Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and would like to ask some questions about Alaska. Its very difficult to imagine going to a place that you have never been to before and its more much more difficult when its a trip for someone else. I'm planning this trip for my father and father in law and don't have much information about Alaska.

I have visited Alaska.org and got a great deal of help from the site but I would like to know a bit more from everyone's personal experience, and was hoping you all could give me a hand.

Over a span of 15 days I have both of the gentlemen I have them traveling to Fairbanks, DNP, Anchorage, Kenai, Whittier and Seward. I have roughly allotted 3 days for each place. I'm not sure if this is too much or to little. We live in the Middle East and the weather conditions our here are far hotter than the summer of Alaska so I need to be careful of which hotels I pick for them.

I got a quote back for a trip such as this for app. 5,600 per person, a car has been arranged for them. The price does not include a fly into the glacier or getting to Alaska, but this is the train ride, hotel and accommodation and a few activities here and there.

My questions to you guys is a) Is 3 days in one place too much? b) is it a fair price? c) Are there are any places that can be recommended? d) does Alaskan rooms work out on double occupancy?

Taking into account their age they don't want to exert themselves too much and over do it. They are both seniors. I think this will be their first trip out there. My dad or my father in law aren't much of a traveler and would like go by and see Alaska for the first time. I don't know if they will be able to make a trip out there any time soon.

Thanks and hoping to hear back from you guys. For all those of you who have read it before I tagged it as a trip report. Sorry about that.

What about a cruise with landtour? It would be an escorted tour and they would get to see a fair amount of Alaska by land and sea. Holland America or Princess cruise lines both offer cruise/landtour itinerary's and both are experts in Alaska travel. 3 days in Fairbanks and Anchorage are too much if all they will be doing is touring the cities themselves. By going with an escorted tour group, they would have no worries and the escorts will take care of booking any activities they would like to do.

Hi, gosh, I can understand the importance of your efforts, but I am afraid that there won't be many of us fully versed as to whether you are paying a fair price.

Let me say THIS, about Alaska: The topography there is so unique that just being caused to drive or ride the train around the state is reason to see lots and lots of mountains and impressive scenery. Just getting around from place to place will inspire anyone to see quite enough without needing to make specific efforts in all directions.

I have been to Anchorage and I have been to Seward and 3 days is certainly plenty enough for Seward, and Anchorage itself doesn't exactly grab you and throw lots of ideas for what to do in front of you.

I would say that "three days" in any of the spots mentioned is at least adequate.

You certainly do have a challenge in plotting this trip which it sounds like you yourself won't be on. I can't even fathom the weather differences you allude to, but I generally believe that Alaska summers are fairly mild and comfortable by standards of North America (yet NOT ice cold, as some would let themselves believe).

I hope this helps somehow.

Alaska really is beautiful.

Hello,

I live in Anchorage and you are on the right path to a great vacation. There are plenty of options with a lot to do in each city you mentioned above. I own/operate a fishing charter in Whittier and I can honestly tell you that three days in Whittier is 2 days two long. There is only one thing to do in Whittier and that is fishing and/or a sightseeing tour on the beautiful Prince William Sound.

Seward is a fishing resort also, but there are more items of interest than Whittier. The Aquarium is a very nice place to visit to learn and see the different species of mammals and wildlife that call Alaska home.

Kenai is also a fishing area, there is not much to do in Kenai unless they are fishing. Fishing is not that expensive, $10 per day or $80 for 14 days. From the beaches of the Cook Inlet and the Kenai River, you are able to see a string of active volcano's. One of the volcano's, Redoubt, erupted just this past April.

You could easily spend a week in Anchorage and you still wouldn't be able to see everything.

90% of rooms for in hotels are based on double occupancy. You can usually find better rooms and rates with a Bead and Breakfast.

DNP is a great place although located between Fairbanks and Anchorage. Other than taking the tour bus into the park, there is not much of anything around the park. The park is located on a very remote stretch of highway and hours away from Fairbanks and Anchorage. I suggest you load up on groceries, snacks, drinks etc prior to traveling to the park. The park sports some of the nicest lodging in the state along with some great restuarants. Be frugal where you can.

I have traveled many times to the Middle East and yes you are right the weather is completely different with one exception. Both Alaska and the Middle East do not have humidity. Fairbanks actually has four seasons and Anchorage, Seward and Kenai have two: winter and mild. Lodging accomodations in Fairbanks will have air conditioning their rooms and all places south of Fairbanks will have a window to open.

A rental car will cost between $900-1500 for 10 days. With the economy right now, I would suggest you make as many contacts as possible and haggle the prices.

Just south of Anchorage is one of the most northern rain forests in N. America. Anchorage only reach 70 degree F. twice last year, our second coldest summer in history. Ensure cottons and fleece are part of your wardrobe along with raingear. During our summer months, rain or shine, us Alaskans don't let the rain bother us.

Another suggestion, visit the cities Chamber of Commerce of websites. You will find a lot of information.

Their are glaciers in three different driving directions of Anchorage. One is in Seward, another is 1hr south of Anchorage and the other is 2.5hrs north of Anchorage.

The roads are very scenic, ensure you bring a memory card for your digital camera.

If you need anything else, don't hesitate to respond and I will do my best to assist.

Regards,
Patriot Express

Patriot Express,
I am booked for the Prince William Sound tour out of Whitter. Right know I have rooms booked at the Kenai Princess Lodge and had planned on driving back up to Whitter but have concerns about the distance between Whitter and this lodge. I chose this because I was able to get a special 2 nights for 1. I was thinking about maybe booking at The Inn at Whitter. Do you know much about this place. I was told it is under new management but haven't been able to get ahold of them.

Here are two useful sights which may help -

http://www.anchorage.net/ They will send you free a very useful book about Anchorage and Alaska.

www.toursaver.com This is about a coupon book you buy for $100, and it has many two-for-one offers. It will give you a good idea of what costs are.

We are seniors, and have done three self-guided Alaskan trips, from Australia. I would advise them to forget about Fairbanks, and use the fifteen days in Anchorage, Seward, Denali, Homer and maybe Valdez. There is plenty to do from Anchorage alone, when the days are long. We even did a very long day trip to Valdez, including a wonderful boat trip to Columbia Glacier, but it really was a very long day. Better to stay overnight, it's a spectacular trip. We also went several times to Portage Glacier - the scenery changes all the time, and there's a great walk to Byron Glacier. From Seward, they can walk into Exit Glacier fairly easily.

Am sure they will enjoy it.

jamie62618,

The distance between the Kenai Lodge and Whittier is just under two hours. The lodge is located on the Sterling Highway, which boasts a beautiful two lane highway with only one or two passing lanes. Point: if you are behind a lot of RV's, two hours to Whittier is now going to take three. Where the Sterling Hwy and Seward Hwy meet (you must go N. on the Seward Hwy to get to Whittier) and is an hour drive. Do not let the sun fool you, although the sun is out, it tricks the mind into thinking that you can go without rest. Don't. Only you can detemine if you are able to make the drive. Most people do if that helps. The Inn at Whittier is by far the nicest hotel in Whittier and is out of place. It is literally under new ownership and managment. It was supposed to have reopened by now, however, it's too nice of hotel to be located in Whittier. It is small but quaint. Let me remind you, although I operate out of Whittier, and some other business owners would shoot me for writing this, but I personally would not stay in Whittier. There is absolutely nothing to do there. It's small and you can walk the entire footprint of the city within 30 minutes. What few business's Whittier has also do not remain open to accomodate visitors. You will love any tour you take out on Prince William Sound. The glaciers, whales, otters, bald eagles, etc. are very abundant.

To enter Whittier you must travel through a 2.5 mile long tunnel. The Anton Memorial Tunnel (longest tunnel in N. America). The tunnel is one lane in/out of Whittier. Traveling through the tunnel is a precise schedule because the train also uses the tunnel. Visit this website for more information. http://www.dot.state.ak.us/creg/whit...el/index.shtml
The tunnel is not open 24hrs. No one can enter/depart Whittier between the hours of 11:00pm and 5:30am. The tunnel opens at 5:30 am to enter Whittier, or every hour at the bottom of the hour for 15 minutes. To depart Whittier, the tunnel opens every hour on the hour for 15 minutes. The toll is $12 r/t for any vehicle w/out pulling a trailer. There are eight designated lanes that are controlled by number which lane enters with a metering light. The metering light allows to keep a big gap between vehicles, the larger the vehicles (trucks, buses etc) the longer the gap because of emmissions in the tunnel. There are exhaust fans throughout the tunnel, but I don't suggest you enter with your window down.

Patriot_Express has covered a lot of ground very well. I'll just add a couple of personal notes.

Coming a long way and having limited time, I think you might be served by trying to see as much of the great variety of this enormous place as you can. That might well mean skipping some of the better-known places if they don't offer maximum tourist "bang for the buck."

Specifically, I think Fairbanks is one of those places that could easily be skipped, and the three days re-allocated to another region or activity. Similarly, as P_E says, Whittier is only a place to pass through en route to some water-based activity in Prince William Sound. The "26 Glacier" tour is very worthwhile (especially if your itinerary doesn't include a coastal cruise elsewhere) and can be done easily as a day trip from Anchorage.

Kenai (IMO) is only of interest if you're interested in fishing; the town itself is not especially attractive. Farther down the peninsula (to Homer) the scenery is lovely, but it's a one-way trip, i.e. you need to "double back" to return to Anchorage.

My strongest suggestion is to find some means to get off the road system. Highways provide access to a tiny percentage of Alaska; and much of what makes the state unique is the great gulf between town and bush - physically and culturally. With a road-based holiday you'll see very little of Alaska's wilderness areas and its native cultures and lifestyles. Alaska is, of course, much too vast to get more than a glimpse into this diversity, but it's worth the effort just to get that glimpse.

For example, you could re-allocate the Fairbanks days into an air excursion to Nome and Kotzebue, historic mining town and arctic Eskimo village respectively. Many tour operators can arrange such a trip with ease; it's quite popular.

Along similar lines, a short trip to Kodiak can be very revealing, in order to see a "large" (in Alaska terms) bush community and see the impact commercial fishing on Alaska's economy (along with some superb scenery and wildlife close by.)

At the least, I would strongly urge your party get up in a float plane (use one of the excellent services around Lake Hood in Anchorage) for a flightseeing tour - Cook Inlet, the mountains around Anchorage and Prince William Sound, etc.) It will be a great experience and will provide some sense of how much Alaska there is, beyond the edge of the highway.

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all your comments and considerations.

Isabellasu: Thanks for your suggestion but I know they don't want to cruise it all the way since they don't want it to be generic.

Northwest Male: Thanks for your response on the price. I know it's very difficult for one to quantify the price of such a trip but then again I don't want them to get there and realize that they were charged way to much. I know that always happens to the best of us. I know the stuff that they are planning to do is not generic so am grateful for that. I picked 3 days in each place this includes travel time. I hear Alaska is really beautiful but it's a long travel from out here. I agree with you on the part of me not being on the trip so I have no idea what I would be able to do. Thanks for your help

Patriot_Express: Thank you so much for your feedback I really appreciate it. I really do. I have cut down Whittier; well really the travel agent cut it out. She included Girdwood instead. They are doing a very short fishing trip with Spruce wood lodge, don't know much about them but would like to think they are good. Thanks for the heads up on the Volcano and DNP tour.

The travel agent is acquiring the rent a car for us I don't know if I should do this myself? She got them down to a regular car and it knocked out a 600 USD of our price I think. She has made a booking for us at McKinley Village Resort I haven't read many good things about it. Are there any other place sin Denali that would be ideal? Thanks for your help.

Carrabella: I heard quiet a bit about Valdez from our travel agent, she says for the time frame we have we would be running it tight. I will look into the tour savers thanks.

Gardyloo: Thanks for the comment on the other post and this Thanks for your post more to think about. You say a float plane is worth being included. I could reconsider Fairbanks. Patriot_express do you think the same? I think Kodiak is quiet a ways away they would need a plane to get there. I was looking at this before but I realized they would need a few days out here. I have a few other questions as well would one recommend the gold star car on the Alaskan Rail roads or the regular cars? What is Girdwood like? Is there much to do there? I doubt these two gentle men would consider shopping as part of their excursion. Carrabella recommended Valdez but that once again is a way away out. Any recommendations?

Once again everyone thanks for your input and would like to hear more from you

Personally I would skip Kodiak. If you were to take a float plane trip, I would take a flight that stops on Mt. McKinley's base camp or one of the numerous glaciers.

There is not much either in Girdwood, however, you are only 20 minutes away from the Crow Creek Pass. Here you pay a fee (not sure how much) and you can pan for gold or gems. Some people pay their entire vacation when they find a nice nugget here. There is a wildlife center 10 miles south of Girdwood, this is better than the Anchorage Zoo. Buffalo, bears, all kinds of different types of animals are here. Most of them were injured, orphaned or something happened to them that brought them here. Huge attraction! Not sure when you are coming, but hiking around Girdwood and the views are unbelievable. Our active volcano over 100 miles away can be seen on a clear day from the tram leading to the top restuarant at the Alyeska Resort. Raspberries and blueberries are abundant and I am sure with people out berry picking, the brown and black bears will be out to pick their own. About an hour drive South of Girdwood is the small town of Hope. As a matter of fact, it's literally just across the water from Girdwood on the world famous Kenai Pennisula. Hope used to be a gold mining town, it's extremely small, but has a lot of history. Not too mention, the drive to Hope is unbelievably gorgeous with plenty of rest stops offering great photo ops.

As far as the train is concerned, I would take the regular car and be sure to take along your own beverage and snack. You don't want to pay for these on the train.

Valdez via the road is 7hrs from Girdwood, however, via the AK Marine Hwy, the ferry can make it there in half the time. Valdez offers tours of the oil terminal and you can literally watch a tanker taking on it's cargo, not too mention driving to Valdez you will pass the AK oil pipeline several times. Should you travel to Valdez, stay at a B&B, folk there really know how to take care of their customers. Other than the oil terminal, Valdez is just a fishing and oil port.

I wish I could offer a comment on Sprucewood Lodge, but I am not familiar with them. Anytime now until the end of Sept, fishing will be great no matter where you go. Visit http://www.alaskaoutdoorjournal.com/ This website has more information concerning where to fish from private anglers, where they fish, and what they used as bait. This by far is the most popular site in AK. Whittier is only 20 minutes from Girdwood, I would suggest a half day sightseeing tour of glaciers, whales, etc. I'm not promoting my own business, but you are too close to Prince William Sound and I believe you would be missing out quite a bit. Even if you just drove to Whittier for a couple of hours you at least could see the sound and have traveled through N. America's longest tunnel.

I have stayed at the McKinley Village Resort. I found it to be satisfactory but not great. The Princess Lodge across the highway is considerably nicer and has more amnenities.

I would call the rental car companies and barter a deal with them. Not sure what you are getting for $600 but, the tourist industry is tanking pretty bad and I would imagine you might be able to barter a great deal. FYI, when renting a car in AK, you must sign a disclosure you will not take the car off of paved roads. For instance, the Denali Hwy from Cantwell to Paxson is closest anyone comes without flying into the bush for a true outdoor experience, however, the 156 mile road has only 22 miles of paved road. Chipped windshields and flat tires are usually the outcome if you don't take your time across this highway.

In Fairbanks there is a wonderful B&B called McKinley View B&B. She will take excellent care of them and have plenty of suggestions to fill their three days.