vivek19

We are a couple in our early 30s; looking forward to our first Alaska trip starting late August. It's a 10 day trip. We will be renting a RV and this will be our *first RV experience*. We are looking for a mix of adventure - a couple of glacier hikes, glacier kayaking, air taxi?, hours/day long cruise etc., keeping the budget in place.

We have come up the following itinerary, I'm open to any and all suggestions

Day 0: Land in Anchorage (late night), check-in to hotel and go to bed
Day 1: Rent RV and drive to Seward. Spend the day in Kenai National park
Day 2: Spend the day in Seward/Kenai and drive back to Anchorage (stay overnight and meet a friend).
Day 3: Drive to Talkeetna, spend the day
Day 4: Drive to Matanuska, spend the day
Day 5, 6 and 7: Drive to Denali and explore the park
Day 8 and 9: Drive to Fairbanks and explore the northern lights
Day10: Drive back from Fairbanks to Anchorage for our flight back

We have the following questions:
1. We feel we are spending too many days (5) in Talkeetna, Matanuska and Denali area, any suggestions if we can add something else to the itinerary. To add an exciting destination, if I were to move around the itinerary, I'm OK with that too.

2. Specific hikes and glacier kayaking that we should be considering?

3. Do you recommend air taxi, to get an aerial view of the glacier. if so, shall we get one @ Talkeetna?

4. local food suggestions are always welcome!

Thanks for the help. Cheers!
VJ

tomfuller

DW and I spent the first 10 days of June in Alaska. We chose to use rental car (paid for an economy car and ended up with a Subaru Outback-sweet). We stayed in hotels and B&B's.
Don't think that you will save money by renting the RV.
You are not likely to see any Northern Lights even north of Fairbanks even in September.
The University of Alaska-Fairbanks has a great museum.
The aviation museum in Pioneer Park is also worth seeing.
The closest I got to a glacier was the toe of the Exit Glacier NW of Seward.
Buy your bus tickets online for the shuttle bus out to the Eilson Visitor Center. The buses load up near MP 1 in Denali.
The Salmon bake next to Pioneer Park is a bit expensive, but is a great meal.
Read my Trip Report before you go.

Gardyloo

I'm not crazy about your itinerary at all.

First, Talkeetna is on the Parks Highway which goes to Denali, the Matanuska Glacier (which is what I assume you're talking about) is on the Glenn Highway. The two roads fork at Palmer, 40 miles north of Anchorage, so visiting Talkeetna THEN Matanuska Glacier THEN Denali means you're backtracking a great distance and adding something like 200 - 300 unnecessary miles to your plans, miles which cost money with an RV.

Second, if you want to see Kenai Fjords National Park (there is no "Kenai National Park") you need to take a long cruise out of Seward. If you're picking up the RV in Anchorage in the morning and then driving to Seward you won't have enough time the first day for the cruise, and if you want to be back in Anchorage the following evening in time for dinner you might find Day 2 quite rushed. Traffic on the Seward Highway returning to Anchorage can be thick, especially if you happen to be in Seward during the Silver Salmon Derby period, when a great many people from Anchorage travel to Seward in hopes of the big kill.

Where were you thinking to do glacier kayaking or hiking and when?

Your chances of seeing the northern lights in Fairbanks in August are low, and it's always a crapshoot at best. That's a lot of expensive miles and hours in an RV for a long shot.

So a direct question and some ideas just for you to consider:

How wed are you to the RV idea? Did you get a spectacular rate? The reason for asking is that - often - the total cost for the RV when everything is totaled is more than a comparable car + motel itinerary would cost, with the benefit that the car + motel option will give you far more flexibility - side roads, no septic dumps, hookup fees, mileage costs, "cooking and sleeping kits," etc. Maybe too late to change, but I'd definitely do the math.

Talkeetna is, in my opinion, a triumph of marketing over substance. It's okay, but skipping it entirely wouldn't be a great loss in my view. And three days at Denali is fine, but you'll be at the mercy of the park shuttle buses and the weather, just so you know.

So if it was me (and it's NOT, so you're free to ditch all of these ideas) I'd amend my plans as follows:

Denali first, drive up day 1, visit day 2, back to Anchorage day 3. Skip Matanuska Glacier and Fairbanks. If the aurora are active you can see them from Denali just as well as you can from Fairbanks.

Then down to Seward, do the Kenai Fjords cruise, go kayaking out of Seward, and hike Exit Glacier near Seward. This saves many hours' driving.

I'd then continue south down the Kenai Peninsula to Homer and spend a day or two around Homer. Take a boat across Kachemak Bay to Seldovia or Halibut Cove. There are more kayaking and hiking options here.

Then back to Anchorage and you're done. If you still require seeing a village like Talkeetna but without the tour buses, stop in Hope, accessed off the Seward Highway between Portage and Turnagain Pass.

Or if you still want to go flightseeing, drop the vehicle (and therefore save money) on your last day in Anchorage and do a floatplane flight with Rust's out of Lake Hood. http://www.flyrusts.com/

Others may disagree with these ideas, particularly the RV, which is fine. It's your trip, after all.

MichelleY

Gardyloo gives great advice. I love Seward. So beautiful.

dfrostnh

and I loved Homer.

I also liked the visitors center at Portage (listen to recordings about earthquake) and going up Alyeska for the terrific view. Both are between Anchorage and Seward.

Also agree with idea to rent a car instead of an RV. Breakfasts at b&b's can range from a bagel to a full breakfast. There are large supermarkets in Soldotna (on way to Homer) and Wasilla (on way north) where you can get sandwiches and salads to help defray food costs. Restaurants weren't a highlight for us although we liked the small places where you could get fried halibut bites.

BigRuss

I didn't like the itinerary when you posted it and I don't know Alaska's roads and drive times half as well as Gardyloo does.

Rethink.