Alaska itinerary Help needed
 

Hi,

I am visiting Alaska for 4 and a half day in August end and need help in planning. Since there are so many places and activities to do i am getting confused.

As of now i have planned to visit -

1 Day in Whittier for Prince William Sound Cruise OR Seward Alaska for Kenai Fjords National Park
2 Days In Denali National Park
I have 1 and half day spare now. Either i can visit Fairbanks for the Arctic Circle Tours with Northern Lights OR i can extend one more day in Seward or Whittier.
I am not sure how good is the arctic circle tour as the pics i have seen on internet only shows Arctic Circle board

Are 2 days more than enough in Denali? I am planning to add a glacier landing tour in Denali.
Please suggest me with some more options...
I have flights from Anchorage
Please help.

How are you getting from place to place? You'll need to allow sufficient drive time (or flight time0.

I am renting a car from Anchorage and will return in Anchorage...

Plan is i will reach friday evening.. Stay in Anchorage..

Sat Morning i leave for Whittier and return back to Anchorage.

Sun morning Drive to Denali and stay in Denali.

Monday Evening leave for Fairbanks

Still deciding what to do in fairbanks OR choose some other option

Wed Morning leave from Fairbanks to Anchorage to catch my flight.

I can change Fairbanks plan and add something else in that..

It's a long drive back to Anchorage from Fairbanks, 6-8 hours from what I've heard. You might do better to skip Fairbanks and add that time to Seward.

Not sure how far you are flying to get in. We flew in from Orlando, FL, and didn't quite give weight to how very long that would be. Once we were passing over Seattle, it was several more hours. We were jetlagged for sure (headed out early the next morning for 2 nights at Denali). Just something to keep in mind.

I will be in Seattle prior to anchorage...so jet lag wont be there in my case... on the last day i have a flight in the day.. so i can start in the morning to reach back to anchorage airport.

Does anyone know how good is the arctic circle trip? Else i will go with the seward option

It takes half a day to get to Denali Park from Anchorage and half a day back. You then need a full day in the park in order to ride the shuttle buses in and out, so it really consumes three days counting drive time. A day in Seward and you're done.

A glacier cruise out of Whittier can easily be done as a day trip from Anchorage. Many of the Kenai Fjords tours out of Seward require you to be there in the early morning, so you'd either have to spend a night there or leave Anchorage very early, as it's about 2 1/2 hours from Anchorage to Seward.

So you need to add up the days and nights and see what's possible.

In August I'd be very doubtful if you'll see the northern lights. Otherwise a bus ride to see a sign saying you're at the Arctic Circle seems a bit of a time and money suck.

Thanks..
few more questions -

1) Should i go for whittier cruise OR Seward cruise OR Both??
2) In Denali, i will reach there in mid day and will do a glacier landing flight tour and next day will do the bus tour which will consume full day. After that i thought i will leave for fairbanks and reach there in the night..
3) Next day i could have visited Arctic circle, but looks like its not worth to go there for 1 picture.. Is there anything else i can visit? Or its not worth it? To be exact i will be in Fairbanks on 3rd Sep and Northern lights tours operates from Aug 20th onwards... so i am hoping i will be able to see something...

From my experience in June 2 years ago...Whittier cruise calving glaciers, otters, lots of eagles. Kenai tour, humpbacks, orcas, sea lions, seals, calving glaciers, fewer otters and eagles and town of Seward has much more to offer than Whittier.

Given your limited timeframe, I would definitely skip Fairbanks and the Arctic Circle altogether and spend more time in Seward or Denali or you will be way too rushed to breathe.

The Kenai Fjords cruise from Seward is incredible. Do at least an 8 hour trip to see it all. We saw whales, otters, seals on icebergs, orcas, glaciers calving, puffins and even a mountain goat. Next time I go, I am taking that boat two days in a row.

Seward is such a pretty town and I really think you need 2 days (one full one for the Kenai tour and at least another half a day for walking around pretty Seward and going to Exit Glacier.

Two full days in Denali are the minimum. You will need one very full day on the shuttle, then another day to do more hiking, see the sled dogs, do the visitor centre and flightseeing if you wish.

I have written about the Kenai Fjords and Seward and Denali with pictures and information here:
www.dreamhorsemedia.com/travel

I wish I was going again in August - lucky you.

PS Book the Denali green shuttlebus online as far in advance as you can and get the first bus out.
http://www.reservedenali.com/play/sh...or-center.aspx

Make sure you get off the bus and do a bit of hiking - well worth it.