinations, as well as a lot of wilderness. I get the sense you might be referring (mainly?) to Kenai Fjords National Park, which is generally accessed from Seward, on the east side of the peninsula, while most of the other communities (Kenai, Soldotna, Homer et al) are on the Cook Inlet (west) side. Some of these communities can be hours apart. Commenting on your plans will be easier if we know what part(s) of the "Kenai" you would like to see.

As for Denali, you say your kids are "fairly seasoned" travelers, but a question always to be asked of younger kids' parents is how they'll do with very long rides in converted school buses through the park. Going from the park entrance area to, say, the Eielson visitor center involves a roughly 8-hour round trip on the bus. There will likely be wildlife visible at times, maybe close, maybe far, and the scenery is pretty awesome most of the time, but it's a question of patience, especially if you plan for two or three days of it. Maybe this is a non-question for you, but in my view one that should be asked.

mlgb

The two closest towns to the entrance to Denali National Park are Healy and Cantwell. Fairbanks to Healy is 2 hours. Anchorage to Cantwell is about 3.5 hours. If you had planned on taking the bus to Eileson they are virtually sold out. You should find tickets for the more expensive Tundra Wilderness Tour (TWT). Check the Reserve Denali website and book around that date. One day should be enough unless you think you will do some hiking. For TWT you need to be at the bus depot early, like 6AM so will need to spend the night before nearby.
You can also drive the first 15 miles in your own vehicle. I would look at the park website and see if there is enough to do there with your own car.

Re cars, people have successfully used Turo for car rentals. If you are willing to go that route, I think you will find available vehicles in Fairbanks. Probably more useful than taking the train.

We stayed in Seward and I recommend Major Marine over Kenai Fjords for the Kenai Fjords boat tour. Seward is totally swamped and restaurants are short staffed.

Without knowing what you plan to do, it is really hard to recommend numbers of days.

We stayed at Denali Perch in Cantwell. I think you'll just have to take whatever is available at this point. The pizza restaurant on their property was quite good.

pittsburgh

Thanks for the feedback.
Yes, for Kenai I really should have said Seward since that is the likely area for us.
At Denali, I was assuming we would do the Tundra Wilderness tour -- is it not worth it?

mlgb

Should be fine and it's the only realistic option. We had a TWT guide on our Denali bus and the commentary was great.
I don't agree with comments that it's too long a day. The kids on our bus were having a great time although I think they were 10, not 6. Only you know how your kids can handle a full day. Our timing in mid June was excellent for wildlife. There are a number of short stops and walks included so you at least you aren't sitting for 8 hours straight.

If you click my name there is more information on where we stayed and the route we took.

pittsburgh

Thanks for the feedback.

Updated itinerary:

1 Depart PDX--Arrive Anchorage, Drive to Seward
2 8/23 Seward (Fjord Cruise)
3 8/24 Seward-->Alyeska
4 8/25 Alyeska
5 8/26 Alyeska-->Healy
6 8/27 Healy-->Denali
7 8/28 Denali
8 8/29 Denali
9 8/30 Denali-->Anchorage,Fly Home

Main opens:
- Which fjord cruise to choose.
- Where to say in Healy
- And the hardest question of them all -- what to do for a rental car? Do people trust using Turo? That seems so much cheaper than the alternative.

mlgb

The cheapest and calmest cruises are the short ones inside Resurrection Bay but you won't do glacier viewing. I preferred Major Marine for RB because they don't go to Fox Island.

If glaciers are a priority and seasickness is a problem you may want to go to Whittier on Phillips Cruises instead.

Be sure to allow plenty of time driving to and from Seward (and anywhere that you have a resevation). It has been slammed and there are lodging and restaurant shortages.

If you are going this year you are just going to have to take whatever is available in your budget. Somewhere that has meal service would be a good idea.

Even so you are probably going to want to stop at a Fred Meyer or similar on the way out of Anchorage to get some breakfast and sandwich fixings, and a cooler. Especially with children. Unless you like one-hour waits to be seated.

I think you have too many days in Denali.

bigtyke

You might consider an RV. We‘ve rented twice from Great alaskan Holidays.

volcanogirl

I'm bookmarking for this good information. Hoping to take an Alaska trip someday. Thanks everyone.

pittsburgh

Finalized itinerary -- next report should hopefully be a trip report


1 Depart PDX--Arrive Anchorage, Drive to Seward. Evening @ Seavey's Idiaride. Stay @ the Harborview Inn (Seward)
2 8/23 Seward (Fjord Cruise -- Major Marine)
3 8/24 Seward-->Alyeska -- Likely to visit the Alaska Sealife Center before we leave Seward and the Wildlife Conservation Center on the drive.
4 8/25 Alyeska
5 8/26 Alyeska-->Denali (Stay @ Denali's Crow's Nest)
6 8/27 Denali-->Denali (Stay @ Camp Denali)
7 8/28 Denali
8 8/29 Denali
9 8/30 Denali-->Anchorage,Fly Home