Itinerary recommendations?
 

Will be going to Alaska Aug4-15,2006 with my husband, two kids,ages 7 and 17 and my parents, both over 65.
We are thinking Anchorage area-Seward/Kenai-Denali. We will have an SUV for at least one week, as we want to do the train ride from Anch. to Seward.

Any advice or alternate recommendations are greatly appreciated.
Thanks,Lori

You will get more responses if you put Alaska in the title.

We really enjoyed Homer and Seward.
In Seward, you can take your pick of boat excursions ranging from 2.5 hours to over 8 hours. I would highly recommend taking one of these. Your kids would also enjoy the Sea Life Center in Seward. Another great place is Exit Glacier, where your kids can get up close and personal with a glacier. It is a very easy half mile hike. Have a great time on your trip.

If you are looking at 10 days, a suggested route, would be Talkeetna 1 night, Denali Park 2 nights. Fairbanks 2 nights, Copper Center 1 night, Valdez 2 nights, ferry to Whittier. Back to Anchorage 1 night, Seward 2 nights . But if you want to instead do the Kenai Peninsula (I assume you do not mean Kenai the city??) and get to Homer, factor in 2 nights there and an added night in Anchorage if you still want to take the round trip Anchorage/Seward train. Be sure to have plenty of games and a portable DVD with extra batteries for the kids, twice what you think you'll need. Seldom are they interested in extended scenery and miles and miles of roads.

Lori, I did a similiar trip with my family three years ago. We flew into anchorage and overnighted there. The next morning we got an early start and drove to Denali. We stopped along the way, Walmart in Wasilla so the kids could shop for snacks, candy and drinks. We also stopped at pulloffs to take pictures. When we arrived at Denali National Park, we parked at the visitor center and took the shuttle to the kennels to see the Denali Sled Dogs (don't miss it). Theres a sled dog demo (it's free) and awesome. The next day we took the National Park shuttle bus into the park. We only went to Polychrome Pass which is not far enough. (see suggestions).The third day we went back to the visitors center and watched the movies,hiked around and went back to see the dogs again. Day four we drove back to anchorage,returned the car and spent the night at hawthorne suites(nice place). Day 5:free shuttle from hawthorne suites to the train. Took the train to Seward and spent two nights at the Edgewater. We took the Kenai Fjords National Park Tour which is incredible and also went to Exit Glacier and did the hike up to the glacier (about a 1 1/2 miles). We also went to the Sealife Center and flew in helicopter with Godwin Glacier Dog Sledding on top of the glacier to Dog Sled. This is expensive but the kids loved it. Since this trip I have been back to alaska three times and here are my suggestions. First, look into buying the toursaver book as you can save $$$. You may benefit from two of them since there are 6 of you. Website-www.toursaver.com. Wait until the 2006 edition is available to view possible hotels and attractions where you can buy one and get one free. I would spend the first two nights in anchorage and check out the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, museums and the downtown. I have stayed at the Ramada Inn Downtown using the toursaver coupon and like the location. I think three nights in Denali is good as you have enough time to relax before the drive back to Anchorage. You can book the National Park shuttle bus at WWW.NPS.Gov I would go to at least Fish Creek on the bus and go as early as possible in the morning. Make sure you book everything as early as possible to get the times you want. Seward is a wonderful place. I have stayed at The Edgewater and Windsong Lodge and both are nice. There is a new Holiday Inn Express there also which is along the harbor area. The Kenai Fjords National Park tour is not to be missed and this can be booked via the internet also. If your parents are not that mobile there is a visitors center at Exit Glacier if they did not want to hike the trail. I hope this helps. I posted my most recent Alaska trip a few weeks ago if you want to check out the trip report.

Thanks for the input everyone! Freespirit, your advice was great...will look into the glacier dogsled trip.I'm sure my kids will love it.