Anchorage on a budget

My wife and I plan on taking a 7 to 10 day trip to Anchorage in April. We have already taken care of the airfare details. Is there any reason this would be a bad time of year( ie, extreme cold,rain, etc.), as my air travel is flexible. Some bad weather won%26#39;t distract us, I thought this may be a good time of year to avoid the peak rush. We are renting a car for the entire trip. I would just like to know of a few less expensive places to stay and eat. I have read about renting an RV (I used to own one) that is an open option. If I chose the RV option does anyone have any recommendations for RV rental companies.

I would prefer staying at a (motel/hotel/cabin,rustic is fine) nothing fancy just a clean place with a Hot shower. I would like to do the train trip down to the park. Should I book all my plans for (tours,trips,etc) prior to arrival. I would appreciate any and all recommendations. Thank you in advance.

Ron

Anchorage on a budget

Hello there and welcome to the forum! Yes, you can do an Alaskan vacation on a budget, however, April would be a terrible time to come to Alaska . . . it%26#39;s usually this month that is considered ';break up'; . . .mud everywhere, and things look usually pretty messy. But the most important thing is that most tourist things are not running . . . most tourist related business and activities don%26#39;t get going until early to mid-May. I hate to be a wet blanket, but if I were you, I would pick a different time of year to come, though accommodations would be cheaper in April - that is about the only positive thing I can think of.

I am sure many of us would be happy to help you with ideas for lodgings, and searching here on this forum is a great way to start your vacation planning - if you can, read some of the great trip reports, as you can read first hand where people stayed and what they did while they were here. Anchorage is great to visit, but I wouldn%26#39;t plan staying there the entire time, as there is too much to see in Alaska that involves longer driving than you will want to do from Anchorage. Also, help us by sharing some interests you have and/or activities you would like to do while you are here and then we can offer suggestions to you that might help you in your planning. Best of luck, Ron! :)

Anchorage on a budget

I think coalminer covered the timing issue well. It seems that more tourists come after June 15th, so before than would be better for you. I would suggest you plan 10 days not 7, or actually more if you can. Get a guidebook from the library and figure out what sights and activities most interest you. Also, think about how much driving you want to do at once, because that will help you split up your itinerary. You mentioned ';renting a car for the entire trip'; and ';do the train trip down to the park';. By the park do you mean Denali National Park? It%26#39;s about a 4 to 5 hour drive north of Anchorage. If you will rent a car just drive it to Denali instead of taking the train. The train takes much longer, about 8 hours I think, and does not allow you to stop wherever you want for photos. And once you get to Denali if you don%26#39;t have a car you are limited to staying in hotels close to the park entrance that have a shuttle into the park that are more expensive than other places you can stay if you have a car. You would also be limited to restaurants within walking distance and not be able to drive into the park and explore on your own without the shuttle bus. If you have a car you can drive the first 14 miles of the park road, to a great hiking spot. If you have an RV you can drive the first 29 miles if you will be camping there, which will save you about an hour each way on the shuttle bus. Go to the park%26#39;s website and read all the info - http://www.nps.gov/dena. Another advantage of having an RV is being able to pull over basically anywhere for the night while you are driving around, without the need to have advance reservations and having to be in a certain town by evening. You can plan a more flexible itinerary that way. If you don%26#39;t want to have an RV for your whole trip you can rent one for your trip to Denali, then come back to Anchorage, return the RV, rent a car, and drive to another direction to continue exploring Alaska. By the way, if you want to rent a car and do tent camping some of the nights that would be even cheaper. Remember there is so much more to Alaska than Denali. Get a guidebook and figure out what interests you most.

We had an RV for our entire three week tri[p. I would not have done it differently. We had complete flexibility. There are RV parks of all kinds and state parks all over the place. You need at least a 22 foot Class C with generator, propane for the refrigerator and heat (when the electricity is low). You can cook when you want or need to, make picnic lunches, shower in the teeny tiny bathroom.

The commercial RV parks have showers and laundromats. Just outside Anchorage there is a lovely RV park....under trees, with a clubhouse and great showers, And resident moose...watch out, don%26#39;t get near them if they have youngsters with them. This is across the road from the Alaska Heritage Park.

We were there in September, so I cannot comment on April.

If you want to, instead, stay in motels and b%26amp;b%26#39;s you may find yourself limited. With only 7 to 10 days in such a large state, you are going to have to make some hard choices. Do you want to visit Denali? With a stop in Talkeetna for a flight over the mountain and then a shuttle trip out in the park?

Do you want to take a glacier tour out of Seward with Kenai Fjords to see glaciers calving and puffins and dolphins, etc?

As for motorhome companies, we were very happy with Clippership. Cruise America was coming in strongly about this time. I notice that there are now some others. If a motorhome interests you you might do a search here on that subject.

With all due respect, with only 7 to 10 days you should probably get a good Alaska-aware travel agent and then sort out your priorities with them. 7 to 10 days is not going to be enough.....andyou will probably want to go back.

I have used clippership twice over the last 5 years. There has never been a problem of any kind.I know t here is some more good rv places there to rent from.I am planing a trip for 10 day%26#39;s mid july and will check withe clippership frist.

David

I want to thank all of you for the valuable information. We (my wife and I) are changing our plans based on these and other recommendations. We have decided to go the last 2 weeks of May. 14 days is better then 7 or 10 anyway. We are going to rent a (22%26#39;) RV for the entire period. I have done some research on the RV but have not made a decision yet. I am leaning towards a company called Wilderness RV%26#39;s. Does anyone have any experience with them.. Based on there web site information there rental ageements seem straight forward. I question rental agencies that want a large percentage down and the remainder upon arrival then hold a given amount on the return to be credited back later. Strange way of doing business in in my opinion. I will do some more reading on other forums here about Alaska to get an idea of where to go. I need to get a handle on a good route to take. This may take some time but I have several months to get it together. If anyone has any additional idea%26#39;s, please let me know. Thanks again for everyones help.

Ron

Hello again! There was a great trip report not long ago from an RV%26#39;er which would really benefit you - I fill find it and bump it up for you to read. :)

I made a mistake, its not Wilderness RV its Great Alaskan Holidays, I dont know where I came up with that , maybe the lower 48, Anyway if anyone has any info on them or experience please let me know. Thanks

Ron

AZ06, my family flew up there with our luggage and a couple of empty ice chests, did as you did and rented a car, and then hightailed it over to Costco to load up on supplies for the trip and ate out of the ice chest. It sure saved a bundle on the eating portion of our budget.

I am renting from Great Alaskan Holidays for the 2nd time in May %26#39;07 as well. If you can do 2 weeks, it allows you more time to spend at the different locations. Do yourself a BIG favor, purchase the book ';Traveler%26#39;s Guide to Alaskan Camping';. Their recommendations are really as they say. Stay at a hotel on Tudor Road if you arrive late so you will be close by the next morning. Safeway grocery is just south of the RV rental office. Word of advice, when you see gas, purchase it, especially if you%26#39;ve been driving for hours. RV gets 10 mpg. Also, I would go bigger if you are not overwhelmed by driving an RV. They do stock the RV with good quality housewares. Just an FYI, broom is under the sofa. I purchased one but then found the one under the sofa when we returned the RV. And one last thing, purchase the additional insurance, if we hadn%26#39;t, we would of had to pay for a new windshield. Stone got kicked up by a passing vehicle in Anchorage.