Visitng Alaska in July 09
 

Hello everyone,

First off, many thanks to all for the wonderful information and tips shared on this site - most helpful for a newbie like be going to Alaska!

At any rate, wife, 16 yr old daughter, myself planning on a trip to Alaska in July or so. I am wondering if anyone out there can point me to some resources/guides where I can refer to go make my bookings/reservations. I think I can scrounge up enough information from your advice in this forum to get a rough itinerary but have no idea how to go about making reservations or where to stay, how far ahead to make the reservations etc. In particular, where to stay, short cruises / guides to bear watch, etc.

Any help wld be very much appreciated.

(Of course, I wld probably be back asking for more help once I get over the info overload!)

Many thanks in advance!

One of your best sources of information is this forum. Search for Alaska first then search for the various locations you want to visit. There is a wealth of information here.

Buy a copy of Milepost. It is THE guide to Alaska. It is oriented towards tourists who are driving but there is plenty of information on places to stay, things to do, etc. There is also so much info on Alaska here if you search the posts. Have fun!

Ditto the Milepost. We used that on our trips to Alaska and loved it.

Also, I highly recommend driving from Skagway up to the Yukon to see Emerald Lake and the world's smallest desert. We must have stopped 100 times to get out of the car and take pictures. It is breathtaking scenery. Allow about 6 hours for the drive.

The other thing I would highly recommend is flightseeing with Island Air to a mountain lake. She is the best and taking off and landing in a float plane onto a mountain lake where no one else is just is mindblowing.

You can make reservations directly with most companies online or by phone. This is true for hotels, boat trips, etc. You can also find information at places like www.travelalaska.com; www.seward.com (or whatever towns you are going to...)

Depending on where you are going, some ideas....a day long boat cruise out of Seward; bear watching out of Homer, whale watching in Juneau, hiking in Denali....

If you give us your rough itinerary and your interests, we can give guidance as to companies we like etc....

You will have a blast! Alaska is amazing.

I too was on information overload! I found the website www.alaska.org to be REALLY REALLY helpful in planning (covered all my big questions and concerns)... it has advice from locals, frequently asked questions about each type of tour, each destination, etc., and the site is organized very well.

You can book through that website (it refers to a travel agency and gives you the prices listed on the site, no extra charge) but ultimately I ended up booking with Alaska Tours & Travel www.alaskatravel.com They were fantastic to work with... very helpful, emailed back promptly with great advice, and put together a custom itinerary with exactly what I wanted.

I booked my airfare myself (found a great price on Continental). I could have made all the hotel and tour reservations myself, but booking through Alaska Travel saved me time and energy, and I didn't't find anything priced cheaper if I did it on my own. Hope this helps!

Hello friends!

Many many many thanks for the pointers - you guys are wonderfully helpful!

I will take a stab at the itinerary and come back for more help!

thanks again

Fodor's Alaska is also an excellent resource. Determine how much time you have first, then look at routings. If you have a couple weeks a one way cruise and a week interior Alaska, offers an excellent itinerary.

I have only been to Alaska once. But, I would fly into Anchorage and do Denali and Kenai Fjords area.

Rent car head to Denali,
options-
Flight seeing tour with McKin. Landing.
Rafting

Kenai Fjords
Drive the Seward HWY one way, and return via the train.
Girdwood/Alyeska
dogsled/helicopter/glacier landing
paragliding
glacier hike
snowmobile
ride the tram
hike winner creek trail
Town of Seward
all day cruise of Kenai Fjords
Kayaking

we drove to Soldotna and did a flyout fishing/bearviewing out
This is unique in the fact that you land and take off on a lake, you fish for Salmon with bears fishing about 20 feet from you. you are in a boat and the bears never pay you any attention. you are about guaranted to catch fish/see bears/ and bald eagles, depending on when you go of course.

If we ever go back to Alaska, I would like to see Glacier Bay, Wrangel, and Katmai.

spirobulldog, just curious. Why Wrangell is on your list? I think you would like to go to Glacier Bay for glaciers, Katmai NP for bears. And to Wrangell for...?
Thanks

It looks interesting reading about it. Kobuk and Gates of Arctic look good also. I would raft for a few days most likely.

Wait a minute, do you mean Wrangell-St. Elias National Park or the town of Wrangell in the southeast? Your choices sound fabulous

spirobulldog, I had a great visit to Wrangell-St. Elias NP a couple years ago. Last summer I visited the town of Wrangell for the first time, we are returning to Wrangell in July. Went to the Gates of the Arctic NP in August. Never got to Kobuk Valley NP but at least I can blame our pilot for it. Anyway, when you ready to go I'll be happy to share some details. It looks like you too prefer to visit those less traveled places.