Anchorage-Seward Daytrip -- Train or Bus?
 

We will have two full days in Anchorage (end of June) and want to spend one doing a 6-hr Kenai Fjords glacier trip. Getting to and from Seward is either (1) Train: longer but more comfy ride, crazy expensive, or (2) Bus: quicker trip, probably less comfortable, not so expensive. Both have schedules that work with timing of the glacier cruise.

Any recommendations, personal experience? I always get such good advice from Fodorites, and am hoping some of you can guide me now. Many thanks.

The train from Anchorage to Seward was one of our best experiences on our Alaska cruise. We flew into Anchorage, spent a couple of days in Denali, then took the train down for a one-way cruise to Vancouver.

It was late May when we went, and the snow was everywhere. A lot of views you won't see from the road. It doesn't go too fast - can't due to the tracks. We still talk about doing that again.

Are you sure that the 6 hour tour goes all the way to the glacier. Make sure you do the "full day cruise" that goes all the way to the glacier. Just a Res. Bay won't include any glaciers. We did the full day and it was great.

We also did the train and thought is was fantastic too.
We did spend 3 days there though. Not sure that it is really that doable as a day trip. If you could do the full two days there instead of Anchorage, probably better, IMOP.

We did not do one of the smaller boats. If it were to do all over again, I think I'd probably go that route and possibly even do some seakayaking near the glacier via a shuttle. The bigger boats just have a lot of people. It was still very good though.

Thanks, I think now I'm leaning toward the train (what's another $150 on a once-in-a-lifetime Alaska trip?). It is doable in one day with this excursion:
http://www.kenaifjords.com/rail-and-...-daytrips.html
" journey out of Resurrection Bay to visit the tall cliffs, massive glaciers, and abundant wildlife of Aialik Bay.
Traveling by railroad? No problem! The 11:30 National Park Tour is specifically scheduled to accommodate passengers either arriving to or departing from Seward by train."

We know it would be cheaper to rent a car, but then one of us would have to watch the road instead of the scenery.

If anyone has another recommendation, I'm ready to hear it.

I agree, the train is great experience. It is said that the train and the road really follow basically the same path. I did a 6 hour Kenai Fjords trip and we went straight out of Resurrection Bay and onward to the glaciers on an awesome beautiful sunny day. Enjoy!

Why not just rent a car? The drive is very beautiful, and there are numerous places where you could (should) pull off to enjoy view points, possibly some sheep on the hillsides (a common occurrence) or maybe even a bore tide on Turnagain Arm. At the end of June it really won't get dark at night, so you can either leave early or get back late, and have plenty of time for activities both around Seward and en route - Portage Valley and glacier, Girdwood, etc. - all things the train and buses bypass.

I agree with Gardyloo. Renting a car will give you more flexibility and chances to stop and see other sites.

I don't know if you are buying the Toursaver, but both the Anchorage to Seward train and the Major Marine Kenai Fjords Boat trip are Buy 1/Get 1 free with their coupons.

www.toursaver.com

I had not seen the Toursaver, Linda, so I'll take a look. Thanks for the tip.

I have been to Alaska 13 times. The 2 best things I have done there are ride the train fron Girdwood to Seward and sailed the KFNP tour. You cant go wrong with the train boat combination.

We are just back from our trip and can report that the train-cruise combo I linked above made for a fantastic experience.

It was a very long day, from departure at 6:45am to return near 10pm, but the scenery from the train was great (sheep, moose, the tidal bore, wetlands, glaciers, and more) and the Kenai Fjords Cruise was beyond description, a highlight of the entire trip, right up there with seeing the peaks of Denali from a small plane. A dozen bird species, seals, whales, and the calving Holgate Glacier--just awesome.

The train has two classes of service and we chose the less costly one. The seats were roomy enough for my 6'6" husband and there was a dome area in the car that people could move in an out of, so it never felt crowded. I'm glad we did not spring for the more expensive, all-dome ride because what we got was great. The train ride is pretty slow and a few times we wanted one on-board guide to just stop talking, but overall we give it top marks.

Wonderful!!!

Thanks for coming back to this thread to weigh in; no doubt it will be useful advice for many. It really does sound like a good use of your time.

Kayd, We will be in anchorage for two full days.
Can you please me where you got the tickets for the train and Kenai Fjords Cruise? Is this the Wilderness/McCinly Train from Anchorage to Seward?
I want to make a daytrip to Seward from Anchorage.
Please let me know.

sumplanner, this thread is 4 years old. The trains in Alaska are the Alaska Railroad. They do have a website.
My experience on the Kenai Peninsula was with a rental car.
I prefer to set my own schedule and stop where I want to stop instead of cruising by on the train.