Fairbanks versus more time in Denali/Mckinley
 

We are looking at 2 possible cruise/tour options for Alaska. In one we would spend 3 nights in Fairbanks and then move on to Denali/Mckinley. In the other we spend one night in Anchorage but get 4 nights in Denali/Mckinley. I guess the question is what does Fairbanks have to offer, and would you usually opt for more time in Denali, etc. Never been to Alaska, so I'd appreciate any input. thanks.

We spent a month traveling Alaska on our own by car. The ONLY place I could have skipped that we went to was Fairbanks. Somehow, any attraction other than seeing Susan Butcher, the Iditarod champion along with her dogs, was lost on us. I'd opt for the Kenai peninsula, which has so much more to offer than Fairbanks.

Do they say what activities they offer in Fairbanks? I can't imagine spending 3 nights there over going to Denali. . . and I used to live there!

Our favorite saying was "Fairbanks is a nice place to live, but I wouldn't want to visit there."

I would vote for the extra time in Denali.

I'll third what's been said -- on my trip to Alaska, I can honestly say there was almost nothing of interest in Fairbanks. Almost every other part of Alaska was enthralling, but that city was a dud.

Sadly, Susan Butcher died in 2006 -- she really made tuning in for the Iditarod interesting for us in the lower 48.

Yes, I knew she had died. That was the highlight of our several days in Fairbanks. We did a river boat tour that stopped at her house on the river. She talked to us on the boat and showed us her dogs and talked about the race. Incredibly interesting. The rest of Fairbanks was a total snooze.

When I lived up there, way back, we used to feel sorry for the tourists who had spent so much on their "dream trip", only to be stuck in Fairbanks for a night or two on their West tour.

One evening, a friend and I were downtown during Golden Days (our husbands were off on a hunting trip). We overheard some people (two couples) complaining about their tour, and how they hadn't met any Alaskans or seen the "real" Alaska. We started talking to them, liked them, and ended up inviting them out to her log cabin for dinner.

My friends' cabin was about 5 miles outside of Fairbanks, up on a hill; no electricity or running water, but very comfortable with propane lights, etc. We all went out to her garden and harvested some vegetables (they were amazed at the lushness and size of the veggies), picked blueberries, pulled up some potatoes, thawed some moose steak, and made moose stew (in the pressure cooker) and blueberry cobbler. We sat around and talked until almost midnight, and then drove them back to their hotel downtown.

I'm sure it was the highlight of their trip. . . to Fairbanks, anyway.

We did the cruise tour last year and spent one night in Fairbanks and that was enough. We did the river boat trip that was informative and then got a short period of time in downtown Fairbanks. That was enough. I would vote for more time in Denali, we spent 2 nights and could have used an extra night.

My partner had been to Fairbanks and had been very adamant about not spending any more than one night there. It's got a lot of history and is surprising in a couple of aspects.

Have fun.

We spent one night in Fairbanks on our way to Denali, and I'm really glad we did. The UAF museum there is incredible. It is newly renovated, and has lots of great exhibits of Alaska wildlife, history, native culture, northern lights, etc. We only spent 4 hours there, but could have spent the entire day. My advice would be not to miss it. However, one day was plenty. I agree with everyone else that there is not much to do in Fairbanks.

I'm with everyone else here - skip the additional nights in Fairbanks and opt for the beauty of Denali. On our second cruise/tour to Alaska the tour bus actually went past the local grocery store as a point of interest - zzzzzzzzz!

If you are at all interested in wildlife and the natural beauty of the mountains, spend the extra time in Denali and maybe you'll be lucky enough to have a clear day where you can see the mountain! (It took us until our third trip to actually see Denali/Mt. McKinley)

Have a great time!