7 days in Alaska

My husband and I are planning to travel to Alaska next Summer, from Brisbane, Australia. We plan to cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage, and then have 7 days on the road. We would like to explore from Anchorage to Fairbanks. Does anyone have any suggestions on the best route to take? What things should we see along the way? What is the best way to travel - hire a RV and stop at camping grounds, or hire a car and stop at hotels/motels/B%26amp;Bs? Thanks for your help with this.

7 days in Alaska

There is a book called Mileposts which is very helpful for traveling along the Parks Highway. I would recommend getting a copy of that book. There are a lot of RV camping grounds that we saw in Alaska when we were there but I would say that they appeared slightly more rustic than in the lower 48. We did not camp but did the B%26amp;B route (which was great).

7 days in Alaska

If you have only 7 days and want to visit Fairbanks and Denali then maybe this itinerary would appeal to you

Start with Anchorage where you should spend a minimum 1 night. Rent a car there.

From Anchorage drive to Denali National Park for 3 nights

Spend two nights in Fairbanks. You have only one road leading to Fairbanks from Denali/Healy.

Drive from Fairbanks south on Richardson Highway then take Glenn Highway towards Anchorage with an overnight stop in Sheep Mountain Lodge. It is only 112 miles from the lodge to Anchorage.

Return to Anchorage.

You have many options how you are going to get around and where to stay. You may rent a car or RV, you may take a train from Anchorage to Denali and then from Denali to Fairbanks. You may fly back to Anchorage from Fairbanks.

If renting a car you may stay in hotels, motels, lodges, chalets, cabins, B%26amp;Bs. many choices available

.

We always rent a a car and stay in any types of accommodations but try to avoid B%26amp;Bs.

Many wonderful things to see and do in all these places. Read posts right here on this forum on these destinations then post your detailed questions. A number of helpful posters are always willing to help.

What month are you coming? What are your interests? If we know what your interests are then we can make more specific recommendations on what activities are the best to fit in your time frame. Also your cruise won%26#39;t end in Anchorage. It will be Seward or Whittier.

You have to decide for yourself what sights and activities you are most interested in and how much driving you want to do. Get a guidebook and start reading. Look at the map of Alaska. There are not many roads and you can easily see how large the distances are. If you want to you can choose to make your trip one way, ending in Fairbanks, and fly home from there instead of coming back to Anchorage.

By the way, I would caution you that if you ';drive from Fairbanks south on Richardson Highway then take Glenn Highway towards Anchorage with an overnight stop in Sheep Mountain Lodge'; as Places suggested that would be 322 miles or 5-6 hours (not counting stops that you will surely make for photos, lunch, etc.), which makes for a very long day.

Driving directly from Anchorage Denali is OK I guess,but you sure do miss alot on the way. There are several stops of interest on the route from Anchorage to Denali Park. The Iditarod headquarters in Wasilla, Hatcher Pass, historic Talkeetna, the Petersville mining area and many majestic views of McKinley to stop and savor on the way. Denali State Park at Mile 144 of the Parks has beautiful Byers Lake and many great hiking trails. You may want to consider spending one day exploring some of the locations I%26#39;ve listed above then spend a night at either Talkeetna or Trapper Creek, then taking a easy drive to Denali to continue exploring. You will want to take a bus tour in Denali but they run until afternoon each day. Most of all remember that Alaska is a huge place and you need to be careful not to plan to go great distances each day. I highly recommend a publication called ';Milepost'; which describes sights,ccomodations and roads in detail for all routes in Alaska. As for accomodations, I%26#39;d hire a car and stay at B%26amp;B%26#39;s along the way. It has been my experience that B%26amp;B hosts world wide are full of information about the areas I%26#39;m traveling in and it does put me in touch with the locals rather than staying to ourselves pretty much. Have a great trip, ENJOY Alaska.

A llittle online research will help you find some nice and reasonalble accomodations.