phillycp

I’m planning about 14 nights in Alaska, July, 2019. If anyone has suggestions on my itinerary, I’d appreciate it. I’ll be flying into Fairbanks, and staying either one or two nights (depending on when my flight arrives) before heading by bus to Denali. We’ll be staying 3 nights inside the park at the North Face Lodge (hiking, biking, canoeing on Wonder Lake). From there, we’ll take train to Talkeetna getting in around dinner and staying that night and a second night to ensure we are able to take a flightseeing tour with Glacier landing (K2 Air) – hoping weather will cooperate. From Talkeetna we’ll take bus to Anchorage airport and fly out for a 3 night stay at an all-inclusive fishing lodge in King Salmon so we can visit the bears in Katmai on one day; do the Valley of 10,000 Smokes tour on the second day, and we’ll figure out the third day later (fishing maybe?). We’ll fly back to Anchorage for 2 nights, picking up a car at Airport. It will be a late arrival first night, then next day, we’ll do Heritage Musuem if we have time, but plan to head to Girdwood, maybe see bore tide, Portage area, and take tram to Mt Alyeska for dinner and then back to Anchorage, turn in car and stay overnight. Next day, we’ll take an early morning train to Seward for 2 nights. We plan to see Exit Glacier, the Seaport Museum, and explore town on day one, and do the Kenai Fjords cruise on day 2. Next morning, we’ll head to Whittier to meet our cruise ship out of Whittier to Vancouver then home. I want to be able to see a variety of places, but don’t want to feel rushed through the trip. I have a few questions that I hope someone can help with. 1) does this sound reasonable without a car other than the time we have one in Anchorage/Girdwood?; 2) If you are familiar with Talkeetna area, would you recommend Susitna River lodge or Talkeetna Alaskan lodge?; 3) Is it worth it to do the cruise tour in Kenai Fjords, as well as the 26 Glacier cruise out of Whittier? 4) any other tips at all – places to see, things to do, where to stay, eat, etc are welcome.

dfrostnh

You can search "Alaska" here on Fodor's to read other requests for vacation advice.
One of my favorite experiences was the Forest Fair in Girdwood/Alyeska which is around the 4th of July. It's music, food vendors and craft fair and it seemed more full of locals than tourists. It was also my closest bear experience when a bear was attracted to the food smells. I heard people shouting but only saw nearby bushes moving. It was a great place to buy handmade souvenirs of our trip. We only did one cruise and that was out of Seward. Since it's all day I think a lot of people napped on the way back but the experience is so amazing you might want to do two different trips. None of the glaciers calved the day we went but OTOH the ocean was so smooth the boat captain was able to enter a very narrow passage into a secluded lagoon and said it was something they could only do a couple of times each summer. Orcas swimming in unison are incredible.

Salmon start running in the Russian River about the time you'll be there. We were staying in Kenai so we saw the area before and during. What a difference. It's fun to watch although best view was a different time from a bridge overlook on the Seward Hwy. Perhaps you'll see similar and more exciting on your bear trips.

emalloy

When you are in Fairbanks look for Denali. We were able to see it from the airport and it really let us know how huge it actually is.

We also took the ride on a paddle wheel boat up the river which stopped at a reconstructed "native village". It was actually more interesting than I thought it would be and one of the local girls who was crewing the boat had bagged her elk for the family larder the day before.

garyt22

Each glacier tour offers a unique experience and one of a kind look at the wonders of Alaska ... book as many tours as possible because Alaska is the best place in America for using experienced operators to jam the maximum value for the money. ..

Gardyloo

In general I think it's a doable plan, but a couple of tweaks come to mind - things to review since you have plenty of time for research.

First, without a car I'm not so sure you're going to find one or two days in Fairbanks all that appealing. And since flying into FAI is likely to be more expensive than flying into ANC, the first thing I'd do would be to investigate flying into Anchorage instead and getting a car for the Denali portion of your visit, possibly skipping Fairbanks. If I'm right in adding up the bus fares (assuming for two, since you use "we" a couple of times) - Fairbanks to Denali, Denali to Talkeetna, Talkeetna to Anchorage - the car might be cheaper, and it could very well end up saving two or even three nights, time you could use seeing things rather than driving between them, if you get my meaning.

I confess I am not much of a fan of Talkeetna; I find it quite touristy. If it was me, I'd skip it, and use the money you'd save by shortening your time in the interior (the skipped nights) to do your Denali flightseeing from Anchorage instead. K2's partner (owner, I think) in Anchorage is Rusts - Alaska Flightseeing Tours & Air Taxi Services | Rust's Flying Service - and while Denali tours from Lake Hood (on float planes) are more expensive than from Talkeetna, the big advantage in flying from Anchorage is that if Denali is socked in (which is quite frequent) the Lake Hood operators have numerous alternative flying routes - over the Chugach mountains and Knik Glacier, out over Prince William Sound and the various icefields, or across Cook Inlet to volcano country... so you can reprogram your flightseeing on short notice, something you can't do in Talkeetna.

After Katmai, I'd reorganize my time in the Anchorage/Kenai Peninsula area. In my view Girdwood deserves more than a drive-by, and it's not clear to me how you'd get from Seward to Whittier for your cruise. Because the rental car companies charge a fortune for one-way rentals (and complicated because there's only Hertz in Seward and Avis in Whittier) I'd be looking at getting a car in Anchorage, doing the tour of Seward (and, if you've cut a night or two earlier, maybe farther down the peninsula) then returning it to Anchorage and taking the train or a bus back to Whittier in order to meet your cruise.

Re the Kenai Fjords v. Whittier glacier cruise, it's something of an apples/oranges thing. The Kenai Fjords are much more about wildlife than glaciers; the glacier cruises in Whittier are all about glaciers; wildlife is a secondary aim. (They spend a lot of time very close to the glacier faces, and the seawater around the base of the tidewater glaciers is not especially full of food for the critters - salinity is low, it's cold, so it's more biologically inert, making it less interesting to wildlife.) If you have the time and resources to do both, I would.

Like I say, you have plenty of time to do your research, so come back with more questions.

phillycp

Thanks, Gardyloo. Been thinking more since my post yesterday and I was thinking the same about Fairbanks that I'd want a car. so, am thinking about picking up a car in Fairbanks while we're there and returning it there before we go down to Denali. Driving up to Denali and back again just doesn't appeal to me that much (same on the back end of going to Seward, Whittier, etc and then back to Anchorage to return a car and then get on a train and retrace my route back to Whittier.) On the back end, I was told there is a van service from Seward to Whittier ($100 per person). Forget the name of the service right now. As you mention, I have a little more time to research although my dates in Denali and Katmai are already locked in (small lodges book really far in advance!). But, I'll take some more time to do a little more research on flight costs, car rentals, etc. thanks.

Gardyloo

The "doubling back" problem with cars is generally inescapable - there are too few roads to make "loop" itineraries very convenient. (There are a couple but with the spacing of your booked plans at Denali and Katmai, they're not really doable in your case.)

By all means do the research. Fortunately there's a lot of information out there.

Let me throw out some ideas that you might investigate. First, if you dropped Talkeetna and substituted more nights in Anchorage after Denali, look at a day trip to Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine, or maybe one to the Matanuska Glacier, with a stop at the Eklutna Historical Park in either direction (between Anchorage and Palmer.) As for the problem with retracing steps to/from Seward/Whittier, yes, that's a problem; however the scenery is so glorious that it's a pleasure rather than a burden. Stop at Hope, an old mining village on the south bank of Turnagain Arm in one direction; if you're there when the pink salmon are running in Resurrection Creek, it's a sight you won't soon forget. There are options, but you'd need your own transport.

Or - and this would be my choice in a NY minute - return to Anchorage from Denali and fly up to Kotzebue, an Inupiat Eskimo community on a branch of the Arctic Ocean, above the arctic circle. Depending on when in July this would be, you'll get midnight sun (and maybe 24 hours) and see a side of life in Alaska that 90%+ of visitors never see. Or fly to Nome and maybe take a ride out onto the Seward Peninsula tundra, or watch the daft gold miners diving or dredging the Bering Sea floor just past the beach. Both Nome and Kotzebue can be accessed by Alaska Airlines jets, for prices generally cheaper than a flightseeing tour of Denali. Hotel costs are roughly the same in those towns as Anchorage, but you wouldn't need a vehicle.

Anyway, just some thoughts.

sknaumd

I was wondering if you could share your final itinerary after your trip in July, 2019. What were your thoughts after the trip? Any regrets or recommendations? We are planning a similar excursion this summer. Thanks, Scott

tomfuller

Hi Scott. Welcome to Fodors! Please post a new thread with your specific questions. The OP of the thread you posted to may or may not read your first post. There are several people here that can help with your questions.