Mango7

Hi all. I was mesmerized by a show I saw that featured Alaska and now want to go there. Can anyone suggest how I can find the best way to do this? I'm not sure if we need to take a boat or train or use a tour company. I would like to take at least a small boating excursion and see lots of wildlife, frolic around a glacier, etc. Thanks if you can give me some direction.

Reagrds

Kurt

Otis_B_Driftwood

I'm not sure if we need to take a boat or train or use a tour company"

You can do all of the above and you can even drive up there. Probably the easiest and perhaps cheapest way is to take a cruise up there. All the ships feature port excursions that include small boat tours to see glaciers and wildlife. You will also see quite a bit on the ship.

Or, you can fly to Anchorage and go down to the Kenai Penninsula by car or train. In Seward, there are boat excursions out to Kenai Fjords National Park where there are glaciers and wildlife. And, you can also drive or take the train up to Denali National Park for the ultimate wildlife sightings on land.

Princess and Holland America offer combination cruises and guided land tours by train that might be of interest to you.

There's a lot of information here:

http://www.travelalaska.com/

atravelynn

Mango7,

How much time do you have? When are you planning on going? Do you have an approx. budget in mind? Do you like to drive on your own? Those questions will help with your "best way to do this."

Since you mentioned wildlife, that’s my interest too, so here are some places to see it.

If the wildlife includes bears, I'd do a bear viewing trip, either a daytrip or spend a couple of days. These threads address that. Or search for bears in the search box.
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=34941098

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=35096003

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=35086540

If it includes moose, some of my best moose viewing has been riding the coastal bike trail in Anchorage on a rented bike.

If the wildlife includes walruses, Round Island has thousands, but it takes some days to reach it and back. Terry Johnson does boat trips there and visiting this remote spot was a highlight.
http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...1&tid=35086540

If you are interested in seabirds, nesting puffins, arctic foxes, and up close views of seals, then the flight to the Pribilof Islands may be worth it for you. If you go during the 4th of July, the parade is a bonus.

For whale watching, the ferry from Juneau to Gustavus and Glacier Bay Nat’l Park provides great whale watching. So does the 1-day boat trip into Glacier Bay or the 1-day boat trip from Seward into Resurrection Bay in the Kenai Fjords. There was also good birdlife, otters, seal lions, seals, orca, and even the occasional bear on these 1-day boat trips. I think there are some good whale watching trips out of Homer too.

Of course Denali has lots of animals. You can take the school bus into the park for a day trip or half day trip. Or you can take it in and stay at a lodge inside the park, then hike around from there. A good way to get to Denali from Seward or from Anchorage is the train, since you mentioned that. I found the Seward-Denali (and back) leg of the trip to be especially lovely. I think that is a common sentiment.

I did an 8-day wildlife cruise that stopped at no ports and just did hiking, kayaking, etc. and had a great time, but most of my wildlife viewing (except for aquatic species) was not from this small, 70-passenger ship.

There are lots of reports from people easily renting a car and doing the entire trip on their own. I have not done that. Here is a company that specializes in wildlife travel and the itinerary I used for part of my first Alaska trip. You could do some or all of the itinerary on your own and do not need to travel with a group. It maximizes wildlife viewing.
http://www.nathab.com/destinations/i...full_itinerary

I don't like the big ship cruises for wildlife viewing, but for scenery outside and ambiance inside, I think they would offer a nice option.

dfnh

If you do a search "Alaska" here on Fodor's you can do a lot of research. There have been some good 1 week to 10 day suggested itineraries. Two weeks is even better. We travel independently. On our last trip I did reservations for the three weekends we would be there and decided on what to do during the week at the last minute. This was a great way of taking a day cruise out of Seward when the weather was perfect. Called the day before for reservations.
You can also read discussions about independent vs cruise travel.
The planning is part of the fun!

Mango7

Dear Otis, Atravelynn, and Dfnh- Thank you so much for your kind replies. The more I hear about what's to do there the more confused I am! I want to do everything!

I would probably go up in February for 8 days or less with a moderate budget, but I'll do more searches here to finalize where I should go. Again, thanks so much for your kind suggs

Kurt

enzian

February? I think everyone was assuming you meant summertime.

Things are very different in the winter. Most of the wildlife cruises only run May to September or October. Winter is all about skiing, snowmobiling, and dog mushing.

magnumholmes

If Feb is the only time you have to go on vacation, then so be it. But if you want to experience Alaska at its best, probably the summertime is better. Driving is easier, crusies and land excursions more plentiful, etc.

If you go in Feb, you will be limited on what you can see and do.

We went last July and absolutely loved everything. But remember, everything, like Denali, Whittier, Seward, are far apart. Nothing we did was less than 100 miles or so from Anchorage. We drove, while you might have a budget for a train or something.

BudgetQueen

I have done 2 winter trips. Don't expect ANY wildlife. This isn't the timeframe. BUT it is fantastic for northern lights, and if you go in March, the Ice Sculpture championships www.icealaska.com and far better weather and daylight compared to Feb.

Bobmrg

We attended a convention in Anchorage in September and were surprised to learn that all of the tourist-based activities were shut down for the year...don't know when they come back to life in the spring, but Google will help.

NorthwestMale

hey, that's my old Fodors friend MagnumHolmes !! (hi)


LOL - but that isn't really why I landed here:

I drove to Alaska in the first week of April... and by accident and the graces of mild weather I found it to be a great time to go.

With that in mind, my guesses about February are that while Anchorage will likely have tolerable weather, your side trips will probably be greatly inconvenienced by bad weather. (example: a trip to Seward would be awesome, but there is a dastardly mountain pass {I guess it is?} between Anchorage and Seward)

The good news is that the road crews up there are better equipped and more familiar with northern climates and snowy weather than they are in the random places in the lower 48.

Alaska IS mesmerizing... and you need only have open roads for a reasonable window of time to see awesome mountain scenery all around. Just some of the views from the Anchorage area are spectacular.

My gut feeling is that you FLY from the lower 48 to Anchorage, and plan to rent a car, and then let the weather decide what you can and cannot do.

FYI when I was driving toward Anchorage at "Tok, Alaska"... it was 2 degrees upon arrival, but the roads were mostly bare and dry. The weather could be anything, and you'd better not try to predict.

In February even downtown Anchorage will play like a pretty "dead" community about one-fifth its true size.

Just hope for good deals on airfare and car rental, and then have a number of ideas in mind so you can improvise on the weather.

Good luck.

enzian

In late February, you could catch the Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage---dog mushing, outhouse races, and all:

http://www.furrondy.net/

And you might see the aurora a time or two.

But it's not like a summer trip with wildlife viewing, boat cruises, and glacier frolics.

Mango7

See how much I know about Alaska?
I'll just have to wait 'til Apr/May, but thanks again everyone for your suggs You guys are great.

Kurt

enzian

April is known as "breakup" and is not a good time to be there either.

May is Ok for some of the wildlife cruises from the Kenai peninsula area. Denali National Park doesn't open until later.

What did you see on that program that you want to go and see? That might help people make the right suggestions for how and when to go.

billyb68

RV...rrent it there...cheapest way to go..see everything and take a side cruise or 2...i rented one over the summer for 9 days..2 adults 4 kids...time of our lives..and yes, we still like eachother !!! haha

jetset1

Turnagain pass isn't really *dastardly* at all.. it's well maintained, plowed, and sanded all winter and not that scary.

Most of the ones I'd call dastardly are in Wa. state,lol.

enzian

Too right, jetset! The winter roads in Alaska are way better than they are down here (Washington)---AND people up there know how to drive on them.

Otis_B_Driftwood

"I would probably go up in February for 8 days or less with a moderate budget"

In February, I would advise you to look at going to Patagonia instead. Awesome glaciers down there too.

Mango7

Haha. Thanks everyone

I guess summer is a better time then, so I'll have to adjust accordingly. Thanks so much again,

Kurt

Mango7

Enzian- Everything!

enzian

Kurt--then I have to warn you to be careful. We went up to Alaska to see the sights, lured by the photos we had seen . . . and ended up staying for nine years.