Need advice for 4 days post cruise
 

Hello all! My husband's family will be traveling on the Royal Princess Northbound in late June 2019. My MIL (who is paying for everyone to go) would like to extend the trip- and either visit Denali or Kenai. We arrive in Anchorage on June 29th, and plan to leave for home no later than July 4th. There are 8 of us, ranging in age from 17-80 (Most between 52-64). We would rent a car in Anchorage and either drive up to Denali (Staying in Cantwell at Backwoods Lodge) then driving to Fairbanks to head home or drive down to Seward and possibly Homer, then back to Anchorage for flights home. Found a nice log cabin just outside Seward that will accommodate all of us.

Most people want to visit Denali, but I'm not sure if they understand all the driving involved. My MIL is used to senior trips by rail or motorcoach, and I have a hard time picturing her on a Denali school bus for hours at a time. But- my fear is we will miss out of a lot of wildlife viewing (moose, bears, etc.) is we skip Denali.

Which would you choose if you can only go to one?

If your priority is to see wildlife, then go to Denali. However, your concern about your MIL on a full day in a school bus is valid. We had a wonderful time in Kenai and Homer but saw no wildlife. We flew over to Katmai NP from Homer and saw lots of bears fishing for salmon and walking about.

Thank you for responding HappyTrvlr! We have decided to forgo Denali in favor of Seward and Homer. My husband and I are going to go on a bear viewing day trip to Katmai- looking forward to it.

What time of year were you there?

I cannot recommend the bear viewingday trip hoghly enough! I am so happy to hear that you will do this, one of our all time favorite travel highlights and we travel a lot.

Just so you know, there are lots of bear viewing options out of Anchorage. Late June might be too early for the best experience in Katmai, depending on what the food supply for the bears is. For the iconic salmon-fishing experience, there have to be salmon in the rivers, and late June is very early for many runs.

Have a look at the calendar on Rust's website - https://www.flyrusts.com/bearviewing...national-park/ . You'll see that Rust's has other bear viewing options in late June, and other flightseeing options if bear viewing isn't ideal or if others in your party don't want to spend the money.

Just as a thought experiment, think about this as an alternative use of your days -

June 29 (Mon.) Arrive in Whittier and transfer to Anchorage, pick up car. Overnight Anchorage
June 30 (Tue.) Drive back to Seward, stopping en route at Girdwood (Alyeska gondola) and at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center at Portage. Overnight Seward.
July 1 (Wed.) All day Kenai Fjords cruise (wildlife, glaciers.)
July 2 (Thu.) Return to Anchorage, stopping en route in Hope, old mining village on the south side of Turnagain Arm.
July 3 (Fri.) Flightseeing - Bears, Denali, whatever.
July 4 (Sat.) Day trip drive to Hatcher Pass/Independence Mine, return to Anchorage with stop to visit Eklutna Historical Park (old Russian church, Native cemetery with interesting "spirit houses" built over the graves. Red-eye flight home.

You do NOT want to be anywhere near Seward on the 3rd or the 4th of July. There's a big race (Mt. Marathon) that draws thousands and thousands of participants and viewers, and traffic up and down the Seward Highway is terrible. Trying to get back to Anchorage from Homer any time around then is going to be unpleasant.

If leaving on the 4th doesn't work, accelerate things by returning to Anchorage the evening after the Fjords cruise. The sun will be up until 10 or so.

Thanks, Gardyloo. Had planned to stop in both Girdwood and Hope on our way to or back from the area. Will have to research alternatives. We fly out the afternoon of the 4th. No one else cares about seeing the bears or any other kind of flightseeing, since they have those plans while we're on the cruise. Will see what alternatives I can find. We fly home on the afternoon of the 4th.