We are planning a 10 day trip to Alaska in August - beginning of the month. We will take the train to Denali and spend two nights and then head back to Anchorage. The next morning we plan on taking the train to Seward and spending the rest of the time in and around the Kenai Peninsula. Can you recommend what areas there to visit. We are interested in the culture and seeing the wildlife and nature. Also, any recommendations for hotels would be appreciated.

Seward has wonderful different types of day cruises. They have everything from glacier to wildlife to harbor cruises. They range from 2hrs to 8+ hrs. I would highly recommend them. You can book these in advance or just show up on the boardwalk and see what the different tour agencies have to offer. You will need a coat, even in summer it gets pretty cold on the water. There is also the Sealife Center. This is a small facility, but we really enjoyed it. We stayed at the Harborview Inn, but not at their main facility. They a lovely duplex unit right across the street from the water and It was beautifully decorated.
I would also recommend a night or two in Homer.

You need a car on the Kenai Pen. for touring and you may want to rethink getting one in Seward. I just saw a post that the cost was $75/day with 100 miles. I would also assume you are heading to Homer for a few days? Consider a bear flight tour from there- overnight. Emerald Air gets rave reviews. In Seward there is hiking at Exit Glacier- if inclined go on an all day to the Harding ice field. As for boat tours, I would never consider any with less than 6 hours on the water, just not far enough out. I go every trip- I find them that great. BUT take precautions- I have seen sick passengers EVERY trip.

Although I agree that the longer boat trips would be nice, we once did the 2.5 hr. reserrection bay tour and it was very nice. Saw lots of wildlife, even shut the engines down so we could get up close and personal with some whales and had a great time. As far as sickness, look out in the distance and this should calm things down.

We are also planning 10 days in August,have just reserved an RV for end of August,beginning of Sept. I received a very nice,free "Kenai Visitors Guide" that you can ask for on-line. Has details of the different areas (Homer,Seward, etc.) with accomodations,attractions and great photos. Look at www.kenaipeninsula.org I think that is where I ordered it from. I would love to hear from someone who has done the RV trip,regarding any RV parks you really enjoyed on the KP.

We are planning our second trip. You might consider exploring the calendar of events and visitors guide on the Anchorage Daily News website. www.adn.com There is a Saturday market in downtown Anchorage which has crafts, music, food, etc. In the KP area there are first Friday art events. The silvers (salmon) were running up Bird Creek in early August when we visited. This is located between Anchorage and Seward. You will also want to stop to look for mountain sheep. Unfortunately, one of the famous rams was killed last year. It was fascinating to watch the fish and the fishermen. Also en route to Seward, we enjoyed the tram ride to the top of Mt Alyeska. You will miss this if you aren't in a car and can stop. I always read the local newspapers so I saw a notice about an Anchorage neighborhood garden tour when we visited. This was great fun for me and I had the opportunity to talk to local gardeners and enjoy their backyards. We have timed our next visit for Quilting on the Kenai and 4th of July. The Pratt Museum looks very interesting. My son just sent me a book about the Eagle Lady of Homer who feeds the eagles which winter there. Amazing story. Have a great trip!

I RV'd a couple years ago, putting on about 1500 miles, (also had a car rental for the last day). I probably won't do it again. I found it very isolating and I just so enjoy staying in B&B's and meeting locals. You are going at an excellent time- the parks will be empty. But if going in season, you sometimes need to plan your day for an afternoon arrival- at the latest, at parks to be able to get level spots. It's no bargain- you are lucky to get 10 mpg. But driving is simple and roads open with easy driving in Alaska. Even in Anchorage and Fairbanks- fairly open roads.

Thanks Budgetqueen for your reply. I always enjoy and learn from your posts. Good to know we have selected a good time to go. We have decided on RVing for a chance to be by ourselves,(not that I don't want to meet others! )This will be our 25th wedding anniversary trip.

We took the 8 hour Kenai Fjord trip and wished we had taken the longest (11 hour) trip. We will next time.

I had read on this forum to wait until we got there to buy tickets to see how the weather was. I bought the tickets the day before with no problem and we had great weather. No one got sick.

I had also read here to take the cheapest park shuttle buses in Denali. Thas was good info too. Everyone on our bus stayed on the whole time and the driver was great about stopping for wildlife.

We got there at noon and got on the next bus and it was only half full (July). Even in the middle of the day, we saw 8 bears and lots of other wildlife.

Take water, snacks and wet wipes. The trip is very dusty. Binoculars are a must too. Many times those grizzly bears will only look like a fuzz ball without them.