I have 3 days to spend in alaska, wondering if anyone can give helpful tips on the best place to visit. i am hoping to see wildlife more than anything else. option 2 is to improve on my amateur photographic skills. at the moment I have booked tickets till settle. can fly anywhere from there. struggling as most tours are longer duration and i am going there alone. can spend around $1000, more if its worth it. time is limited, landing may 13.

is this a dumb idea, should i rather go elsewhere ? or can this work ?


thank you in advance.

You're not going to see the whole state in three or four days, so you're going to have to be selective about what you do. Planning an open-jaw itinerary might give yo more time on the ground, but it's not necessary.

Start by figuring out which portion of the state you want most to see. Fairbanks and Juneau are different experiences from Anchorage. If you fly into either Anchorage or Fairbanks, you'll have access to both the road system and the railbelt, but Southeast Alaska (where Juneau is) has plenty to offer, too.

My first recommendations for wildlife viewing are Denali National Park or the McNeil River Sanctuary. Denali is more accessible, but you'll likely end up spending hours on a bus to see the park (since there's limited access for personal vehicles.)

If money is no object, you can charter a plane and pilot for wildlife viewing out of nearly any community in the state. A slightly less expensive option is one of the Alaska Railroad tours - there's an Anchorage-Denali-Anchorage tour that gives you two nights in a tourist-friendly hotels near the park (but not in it.)

There are also wildlife-viewing cruises out of Whittier, Seward, Homer, and Valdez in summer, but be aware that weather can affect both the presence of animals and your enjoyment of the trip (we've witnessed a number of very sea-sick passengers on stormy days when we've taken the day tours.)

There's also the option of renting a vehicle and driving, but not everyone is comfortable doing so and you'll want to keep in mind that we tend to measure distance in time to get there rather than miles or kilometers.

I hope your trip here is memorable for all the right reasons.

Since you're arriving May 13th, Denali is out because the shuttle buses don't start running until May 20th (http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/hours.htm).

You may want to go to Anchorage, rent a car and head to the Kenai Penisula ... personally I'd drive all the way to Homer and stay there for a couple of days before heading back to Anchorage. (look at this) But I'm partial to Homer.

Another option might be to fly to Fairbanks, rent a car, and head out the Chena Hot Springs road ... we've seen moose, eagles, wolves, etc., on our way to the springs many times. It's been pretty warm in F'banks the past few days so the snow is melting fast, and the birds are landing at Creamer's Field on their migratory runs to the Arctic. You're bound to see quite a bit of birds at Creamer's Field, and it's easy to get to (taxi, city bus, or rental car).

Since you are there before the beginning of the tour buses in Denali, I would explore the Kenai Peninsula. Take the Kenai Fjords tour out of Seward one day. Go Kayaking on Resurrection Bay there in Seward. Take the Glacier tour out of Whittier another. Spend a day or two in Homer. Plenty to do in that part of Alaska (assuming that the weather cooperates). If you like to fish, go Halibut fishing out of Homer, or Salmon fishing in Kenai or Soldotna.

Lots to do. Enjoy.

Do you already have your flights booked? Where in Alaska? Fly into Anchorage? Juneau? Somewhere else?

Do you mean three nights (thus three full days) or three days/two nights? When do your flights arrive/depart? That makes all the difference in the world regarding how much you can plan.

With three days (depending on how you figure them) I would probably just go to either Homer or Seward. Personally I would pick Seward. I definitely would not go to both with your short time.

Take your time driving there and back - Girdwood, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, very scenic stops, maybe the Portage Glacier Visitor Center will be open.

Take a 6 hour or longer (NOT shorter) Kenai Fjords National Park boat tour. The shorter ones don't get out of Resurrection Bay so you don't see nearly as much wildlife and you would miss the glacier.

Right now the tunnel to Whittier is closed to cars and it is uncertain when it will reopen. So you would need to park the car on the Anchorage side of the tunnel and take the train to Whittier in order to take the Prince William Sound tour, and I am not sure of the train times - you might need to spend the night in Whittier one way or the other. In any case, I think it would be a very poor use of your precious three days.

If your three days is really three nights, and if you fly out later on the fourth day, taking a day trip to the Matsu Valley would be worthwhile. This is just north of Anchorage.

John

Train schedule's pretty abysmal. You either have 15 minutes to see Whittier or four hours. I'm not sure when the glacier cruises start doing revenue trips, but if the road's still not open by then, hopefully they rearrange the train schedules to meet better with those.

Train schedules here:

http://www.akrr.com/arrc115.html

Hello, all. Wanting to take some advantage of the AS fare sale that expired last night (not to mention double EQM), I placed my self in the same boat as the OP, though I did manage to carve a whopping 4 days (and 5 nights) out of my schedule.

I booked RT to ANC (I entertained the idea of doing a semi-creative open jaw, but since the sale clock was ticking, I ended up erring on the side of caution... sometimes closing open jaws can be more challenging than anticipated).

So, here's what I'm thinking:

day 1 plus preceding night: Anchorage
days 2-4: utilize tour* to hit Denali and/or McKinley
night 5: grab hotel near ANC

*As much as I loathe organized or even semi-organized tours, one seems to fit the bill in this case because:

1) car rental rates are kind of steep
2) so is staying in Anchorage
3) I would like to see a bit more of Alaska than Anchorage

In evaluating tour companies, the following caught my eye as a reasonable option (comments appreciated):

http://www.princesslodges.com

When are you going? That makes a bit of a difference in what you can do at Denali (before June 1 you are quite limited in how far you can get into the park for example, and after Sep 1 you are at the mercy of a possible snowfall closing some or all of the road into the park).

Car rental rates can be super expensive unless booked months and months in advance (my rate for mid June pick up off-airport booked last July is $95/week plus taxes). Same car booked now is over $400/week!

Note that McKinley Princess Lodge (for the "McKinley" tours) is an hour from the nearest town (Talkeetna) and almost 3 hours from Denali National Park. You do NOT want to stay here! You can easily replicate the Princess tour booking on your own. I would be surprised if you didn't save money booking it on your own.

I understand about the tour vs. car rental but if it were me I would do this:

day 1 plus preceding night: Anchorage
Lots to do in Anchorage - see one of the threads in this forum where I posted a huge list and others added to it.

day 2 train to Denali NP, arrive in afternoon, leave luggage at baggage check near visitor center, see visitor center exhibits and film, maybe a ranger-led or independent hike near the entrance (most are relatively easy), then transfer to Denali Princess or other hotel. I suggest this because it saves you the transfer time from the rail to the hotel back to the park and back to the hotel. Figure a good 1/2 hour each way by the time you wait for a shuttle transfer, it waits for others, etc, etc. You can actually walk from where most of the hotels are to the park in 30-50 minutes (it is about a mile).

day 3 - shuttle bus into the park. I prefer Wonder Lake if after June 8 though there is a huge mosquito problem near Wonder Lake through mid August so you might want to consider Eielson. Or book to Wonder Lake (+-$10 additional vs. Eielson) and just get off the bus at Eielson and turn around if Mt. McKinley is not visible (main reason for most to go to Wonder Lake is to view Mt. McKinley from the closest vantage point on the road inside the park)

Note that with the shuttle bus you must take all your own food and drink into the park with you (one chance to refill water bottles at Eielson visitor center). A Subway is open 24 hours just outside the park, you can possibly also bring some stuff with you from Anchorage. No grocery store near Denali but there is a convenience store. Even with the Tundra Tour I suggest taking food and drink - their "snack box" is rather sparse for a day in the park.

Day 4 transfer from hotel to visitor center, maybe 10am dogsled demo or hike or free bus to Savage River and back or film at the Wilderness Access Center, train to Anchorage shortly after noon.

night 5: grab hotel near ANC

If you meant to have a third night at Denali, you can go rafting or take another shuttle bus into the park. Or take the train to Talkeetna and spend a night here. A highlight of the time in Talkeetna is a flightseeing tour of Denali. Costs +-$300/person. Several operators. In June I am using Talkeetna Air Taxi due to the coupon but most others also come highly recommended.

Most package tours (like the one you mentioned) include a tour in Denali - either the worthless Natural History Tour (only goes 1-2 miles further than the free Savage River bus mentioned above) or the Tundra Wilderness Tour. The Tundra tour costs +-$100 (builit into the package price) and goes to mile 53 of the 91 mile long road. The shuttle bus to Wonder Lake goes to mile 85, the shuttle bus to Eielson goes to mile 66. The shuttle bus to Wonder Lake costs +-$40. Longer is better, i.e. more chances for wildlife sightings and more great scenery. Prime bear habitat between mile 53 and 66.

Also with the shuttle bus, you can hop off one bus and hop on another. I do that a lot for two reasons - first if I want to hike somewhere for a while and second if I spot wildlife, especially a bear, but the shuttle bus I am on doesn't stop as long as I want to stop. I take that bus until it will let me off (1/4 or 1/2 mile down the road) then flag down a bus in the opposite direction to get more viewing time.

There are some lodging options south of Denali that also have a shuttle to the park. One of the cabins is one place and the hostel is another. But apart from those you are pretty much limited to staying in "Glitter Gulch" which is just outside the park entrance (where most cruise tour passengers stay).

If you decide to do it on your own, check out www.toursaver.com and www.alaska-discounts.com (Northern Lights) for coupon books that might include a 2-for-1 lodging offer near Denali. You can review the coupons online then call the lodging to see if they have room using a coupon for your dates. If so, you can make a reservation and then purchase the book. The Northern Lights book is cheaper but whether it saves you more money depends on which lodging option you choose and which has availability. I am saving over $800 this summer using the toursaver book even though it costs $50 more than the Northern Lights book.

You can find info on the Alaska Railroad at www.akrr.com.

I leave in less than 12 hours for 3 days at Denali and 3 days in Homer. I am excited.

John

June 24. By the way, many thanks for your detailed and thoughtful reply. You've given me substantial food for thought. Enjoy your trip!

For that time frame, I would definitely book the shuttle to Wonder Lake. You can always get off at Eielson and take any shuttle back if the weather is lousy or if you get bored (hardly!), etc.

Feel free to PM me if you want for any other info. In the airport now waiting for my Alaska Air flight!

John

Hi,
I am also planning for a 5-6 days trip to Alaska for a honeymoon trip. Could you please review below itinerary and suggest any changes/updates. I would need help in terms of choosing a hotel and places to visit on the way while driving.

Aug 29 night -- arrive anchorage airport , get a rental car and get into hotel
Aug 30 - 26glaciers cruise tour (PWS) and drive to Seward. Night stay in seward

Aug 31 -- Kenai Fjords tour and night stay in Seward again.

Sep 1 -- Drive to Talkeetna or Trapper Creek. On the way visit Girdwoods. Night Stay in Talkeetna.

Sep 2 -- drive to Denali, visitor center, sleddog demo, drive first 15 miles of park road, etc. Night Stay in Denali

Sep 3 -- shuttle bus booked to Wonder Lake. Decide day-of how far you will actually go . Night Stay in Denali

Sep 4-- drive to Anchorage, with stop at Matanuska Glacier for hike if interested. Be at airport by 6pm for an 8pm flight.
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Please suggest affordable good hotels at anchorage, seward, denali & Talkeetna