CircleK

Hello, and please forgive me if some of these questions have been answered elsewhere on the board - I tried to look through as many messages as I could before posting. My husband and I have decided rather last-minute to visit his parents, who are stationed at Elmendorf AFB, in May/June. Neither of us have ever been. We only have a week, and we need to spend part of that time with the in-laws in Anchorage, so we won't have as much time as we might like to explore other areas. But we'd like to fit in as much as possible in a short time, our priority being wildlife and beautiful scenery.

This is a very rough itinerary, and I would welcome any comments.

5/28 - Fly into Anchorage, night at AFB
5/29 - spend day/night with in-laws in Anchorage
5/30 - drive north to Denali. Stop in Talkeetna for a McKinley flightseeing tour? Overnight at a nearby lodge - anyone have good recommendations?
5/31 - Spend day in Denali NP. overnight at lodge.
6/1 - Back to Anchorage, spend evening w/ in-laws.
6/2 - Drive to Seward early morning for Kenai Fjord Fox Island overnight cruise. (Questions - I'm not sure what time the cruise departs Seward, but I think 9am. Is there enough time to drive from Anchorage that morning, or do we need to come the night before? Is there somewhere to leave the car for 2 days while we're on the cruise?)
6/3 - Day 2 of cruise, drive from Seward back to Anchorage that night.
6/4 - spend last day in Anchorage with in-laws, fly home in the evening

Are there any other do-able one or two day trips from Anchorage that are must-sees and worth replacing either Denali or Kenai with? Is this a realistic itinerary? Thanks in advance for your help! Alaska is daunting!

repete

Looks like a pretty fun, quick plan. Definitely flightsee out of Talkeetna.

As for Seward, you could drive it (very) early -- but it might be better to hit it the night before.

Check the parking signs carefully in Seward. They monitor closely. There is long-term parking. I'm not sure what the restrictions are for visitors, but there's an Air Force recreation camp in Seward. If you want to go the night before, you might be eligible to stay there and you could probably park there for the Fox Island trip. If you go down early, grab a dinner at Ray's.

Take your time driving on the way down to Seward and back, it's one of the greatest drives around. I always recommend a stop at the Double Musky in Girdwood for blackened red salmon or their pepper NY strip.

BTW, if you're golfers the base course is a Robert Trent Jones design. Conditions are rarely great, but how many courses will have the starter giving you moose warnings ... i.e., ``watch out for the cow with twin calves along the 15th fairway ...''

CircleK

Thanks! It looks like the drive from Anchorage to Seward is about 2 hours - is that right? How about from Anchorage to the Denali Park entrance?

Also, I just noticed that on the dates we were planning to be in Denali, the bus only goes as far as Toklat River. If we switch our Kenai and Denali excursions around so that we're in Denali on June 1 and 2, we'd be able to take the bus to Fishcreek as well (though still too early for Wonder Lake). I assume it's worth switching dates so we can see more of the park? Anyone have advice on that?

Also, any lodging recommendations in Denali area would be appreciated - I checked a couple and they're already booked, so I know I need to reserve something soon.

Deborah

Try the Denali Bluffs or if you like a little bit fancier, the Grande Denali.

http://www.denalialaska.com/

dfrostnh

Check with the cruise company. For the all day cruise we were sent to a nearby parking lot and a shuttle bus picked us up. The same parking lot is probably used for overnights, too. What time does the cruise get back to Seward? It might be around dinner time. You'll enjoy dinner in Seward or might have time for the Double Musky. There will be plenty of daylight for your trip back to Anchorage but plan on late evening. I think you've pick two great short trips.

jq

Denali and Seward, Kenai fjords would be two nice trips for a week. The drive to denali is more like 5-6 hrs with a few stops, definitely try for summit flt out of Talkeetna. There are lots of places to stay in denali. I would stop in Talkeetna for lunch, take your flt if clear, and continue on to denali area which is till about 100 miles. You want to be on an early shuttle bus which on June 1st is about 7:30. See their site. If you only have one day, switching your trips would work. We did the same thing, going to Seward first, then Anc, then to denali for two nights and went on shuttle on May 31st and again on JUne 1st to get to Eielson (Fish creek).
For trip to Seward, leave plenty of time for a great scenic drive. You want to stop at Potters Marsh, Portage Glacier, maybe Girdwood ski area, and get into Seward in time to see things. The 125 mile drive is more like 3-3.5 hrs to see for first time. Wondering why you want to do overnite at Fox Island rather than a long one day cruise, either 6 hr or all day to Northwest glacier? Don't hear too much about that tour. You want to see Exit Glacier in Seward, maybe Seavey Ididirod dog kennel and tour. Each would take about an hour or two max. Just outside of Seward.
We also went to Eagle River visitor center outside of Anc(short nature trail, no animals in our two trips), Lake Hood for floatplanes, city tour, musk ox farm, Alaska Native Hertage Ctr in Anc.
Sounds like a great visit and vacation.

BudgetQueen

If you want to get 10 miles farther in Denali Park, certainly switch your timeframes, but you really aren't allowing enough time for Seward, it is unreasonable to drive from Anchorage and take the long Kenai fjords boat tours, shorter tours not even worth it. You need to allow up to 3 hours for the drive, it isn't a marathon drive and the scenery is part of the trip. Allow time for pull offs, it's a mistake to be within a tight timeframe needing to get to a tour. I would suggest you consider a morning boat tour the next morning and heading back to Anchorage late afternoon. You also need to allow 6 hours Anchorage/Denali Park. You need to allow for delays, heavy bus, RV traffic, construction etc. Being you are considering an overnight on Fox Island, if you have to be there by 9am, I would look at a day boat tour and B&B/hotel. You don't have enough time in my opinion.

CircleK

Thank you all so much for the feedback. Clearly, I am trying to plan this at the last minute without allowing myself enough time for research!

It definitely sounds like I'm shortchanging Seward, so I think we will nix the overnight cruise and instead allow a full day for the drive to Seward from Anchorage and then touring around Seward, spend the night there, and then do a day cruise the next day, returning to Anchorage that night. Probably still not enough time for Seward, but we need to get our time in with the parents...

Any good lodging recommendations in Seward? Was thinking about the Windsong Lodge but wondering if being slightly out of town will be inconvenient.

As for Denali, both Denali Bluffs and Grande Denali appear to be booked already, so if anyone has other suggestions, please let me know.

Finally, if anyone has tips on which are the better flightseeing companies in Talkeetna, that would be much appreciated.

Thank you all again - and apologies for my ignorance on all things Alaska!

jq

Your revised Seward plan is workable. We have done it twice that way. It also gives you more time to enjoy Seward hwy fr and to Anc. Windsong is not too far out if you have car, but would require going into town to eat meals. If you search under denali, you will find severl hotels, cabins, etc listed.

BudgetQueen

If you want to consider saving money, purchase a www.toursaver.com book and take the Northwestern fjords trip and either Talkeetna Aero or Talkeetna Air taxi for McKinley flightseeing. Consider upgrading to a summit flight if a priority to see the top. Then when you return, sell your book, will not have any problem getting half price.

mlg968

I'm in the middle of planning my first Alaska (Anchorage/Denali/Seward) trip. I found this site to be a great resource. If you haven't already found accommodations for Talkeetna and Denali, check it out. There are also tours and activities listed for the South Central area of the state. We may pass each other at some point... I'll be there May 24- May 31! Have fun!

http://www.alaskatravel.com/alaska-hotels.html