alaska travel

Hi,

Me and my husband travelling to alaska in jully for six days. Please help me for the itinerary. We are planning to go straight from Anchorage to Seward 2 days in seward and after that i don%26#39;t know from Seward where should we go first Girwood, whittier, Homer and Plamer.

Not interested in Denali NP too much drive. And if we want to travel by train or bus is that%26#39;s gona be ok or rental car will be better.

Thanks.

alaska travel

Hi bind23, welcome to the forum.

We%26#39;ll be glad to help if you%26#39;ll tell us what you planned to do in the towns you mentioned, and what your interests are (hiking, fishing, marine wildlife, bear-viewing, glaciers, museums, dogsledding, etc.)

I strongly suggest renting a car or RV to give you much more flexibility, because there are lots of things for you to see and do between towns. Alaska is easy to drive: the highways are in good condition, though you have to allow for the slow-ups of 2-way driving.

alaska travel

Thank you so much for your reply first, actually we are there for 12jully through 19jully late flight on 18th jully. We don%26#39;t do fishing no hikking. We do like nature beautiful views, Glaciers offcourse, dog sledding etc.

We do want to see these towns seward, Girwood, Homer, Plamer, Whittier. I don%26#39;t know which one is the best to see and how do i arrange in six days.

Please suggest me if we are missing Denali is that%26#39;s ok or not.

Thanks.

';Please suggest me if we are missing Denali is that%26#39;s ok or not';

Sure it%26#39;s okay. This is your trip and you should see what you want to see. And you can%26#39;t see everything in one visit anyway.

If you%26#39;d be more specific about what you%26#39;d like to do/see in the towns you mentioned, it would be helpful. Whittier I assume would be an afternoon glacier boat tour. Seward would be SeaLife Center, Ididaride dog sledding, and a Kenai Fjords wildlife cruise (did you want a 6 hr one or longer?)

What did you have in mind for Homer? It%26#39;s a long way to go unless you have something specific.

I don%26#39;t know what kind of budget you have, but one idea you might consider is flightseeing Denali from Anchorage. You would certainly get some beautiful views doing that. Or you can do a tour that includes not only flightseeing, but a 6 to 8 hour bus tour into the park to see scenery and wildlife: www.talkeetnaaero.com/denali-day-trips.htm

What time do you arrive July 12?

Give us a few more details about what you%26#39;d like to do, and we can put together a sample itinerary for you.

Thanks for your quick response, we%26#39;r arriving very late in Anchorage on the 12th, I booked hotel room in Anc for 12th and 13th night and two nights in seward. What is flightseeing Denali i am not aware of that. In Seward we will take 6hr tour. In anchorage on 13th what we can do can we go for Whittier boat tour or that will be pretty far. I don%26#39;t no anything about Homer either. We don%26#39;t have any specific interests like hikking fishing etc. We%26#39;r going just to explore alaska. I%26#39;m holding my hotel reservations for 16th and 17th night on your response i need to book room in Homer or which town will be better after seward or come back to Anc totally depend on your response. We do have 18th jully full day also.

Thanks.

Flightseeing Denali means going on a small plane to tour the park, glaciers, and mountains, especially Mt. McKinley, the tallest mountain in North America. It is expensive, but a once-in-a-lifetime thrill. With your interest in “exploring”, what I’d suggest is that you do include Denali and skip Homer. Denali is much more scenic, especially if McKinley is “out” (it’s often covered in clouds, which is why flightseeing is often the best way to get to see it).

Have a look at the link I gave you above and let me know what you think. If you want to really see wild Alaska, I think you’d enjoy the flightseeing/bus tour into the park, and it takes only 1 day of your time (usually people need 3 days, a day to drive to Denali, a day in the park on a bus tour, and a day to drive back to Anchorage). So when you take everything into account, the one-day trip begins to look like a bargain, doesn’t it? You%26#39;re saving 2 nights%26#39; accommodations, 2 tanks of gas, 2 days of car rental! However, if that’s not in your budget for this trip, we can figure out something else for you to do.

Are you interested in walking on a glacier? How about a float trip down a river to see eagles, maybe moose and bears? How long a drive would be “too long” for 1 day? Are you able to re-arrange your hotel dates if necessary, or would you have to pay a penalty?

I can%26#39;t change my hotels date otherwise i have to pay panelty. This flightseeing tour is preety impressive but little bit expensive for me. What do you think if i buy that book for couponsaver that will save some money.

Walking on glacier will be great. Other option, what i suppose to do 13th in Anc and if i skip Homer.

Welcome to TA.

So if I understand it correctly, you are committed right now to the following:

Jul 12 Anchorage

July 13 Anchorage

July 14 Seward

July 15 Seward

July 16 Anchorage - changeable

July 17 Anchorage - changeable

July 18 - late flight out of Anchorage

Is that correct? Knowing your constraints will help Manitoba give you a good itinerary.

And note - it might be well worth your while to pay the cancellation fee and rebook your hotel order if it will allow you to do/see more, especially if this is a ';once in a lifetime'; trip.

Personally I would not spend 4 nights in Anchorage but that is me. I assume you have a rental car - your first post was unclear.

I would probably do something like this:

July 12 arrive late in Anchorage.

July 13 drive to Matsu Valley - Independence Mine, Eklutna, Eagle River

July 14 - to Seward. Stop along Turnagain Arm, Wildlife Conservation Center, Begich Boggs/Portage Glacier Visitor Center

July 15 Kenai Fjords 6 hour boat tour in morning, Sealife Center in afternoon

July 16 Exit Glacier, drive to Homer

July 17 boat tour into Kachemak Bay, maybe to Seldovia, Kachemak Bay State Park or Gull Island bird rookery

July 18 drive to Whittier, take Prince William Sound tour, drive to Anchorage for late flight

I am sure Manitoba will have a different (better?) itinerary with a lot more detail. If you want to do the flightseeing of Denali, that would be at the expense of something else of course. But the only coupons for flightseeing are 2-for-1 at 7pm in Toursaver (not good for a day trip from Anchorage) or 25% off for four people in Northern Lilghts book. So I don%26#39;t think those will work for you.

John

John came up with a great itinerary (he always does, he’s just very modest!) I would tweak it a bit, though, so you don’t have to get up so early on the last day to do a 4 hr. drive by 11:30 in the morning. Unless of course, you’re “early birds” and like doing that anyway.

How does this look:

12 arrive late in Anchorage.

July 13 drive to Matsu Valley - Independence Mine, Eklutna, Eagle River

July 14 – scenic drive to Whitter (1 hr) with several stops, to arrive at the Tunnel for the 11:30 am. opening (is open only 15 min. per hour). Stop along Turnagain Arm (Potter Marsh, Beluga Pt.), Begich Boggs/Portage Glacier Visitor Center (can do a 1 hr. roundtrip walk from that parking lot to actually walk on Byron Glacier). Afternoon glacier cruise. Afterward, drive to Seward (less than 2 hrs) to overnight.

July 15 - Kenai Fjords 6 hour boat tour in morning (8 am to 2 pm), Exit Glacier in afternoon. If you time your visit at Exit for 4 pm, you can go on a free Ranger-guided hike; otherwise, just go on your own. Takes 1 to 2 hrs depending which trail you take (one leads to the foot of the glacier so you look up at it, the other is a bit more strenuous and leads to a great overlook of the glacier). Or you can do both. That’s what I did.

July 16 - Sealife Center, then drive to Homer (4 hrs). I’d suggest stopping at Cooper Landing (1 hr from Seward) for an afternoon wildlife raft float at 1 or 2 pm (depends which outfitter you go with): www.cooperlandingchamber.com/recreation.shtml , then finish driving to Homer.

July 17 - boat tour into Kachemak Bay, maybe to Seldovia, Kachemak Bay State Park or Gull Island bird rookery. Another idea is the Peterson Bay Guided Natural History Tour (http://www.akcoastalstudies.org/naturetours.htm# ), which I’ll be taking later this year myself . Or you could do beachcombing and tidepooling (seeing the creatures left behind after high tide), which is free. Just depends why you wanted to go to Homer, you never told us.

July 18 - drive to Anchorage (5 hrs). Do anything you missed on the 14th, plus stop at Wildlife Conservation Center. If the weather is clear, stop at Girdwood to go up the tram for a great view. Back in Anchorage, walk part of Tony Knowles Coastal Trail for more nice views (might see moose too). Or if it’s raining, go to Alaska Wildberry to see the film %26amp; chocolate waterfall, or go shopping for souvenirs. Be at airport 2 hrs. prior to your flight home.

Oh my gosh this is just great, i do have hotel reservations in Anc for two nights and two nights in Seward 16/17/18jully no reservation. So now i do have organised tour and you%26#39;r saying i need to stay two nights in Homer, any good hotel suggestions.

And please let me know as per this plan which tours do you suggest i need to book ahead of time and how long before and what will be bargain tour company.

I suppose to book car also for the whole time period.Sorry to bother you once more.

Trust me you guys helped me alot i am relaxed now.

Thank you soooooo much Maple and John.

Definitely book a rental car - do that NOW. You can always change it later if the rates go down but generally car rental rates in Alaska only go up the closer you get to pick up date. Consider picking it up off-airport to avoid the airport surcharges, but definitely check both options. My May car rental is actually the same price at the airport as in town.

I stayed at A Home Away From Home apartment in Homer which was very nice and we even had a moose in the yard every day! Lots of other places though. One I seriously considered booking was the Spit Sisters B%26amp;B right on the spit.

No real ';bargains'; on tours but you can look at Toursaver or Northern Lights for 2-for-1 coupons.

I would book any tour in advance that you don%26#39;t want to miss out on. Usually you can book the Kenai Fjords tour the day of, but if you use a coupon, you will definitely want to book ahead.

I would look at the websites of each town you are going to and see what there is to offer then you can plan what you would like to do.

http://seward.com/

http://homeralaska.org/

http://alaskavisit.com/ (for Matsu Valley)

We have given you the framework, now the work is on your back :-)

John

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