Advice for Alaskan trip
 

I'm due to travel to Alaska for the first time next summer (July 21st-August 4th).
I've booked an room hotel in Anchorage for a couple of nights, I've already rented a car.
Any advice would be most welcome: what I shoudn't miss ? how should I get there ? and where should I stay ?
Thanks !

Just stay a few nights in ANC near the downtown and try to stay there on a Saturday when they are having the market. There is an excellent museum near downtown which warrants a day long visit IMO but I don't recall the name. We enjoyed the Tony Knowles trail and watching the float planes take off and land at the lake near the airport. Also, the earthquake museum was worthwhile.

We found an RV to be our preferred way of seeing the state and it was about the same as a hotel at around $100/night. We saw a moose 2 blocks after we picked up the RV, right in ANC. We went late May and the weather was horrible but the wildlife seemed to enjoy it as we saw lots of moose, bear, elk etc.

The glaciers are amazing so try to see everyone you can and get a window seat on the plane so you can see them from above. It's so beautiful. We enjoyed a day out of Seward on a sea life boat with lunch cruise. Of course, the natural beauty of Alaska hits you over the head but there are also lots of tourist traps and we got caught in our share. Kind of a disappointment that everyone up there wants their piece of the tourist action and it shows.

Recommend a day trip to Seward for a Kenai Fjiords cruise. Buy a delicious scone at the bakery across from the boat terminal. On the return, stop at Portage Glacier, take the Alyeska ski lift to the top for a cocktail and glacier view from Seven Glaciers, and dine on fine Cajun food at Double Muskey in the Girdwood townsite. You'll drive back to Anchorage in the evening with happy memories and a happy tummy.

I'm planning a trip around Memorial Day. Could you recommend a cruise operator? Also, any idea how good the half-day cruise is vs. the full-day (or what would I miss)?
Thanks

The largest operator out of Seward is Kenai Fjords tours. They've been in the business for years. Renown Charters is using a new catamaran this year from Seward and Major Marine also does a fine job (they're known for the special buffet meals on board). Mariah charters focuses on a smaller boat with a more personal experience. All do an excellent job

The half-day trip focuses on Resurrection Bay and never really explores Kenai Fjords National Park. They often hug the shore looking for wildlife (eagles, puffins, otters, sometimes orca and whales). Kenai Fjords Tours has some half-day trips that take you to Fox Island for a meal.

If you really want the true experience, go for the longer trips that go to Holgate or Aialik Glacier and the Chiswell Islands. Spectacular scenery and
usually plenty of wildlife (never any guarantees up here). Word of warning - the journey into the open waters of the Gulf of Alaska is often known for rolling waves and boat motion. It's really exciting for some but stomach churning for other. Motion sickness pills taken one hour before your cruise departs is highly recommended. If you wait and take it after the cruise has departed, you are often too late.

Also remember the weather - layered clothing and rain gear can come in handy on these cruises.

There are also several cruise operators out of Whittier which is (A) closer to Anchorage and (B) run through the calmer, protected waters of western Prince William Sound. These can include trips to Blackstone Bay (shorter tour), College Fjord, Esther Passage, and Barry Arm. I think you see more glaciers on the Prince William Sound tours although the Seward trips tend to have more wildlife.

As an extra bonus, the Alaska Railroad provides rail service to both Whittier and Seward that connects with the cruises. The route along Turnagain Arm is really scenic (beluga whales and sheep are often spotted). You can also drive to both if you wish but the train saves dealing with traffic.

Both Seward and Whittier are highly recommended and we usually do both during the summer. For what it is worth, the temperatures the past few days in Anchorage have been in the 60s and 70s with long hours of daylight.
Enjoy your visit!

Mariah Captain's Choice Tour
 

I am planning a week-long trip to Alaska for this upcoming Memorial Day. The goal is to maximize photography opportunities for wildlife, glaciers and mountain scenes.

We plan on taking at least one Kenai Fjords Tour - and have a definite interest in the Mariah option, but the boat looks abit on the smallish side and one of our party gets seasick looking at a pitcher of water - and getting them on a boat is going to be hard unless the area being cruised is relatively calm, flat and the boat is mostly stable.

Any advise on this particular option? We are looking to combine this tour with another day cruise option on a larger boat, unless this tour is comprehensive enough that we only need the one trip....or combine it with a cruise through Prince William Sound.

Also - do any tour operators offer sea kayaking with the whales, where you can get up close?

On land, we're looking for the best self-guided opportunities and locations to see any bears, caribou, moose, rare birds and other interesting mammals.

Exit Glacier down by Seward will give you a chance to see a lot. Moose are likely to be anywhere is that general area of Alaska. I hope that you don't see bears! You will be well out of the area for caribou.

Take your sweet time when driving along Turnagain Arm from Anchorage down toward the Kenai. Most tourists drive way to fast and miss many photo ops and animal sightings. If you see a group of cars pulled over, you can bet someone has spotted something interesting.

The size of the boats you are considering won't make much difference if someone gets sea sick. They will get sick. You might be better off finding something else for them to do for the day.

Get yourself a MILEPOST for the best possible information on Alaska. www.milepost.com

Thanks for the information! How far do we need to go to see caribou or elk...or are they deep in the interior?

Now about the bears - actually we do want to see bears (safely, of course). At this point, we're looking at an air/land tour with a private outfitter there that runs about $500pp for 5-6 hours, including 2-3 hours of time with the bears feasting on salmon. I understand the timing is perfect for late May, as most of the bears will be females teaching their cubs how to get the salmon, which should make for some great photo ops.

I've been looking for a place to do either a self-guided or ranger-led tour to see the bears within a day's drive of Anchorage (or even driving to another city, staying over to see the bears, then driving back) - but my web search has turned up empty so far, as all the bear viewing river sites are only reachable by air or don't have bears present until July. Do you have any advise on drivable alternatives with bears viewable during late May?

Here is the first draft of the itinerary so far - it probably needs alot of work

Day 1 Saturday - Fly to Anchorage, arrive late afternoon, dinner in town, overnight Anchorage
Day 2 Sunday - Explore Anchorage and surrounding area (need a better plan for this day). Overnight Anchorage
Day 3 Monday - Early morning drive to Denali Park, explore the Park, overnight at Denali Bluffs Hotel with Mountain view room
Day 4 Tuesday - Continue exploring Denali Park, late afternoon departure to return to Anchorage, overnight Anchorage
Day 5 Wednesday - Drive to Seward, Kenai Fjords Mariah Tour (includes sightseeing while driving), overnight Alyeska Resort
Day 6 Thursday - Prince William Sound Tour (includes sightseeing while driving), overnight Alyeska Resort
Day 7 Friday - Bear Viewing trip to Katmai via floatplane, return to Anchorage, overnight
Day 8 Saturday - local sightseeing around Anchorage, shopping, late evening flight home

Is there anything you recommend swapping out - for example, would it be worthwhile to skip the Prince William Sound tour and do a drive to another park or nature preserve? We would like to see glaciers, but if the Kenai Fjords tour combines everything we want (fjords, glaciers, mountain views, animals) into one day trip, then perhaps we can assign Day 6 for something else, unless PWS is well worth seeing.

I think we're going to go the Scopalmine route for the sea-sickness - there is too much to see from the boat to cancel. It's not like this opportunity comes up every day.

Thanks again for the advise!

I took a fantastic trip to Alaska last fall. I suggest you spent as little time in Anchorage as possible. If you feel the need, do some sight seeing in the city on your last day before you leave. The lake where the float planes take off and land is neat. Their is so much else to see in Alaska.

In Seward I would suggest spending 2 nights. You can hike up a short trail to Exit Glacier. I took the all day Saltwater Lodge whale/wildlife/glacier cruise. They do cruises and also have lodging. I myself chose to stay at a motel near the marina. Their cruise is on a smaller boat and is limited to 15 people. We had only 4 people on our cruise. It was wonderful. Highly recommended. As a precaution take some dramimine 1 hour before the cruise. Alaskasaltwaterlodge.com

Denali National Park is fantastic. It deserves as much time as you can allow. I spent 1 night at the entrance and 3 nights inside the park at the Skyline Lodge. It's the lodge where the Kantishana Air Taxi pilots stay. They only have a few rooms (no bathrooms in the room). It's price is much lower than all of the other in the park lodges. You can ride the bus in or have Kat Air pick you up at the entrance. They also do all the scenic flights in the park. Also well worth the price. You ride the park bus to get around.
Their website is www.katair.com.

Make sure that they are going to let you go up to the Brooks Falls platform. Because of "bear jams" it's possible to get stuck on the wrong side of the river, so a daytrip may limit your exploration options.

You might check into staying overnight at Katmai. There is an electric-fenced campground that only costs 8 bucks a night per person.

Thanks all...I guess the first revision is getting to Denali on Sunday and skipping the extra day in Anchorage. I checked out the Saltwater Lodge, but it appears bed-and-breakfasy, which is not our thing. Expedia had a decent looking hotel called the Harborview Inn - although there were some other, cheaper options.

The boats at the SWL look pretty small, but in their photos, the water appears flat calm - my traveling companion will freak out if on a smaller boat in rough waters, and even Bonine pills don't work, so I hope a Scopalmine patch will do the trick - for both of us. How was their boat tour, and what did you see?

Is there any particular bear tour you can recommend? Right now, we're looking at the 5hr tour offered by Hallo Bay.

so...first revision...

Day 1 Saturday - Fly to Anchorage, arrive late afternoon, dinner in town, overnight Anchorage
Day 2 Sunday - Early morning drive to Denali Park, explore the Park, overnight at Denali Bluffs Hotel with Mountain view room
Day 3 Monday - Continue exploring Denali Park, late afternoon departure to return to Anchorage, overnight Anchorage
Day 4 Tuesday - Drive to Seward, explore photo ops on the way, overnight Seward
Day 5 Wednesday - Kenai Fjords Mariah Tour (includes sightseeing while driving), or Saltwater Lodge small group tour, overnight Seward
Day 6 Thursday - Prince William Sound Tour (includes sightseeing while driving), drive to Homer
Day 7 Friday - Bear Viewing trip to Katmai via floatplane, return to Anchorage, overnight Anchorage
Day 8 Saturday - local sightseeing around Anchorage, shopping, late evening flight home

I think I need more to add on Day 4 - sights to see on the way to, or around Seward

We stayed at the Marina Motel in Seward. Located just a few blocks from the marina on the main road into Seward. You could walk from the motel to the harbor if you want. It's not located directly on the harbor as the Harborview and is a bit less expensive. If you don't mind the cost of the room then I would say the Harborview would be the place to stay. If not staying at the Harborview and you drive to the harbor there is a fee for parking in the lot. In the afternoon when all the fishing charters come in you can watch them cleaning fish on the dock. Also, check out the Alaska Sealife Center in Downtown Seward. You can view and photograph Puffins up close above and below the water.

The Saltwater Lodge has 2 boats they use depending how many people are taking the cruise. Their tour was very good. I myself prefer a more intimate experience than the larger tour boats, easier to get better photos because your not competing with so many other people to get the shot. On the cruise we saw 3 whales, many birds, lots of puffins, tons of scenery and wonderful glaciers. If you tell the captain what you are interested in seeing he will do his best to accomodate you. They supply a sandwich lunch that is quite good. The captain stops in front of a glacier to eat. In my opinion I would say 1 cruise would be enough.

Don't know if you are aware it takes about 4-5 hours to drive to Denali from Anchorage. You can only drive your car a short distance into the park. You must take the park bus to see most and in my opinion the best part of the park. You can reserve bus seats on the Denali nps website. If you don't reserve in advance you risk they will be sold out for that day. Looking at your itinerary it seems you don't have enough time allotted to see much of the park because you will also be driving to or from anchorage.

I did a bunch of research on bear trips but decided to save it for my next Alaska trip. I did think that Katmai was the place to go for a bear trip. In a day trip to Katmai you take a risk that the weather won't cooperate and you won't be able to go or you may get stuck there.

It seems a lot of people (including myself) try to fit in to much stuff in their trip. That's why I trimmed mine down to visit Seward and Denali and I'm glad I did. Keep in mind driving distances are farther than they seem.

You may be able to get some info about bear viewing on photo.net. Search the alaska forums there or post a question.

I would recommend working in a trip on the Richardson Highway between Fairbanks and Valdez. It takes about 8 hours to drive the whole thing, and the mountian scenery from Delta Junction to Valdez is absolutely spectacular. I cannot emphasize it enough. Then you can take the ferry from Valdez to Whittier and Seward is only an hour or so drive from Whittier.

We went last May and did the following itinerary in a week:

Day 1 Land in ANC
Day 2 Drive to Denali, explore Denali
Day 3 Explore Denali, drive to Fairbanks
Day 4 Drive to Valdez, explore area
Day 5 Ferry to Whittier, drive to Seward
Day 6 Kenai Fjords Tours glacier and wildlife tour, explore Exit Glacier
Day 7 return to ANC, explore area
Day 8 fly home

You can definitely add some padding in between many of the days to flesh out your extra time, there is plenty to see. But this is, IMHO, a great selection fo what Alaska has to offer.

Thanks...actually SRQ Guy's itinerary looks very good if I can get away from doing the bear watch - which would also save us 1,100. I really wanted to get some shots of them catching salmon and teaching the cubs, but if the weather could add alot of risk to the trip, and there are spectacular mountain scenes to see and photograph elsewhere, perhaps we can leave it for another time.

We did get fairly close (accidentally) to a brown bear mother and cubs at Yosemite last year, and it was a pretty thrilling experience to be out in the wild with such an incredible animal...seeing them in Alaska would be a thrill - but not if we miss out on alot of other important things to see.

I would suggest that you seriously consider adding a leg on the Alaska Railroad into your trip if the timing would work.

Last September we spent a week in Alaska, half in Denali and half in Anchorage and points further south. The relevant portion of our trip for you would be the following:

Drive from Anchorage to Talkeetna, do the jet boat tour with Mahay's Jet Boats. Drive from Talkeetna to Denali State Park, overnight at Mt. McKinley Princess Lodge ($99/night, great views). Depart SOUTH the next morning to Talkeetna, catch the train from Talkeetna to Denali National Park (3 hours and $60 per person each way, and some of the most amazing views anywhere). http://www.alaskarailroad.com/arrc18.html#6 and http://www.princesslodges.com/mckinley_lodge.cfm

Another really fun thing to do is snowmachining, which is offered in the summer via a helicopter flightseeing/snowmachining trip. I always use Glacier City located in Girdwood, AK, about thirty miles southeast of Anchorage on the Seward Highway. http://www.snowtours.net/

If you want to watch the floatplanes, drive on the road to the airport (International Airport Road) and watch for the Alaska Department of Transportation building - they have a big parking lot that abuts the "runway" for the seaplanes, and I'm fairly certain it's open to the public or that they look the other way (I've been there many times and there are always a bunch of random people hanging out watchcing the seaplanes).

The Anchorage Museum of History and Art is smaller but very nice and can be combined with a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center for about $20 per person.

The drive from Anchorage/Girdwood to Seward is amongst the most beautiful in the country, definitely plan on stopping frequently for photo opps if the weather is nice.

If you want to try and get some bear (and other animal) viewing in quickly and easily, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center might be an option (I've never stopped, but photos from there always look nice). http://www.alaskawildlife.org/

And probably completely irrelevant, but my two favorite stops in the Anchorage Mall are the Iditarod Store (near the C street entrance) and the Fruitland smoothie place on the food court level - their tea smoothies are very good... :)

Final piece of advice regarding Alaska - you'll never see it all no matter how much time you spend up there, so plan on coming back frequently and you'll never be disappointed with what you "missed" on a previous trip. It's a truly amazing, beautiful and rugged state.

Have a great trip!

Sean

Thanks and good advise...since my travel partner is moving to Seattle next summer, it will make taking trips up there much more convenient, at least for one of us :)

Here's my personal opinion on paying to see bears. Don't. I attract bears and can turn them up in Alaska even going out to get the mail. Caribou are a long way off your chosen path. Alaska is BIG! The bus tours leave on their route through Denali very early in the morning and take a very long day to do. You can ride the hop on hop off buses, but you need to know what you are doing. The drive from Anchorage to Denali can be darn slow during tourist season. All it takes is a couple slow motor homes and you have to cool your heels.

Frankly I think you are trying to do too much. You won't enjoy all that running around.
Read your MILEPOST and take it seriously.

www.milepost.com

Thank you and the more I think about it, the more I'm going to seriously research SRQGuy's itinerary as the one we're going to do instead of the one I came up with.

As for the bears - assuming we scrap the flight to see them, are there any places that offer a decent chance to see bears in the wild in late May along the route he took, or perhaps with a short and easy detour that won't take much time out of the itinerary?

If there is a relatively easy to way to do it, we can work that into the schedule, otherwise we'll leave it off for this trip.

There are many, many bears in Alaska. If you keep your eyes open you are likely to see them along almost any road, in the area of Exit Glacier, Portage Glacier area and sometimes even in Anchorage....in the city.

There is a running (decades long) joke in our family that if you want to see a bear, follow me! My family has a house out in the area east and south of Anchorage not far from Turnagain Arm. During the warmer months, there are bears just about anywhere I want to go.

If you see a bunch of cars/trucks pulled over along a road, chances are the people are seeing animals. Most tourists drive to fast and miss so much.

It goes without saying, leave the bears alone! You don't have to pay to see bears, just keep a look out. The same with moose.

Be sure to take a pair of binoculars as you will use them plenty.

I wouldn't take the time and effort to drive to Fairbanks. You have plenty enough driving to and fro Denali Park. That road can get very congested and slow. Don't set yourself such a tight schedule that you turn your vacation into a JOB!

You will see bears and all kinds of other wildlife if you spend any time at all between cities in Alaska. In Denali, you'll see tons of it.

We saw a HUGE porcupine walking on the side of the road one day, as well as countless moose and bears.

On our first trip to Alaska in late May, we saw bears at Exit Glacier and at Denali. We saw black bears at Exit Glacier and grizzly bears at Denali. In Denali we watched a grizzly snacking on a moose - not quite the same as watching them catch salmon but extremely exciting in its own way. We saw at least seven grizzly bears including a mother and her twins. In late May the wild life viewing was spectacular! A bus tour offered by the park was our only option for touring but it really was a wonderful experience. Ranger Ken was extremely cute as well as knowledgeable. We stopped every time that we saw an animal. We were on the first trip of the morning.

We have hiked to the Russian River Falls (about a five mile round-trip on fairly flat ground) on two of our trips to Alaska. Bears are often spotted there eating salmon. I do not know if there will be bears there in late May; it may be too early for salmon. The RRF are just off the Sterling Highway a few miles past Cooper Landing. We have seen several moose in this area.

Everytime that we have visited Alaska (only six times so far), we have taken one of the Kenai Fiords cruises. We have used different companies - usually the one with the longest cruise at the cheapest cost. In September 2006, our options were limited because many companies had stopped cruising for the year. However, we had one of our best orca sightings ever! In fact our naturalist said that it was one of the best that he had ever experienced. A pod interacted with our boat for over forty-five minutes. The really weird part of this story is that we were on a humpback whale watching cruise in Maui in January 2007 and two of our fellow passengers (we had never met them before) were talking about a cruise that they had taken in Alaska in September 2006. We discovered that we were cruising in Alaska on the same day and possibly on the same boat. What a small world!

We have also taken the PWS cruise three times; Phillips 16 Glacier Cruise is really good and they travel to more glaciers (some of the other boats travel to fout or five glaciers). However, you can sometimes get a really good discount if you book your KF and PWS cruises with the same company.

Costs
 

Hello, That looks like a great itinerary.

I am planning to visit alaska around July. We would like to do alot of hiking. Currently, I am deciding if i shoud do a cruise for 7 to 9 days vs Booking everything my self such as hotel, rent a car and visit places like you posted.
What does a trip like you posted cost?

thanks

Denali Area Accomodations
 

Given the mixed reviews from TripAdvisor about every property within a 2 hr radius of the Park, I am open to suggestions on recommended hotel (non-rustic) options.

The Denali Princess is sold out for one of our nights, so that's a non-starter and it looks like the Denali Bluffs doesn't open up until the day after we are scheduled to leave the park....unless I do the scheduled tour in reverse.

The McKinley Princess has availability, but it's very hard to tell from the website how close it really is to the National Park entrance and Visitors Center/Bus Depot.

I put this itinerary and trip together myself. I'd say I spent an average of $100 per night on hotels, and I rented a car for the week for ~$200. I think the ferry trip, including car accomodation, was around $200 as well. I can't remember the cost of the Kenai Fjords tour in Seward, but most everything else we did was free. For meals it will all depend on what you choose to do, but generally we found food to be noticeably more expensive than comparable meals at home, but not horribly so. Personally I hate organized tours, and I think this itinerary gives you a better taste of Alaska than a cruise will.

I think you're SOL for "non-rustic" places near Denali that aren't Princess hotels. I can safely recommend Motel Nord Haven as a reasonably priced and clean accomodation. There's no nightlife to speak of and just a few restaurants in the area, so I'd plan on just relaxing while in the Denali area.

If you want to stay somewhere with a view of Denali but not necessarily in the park, try Talkeetna Alaskan Lodge. Pricey but definitely not rustic. We stayed there for two nights on our honeymoon and wish we'd stayed longer. Land's End in Homer was nice and of course you can't go wrong at the Captain Cook while in Anchorage. Second the Double Muskey, excellent place.

Denali Resorts and Denali Park Activities
 

Apparently, Denali Resorts (the Aramark contractor running the nearby hotels) has a two-for-one special - buy one night, get the next free. Can't beat that deal, so we ended up booking the McKinley Chalet Resort (the Grande Denali was sold out). You can call their central booking number and mention the 2-4-1 deal and they know exactly how to book it (standard rooms only, no upgrades).

Now we're trying to figure out what to do in the park. Originally, we wanted to do a bus tour, but it seems the premier company, Doyle, is not operating until early June. We wanted to get as far as Wonder Lake, but it appears there are not shuttles or buses going that far in until mid June.

So...are there are other recommended tours that get as far as Tolkat River, or is it OK to take the shuttle to Tolkat, get off and hike around? Is Tolkat the best jump-off spot for wildlife? What are some other good spots to get off the shuttle for relatively short hikes with decent animal viewing, perhaps wildflowers and mountain/landscape views?

There are many places to do all of the above. There are many guide books and maps available for that area. Good for you on your booking for the Chalets. The Park shuttles are good enough for what you want to do. They stop when someone spots a big animals. You don't have to go far from the road or even get off the road to see a great deal. The buses drive very slowly. A lot of bump, bump.

I could spend eternity at Polychrome Pass! Check out info on that. Here's a great photo. Polychrome Pass is at the Tolkat River.

http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Polychrome%20View.htm

Thanks for the info! I will put together an itenary this weekend.

Salmon Sashimi
 

I forgot to solicit opinions for this earlier, but where is the best place to sample locally caught wild salmon sashimi or sushi in the Anchorage and/or Seward area - short of going down to the dock and gnawing on someone's catch or fighting for position beside a local grizzly at a spawning stream :)

Any stand-out or reliable restaurants specialize in this?

There's a really good salmon-bake restaurant near Exit Glacier just outside of Seward.

Sounds good, as I wanted to avoid the tourist trap version up near Denali...but do they serve their salmon raw too? :)

Good idea, the Denali place is a real tourist trap. The place in Seward is a bit touristy, but not nearly as much so as the one in Denali. They do smoked salmon, of course, at the salmon bake in Seward, but I don't remember if they had raw or not.

If you end up doing the itinerary I listed, there is a real locals joint in Valdez called the Halibut House. It's a carry-out window kinda place, but the fish was outstanding. They don't sell salmon, though.

What is the best hotel in Fairbanks? Im looking for something with high speed Internet and modern facilities.

Very, very, very good info posted in this thread here. I wanted to let all of you planning to come up to read through the other few most recent threads in this forum. You may need to expand the view to threads within the last couple of months--I'm not sure when the last activity in them was, but the one about the 10-day trip and another one about Princess lodges in Alaska have a lot of discussion (some courtesy of yours truly) about potential itineraries. I can't spend 6 hours putting together info for this thread (as I seemed to do on the others) as it's finals week and I really should be writing an English paper, but I can't resist the siren call of FT...

A couple of points I wanted to make:

1) Good seafood in Anchorage (I can't really speak to restaurants on the Peninsula as I don't make it down there often): Simon and Seafort's has my favorite meal of all time: Parmesan and asiago-crusted halibut with buttered asparagus. Skip the Phyllis' Salmon Bake across from the 5th Avenue Mall (touristy and most of the people I know say it's not great fish--never been there myself, though). The White Spot Cafe has great halibut sandwiches, and Southside Bistro has great fish, too. There's a more comprehensive posting regarding my restaurant recommendations in Anchorage over on the Kayak.com forums.

I can't speak to the salmon sashimi or sushi, though--I'm not a huge sushi fan. In fact, I'm not a huge salmon fan (although I'll eat it willingly if it's good); I MUCH prefer the far sweeter flavor of halibut. DO NOT MISS eating fresh halibut while you're here!

2) Most of the questions about where to stay near Denali have been addressed (personally, I've only stayed at the Denali Princess, so I can't add much to the discussion), but I did want to address someone's question about how far the McKinley Princess is from the park entrance. The McKinley Princess is on a bluff a bit north of Talkeetna, so you'd need to plan your schedule to accommodate a roughly two-hour drive up to the park entrance itself. It's got a great view of the mountain (in clear weather). Actually, if you stay in the park resort area itself, you won't be able to see the mountain at all, since you're in the middle of the Alaska Range, so if you want a room with a view, this might be better, but again, it's still a ways from the park activities.

3) SRQ Guy said he got a car for $200 for a week. Don't be surprised if you find rates FAR higher than that--right now, I'm seeing $350 per week base/$500 after taxes for a COMPACT car for July. SRQ Guy must have been traveling in the shoulder season (May or September) or just simply stumbled across a rate that was most likely a glitch in the computer system. To everyone coming: book soon as cars actually do sell out up here in the summer (I know; I worked in the industry and sort of still do). (Most reservations can be cancelled and rebooked if you do find a cheaper rate, so don't hesitate to click "Reserve.")

4) If you CAN squeeze in an Alaska Railroad trip, I highly recommend it. I've done both ANC-FAI and ANC-Seward with family and they've all enjoyed it immensely. Seward works well as a day trip as the train arrives in Seward at around noon and leaves at around 6pm, and some of the half-day cruises are timed to fit with the train schedule. However, as has already been mentioned, the full-day cruises are worth the extra time, but that puts a cramp in the train schedule. (Disclaimer: I work for the railroad, but I still heartily recommend it...) I've also heard (as has already been mentioned) that cruises out of Whittier see more glaciers (especially the 26 Glacier Cruise) while Seward cruises see more wildlife. Take your pick, though you'll see a lot of both either way. Hint: if you do the Valdez-Whittier ferry run, you do pass Columbia Glacier (huge--the size of Los Angeles) on the way over, so you can kill two birds with one stone (not eagles, please) that way, though the actual glacier cruises do see a lot more.

5) What is an elk? Three people mentioned seeing elk up here. I know that Brits call our moose "elk," but for heaven's sake, don't ask any locals where the elk are--they'll have no clue what you're talking about...

Again, I recommend combing through the other threads in the Alaska forum here. We've devoted lots of time to discussing hotels around Denali, the merits of stopping in Fairbanks and what to do in Seward. Oh, and DEFINITELY do get a Milepost--best place I've seen online is Amazon.com ($17, I think). You can get them for $12 at Costco here in Anchorage, but you really should get it now and read about the roads you're going to travel on. When you do get to Anchorage, you might want to look at one of the DeLorme Alaska Atlas & Gazetteers (also available at Costco) for extremely detailed topo maps of the entire state. Ask for one of the Alaska Channel guidebooks free at many places around town (I know at least three rental agencies stock them at the airport counters, too)--they're some of the best guidebooks I've seen about the state (different from the Milepost, which has heavy advertising and no real opinions or reviews and is simply a guide to what you'll run into as you travel each road). Of course, Lonely Planet and Let's Go do a good job, too, but they may be aimed at a slightly different crowd.


OK, OK, enough out of me--I'm already going to have to forgo a full night's sleep for this paper...

BINGO. I thought I mentioned that, but we were traveling in late May, returning home on Memorial Day. It made for a very nice trip as everything was very uncrowded but everything was open and the weather was spectacular. This Floridian got sunburned in Alaska. :D

And as a recent traveler to Alaska, I second and third jackal's suggestion to get the Milepost. That is the single most useful travel guide I have ever used for any destination. Even better,m it's full of discounts and you're sure to more than make up for it's small cost.

Well, it'd be hard to do a Milepost anywhere else. Between Alaska and northwestern Canada (what's covered in the Milepost) there are, what, 20 or 30 roads? And most of the entries in the road logs are for things like "culvert over Fish Creek" and "campground next to Bear Lake" and "turnout for slow vehicles"--there just isn't a lot of stuff along the roads here!

I'd hate to see how thick a Milepost for California would be--heck, one just for Los Angeles County would be several thousand pages! Even travel through rural Wyoming or Colorado can't compare to the vast stretches of road devoid of human civilization here (not to mention the supermajority of the state that can't even be accessed by road...).

One other suggetion re: Katmai. When Mrs JJ and I did our trip, we flew to King Salmon and used the air taxi service to Katmai, which gave us a full day, then flew back to King Salmon for an overnight. We spent two days - one for bear viewing and one to "tour" the park/valley of 10,000 smokes.
I've fished in the Bristol Bay area since the early '80's so I was familiar with much of the river area having fished it many times (usually in late September after the park officially closed for tourists).

Best Fairbanks Hotel?
 

Spring Hill Suites by Marriott

We were there last June.

Since it is the only hotel I've stayed at in Fairbanks, I couldn't say if this is the best hotel in Fairbanks. However, we were very happy with it. They have high-speed Internet access and it is a new modern facility.

Good laundry facilities.

One thing we liked best about this hotel was the restaurant was unusually good. Not just good for a Marriott, but good in general. Above the 98 percentile for hotel restaurants in the lower 48. They had an exceedingly good kitchen staff that made the most marvelous dishes. It was crowded with people coming in from outside the hotel. Wait staff was good as well.

We will be staying there again.