Denali Lodging and Tours-3 days in Aug
 

We are cruising to Seward and have three days to explore before flying out of Anchorage. What is the best hotel to stay in and what are the best tours? We are stopping on the way to Denali to visit a musher that I have had contact with. I need guidance in renting a car...thanks!

We stayed at Denali Lakeside Lodge in Healy last week and enjoyed it. Lovely picture windows in both the livingroom and bedroom. Full kitchen and access to grill for cooking.

Enigma, please help us clarify your post.

Define "the best hotel" and "the best tour." Are you looking for specific amenities? What is your price range for a hotel per night? Are you interested in staying in B&B?

Do you want to spend three nights in Denali area or are you spending one night with a musher?

Are you planning on spending some time in Anchorage?

When are you going? If your visit is next week or next month don't count on getting reservation at "the best hotel." Just grab whatever is available

"The best tours" where? In Denali, Anchorage, on the way to/from Denali?
What "the best" means to you? Do you have any specific activities in mind? Would you consider visiting the area on your own without a guided tour?

What kind of guidance do you need with renting a car?
I suggest you go to www.kayak.com to check what is available for your time frame and rates, then decide.

If you do search here on this forum under Anchorage, Denali, and Alaska you get lots of information for making "the best" of your short time.

When is Seward, be sure not to miss a boat tour of Kenai Nat'l Park. Is is lovely and loads of wildlife. The tour we took was on a boat called Alaska Explorer (forgot company name) and lasted about 4-6 hours. All their boats were named "xxx Explorer'. Really recommend it. When in Denali, be sure to take the 'Tundra Wilderness Tour'. No private vehicles are allowed in the Park so a tour is a must. The buses are sort of modified school type and stops for bathroom are limited. Wildlife sighting are strictly luck of the draw. We saw loads but no moose. The ones that went later saw lots of moose but no Grizzly. The scenery is fantastic and the weather allowed us a view of most of Mt McKinley which is unusual. Oh yes, be sure to lower the window top for better photos.

Enig, search the online car rental agencies and reserve your car now. If you are renting a car, no need for a tour. If going into Denali NP, then take a shuttle bus tour. As Pat said, we really need more info to be of more help.

A few things- Car rentals up there can be pricey- good luck. Try orbitz or expedia or you might try Alamo direct up there. They have their own number and I believe it's not an 800 number.If you want to be in town of Seward Hotel Edgewater was very nice. Seward Windsong was beautiful,in a gorgeous setting, not in town and right down the road from the edge of a glacier that you can walk right up to for the most part. Also down that road is the Seavey family business called Ididaride or something like that. They give a great tour of the facilities where they train the dogs, and the dogs take you on a two mile run in a wheeled sled. They won the iditarod not too many years ago. it's a blast, informative, and some of the best money we spent with our kids, but just as fun for grownups.
Also the Alaska Sealife Center is across the street from the Hotel and is really a great educational place to visit. Also take the National parks boat tour but bring dramamine with you because you really can get seasick. It was absolutely breathtaking.
All this info is for Seward alone.

You can rent a car in Seward- Hertz is there and I'm sure some others, and you can do it as a one way rental and drop it off at the anchorage airport when you fly out or........
you can take the train from Seward to Anchorage. In Anchorage you can rent a car through Alamo or any of the other major companies and pick it up at the airport.Anchorage is a nice city, but personally if you are going to be on land in Alaska, I would get out of the city ASAP, because it is not the most scenic place to be compared to the natural beauty of the state.I know alot of people stop up in Talkeetna on the way up to Denali and they do flightseeing to Denali (McKinley) and this is an unbelievable experience. We chose not to do the Denali Park because we did a 15 day land trip and i chose a different path after a year of research which I would do again in a heartbeat.

In Anchorage we stayed at one of the chain hotels, Ican't remember which one, it was located right next to Benihana's restaurant. It was very nice, we had a suite and they served a really nice continental breakfast in the morning.

Hope this helps

rubigayle:

I would love to see your whole itinerary. We are planning a trip of 14-21 days next summer.

We are traveling to Alaska in Aug. and as I was searching for a car rental in Anchorage I found that prices at the airport were extremely high compared to rental locations downtown. We were able to get a mid-size (Taurus-type) car from Enterprise for about $250/week, with unlimited mileage. The airport costs for the same car, also from Enterprise was over $500. Hope that helps!