Susan

We will be in Alaska next June, most of the trip has been organised but I need help with Denali. We will be arriving by train from Fairbanks and want to stay for 2 nights. We want to do the Tundra Wildlife Tour. Where should we stay? We will not have a car so we will need to be collected from the station (and returned for the onward trip to Anchorage). Do the accommodation houses meet the trains? Is it best to stay as near as possible to the park? Will we need to pre book accommodation and the tour? Help please.

Susan

Try Alaska.com. They have alot of good information about the tours and the busses and the accomodations. There is a little "town" right outside the park that has many types and levels of accomodation. You should definitely book everything in advance. Don't go there taking a chance that what you want to do is booked since you are coming such a long way. If you can spare the money, I would recommend staying at one of the lodges inside the park. The tour you plan to take does not go very far into the park. The lodges are 90 miles inside the park. Transportation and meals are provided and they meet the train schedules. It is pretty expensive but you will get the best park experience. Alaska.com has information on this too. Also check out www.nps.gov for information about the park itself. I think you are going in high mosquito time so be prepared. Best of luck on your trip.

Deborah

I stayed at the Denali Bluffs when I was there htttp://www.denalibluffs.com. They have a bus that will meet you at the train station. The rooms all have fridges and they have laundry facilities on site. The town is so small that you can walk to the other lodges and restaurants for meals etc., plus the hotel has a shuttle bus service. The meals are quite expensive there. The wildlife tour is done on school buses and cost around $72 which comes with a "bad" packed lunch. You can take the park shuttle for about $17 and see the same things, without the guided narrative of course. Had I known this before, I would have done that instead. Have fun. It's a beautiful state.

Connie

If you do a search on Fodors, you will find that most people recommend the park shuttle bus. They all use school busses and there is only one road to go down.

Our driver did do a narrative and stopped anytime we saw wildlife. Our bus wasn't even half full--the tour busses were packed.

Everyone just packs food and drinks. It takes about 8 hours so take plenty. Also, take some wet wipes. The road is dusty and the windows will be open.

The Denali Bluffs looked like the nicest place to me. Nothing was fancy. The train actually comes right into the park so the hotels are used to having to pick up and drop off.

Mickey

We were in Denali the first week in September and stayed at the Denali Grande Lodge. The view is spectacular from there. They have log cabins that make the stay even more enjoyable. They are set up for a family with one bedroom and a couch and loveseat that both make into beds. They have regularly scheduled shuttle buses and were very accommodating. Hope you're planning to take the Holland-America McKinley Explorer dome car. It's fabulous and the crew are terrific. They pointed out everything along the way and really went the extra mile for all aboard. Princess screwed up our reservations by not charging our tickets to our credit card. The Holland-America staff came to our rescue. Have fun!

P

Agree with others - skip the "guided tours", take the park shuttle and save $$$$$. The tour buses we saw were packed. We did not have a full bus. This left us plenty of room to move around and get better pictures/views of the wildlife when we spotted them.
The "naturalists" on the more expensive tours have no more experience or knowledge than the drivers on the shuttles - and sometimes less.
Our driver was great. She did not give us a running dialog but answered any and all questions we had in detail.