It's HUGE! - Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge
 

Did you see that aerial shot of that place? (Or maybe you've been there?) I was planning to spend 1 nite there on the way to Denali but now I think it's too big and expensive for the short time I'd have there. Do you think it's a better idea to just stop there for lunch, then go on to Denali for 3 nites instead of 2?

We were happy with just an afternoon visit to Talkeetna. On our visit, even the Alaskan Lodge was full so we stayed at a beautiful cabin off the beaten path but about 30 minutes away. We don't care for huge hotels and our budget really doesn't like expensive ones. Some of the restaurants were closed when we got there so we had a nice lunch sitting on the deck of a health food store. Sorry, can't remember the name but the sweet potato fries were fantastic.

Talkeetna is a great funky town. The Talkeetna Alaska Lodge is outside of town and over run with buses due to huge numbers of cruisetour visitors. It isn't the quaint Alaska experience.

Talkeetna seemed like such a good place to overnite from Seward to Denali. Sounds like we should just have a lunch break there and go on to Denali? We'll have other time for Anchorage.

If you want an overnight, maybe someplace convenient for a visit to Independence Mine/Hatcher Pass area. We stayed in Palmer for the weekend but it was before the Pass was open for the season so we had to circle around. Seward to Anchorage is a couple of very scenic hours, north of Anchorage the scenery is not spectacular and you'll be tired. We didn't have reservations in Talkeetna but the visitors center recommended the Gate Creek cabins near Trappers Creek. The cabins were beautiful but are some miles off the highway with no nearby restaurant. The kitchens are well stocked so we brought dinner and breakfast foods in Talkeetna. Very peaceful but on the remote side. We had a distant view of Denali thru the trees. But staying twice in Anchorage isn't a bad idea esp if there's an interesting event going on.