Author: GolfGirl
Date: 02/27/2004, 04:37 pm
Message: We will arrive in Anchorage on June 5th from a cruise that will have already made port calls in Dutch Harbor, Homer and Kodiak. We will spend 5 nights in Alaska and thought to spend the first night in Anchorage, drive to Denali for the next 2 nights, then back for a stop for 1 night in Girdwood and the last night in Anchorage before our 8 AM flight the next morning. We thought we would do the 8 hour shuttle in Denali to Eilson, a flightsee to Mt. McKinley and perhaps a raft trip over the course of the day and half we would be in Denali. Does this sound OK or are we overdoing it? Also, is the stop in Girdwood a better idea than one in Talkeetna even though it looks to be a bit out of the way? We're not much on hiking, but we do like to walk around. We'd also love to see as much wildlife as we can. Based on what others have said on this board, we decided renting a car sounded more efficient and less time consuming than taking the train. I have not made arrangements yet but will as soon as I get some input from the Alaska experts here. Several have mentioned the Toursaver book, but it costs $99 and I wonder if it is worth buying with the short time we will have. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!



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You realize I presume that Girdwood is a good 45 min. to an hour from the airport. If you have to return a rental car, go through TSA hoohah, and still make your plane, you'll need to get up mighty early. Not the end of the world; I like the idea of night in Girdwood (won't be dark very long anyway) but just be aware.

Are you on the Silversea? If so, what a cool itinerary.

In Unalaska, stop in at Carl's Commercial (old name I expect) and see if they have any of the ballcaps that have a crab boat, palm tree and hula dancer on the front saying "Carl's - South Bering Sea Islands" - ultimate cool hat.

Your itinerary looks great !

Yeah your choice of Girdwood over Talkeetna for the night is fine.

The Toursaver might help if you are doing flightseeing over McKinley. Check the toursaver website to see if you will use those coupons before buying.

The drive to Girdwood along the Turn Again Arm is beautiful. We also enjoyed the tram ride up Mt Alyeska. June 5th is a Saturday. Check to see if the Public Market is open in downtown Anchorage. It's a combination of crafts, fresh produce, food vendors, and music.

If I read right- they are over night in Anchorage before they leave??? Look over the toursaver list and see if any of the inside passage coupons would be of interest?? Going early will also allow you to sell the book on ebay- a lot of action last year for used books. I like flying out of Talkeetna my self, so you could raft in the am (be certain to go with an operator that uses dry suits if you are not going on the "float" trips), drive 3 hours to Talkeetna - take flight then 2 hours to Anchorage- a long day but doable. If you go to Girdwood, I would skip the rafting.

Thanks for all your responses. Gardyloo, yes we are on Silverseas and we are looking forward to a very interesting itinerary from Tokyo to Anchorage. Rest assured, we will spend the night before our early flight home at an Anchorage hotel.
Thanks, dfrostnh for the info on the Saturday Public Market in Anchorage. We will definitely check it out. We love local markets.
Based on suggestions, it looks like we will spend our first day in Anchorage and leave first thing the next morning for Denali. We will do a float trip after we arrive, stay overnight and do the first 8 hour shuttle trip to Eilson the next morning. We will then drive to Talkeetna and stay over and do a flight to Mt. McKinley the next morning and then head to Girdwood for the afternoon and do the tram ride and stay the night before returning to Anchorage the next day for our last overnight. Wow, I'm pooped just thinking about all that driving and hotel hopping. I'm still open to hotel and restaurant suggestions, so keep em coming! Thanks.

Choose carefully your McKinley flight- there are several options. It pays to book early as you then may have the option for choosing your desired flight. They don't all run, they get booked depending on the interest of the passengers. You can luck out sometimes booking a "basic" flight and then having other passengers book and pay for a more costly one- you go with them on their flight at the lower cost. But the summit flights are separate aircraft and are my preferred flying over McKinley.