Package Tours from Anchorage
Aug 21, 2007 | 1:43 pm
#1
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Join Date: Jun 2005
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Package Tours from Anchorage
Folks I know package tours are a dirty word amongst most of the FT community but I travel alone and prefer some human interaction.
I have been looking at various options for a 8-10 day tour ex ANC for next year.
I found this crowd that seems to offer the sort of thing I am after.
http://www.adventurealaskatours.com/multi.htm
Has anyone had any experience with this group?
The tour I am eyeing up is a combo camping/cabin tour with some activities thrown in such as rafting, kayaking, hiking etc.
Can anyone recommend any other tour groups (that don't sting single travellers) that offer similar types of tours?
Tx
I have been looking at various options for a 8-10 day tour ex ANC for next year.
I found this crowd that seems to offer the sort of thing I am after.
http://www.adventurealaskatours.com/multi.htm
Has anyone had any experience with this group?
The tour I am eyeing up is a combo camping/cabin tour with some activities thrown in such as rafting, kayaking, hiking etc.
Can anyone recommend any other tour groups (that don't sting single travellers) that offer similar types of tours?
Tx
Aug 22, 2007 | 6:44 pm
#2
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S+, Choice Platinum
Posts: 23,319
I'm not really familiar with package tour providers up here, except for seeing the hordes of clueless gray-haired people being corralled (like dumb sheep, and they ask dumb questions, too) into buses and businesses owned by Princess, Holland America, and Royal Caribbean. Just from the looks of their website, the folks you linked to look like they're more in tune with the real Alaska and the independent adventure traveler's spirit.
Some other ideas:
I've never used them, but our company does business with Alaska Tour and Travel. You can see their package tours here. We also do business with Rainbow Mountain Adventures, which claims to aim for the independent adventure traveler (hey, that's you!), and Alaska Vacations and Travel (contact info here; strangely, it looks like they actually don't have a real web site...take that for what it's worth).
The Alaska Railroad puts together rail+excursion vacation packages. They look like pretty good itineraries, but they may penalize single travelers (I don't know). You can see them here.
The State of Alaska operates a website for visitors. Here is a link to their info on vacation packages (mostly listings along with a vendor-provided description).
The Alaska Channel is a nonprofit organization that runs a tourist information TV channel seen in hotel rooms. They also produce a great free guidebook and provide some pretty good unbiased information. They may actually be a great resource--you can call them for information on booking packages, and they claim not to mark up the cost of tours or charge surcharges. Check them out here.
Last, two great resources put out by longtime Alaska travel guru, columnist and frequent local radio guest Scott McMurren are the Alaska Travelgram, an email newsletter with alerts for special deals on Alaska travel, and the Alaska TourSaver, a booklet with tons and tons of coupons for travel industry providers in Alaska (like two for one coupons, half price tickets, etc.). Scott is really good about answering emails, too, so you can always try to email him your question at [email protected].
And if you decide to put your own itinerary together, scroll through this forum here (make sure to widen your dates to go back at least six months or a year), since there's a ton of useful information on what to do and see and how to do it around here. See my post here for links to the best threads.
Hope this helps. Have a great trip!
Some other ideas:
I've never used them, but our company does business with Alaska Tour and Travel. You can see their package tours here. We also do business with Rainbow Mountain Adventures, which claims to aim for the independent adventure traveler (hey, that's you!), and Alaska Vacations and Travel (contact info here; strangely, it looks like they actually don't have a real web site...take that for what it's worth).
The Alaska Railroad puts together rail+excursion vacation packages. They look like pretty good itineraries, but they may penalize single travelers (I don't know). You can see them here.
The State of Alaska operates a website for visitors. Here is a link to their info on vacation packages (mostly listings along with a vendor-provided description).
The Alaska Channel is a nonprofit organization that runs a tourist information TV channel seen in hotel rooms. They also produce a great free guidebook and provide some pretty good unbiased information. They may actually be a great resource--you can call them for information on booking packages, and they claim not to mark up the cost of tours or charge surcharges. Check them out here.
Last, two great resources put out by longtime Alaska travel guru, columnist and frequent local radio guest Scott McMurren are the Alaska Travelgram, an email newsletter with alerts for special deals on Alaska travel, and the Alaska TourSaver, a booklet with tons and tons of coupons for travel industry providers in Alaska (like two for one coupons, half price tickets, etc.). Scott is really good about answering emails, too, so you can always try to email him your question at [email protected].
And if you decide to put your own itinerary together, scroll through this forum here (make sure to widen your dates to go back at least six months or a year), since there's a ton of useful information on what to do and see and how to do it around here. See my post here for links to the best threads.
Hope this helps. Have a great trip!
