going to Fairbanks
 

In Aug. my husband and I will arriving in Anc for a stay with his brother.We would like to go to Fairbanks and then further north to Prudoe Bay. Any suggestions or tours to take? We have already been to Denali and Kenai Pen. on the 8hr cruise. We would like to do something different. Any hotel or motel suggestions would be great. thanks!
Jeanette

Fairbanks IMHO is easily the outrated Alaska stop.

Great museum at UAF, but a lot of the other attractions (Alaskaland and river boat) are hokey and geared toward the sedentary who seldom stray far from their cruise-tour guides. And that's fine if that's your goal.

Most outdoor activities are better elsewhere in AK.

Prudhoe Bay is a long, long haul. Tours start about $700-800 but you can always fly into Deadhorse if you'd like. (About $700)

But you can have a lot more fun in other places, i.e. spend a night in Seldovia or Halibut Cove, visit McCarthy, do the land-water Valdez loop or unwind at a lodge.

Definitely go see the Museum of the North at the UAF campus in Fairbanks. Great exhibits of wildlife, history, Northern lights, native culture, art, etc. We thought that this alone was worth the trip to Fairbanks. We only spent 3 hours there and wished that we had more time.

It may be touristy, but consider the DiscoveryIII boat tour on the river. I did enjoy it and there is commentary all along the trip.

We liked the UAF Museum very much, and found the Discovery boat ride much more interesting and much less hokey than we expected.

The museum is fantasic. They also have programs at the U. We saw one that had both a show on the Aurora and the Eskimo games - both great.

The discovery boat trip is excellent. We also did the El Dorado gold mine tour that was very interesting and the best gold panning i have ever done. Some in the group found nuggets - i found quite a bit of gold dust.