Advice is appreciated. So far, we are thinking of renting an RV for the first two weeks and spending the last days either hanging out in Anchorage or flying into a fish camp.

Has anyone here done the river floats in/near Denali and care to share their experience? I'm wondering if that's a good way to see Denali.

There's so much to Alaska that we might do two AK trips next year, ANC spring and Juneau fall.

Feel free to poke holes in these tentative plans as I don't know where to start and might be way off base. It's such a costly trip that I would greatly appreciate any tips to prevent wasteful spending! Thanks.

I will post a trip report after I get back from AK in a few days.

You may want to plan the Denali part of the trip during the warmest time you are there -- if there is a lot of snow in the winter then the park road may be closed well into spring.

If you are talking about May, I think there can still be quite a bit of snow in Denali as late as May (although I'm not certain of this). Mid-May could be OK, but that's definitely something to check on, especially if you really want to get back into the park.

The other thing: My buddy and I have cheap hotel/motel rooms for this trip since we'll be on the road and outdoors most of the time anyway (some of our hotels/motels we picked may be too cheap for a husband-wife trip).

We did find a reasonably priced hotel in Seward that appears to be a good one for those who go on the cheap as well as others who want some amenities with their hotel. I've read good reviews on this place: http://www.hoteledgewater.com

The cheaper ones we found in the Denali area included http://www.whitemooselodge.com

The supremo-delux cheapo reservation we have for a place between Anchorage and Denali ($22 per person for hostel-style bunk accomodations) is at http://www.talkeetnaroadhouse.com While we are in the cheapo bunk rooms here, they do have reasonably priced rooms as well (but be warned - the bathrooms are "down the hall.")

All of the above have gotten pretty good reviews from http://www.tripadvisor.com

And if you happen to have Priority Club points, an extremely good value is the Holiday Inn Express near the Anchorage Airport, as a room there is a low 10,000 points (which surprised me because I'd assumed they would require more points since it's Alaska).

[This message has been edited by jmartin (edited 09-11-2003).]

This was some of the schedule for Denali National Park in the spring of 2003:

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
Shuttle bus service operates, May 24 to Sept. 11

Bus service begins to Eielson Visitors Center, June 1, weather permitting. Bus service begins to Wonder Lake, June 8.</font>

So it seems you may not have as many opportunities to take buses, etc. if you do Denali in the first part of your trip (if schedule for 2004 is the same as it was this year and depending on weather, of course).

Thanks for the help. We've been looking in some of the same places. Did you see http://www.akhouse.com It's $25/night, looks okay/sounds nice and next to a nice trail in Anchorage. Thought we might stay there at the end. We only have hhonors points but staying at a hilton doesn't fit my picture of Alaska. Fancy is good in NYC.

The RV is ~$100/night off season and works not to have to rent a car. There is a great deal right now on driving an RV from Anchorage to Phoenix. We didn't have the time to do it but email me if you're interested.

for a great fishing experience try www.alpenview.com (http://www.alpenview.com) I don't think you will be disappointed

For one of the best fishing trips go to www.alpenview.com (http://www.alpenview.com)

We are also planning on flying to Alaska next summer. My wife has never seen the State and I have never been inland so any suggestions will be appreciated. We have free passes on ALK so thought we'd see Fairbanks first then head back down to ANC. How long is the drive from ANC to Seward? and where should we stay without breaking the bank. Probably in the Holiday Inn class. Can we do justice to the inland part of the State in 2 weeks?
Thanks for all your suggestions.

The drive from ANC to Seward is easy. Two hours, or so, and real pretty.

I stay at the Harborview Inn almost every time I go - nothing special but very clean, very inexpensive, and the people are nice. It's probably a small step up from a Holiday Inn.

Most hotels in Seward fall into the "it was nice, but nothing special" category. The Best Western might be more expensive and more disappointing than the competition.

have heard from 3people in the office that have been to Fairbanks and they all say it is overrated and not worth the time. Denali and Anchorage are the better inland cities to visit and to base out of.
From Denali to Anc stop at Talkeetnea. It is the stop where the climbers go before hiking in or flying in to climb Mt. Denali. Supposed to be worthwhile.

Juneau has the major indian gathering from all over the State, June 4-5-6. If you are into that it should not be missed. You need to go to Gold Belt Travel in Juneau for rooms now and they are almost totally sold out and Juneau is not a large city. I called today and they are trying to get me into a hotel out of town with a dance group. By out of town they mean a 6 block walk. If you are an art collector that is a great place to find top quality Native American works.
Gold Belt Travel phone is 907-789-4183
[This message has been edited by shawnigan lake slob (edited 11-04-2003).]

[This message has been edited by shawnigan lake slob (edited 11-04-2003).]

I personally find FAI rather boring, but I know lots of people who absolutely love the place. If you've never been here, I'd recommend checking Fairbanks out. Who knows, you might really like the place. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

My 2 favorite bumper stickers in Alaska are:

1. Support Bacteria! It's the only culture in Fairbanks.

2. Let the *******s freeze in the dark! In reference to people from the lower 48 who don't want to see oil drilling in ANWR.

Thanks to everyone for the ideas. I haven't looked at the Alaska forum lately but I will check into everyone's suggestions. I must admit a lack of enthusiasm for this trip. You see, it's always been my husband's dream to go to Alaska, not mine. He won't do any planning and Alaska just hasn't caught on for me yet. The prices up there are shocking. At least the flight is an award.

We are heading to AK on an award ticket also...August 2004.

We are planning 3 days in Homer. We've been told that this is the best, most amazingly beautiful place in the area. We plan on taking a small group flight/bear viewing to Katmai then spend a day in and around town. We've splurged to get a great room on the spit directly on the beach.

Then we are heading to Whittier and taking the ferry over to Valdez. We're told this is an amazing trip. The pipeline in Valdez is supposed to be interesting. The following day we are taking a kayak tour to Columbia Glacier. Then its back to Whittier and a drive to Seward where we will do Exit Glacier, the icefield and a couple of other local attractions. Then the next day is a cruise to the Fjords.

Then it is back to ANC where we'll do the zoo or something else in/near the city.

We have also been to Juneau, Skagway and Sitka while cruising before. Hiking Mendenhall Glacier was alot of fun and beautiful scenery. From Ketchican we took a flight to a glacial lake and went canoeing.

There is lots to do in AK if you like nature. Feel free to e-mail me if you would like some specifics or more ideas (we've done a great deal of research).

------------------
Randy
-------------------------
HH Gold; SPG Gold; NW Gold; UA PremEx

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by LUVSWA:
We are planning 3 days in Homer. We've been told that this is the best, most amazingly beautiful place in the area. We plan on taking a small group flight/bear viewing to Katmai then spend a day in and around town. We've splurged to get a great room on the spit directly on the beach.
</font>

Sounds like you're headed for the Land's End "Resort". The Homer Spit doesn't have much in the way of a beach -- it's pretty much several miles of gravel spit out into Katchemak Bay. Be prepared to experience very stiff winds on the spit.

If your group likes fresh Alaskan seafood prepared in interesting ways, you might enjoy a trip across the bay to Halibut Cove for a meal at the Saltry. The boat the "Danny J." leaves from the harbor near the Land's End hotel and heads over to the interesting little community (and artists colony) of Halibut Cove. It usually takes a slight detour on the way over so bird and otter fans can get some photos.

Halibut Cove has a total population of maybe 40-50 during the summer and has basically *no* services, except for a few galleries and one restaurant, the Saltry. Many people feel the restaurant is excellent enough to go through the small steps and hassles of:

1) Get to Alaska

2) Get to Homer

3) Take the Danny J (or water taxi or float plane) across the bay to Halibut Cove.

http://www.halibutcove.com/

Yes, Homer was one of the places I read good things about. Have to get the map out again to remember where it was. What do you all think of renting an RV for the whole time we are there? For some reason, staying in a hotel when there's all the beautiful nature around just seems odd to me. However, I am not sure if you can get an RV into all the places one would want to explore because of tunnels and bridges, no roads, etc.

We are thinking of concentrating on the interior for this visit and then take a cruise later to see the coast and areas difficult to get to with a vehicle.


[This message has been edited by cecelia (edited Jan 20, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cecelia:
Yes, Homer was one of the places I read good things about. Have to get the map out again to remember where it was. What do you all think of renting an RV for the whole time we are there? For some reason, staying in a hotel when there's all the beautiful nature around just seems odd to me. However, I am not sure if you can get an RV into all the places one would want to explore because of tunnels and bridges, no roads, etc.

We are thinking of concentrating on the interior for this visit and then take a cruise later to see the coast and areas difficult to get to with a vehicle.


[This message has been edited by cecelia (edited Jan 20, 2004).]</font>

Around Labor Day, everyone in Alaska is in a friggin' RV. Trust me - I've been stuck behind every single one of 'em. So, I wouldn't worry about getting access to anywhere.

That said, bayview rooms at Land's End are about a billion times "closer to nature" than the RV parking lot on the spit. Tent camping on the spit is more than a little sketchy.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by LUVSWA:
[B]We are heading to AK on an award ticket also...August 2004.

We are planning 3 days in Homer. We've been told that this is the best, most amazingly beautiful place in the area. We plan on taking a small group flight/bear viewing to Katmai then spend a day in and around town. We've splurged to get a great room on the spit directly on the beach.

We spend two weeks every August in Homer. And we stay in a 'great room on the beach'. Although I must disagree with JeremyZ
-the beach camping in Homer is spectacular.

Homer is a really cool place. 1968 vintage Venice Beach, CA. Lots of left over hippies.

We also take a 1-3 day bear viewing trip every year. We use Hallobay.com. The people are very friendly and knowledgable, the bears are fantastic, and you actually are within 30 ft. of the bears. Private camp in the Katmai. Not inexpensive, but you can economize on other stuff.

We have been all over the interior of Alaska. If you like crowds, go to Denali-especially during cruise season. If you really want to see Alaska, go to Prudhoe Bay and drive south to Fairbanks. Or fly to Barrow around Labor Day to see the polar bears invade the town.

greatam are we talking about the same beach?

I'm talking about the part on the right side (as you drive toward the end) before the first set of shops, about halfway down the spit. Kinda on the other side of the road from the fishing hole.

Have you camped there?! Listen - I've done my share of camping - but that spot's *way* exposed in August, and I don't love the crowd that hangs out around there.

And the RV park's next to the oil storage facility, if memory serves. Yum.

While the location of the Lands End Resort is great, the place was a huge disappointment when we stayed there in late May 2000. We had a Starboard Bayside room and it was rather rundown. I don't think this place would even get two stars in any type of rating scheme. Old beds, old furniture, some torn carpeting, etc, and not exactly the cleanest place. I understand they added 20 new rooms in 2001, but from the pictures on their website, the old rooms do not appear to have changed at all. If you can guarantee you will be in one of the new rooms (and they are more expensive), I would stay there. Otherwise, I would look elsewhere. The old rooms are simply not worth it...even with the incredible views. I will give a thumbs up to the Chart House restaurant in the hotel. Dinner there one night was excellent.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by JeremyZ:
greatam are we talking about the same beach?

I'm talking about the part on the right side (as you drive toward the end) before the first set of shops, about halfway down the spit. Kinda on the other side of the road from the fishing hole.

Have you camped there?! Listen - I've done my share of camping - but that spot's *way* exposed in August, and I don't love the crowd that hangs out around there.

And the RV park's next to the oil storage facility, if memory serves. Yum.</font>

JeremyZ
The RV park is next to the oil storage. Not a bad place if you look out to the ocean all day. You just have to park the RV in the front row.

However, there is a RV park just north of the fishing hole. And the beach across the street, I think this is what you are referring to, is not bad. Usually deserted except on the weekends. Some of the tent campers are questionable, but we have run into a quite a few foreigners who are back packing across Alaska. Met a really nice young couple from Switzerland land year and then they ended up at Hallo Bay with us. They were traveling all over Alaska with just what was on their backs. Have never had a bad experience there and I just love the sound of the ocean 24/7. You can also camp just past the statue on the spit, but it gets a little noisy when the fishing boats leave early in the morning.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by MileKing:
While the location of the Lands End Resort is great, the place was a huge disappointment when we stayed there in late May 2000. We had a Starboard Bayside room and it was rather rundown. I don't think this place would even get two stars in any type of rating scheme. Old beds, old furniture, some torn carpeting, etc, and not exactly the cleanest place. I understand they added 20 new rooms in 2001, but from the pictures on their website, the old rooms do not appear to have changed at all. If you can guarantee you will be in one of the new rooms (and they are more expensive), I would stay there. Otherwise, I would look elsewhere. The old rooms are simply not worth it...even with the incredible views. I will give a thumbs up to the Chart House restaurant in the hotel. Dinner there one night was excellent.</font>

http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

The starboard bayside rooms are in the trailers, and easily the dumpiest at the hotel. They have these *terrible* stall showers. "Midship" rooms are the nicest, by far.

I prefer the starboard rooms because they have massive bayside decks with walls that only go up to my eye level when I'm sitting down.

Thanks for the replies! I have the map out now and realize that we won't get to Juneau as it looks like the road doesn't go all the way through. That Indian art show/gathering sounds very interesting and I would like to plan for that if we visit again.

We should be able to easily drive to Homer, Seward, Whittier and do the circle trip to Fairbanks. Maybe take the train to Valdez. It's coming together--if I don't procrastinate too much longer. Sounds like many of you are Alaska experts!

I will check back later for more ideas and as our plans (hopefully) evolve.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by cecelia:
Maybe take the train to Valdez. </font> Now that would be a good trick.

[There is no train to Valdez].

Since it sounds like you'll be driving yourself around Alaska, I'd recommend buying a copy of the 2004 Milepost when it comes out:

http://www.milepost.com/



[This message has been edited by Quokka (edited Jan 28, 2004).]

Had to put my 2 cents in about Homer!! My son and his family live there and we visit the grandkids for a few weeks most every summer.

Don't forget about Halibut Fishing!! Get them processed and flash frozen at Coal Point Processing. They will ship them home for you or store them until you are ready to leave. If you pack them in 40 lb. freezer boxes you can take them home as luggage. Anchorage airport has a freezer to put them in, until you are ready to fly out.

Take the drive out East End Road and Sky Line Drive. Breathtaking!! I have found (before my son had running water) that the B&B"s in Homer are excellent and a great value.

The bar menu at Land's End Hotel has great local fish and you can eat outside on the fantastic deck. Also has the best indoor clean restroom on the spit.

------------------
Some women are born wise, others achieve wisdom, still others have wisdom thrust upon them as they wonder through the posts of this board. Thanks one and all.

Thanks for those valuable tips as I was wondering how we were going to get the fish back home. I will remember what you said about the Homer area. You are lucky to have a son living there.

In Homer we are actually staying at Sea Lion Cove, not Land's End (which I agree looks like it could be hit or miss).

There are two rooms above the Sea Lion Gallery about mid-spit. They look brand new and have a great view. One has a whirlpool tub. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/biggrin.gif

Check out www.alaskaone.com/sealion/ (http://www.alaskaone.com/sealion/)

cecelia,

We are doing a similar itin. We are flying into ANC, driving to Homer for 3 days, driving to Seward for 2 days, then driving bak to ANC and flying to Valdez for 2 days. We were going to ferry to VDZ, but decided that the flight would only be $50pp more in total and would save about 10 daytime hours, which we decided to squeeze in a Kenai float trip.

If you want any details of our trip, feel free to e-mail me. Have fun!

------------------
Randy
-------------------------
HH Gold; SPG Gold; NW Gold; UA PremEx

I have a picture from the Sea Lion gallery above my computer. http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

There's a real good fish & chips place on that side of the road, just down the spit a little bit. You should check it out.

Things have changed a little since I last posted. My husband will have two women to deal with as my daughter is joining us for the Kenai portion with hopes of seeing whales.

We've got room enough for 3 in the RV and this will be fun. We'll do Valdez first alone, then circle back through Fairbanks and Denali, arriving to pick her up in Anchorage on May 24. So we'll have about a week on the Kenai peninsula.

I tried to talk her into flying from ANC to Valdez to meet up with us but she's tired of flying and won't get back on a plane until she has to.

We've found our portable shovels after reading about all the clams along the shore. Do you think it would be good to bring along packable fishing rods? I'm looking forward to eating fish and seafood.

Randy, I'd love to hear about your plans and will try to remember to email you soon.

Hi!

Have been reading this forum and rather happy with some of the answers. However, I would like to know what is the driving time from Anchorage to Denali (not the entrance to for the mountain climbers, but the other one). Was also wondering if how much can I see if I try to visit Denali in maximum 12 hours begining from Anchorage. I know it sounds rather crazy, but am trying to experience the park as much as possible. Can't extend my time anymore in Alaska due to reserved flights and job commitment. So am trying to see as much as possible the 60+hours I have on land in Alaska. Will be driving from Seward to Alaska, overnight in Anchorage and then thinking of visiting Denali before catching my flight late/early in the morning.

Any suggestions for this short itineary? :confused:

:)

Hi!

Just another short question, does anyone know any other car rental companies operating in Seward besides Hertz (which is bookable online)? Am trying to rent a car from Seward and returning it in Anchorage. The rate I am getting from Hertz is rather steep, was wondering if there are any other alternatives.

Thank you!

:)

Hi!

Have been reading this forum and rather happy with some of the answers. However, I would like to know what is the driving time from Anchorage to Denali (not the entrance to for the mountain climbers, but the other one). Was also wondering if how much can I see if I try to visit Denali in maximum 12 hours begining from Anchorage.

[snip]



You can't do it. It'll take 5-6 hours each way to drive between Denali and Anchorage.

If you're set on driving north, you could hit the state fair in Palmer if it's the right time of year.

To the south, there's Girdwood.

Alaska's big. It takes a long time to travel around by car.

We leave soon and I will post with our results so others may benefit from my experiences.

Thanks to everyone for the ideas. Now I seem to be more excited about the trip than my husband.

Belated update to our Alaska trip...I would advise people not to go in May. It rained most days of the 14+ days we were there. Fortunately, we still managed to see lots of wildlife and met some very fine residents of Alaska and other sightseers as well.

We had a close encounter with a big black bear at the Exit Glacier and spotted our first moose two minutes after picking up the RV in Anchorage.

The weather the day of the long cruise out of Seward was absolutely wonderful. We spotted whales, dolphins, puffins, etc. and had a nice salmon dinner.

We tried to catch fish but had no luck even in the Homer pond. However, a friendly Homer local invited us for a freshly caught fish dinner at his place--as long as I fried the fish. He let us camp in his yard and had lots of stories to tell of his life in Alaska.

The museums in Anchorage were excellent and a great way to spend rainy days.