Hi, I'm planning a trip in late August early Sept. I am a single, 50ish women traveling alone. I am used to doing that and generally enjoy it, but haven't been to Alaska before. My tentative plans (open to suggestions) are to:
1.Fly into Anchorage. Probably stay at least one night as flights from east coast get in late.
2. Travel to Seward for 2-3 nights. The train looks very scenic and I like the idea of being able to relax and watch scenery go by. I always enjoy visiting with other folks on trains on other trips-an advantage of being alone. Or, a car, which while expensive, would give me more freedom. So, train or car? Why? Why not?
3. Hiking? Want to go, but not so keen on going alone. Any suggestions for guided trips around Seward
4. Homer: Thinking of this for another 2-3 days. Is a car a must for this or is there a bus? What is that like? How is Homer different or similar than Seward? Open to other suggestions that wouldn't require huge time/distance traveling. Want to see a mixture of water; glaciers; sea life and in-land wildlife. Really want to see puffins and bald eagles and moose and bears but also like poking in shops, light to moderate hikes, perhaps a kayak or canoe trip
5. Denali: Would travel there for another 2-3 nights. I think this might be the highlight so really want to enjoy it. Have been looking at places near the entrance but also within the park at Wonder Lake. These are very very expensive for my budget. But if they are highly recommended I may decide to splurge. Any particular recommendations?
5. Also, want to see the northern lights if at all possible. If I'm at Denali about Sept 7-10th, what are the chances? If not, is it worth it to go on to Fairbanks on the chance I'd see it?
6. Best way to get from Seward or Homer to Denali? Just retrace first trip from Anchorage and keep going? Another route? Drive? Train? Bus? Please realize that I don't mind driving as long as roads are safe and well-marked but will be alone and want to enjoy it and not be stressed out
7. May fly home from Anchorage or Fairbanks. Planning about 10-12 nights total unless someone suggests some other "must see"; I could add another day or two. But, like to stay in one place and enjoy it and not spend long periods traveling
8. Finally, these coupon books I've read about. Is it all two for one deals--no help for me obviously, or are there general discounts on admissions, trips, etc?

Thanks is advance for your help. Always appreciated.

Read my trip report- 14 nights and 1500 miles- Alaska trip report- there is a lot of info on the areas you want to visit.

I know there are trains between Seward/Anchorage/Talkeetna/Denai, but not Homer- you really need a car there. Homer was a real favorite of ours, and a not to be missed in my eyes...but then again, short of staying i one of those big Denali hotels you cant go wrong!

We met and chatted with locals endlessly and saw lots of puffins, glaciers, bear, moose, caribou,eagles, wolf, fox....
FYI spoke with people who stayed at kantishna Road house and they were disappointed- said the walls were very thin between rooms, and you could hear every conversation- people were not courteous, so the experience not what was expected just as an FYL...

There are buses from Seward to Homer. I don't have the schedule at hand,but just google Homer...bus service.

We are pretty familiar with Denali and with Katmai, not so much with Seward, so would offer a few tips ...

3. Hiking? Want to go, but not so keen on going alone

I wouldn't recommend hiking alone as there are bears in most of the places you'll be visiting ... here's a funny (after the fact) story of a jogger in the Anchorage foothills who THOUGHT his max pulse rate was 180 until he was run over by a well-behaved grizzly sow and he hit 193 .. http://www.adn.com/bearattacks/story/439737.html

also within (Denali) at Wonder Lake. These are very very expensive for my budget. But if they are highly recommended I may decide to splurge. Any particular recommendations?

We usually stay in one of these lodges for a week in late Aug or early Sept, which is the best time to be there ... for sure staying at the entrance is fine but staying at one of these lodges is much better if you can fit it in your budget.

The two best are Camp Denali and North Face Lodge, which has one single room. These two have views of the big mountain and have special permits to take day trips back into the park further than the other lodges.

The other two have two advantages, you can go in any day (two fixed arrival-departure days for CD and NFL) so you can do a shorter stay, and the day rates are lower. So if you can swing a 3 night stay at CD or NFL it would be great, but if you are just doing 1-2 nights then I recommend Denali Backcountry Lodge. Kantishna Roadhouse is pretty commercialized, I don't like them as well.

5. Also, want to see the northern lights if at all possible. If I'm at Denali about Sept 7-10th, what are the chances?

Good chance if it's clear and there's no moon ... and someone wakes you up at 4 AM to look for them Many nights it's overcast though.

Good luck with your trip ... if you could swing a one day flight to visit the brown bears at Katmai you'd no doubt enjoy that too. Easy to set up from Homer or Anchorage.

Have fun ...

Bill

I would definately take the train at least one way going to Seward. You might consider hiking at Exit Glacier. Perhaps you could go on a ranger lead hike, or you could probably find a group or a ranger nice enough to hike with you. I would not hike the area by myself. I would stop at Alyeska and hike Winner Creek. You probably wouldn't encounter a bear there.

If you are going to be up near Denali, heading to Fairbanks won't improve your odds that much of seeing the northern lights.

Two options: 1) Take train to Seward, get a car there, drive to Homer and return it in Anchorage or Take train to Seward, bus to Homer and fly to Anchorage.

For hiking, there are usually groups at Exit Glacier, but also check the Eagle River Nature Center when you're in the Anchorage area. They have regularly scheduled hikes and it's a gorgeous area.

A car will give you much more freedom. The roads are paved and except for downtown Anchorage, there's not much chance of getting lost. How is Seward different from Homer? I think each place in Alaska seems to have its own personality. Seward is more about fishing and wildlife (i.e. Sealife Center) but also has some nice shops. Homer is also about fishing but seems more artsy. Sounds like you would enjoy talking to the vendors at the farmers/craft market (Fridays in Homer but double-check). The Pratt Museum in Homer is great. You should see lots of eagles in Homer. When you head north from Anchorage to Denali, make sure to stop at Independence Mine. Repete's suggestion to check into scheduled hikes is good. Do some internet searches for events/club outings that are open to the public. I went on a garden tour around Anchorage on one visit. Great fun. I saw it advertised. When you drive from Seward to Homer you will go thru Soldotna. It's pretty good sized with some shopping areas/good chance to re-stock at supermarket but also look for a shop called Malfunction Junction. First floor is handmade gifts. Basement is furs. Read the story behind the shop.
Hope you have a great trip!

Hi, Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I appreciate the help. I had another idea after doing some research--how nutty would it be to make Anchorage a base? I see that I could then take rail trips or drives down to Whittier and Prince William Sound. Then, I could go to Seward. Also Talkeetna. Just wondering.

Hi, ooops, one repeat question--re: these coupon books I've read about. Is it all two for one deals--no help for me obviously, or are there general discounts on admissions, trips, etc?

Toursaver <http://www.toursaver.com/> is a 2-for-1 discount book.

Trying to use Anchorage as a base for the entire trip would be too many miles of driving. It's about 2 1/2 hours to Seward. You would have to get going very early to do a boat trip. There's a lot to see and do between Anchorage and Seward so you could spend most of the day just getting to Seward. We visited the Sea Life Center (check to see how late they are open) and went on boat trip the following day.
When we went to Talkeetna we didn't get there until mid-afternoon because we had stopped at Independence Mine and the Transportaton Museum in Wasilla (had been to Iditarod Museum on a different trip). I suppose we could have driven back to Anchorage that night but didn't.