Trip to Alaska recommendations/advice?

In My Humble Opinion
1

My wife and I will be having our 25th anniversary this August and thought of celebrating with a trip to Alaska (presuming we don’t decide to give each other a divorce instead!) :wink: Was going to start surfing our options later today, but figured I’d toss this out to the most varied and experienced group of opinionated jerks I know…

So, who has travelled to (or lives in) Alaska? What are must sees, and what should we avoid? Any tour companies you strongly recommend pro or con? We will be flying from Chicago. And figure a week in August, tho we could go for longer or shorter, earlier or later.

While we do not need to cheap out, we don’t need to break the bank either. We generally prefer seeing a few worthwhile things at a more leisurely pace, instead of running ourselves ragged trying to see “everything.” A couple of things we definitely want to see are glaciers and whales. Tho I imagine some things (such as marine mammals!) might best be observed from the water, we are not huge fans of the whole “stuff yourselves and tip everyone” cruise experience.

Thanks in advance. And there isn’t going to be a party, so you aren’t invited! :stuck_out_tongue:

2

A week in August…that will put there just in time for the Annual Blackfly Festival.

Must sees: the whole freaking state. Except Fairbanks, which is Bakersfield North. Anchorage is just another city. But the rest of the state is some of the most beautiful country ever created.

Personally, I like the Kenai Peninsula over the interior, but that’s just me.

3

I’ve been to Alaska on two separate occasions - once about 15 years ago with my parents when I was in college, and once in the summer of 99 when I was a volunteer park ranger in Sitka.

When I went with my parents, we flew into Anchorage, made our way up to Fairbanks (stopping in Denali), back down to Valdez, then over to the Kenai Peninsula. It was a basically a skim-the-peaks type of trip, but there were a number of things I’ll always remember:

  1. Denali - We took the bus ride into the park to Wonder Lake. Grueling trip because it was on a school bus, but the wildlife viewing was astonishing. At the beginning of the ride, we’d see a grizzly and her cubs waaaaay off in the distance, and everyone would gather to one side of the bus with their telescopic lenses to get a picture. By the time we were almost back (what was it - 10 hours later?), when we had a family of grizzly’s literally crossing the road and the bus had to stop and wait for them - people were like ‘just MOVE already!’
  2. Denali again - Taking a small plane ride around Mt Mckinley.
  3. Stopping at North Pole Alaska. Tourist trap, but still kinda fun to be able to set up having a postcard sent from the north pole at Christmas time.
  4. Valdez - seeing the terminal. I went to school for Chem E, so this was interesting to me.
  5. Train ride from Palmer to Homer (I think) - load the car up on the train and watch the scenary as you pass by
  6. Kenai peninsula - still the best salmon I have ever had. If you are a seafood eater (I wasn’t at the time, but decided I could not pass up the opportunity to have fresh alaskan salmon), indulge thoroughly.
  7. Seeing glaciers, and walking up to one (the Exit glacier, forget where exactly it is (or was, depending on the climate change conditions)).

When I was in Sitka, obviously the situation was very different. I was there for 2.5 months in the summer, and stayed put in in one place with odd jobs such as resurfacing trails, keeping grounds clean, cleaning/painting the outhouses, and sitting by a fire at 10:30-11pm, reading a book while the sun sets. Sitka is along the inner passage, and its one of the most beautiful places on earth. It’s really difficult to get a bad picture. If you are into historic and cultural things, the inner passage is a good place to go. Lots of totems from natives, and there is a slew of historical stuff there from when Russia owned Alaska and Sitka was the capital of the state for a while.

Really, though - there is so much that you can’t go wrong. If you like to see ocean wildlife, stay near the coast and go on boat trips for whale watching, deep sea fishing, etc. If you like hiking, go to the main part of the state, find a state park and spend a week exploring by foot. Either way - you’ll have a great time and want to go back for more!

4

My suggestion? Start getting used to a lot of physical activity. It’s not that I presume your incredibly out of shape, but I recently had family visit from the mid-west (Ohio) out to the Pacific Northwest (Bellingham, WA). It’s not the distances that got them, but the varied terrain.

The reason I mention this is because the entire area has an amazing amount of things to see/explore/enjoy outside. The best way to get there of course is to be outside. You certainly don’t want a tweaked knee or a pulled muscle to put a hamper on such an amazing experience.

Even if you decide to stay inside the entire trip, the extra energy may be useful in other celebrations :stuck_out_tongue:

5

You probably already know this, but one word of advice: Make sure you pack ponchos, because it rains. And it might rain every day.

I did a road trip from Anchorage, northeast to Gulkana, north to Delta Junction, Northwest to Fairbanks, then south back thru Denali and Talkeetna to Anchorage. Spectacular, mind-blowing scenery—when you could see it! (It rains.)

I’ve heard that the Denali Highway (100+ mile long dirt road that links Cantwell, near Denali to Paxson, between Gulkana and Delta Junction) is a great scenic ride, but it’s slow going. And the day we were planning to do it. . . it was raining, and visibility was something like 100 feet.

To me, Talkeetna was the bright spot—but that’s just me. My babe and I have decided that next time we go we’ll probably spend a night or two there. Nothing special, but we liked it. On the negative side, it’s a train stop for the cruises, so you’ll see lots of cruisers there.

And we got some ossum food at some unnamed diner in Delta Junction.

6

I lived out on the tundra in the Western part of Alaska for several years. If you really want to be shocked by vastness or nothingness go to the far West or the far North otherwise stay in the Southeast.

The drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna can be quite spectacular but often weather blocks the scenic experiences. As someone said, always carry rain gear. Try every seafood on the menu. Plan on spending dearly for most things. If you can afford it take advantage of air tours.

7

I spent 5 years living and working there, although much of it was way out in the bush and accessable only by helicopter and small plane. Too bad you can’t see all that. So many times I’d find myself thinking good grief, this is so gorgeous and there’s no one to share it with.

I guess a lot depends on what kind of an excursion you’re up for. There are the ship, train and bus tours. They’re guaranteed to get you to a few of the most spectacular spots but they take a long time doing so and your every turn is mirrored by 100 other tourists with cameras.

I always enjoyed driving everywhere myself. You can stop in a get more of a sense of the local flavor that way. Heck, even driving up the AlCan is something everyone ought to do at least once in their lifetime. Frikkin’ glorious, up and back, truck or RV, summer or winter.

All the way from Whitehorse to Anchorage is pretty nice. Anchorage to Denali is a realy spectacular trip, although that is one time being on a train can be nice. Talkeetna is way cool in a subdued sort of way. My favorite though, like silenus mentions, is the Kenai. Turnagin, Katchemak, Homer is heaven on Earth. Hope is a pleasant diversion, Seward’s pretty cool. Jeez, now you’ve got me missin’ the place.

8

One thing to add… in Talkeetna there are a couple of outfits that’ll fly you either up and around Denali or actually land and leave you on the mountain where the climbing expeditions start, I believe it’s called the Moose’s Tooth. Then they’ll pick you up a day or so later depending on the weather. When I was there K2 and Doug Geeting were the two services. That’s probably changed but whoever it is will be good and it’ll likely be the highlight of your trip.

9

Thanks all. You mean the terrain is slightly more varied than I am used to around Chicago? :eek:

Our most recent trip was to Olympic, so we’ve got ponchos and are not afraid to use them. :stuck_out_tongue:

Our favorite trips are “outdoorsy” - we FAR prefer national parks to big cities. Tho if we visit somewhere we are unlikely to revisit soon, we generally like to spend at least a day or 2 in the local population center just to get a glimpse. For example, after a week in Olympic, we spent 1 day in Seattle. That was plenty.

But we are not campers either. Staying in park lodges where we can hike thru the day, but sleep in a bed, use a real toilet, and take a nice shower is pretty high style to us.

We are both in decent shape for a couple of old farts. We generally stick to the “easy” and “moderate” day hikes of a couple of miles/hours with a fanny packs filled with water bottles, fruit, and cereal bars, instead of the “rugged” all-day hikes to back country campsites laden with backpacks filled with freeze-dried food.

We don’t mind renting a car and driving, but we’d rather not get in a situation where we are doing multiple daily drives of several hundred miles each.

We’ll probably never hike the entire Appalachian, but intend to go back to the Grand canyon and hike it rim to rim. We’ve really enjoyed parks like Grand Canyon, Acadia, Yellowstone, Olympic, where you drive or bus to various hiking trails.

Does that give a clearer impresion? Help with the process of recommendations?

I’ll be back after I’ve done a bit of surfing on my own.

10

Dinsdale, Congrats on surviving 25 years of marriage. My wife and I celebrate 20 years September 22nd and had also planned to do something in Alaska. Still not solid as far as plans go and if you do not mind I plan to hang around your thread and try to learn more.

Again, Congrats.
Joe

11

We went two summers ago. The highlights of our trip were a kayak excursion in Resurrection Bay from Seward and a hike to and onto the Mendenhall Glacier from Juneau. We also did a float plane in Ketchikan which was wonderful for us because we saw a bear family when we landed. Since such an occurrence is far from guaranteed, I can’t recommend it (expensive!).

We took a cruise, which has very good bang for your buck if you do it right. We stayed 2 nights before and after the cruise in hotels and paid quite a bit of money just for the hotel rooms. The cruise had room, transportation and food all rolled up into one low price. I’m generally pro-cruise, but for Alaska I can’t imagine not doing a cruise. How the heck would you get from place to place anyway?

If you want to see coastal Alaska (whales!), then cruise is your best option. If you want interior Alaska, then obviously a cruise isn’t for you.

12

Damn - that’s a big state. And way the hell away from Chicago too! :stuck_out_tongue:

It looks like if we want water stuff, our options are Anchorage or Juneau. The flight to Juneau is nearly twice as pricey, and 33 percent longer than to Anchorage. (And flying between the 2 isn’t cheap either.)

So, my first specific question is, if I wanted to spend 7-10 days in AK, would I he satisfied if I chose Anchorage as a base, or would I feel I really missed something if I didn’t make it to Juneau? (Or Fairbanks?)

We have only the loosest limits on our spending, but if we can save a grand right off the top on airfare, that’s a grand we could spend without thinking on day trips, room and board, cruises, whatever.

13

Two completely different experiences. Juneau is all fjords, glaciers, orcas and the like. The rest of Alaska is…the rest of Alaska. Personally, I’d base out of Anchorage and do the interior and Kenai. Then you can go back and do a cruise up the passage to Juneau at a later time.

If you don’t make it to Fairbanks, you are blessed.

14

I saw 4-day small ship cruises out of Anchoage as well, if we wanted to do it surf and turf. Seeing as we just did rain forest in Washington last fall, I can imagine we might want something more different. But I just need to give enough info to the decision-maker.

15

If your driving?.. Take a book, take crossword puzzles, take anything you can to relieve the boredom that is the Alcan highway. Beautiful scenery, but lots of driving.

Make sure to stop in at the North Pole. Pay a visit the Christmas store there. Take lotsa money.

The Russian Orthodox church in Homer is pretty neat… really old, but the coolest giftshop. Authentic, hand carved nesting dolls…

If you can, check out the Moose Dropping Festival in Talkeetna, AK. It’s like the second weekend in July I think. Aside from the parade, the food booths, (Caribou sausage, yum!) the craft booths and some pretty interesting microbrews, weird locals and even weirder tourists… You can also buy painted and numbered moose droppings from the local businesses. Then, at 6:00 pm, a small plane flies overhead and they shovel out a bucket of moose droppings over a bulls-eye painted in front of the VFW. If the moose dropping that lands closest to the bulls-eye matches your number, you WIN! We totally stumbled across this little town and it was the highlight of the trip.

I can also recommend the 8 hour(includes dinner) whale watching tour out of Seward. It’s a bit spendy at around $100 per person, but for the amount of wildlife we saw, Dahl porpoises, Orcas, Humpbacks (and a baby too), sea lions, seals, Bald eagles in their nests, and laughing hysterically at puffins that had eaten too much, it was well worth it.

There will be all sorts of edible goodies to buy and take home. Just beware that jars of jams and jellies are very threatening to homeland security and cannot be taken home in your carry-on. You have to check them in your luggage and pray that your suitcase does not take a beating on the way home.

Oh yeah… and the fishing. I’m told some folks go for the fishing. Who knew? ha You can buy fishing licenses anywhere, but keep them on you at all times.

16

There is a wonderful train ride between Anchorage and Fairbanks through spectacular scenery. It’s a nice, slow train that takes all day.

17

Anchorage itself is kind of dull. As a base it seems fine, but that means lots of driving around to get to more interesting places. Also, I’m not sure if you would want to base at Anchorage for the entire 7-10 Days. if you were doing an all interior trip, I would choose two or three bases and work your way around. Less back and forth that way.

Don’t fly to Juneau, not worth a flight. If you happen upon Juneau by way of [del]boat[/del] ship, that’s fine. There’s plenty to do to fill a day, but flying in, you would need to stay there a while of days to make it worthwhile. What you get in Juneau you could see elsewhere too. There are other places to see and do that would be easier (cheaper) to get to (e.g., base out of Anchorage and hit places like Seward for Resurrection Bay or Whittier for Prince William Sound).

In Seward I would also have you check out Exit Glacier Guides or a similar type thing. Walking on a glacier is so cool. We did it on Mendenhall Glacier, but I don’t think it matters too much. Pick a glacier and find a guide/tour group that takes you onto it. You can take the train from Anchorage to Seward. We did that and the trip itself was beautiful… even in the rain. There really is much to see, so you really can’t go wrong. Just pick the itinerary that suits your taste.

18

If anybody offers you a “Sour Toe” cocktail, just say no.

19

That’s exactly the way we worked Olympic, Yellowstone, and others, and really loved it. So assuming our plane flies into and out of Anchorage, what 2-3-4 places would you choose as your bases for 1-2-3 days at a time, and how would you get between them?

Like I said, our preference is to find a “park lodge” type of inn where we can stay for 1-3 nights, and take various excursions from. Depending on the cost, availability, and scheduling, it doesn’t really matter to us if we get from base to base by private car, bus, train, plane, or boat…

We’d probably prefer not to do the whole trip as an organized group tour being herded on and off busses, but I imagine if a tour were done well we’d consider it. I looked elsewhere and saw a 4 night cruise out of Anchorage. So that impressed me as one possible “base.”

20

I think I’m getting enough of a feel to start to be able to discuss this intelligently. My wife has been busy the past couple of days, so asked me to do some initial looking. I’m thinking we fly into and out of Anchorage. Then we pick 3 or so places.

  1. I could imagine taking the train up to Denali and spending a couple of days there. Then train back to Anchorage.
  2. Then possibly a 3-4 day cruise of Prince William Sound - or maybe rent a car and drive SE to Seward and see some glaciers. Stay wherever we want in that area.
  3. Then head SW, by ferry or floatplane to someplace like Kodiak Island or the Kenai peninsula for a couple of days.

Does that sound like too much? Too little? Anything you’d add, substitute, delete? Would you do them in any special order? Spend more time one place than another?