Hi I am starting to look into a trip to Alaska this summer.probably will be going in late aug. We are flexible with how long we are going for. So many questions that I hope some can help with. I would like to see as much of alaska as we can. I would like it to be a little spontaneous. Is it necessary to book all your rooms in advance or can you just book when you arrive to your destination. We are considering a cruise one way but I'm not a fan of crowds and we wondering if we could take ferries on the passage back..we do have an rv here so travelling by rv would be an option. I wonder if it would save any money with the price of gas. Is it even possible to do alaska on a budget. Hope someone has answers to some of my questions. Thanks.

Well first, welcome to Fodor's! (I see it's your first post.)

"As much of Alaska as we can," and "Alaska on a budget" tend to be at odds with each other, but let me be a little more specific.

First, for touring purposes, let's divide the state into three - I don't know - say, "zones." Each of these zones offers some distinctive experiences, but there are some key differences.

Southeast and "coastal" zone: The southeastern "panhandle" of Alaska is accessible - with a couple of exceptions - only by air or sea. The only road access from this area to the rest of North America is through a couple of ports (namely Skagway and Haines) which then require lengthy drives through Canada to the rest of Alaska or to the lower 48. This is the region that the cruise ships travel through, using parts of the "inside passage." The state ferry also traverses this part of the state, as well as offering "feeder" routes to various small towns and villages in more isolated parts of the region.

Southcentral, interior and the "road system:" This "zone" includes Anchorage, Fairbanks, the Kenai Peninsula, Denali National Park, towns on the periphery of Prince William Sound (Seward, Valdez etc.) and other inland areas accessible by air, a small rail system, or road. Most visitors to Alaska (aside from cruise visitors who remain within SE Alaska on round trip itineraries) focus on this zone and for many this is the "Alaska" they've come to see.

The Bush: The bush is everything else - roadless areas in the interior or southcentral Alaska, western Alaska, Kodiak and the Aleutians, the Yukon and Kuskokwim river valleys, the subarctic and arctic... in short, everything that isn't in SE Alaska or on the road system. Of course there are bush villages all over the state, but the distinction here is that these parts of Alaska are accessible only by air (or in a couple of cases by infrequent ferries.)

All three of these "zones" have spectacular scenery, remarkable native cultural heritages, wildlife... and each is enormous in scale. But traveling between them, and seeing more than just a sprinkling of sights in each of them requires a lot of time, effort and money.

So bottom line, visiting Alaska is all about personal choice. And one needs to recognize that while the state is enormous, the population tends to be surprisingly dense - Anchorage holds half the state's total population - due to the absence of roads that would permit sprawl.

For many, your outline plan - visit one part of the state and cruise back (or cruise up and fly back) is a good compromise, in that you can experience two of the three zones - drive around Southcentral and/or Interior Alaska, then use a cruise ship or ferry to experience Southeast Alaska.

For others, the variety of SE Alaska, combined with the convenience and inexpensive daily costs on a cruise - unpack once, no car/hotel/restaurant hassles - is more to their liking. Certainly they'll be able to see majestic mountains, glaciers, beautiful islands, historic towns, excursions to see marine or terrestrial wildlife... easy.

For yet others, the lure of "off-the-beaten-path" means they're prepared to fly to the arctic and see the midnight sun and learn about Inupiat culture, or fly into some bush lodge for the best fishing on Earth, or take a stout but very basic ferry out the Aleutian Chain - big seas, Russian heritage, "Deadliest Catch" places...

Probably all a bit confusing, but the point is, doing some research to determine where your interests lie is a key part of planning Alaska trips. It's quite a long way from most places, and the size and diversity means you won't be able to see it all; frankly seeing more than just a little slice or two is hard to accomplish in one visit. So knowing your own priorities is an essential first step.

Believe me, the research really pays off, and is worth every minute of the time you give it.

Gardyloo: one of the best posts ever explaining the 'lay of the land'/logistics of a trip to Alaska.

Most lower 48'ers have no idea of the enormity/distances involved.


bj1313: I can't add much -- I'm not an expert since I've only been a couple of times, but I do have several relatives in Anchorage and Wasilla. But IME you really can't wing it most places. The tourist season is very short and accommodations in most areas need to be nailed down early.

Agree with the previous posts. You need to plan, reserve. Things will cost more and distances will take longer to get to the the lower 48.

Excellent explanation, Gardyloo!

To bj1313, have a look at the Toursaver guide on line, to get an idea of what is available, and how you can save money with the 2 for 1 offers. (www.toursaver.com). You may get more of an idea of what you would like to do and where to go. From Australia, I certainly found it helpful in planning for our first and subsequent trips.

>

Of course, if you have a Russian oligarch's budget.

The phrase "on a budget" is meaningless other than as an indicator that you're trying to go cheap. But considering that food, fuel and necessities are 30-50% higher in Alaska than in the lower 48, you're asking about the closest US equivalent to Denmark. That $5 footlong sub at the ubiquitous yellow-and-green sub chain costs $7.50 in Alaska. Before the price of oil plummeted, the $3 gas in Texas cost 4.20-4.45 in Alaska.

And you should plan - there just isn't much infrastructure. Gardy talks about the "road system" and by any standard of measure in the rest of the US, it's barely a road system both in either coverage or scope.

I agree - great description, Gardyloo!

I've been twice but both times in winter. The first trip, I flew into Juneau and visited a friend there. We explored the Juneau area for a few days and then we took the ferry up to Haines and got the gorgeous views that you'd see on the cruise. We took the Alcan up to Whitehorse in the Yukon for an overnight trip. Absolutely gorgeous but bizarre in November - a permanent blue light. One of my favorite travel memories ever were the bald eagles congregating at the Chilkat river, but that's a winter thing.
http://haines.ak.us/highway
http://baldeagles.org/preserve

On another trip (in February) I went on a business trip, spending a week each in Anchorage and in Fairbanks. I loved Anchorage and we were lucky enough to be there right before the Iditarod started. The city was buzzing with excitement. Over the weekend we drove to Talkeetna and took a flight plane over Denali.

If/when I go back, I want to spend more time in the Southeast, visiting the villages along the coast and I want to go back to see Denali by land. It's hard to imagine how big Alaska is until you are driving through or flying over it. It's an amazing place.

But yes, book your lodging before you go. The normal tourist season is short and you'll need a place to sleep at night.

< it's barely a road system both in either coverage or scope.>

I remember requesting visitor info for Alaska many many years ago. When the maps arrived I was disappointed, where were all the roads? I called the Alaska Tourism Board and asked for a map that had 'all' the roads on it! Just as sweet as she could she told me, "Honey, those ARE all the roads".

"alaska on a budget" is a contradiction in terms. Be prepared that everything in Alaska is outrageously expensive, especially (almost) all kinds of tours/excursions and accomodation.

< travelling by rv would be an option >

Ferries will be complicated and expensive. Instead, you can drive through Canada. The Yukon, Klondike, Carcross, Kluane NP, Wrangell-Elias will be worthwile destinations. Depending on the time you have you may even drive up to Denali and back. But it will be a different kind of trip - much of Canada and just a little bit of Alaska.

For the panhandle part of Alaska a cruise is the standard option. I strongly recommend the northbound cruises. You may find reasonable rates if you do some research and don't be frightened by the cost of excursions. Read my trip report how to save a lot of money - and how to evade the crowds:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-land-tour.cfm

This report will also give you some impressions how it is to travel Alaska.

Or you drop the panhandle altogether and concentrate on central Alaska: Seward and Kenai Fjords, Kenai peninsular, Anchorage, Denali, Chugach Mountains will we interesting enough to keep you busy for at least two weeks.

I am afraid that it will be mandatory to reserve in advance. Be aware that most towns in Alaska are tiny and to find, if any, just a few hotels and motels. Just a few examples:

- In the Denali region, in August, 90% of all accomodations had been booked nine (!) months before.

- We looked for accomodation somewhere in the middle of the long stretch between Tok and Anchorage and we did not find even one that had rooms available, again nine months in advance. Actually there are not more than three or four hotels and none of them has more than five rooms.

So, you see: Alaska is different. But that is part of the fun.

Already a great start to advice. You can search Fodors for old posts about trips to Alaska. My definition of "see as much of Alaska as we can" is to get more depth in fewer miles. Start reading the Anchorage Daily News. The last time we visited there were some interesting stories on what was happening at the Sea Life Center in Seward. I enjoy attending local events and one of my favorites was the craft fair at Alyeska that is held around 4th of July. Music, local food vendors, and artists who enjoyed chatting.

If you don't like crowds, one of the bad things about cruises is the number of people on the streets of a small town like Skagway when the cruise ship(s) are in town. Far different from traveling on the ferry which is much smaller. We departed the ferry in Skagway and spent a couple of days. It was also fun to see how traffic on the Seward Hwy changed from hardly any to very busy when the salmon started running in the Russian River.

I think you can do some things on a budget. One memorable experience was walking a beach along the river in Kenai/Soldotna where we discovered some guys net fishing. They were glad to chat a few minutes and gave us a freshly caught salmon to grill. Sometimes it only costs you a cheerful hello.

We almost got stranded in Talkeetna without a place to stay thinking mid-week accomodations would be available. Ha! Fortunately a tourist center helper found us a cabin to rent that was actually a bargain but several miles out on a dirt road. No restaurants. Our dinner and breakfast where what supplies we could find at the tiny "grocery" store in Talkeetna. Another time a Seward B&B owner directed us to a place where we could rent a room over a garage/cash only.

I believe the ferry system starts taking reservations right about now. If you have a vehicle and/or want a cabin, make plans ASAP.

"where were all the roads?"

When I visited Juneau there were 22 miles of paved roads in/around Juneau. That's it. 22 miles. The capital city of Alaska and there's 22 miles.

Juneau is on the mainland but you can't drive to it. You fly in or come in via ferry, but once you are there...you are there. My friend bought a car that was advertised as a "Juneau body". The car ran but there were a lot of holes in the body eaten away by the salt from the roads. Folks move in and move out but leave their cars behind and sell them to new folks moving in. Alaska is very different indeed.

Doing it on a budget... easy to do once you are here, but may not be what you have in mind.
- stick to southcentral AK (check out great explanation of AK regions above)
- roads...Here's a link to a google map of most of our contiguous roads/hwys in AK:
http://goo.gl/maps/Hg7QD
- book a rental car now (and check back to try and get a lower rate)
- bring a tent, sleeping bag/pad
- Denali is pretty much the only place you need a reservation for. If you are car camping, then you really don't need a reservation anywhere else (avoid Seward on July 4th weekend)
- Several times I've camped in car (if weather is inclement, then I'll sleep in car; if weather is good , then a campground tent spot, or even just pull over and park car to give tent some privacy). Many campgrounds have a pay shower (so you can get cleaned up at one as necessary).


There's many, many activities that can be done free or inexpensively:
- hiking (hard = Harding Icefield (All day), easy but great = Winner Creek &/or Byron Glacier)
- AK Wildlife Conservation Ctr (inexpensive and well worth it)
- AK Native arts & crafts - at the AK Native MEdical Ctr (free during regular visiting hours). An awesome display
- Bicycle rental to ride the Tony Knowles trail
- View salmon (in season) at Russian RIver Falls (pay for parking), Williwaw campground day visit area (free, great interpretive setting)
- glacier cruise - short, small boat cruise for Portage Glacier
- shuttle busses in Denali (inexpensive)


Food - buy non-perishables at a grocery store in Anchorage, load up on water too.

>

Like the plague!

There's a local marathon that the native businesses prate about and which they use to justify jacking up their rates by 200%.

Hi there, think I can help with this one as I did the trip last August and it was amazing. We travelled to Seattle with BA and had a couple of nights there to acclimatise before flying to Anchorage with Alaska Airlines (we traveled from UK, Seattle seems to be the hub for flights to Alaska) you can take the ferry but it takes time and we wanted to make the most of our stay. We hired a car at the airpot and drove to Talkeetna staying for one night before heading to Denali NP. We stayed at the park entrance hotels which are a little pricey and geared up for cruises but puts you in the action and there are lots of restaurants locally. The Kantinisha trip is a must....it takes you into the park to the lodge which is the furthest you can go in and is an amazing if not long day but worth it. We then travelled up to Fairbanks for one night before heading down to Valdez via Paxson(1N). Valdez is spectacular and the drive to get there is I believe one of the best in the world. Definitely take a trip with Captain Bob on the Lu-Lu Belle, you go to watch the glacier calving!!!! We then caught the early ferry to Whittier and drove to Seward, again a beautiful place. We stayed a night before taking a boat trip to Orca Island, wilderness camp staying in Yurts, kayaking with porpoises was a memory, for two nights before returning to Seward for a further night. We then headed down to Homer for a night before flying to Lake Clarke to spend a night with the Grizzlies before returning to Homer for Halibut fishing!! We ended our trip with a couple of nights in Anchorage which incidentally was where we saw Moose as they congregate in woodland at the end of the airport! We had a couple more nights in Seattle before heading home. I have tried to give you the route but could give you a list of things we did and hotels we stayed in if you need it. I think we pretty much covered the main areas of Alaska.... Kodiak was tempting but it took to long to travel there on the ferry and we had blown a lot of our budget on flights already.