We'll be in Alaska at the of August. We cannot afford to stay for more than a week. It'll be our first time there. We were planning the following itinerary:

Day 1(Sat): fly into Anchorage in the afternoon, stay overnight.
Day 2(Sun): drive to Fairbanks, stay overnight.
Day 3(Mon): take the Dalton Highway Express Shuttle to Prudhoe Bay, stay overnight.
Day 4(Tus): take the tour van to the Artic Ocean, take the Dalton Highway Express Shuttle back to Fairbanks, stay overnight.
Day 5(Wed): drive to Denali N.P., take the tour bus inside Denali N.P., drive back to Anchorage, stay overnight.
Day 6(Thu): drive to Homer, stay overnight.
Day 7(Fri): drive to Seward, see Exit Glacier, stay overnight.
Day 8(Sat): drive back to Anchorage, fly back home late at night.

Should I change it? Please advise.
Thank you,
GenXer.

I meant at the end of August, sorry.

What company offers the Dalton Highway Express Shuttle to Prudhoe Bay ?

hi,
just got back from a trip in july - sounds like you really want to see the arctic ... alaska's pretty big and it sounds like unless you go to bed at midnight and get up at 5 am, you'll be spending some prime time driving instead of enjoying ... for example, the ride from homer to seward although only 2-3 hours, takes that much more since you want to stop along the way and do some hiking, fishing, viewing, etc,... for one week, you really should do just denali and arctic, or denali and kinai (homer/seward), not all 3. In Seward, a boat day trip to the Northwester Fjords national park is a must, and in Homer, there's sea kayaking and halibut fishing. In between, on the Kinai, there's lots of hiking, fishing ... you can even take a 1/2-full day trip for around $250 to wolverine lake where you can fish for salmon along side the bears . The denali bus ride is exhausting ... a good idea would be to go to eilson or wonder lake and hike/camp overnight, then leisurely go back the next day.
Also, there's some excellent hiking right by the entrance to denali, such as the Mt. healy overlook and the Lake.

I just returned from 2 weeks in Alaska and I would recommend flying to Barrow on Alaska Air package. You can go there and back on same day or stay overnight (which we did) from either Anchorage or Fairbanks. (I would skip Fairbanks altogether) I also would recommend driving or taking a bus from Anchorage to Valdez to see the Wrangle- St Elias mountains-one of the most beautiful sights in Alaska. I personally would never recommend taking the Denali tour--not worth the effort or $$. Homer was great and Seward o.k. For glacier viewing, the Phillips 26 must be the best from all I saw and heard--sorry that we missed it. Exit glacier was disappointing.

I think you're trying to do too much. Driving from Anchorage to Fairbanks is a pretty long haul, and then from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay is another long day. If you really want to see the Arctic, look into flying up there from Anchorage. It will save you a day or two.

You'll be disappointed in Denali because you'll spend the morning driving from Fairbanks, you'll only spend a few hours in Denali NP because you've got to get back on the road to Anchorage. To see the mountain from the north (if the weather cooperates) is a couple hour drive each way. You can't see it from the entrance.

If it were me, I'd do this:
Day 1: Anchorage
Day 2: Fly to Prudhoe, check out Arctic
Day 3: Fly back to Anchorage, drive to Denali entrance & stay in hotel
Day 4: Take early bus into Denali to see the mountain; stay in hotel.
Day 5: drive to Homer
Day 6-8: your itinerary

I don't know much about Homer and didn't spend much time in Seward to give you much info. But with your itinerary, you'll spend a LOT of time in the car. Spend more time in Denali; to me, it is quintenscential Alaska. Once you get north of Denali, the scenery doesn't change much. The scenery from Denali on south is much better.

I agree with other responders. It's hard to comprehend how VAST Alaska until you see it -- your itinerary will let you see a lot of highway and distant scenery, and not much else. Not sure where you're flying from, but jet lag may be a factor, too. If you spend so much time on the road, there's no time left to look around, hike, kayak, land on a glacier, whale watch, take it all in -- which is generally the reason for going, right?

We took the Denali 5-hour bus trip, and loved it -- excellent wildlife viewing. But it's the luck of the draw, not a theme park. Mt McKinley was not "out", so our best view was when we were flying from Anchorage to Fairbanks.

Better to select the top 3 things you really must see, and focus on them. If they are geographically close, all the less wear and tear on you and your traveling companions.

Planning is half the fun. Good luck and enjoy, it's a fabulous memorable trip.

I looked at your itinerary and thought the Dalton Highway Shuttle was some kind of charter air operation. Obviously I'm behind the times, but then I found it and oh-my-God, what an awful trip. Leave Fairbanks 6 AM, sit on a van or a bus for 16 hours on gravel road with nothing but mosquitoes for entertainment, then another 2 hours on the same bus up to the Arctic Ocean, dip your toesies, then back to Prudhoe for some rest (??) before your return bus trip to Fairbanks the next morning at 10:00, arriving midnight. (How they make up the 2 extra hours spent northbound escapes me. Maybe a stop for thorazine?) All this for $250 each plus the cost of hotel and food? If I had to look up "medieval torture" in the context of travel excursions, this one would be at the top the list, for sure. BTW, look at the schedule - no Monday service.

Try this if you're dead set on seeing the Arctic Ocean: the plane fare for round trips from the lower 48 to Barrow is around $200 more than the round trip fare just to Anchorage. So book for Barrow with a layover in Anchorage, get a car, see Denali and/or the Kenai, then return the car to Anchorage, fly up to Barrow, see the sights, spend the "night," then head south. Or you could do this in reverse (i.e., fly first to Barrow, then lay over in Anchorage southbound.)

Leave the Haul Road for another time. Or never. Does never work for you?

As others have stated this trip is not doable without several weeks. You need to either extend your time or cut back. I too would only consider flying to Barrow, and never would you get me on the Haul Road, (I have flown following it and that was enough). There are also other interesting areas above the Arctic Circle that I have been to including Barrow. I totally disagree on Fairbanks-great city and Denali Park- it is your BEST bargain around for wildlife viewing and I go every trip. My min. distance in is Eielson via the SHUTTLE (not tour buses). 8 hours. Plenty else to do in Denali too- free ranger activities, sled dog demos. I find it hard to rationalize travelers spending all that time in transit (8hours on the train, 5 hours driving) to then just take the too short Natural History tour that only gets you 17 miles into the park??? Homer is a definate for fishing but I wouldn't stay less than 2 days to make the trip worthwhile. I also disagree on Exit Glacier- very worthwhile- great hike to the top- or can get the face viewing. Ranger led activities here too. A necessary reference is THE MILEPOST,try your library or Half.com for a couple year old copy. You are grossly underestimating your travel time and distances. Going this year will have you scrambling for lodging, reserve a car now and consider B&B's. Mid to late August is my favorite time to go

Absolutely change it. Unless you are on amphetamines you will never be able to keep up with this itinerary. More reasonable would be a trip to Denali (3 days) a day to get up from Anchorage, a day to tour and a day to come back, followed by a trip to the Kenai, either homer or Seward. Whatever you decide to do, slow down and take the time to absorb your surroundings, whatever they may be. The itinerary that you have planned will leave you so exhausted from traveling that you will need a vacation to recover from your vacation.

Thank you very much to all of you for your advice.
Actually we like very long drives. (That's one reason we planned our itinerary that way. I should've mentioned it on my first post). We rather drive, relax and enjoy the scenery from the car than hiking or walking. And don't take us wrong, we're not couch potatoes, we workout a lot.
Anyway, the other reason is we'd like at least to do three thing during our trip: Kenai Fjords N.P., Denali N.P.&P. and the Artic Ocean.
We've read your suggestions and decided to change our itinerary but not much:

Day 1(Tue): arrive in Anchorage in the afternoon, stay overnight.
Day 2(Wed): drive to Seward, see Exit Glacier, stay overnight.
Day 3(Thu): drive to Denali N.P.&P., stay overnight.
Day 4(Fri): take the shuttle bus inside the park, drive to Fairbanks, stay overnight.
Day 5(Sat): take the Denali Highway Express shuttle to Prudhoe Bay, stay overnight.
Day 6(Sun): take the tour van to the Artic Ocean, take the Denali Highway Express shuttle back to Fairbanks, stay overnight.
Day 7(Mon): drive back to Anchorage, stay overnight.
Day 8(Tue): take early morning flight back home.

Your body, your choice! (Maybe a young and resilient body, given your screen name...)

Anyhow, best of luck with the trip. Where do you originate -- lower48? Oz? UK? Be sure to come back and tell us how it went. Happy trails.

Floridian for life...and thanks

I would not bother with the trip to Seward just to see exit glacier. I enjoyed the glacier but you must do Kenai fjords cruise to make the travel worthwhile. from your time restrictions, I would just do areas north of anchorage. Kenai peninsular really deserves 4 days or so. Of all the things on the kenai peninsular, I would rate Exit glacier toward the bottom of the must do list .

If we can't shift you on the Dalton bit, do at least consider swapping the Exit Glacier day for a one-day boat tour of PW Sound instead. Try Phillips' 26 Glacier cruise out of Whittier (shorter drive, too) for an intense 4+ hours of scenery, critters, blue ice. You can return to Anchorage overnight and not have to re-pack for a one-nighter in Seward.

I agree. It is not worth the time to Seward just to see Exit glacier, however if you combine that with the ididaride tour and the Sealife center you will get more for your money. We also went kayaking at Miller's landing while we were there. The ride down to Seward is beautiful, However you can hop on the beautiful Glenn Highway and see the Matanuska glacier just as easily. and it's not really too far out of your way up to Denali. MICA guides will fit you with crampons and you can take an hour and a half walk on the glacier. We did this type of thing in Kennecott and it was the hightlight of our trip.This could also be combined with a trip up to hatcher pass which is breathtaking.The road all the way up to independence mine state park on the pass is now paved, although the park was closed while we were there.However we did stop at hatcher pass lodge for great views all around. It looks like Switzerland. Anyway, right by the lodge begins a dirt road which will take you into willow and then you can go to denali from there. Just a suggestion.

On your revised schedule, why not fly out of Fairbanks instead of Anchorage and use the extra 2 days to stay longer in the Artic or Denali??

Jackie, we'd like to see and touch Exit Glacier.

Jackie, not all rental companies will allow their vehicles to be dropped off at a different location and the ones that do will charge an additional $450.

Message: Jackie, we'd like to see and touch Exit Glacier

Actually contact with the glacier is prohibited. Best would be to go with Mica guides- I'll be going my self for the second time in a few weeks.