Planning our own Land Tour Questions

We had an Alaska Land Tour and Cruise booked, that we had to cancel last minute because of illness 😢. I just asked for advice on the HAL page, about rebooking a year in advance. My question here is about planning our own Land Tour, before a cruise. We have taken one "Cruise only" trip to Alaska, so we were very excited about the land portion of our trip. Our Land Tour was first, so we were going to beginning in Fairbanks. We liked most everything that HAL offered on tour D1L. However, we thought we'd enjoy a more relaxing pace, so we could really see Alaska and all its beauty. We would want to see Denali, but don't really care if we go to Fairbanks. Can you drive to Denali from Anchorage? Do you have to rent a car to do your own Land Tour, or can you get around on the dome top Trains. As you can tell, I have no idea how to plan a Self Land Tour, since we have only cruised Alaska. And then there's the pesky luggage, that I assume you have to lug with you everywhere. Can anyone give me some advice and guidance here? 😜

Yes, you can drive from Denali to Anchorage.

I prefer a rental for a DIY trip so you have the flexibility to stay where you want, eat where you want and go where you want.

And even with the train, you'd still be stuck lugging around the luggage.

How much time do you have for the land portion of your trip? And what are your interests?

To get to Denali takes the better part of the day and you want at least one full day at Denali. Then the drive back. The more time you can add, the more you can go and do.

Here's a great link for lodging in the Denali region: http://www.a1cms.com/_dcc/accommodations/

One thing to consider, you do not need all of your luggage all of the time. For example, fly to ANC. Stay overnight. Leave a large suitcase with the clothes you'll want later. Go to Denali with a small suitcase. When you get back to Anchorage, swap clothes as appropriate for the next stage of your trip... I have used this strategy in many cities in many countries. Just ask at the hotel when you make reservations to verify their willingness to store bags for you.

For land travel I recommend the Alaska forum of tripadvisor. Look under Top Questions and you will find lots of useful information as well as past trip reports which will provide you with ideas for lodging, sights, excursions, etc.

You can easily get a rental car in Anchorage. Actually if you book now from the Enterprise office on Airport Rd you can get a car for $200 a week! A car gives you the flexibility to stop for wildlife and other points of interest along the way. ie perhaps you would like to visit Matanuska Glacier or Independence Mine. Also, with a car you will have access to many lodging options.

The most scenic leg of the train is Anc to Seward, so the best option would be a rental car for the Denali portion of your land travel, then the train to Seward.

If you are opposed to renting a car, the Park Connection Bus runs 2 trips a day between Seward and Denali, with stops to incl Anchorage and Talkeetna.

http://www.alaskacoach.com/

And/or you can book yourself a seat on the Alaska Railroad. You can take it straight thru to Denali in a day from Anc( 8 hrs) or you can stop off in Talkeetna for a night. (You will need to stay at a hotel near the depot or find a hotel that provides a shuttle.)

The railroad also offers full vacation packages. Perhaps that might be an easier option for you.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/packages/summer-packages

We did our own post cruise land tour and were so glad we did because we got to see far more and at our own pace. We rented a car at Seward one-way to Anchorage and dropped it at the airport then rented another there for a week - rate was MUCH lower in Anchorage. First day drove to Valdez and stayed at a great B&B. Next day drove to Fairbanks stopping where we wanted, with lunch in Tok, on the way. After overnight stay downtown parked at airport and flew for overnight to Barrow since it was a couple days past the Solstice. Returned to car in Fairbanks and drove to a B&B near Healy. Did not go into the park but it was very clear out and McKinley was spectacular. Next day drove to Anchorage. No crowds, no herding, just anything we felt like doing.

Getting a copy of The Milepost would be very helpful for planning.

You need to back up and find out more about Alaska, Try your library for Alaska guide books.

Look over the cruise tours- they do give some descriptions and routing that at least will get you familiar with what is available. Take a look at a map. Each area has it's own visitor web site. Necessary you take a look at that.

I suggest you do this ALL before you proclaim, what you are going to do. You may find a gem with getting yourself to Fairbanks- IF you looked further what is available there? An excellent gateway for Arctic adventures (which few people even know about).

A car rental- I find pretty "necessary". Certainly is far more efficient with freedom and choices. You will find a lot of negatives about traveling point to point in Alaska. So much of that transit area could also be of interest.

Do NOT underestimate time and distances- a VERY common mistake that is made frequently. I just don't get the "reason to return thinking??? Take advantage of THIS trip as much as possible.

When looking over cruise ship land tour ideas- be advised that all would benefit going to the same places with extra days. So, I don't recommend copying them, but, instead use them as a guide. Overall, Denali Park- is well worth more time.

We had an Alaska Land Tour and Cruise booked, that we had to cancel last minute because of illness 😢. I just asked for advice on the HAL page, about rebooking a year in advance. My question here is about planning our own Land Tour, before a cruise. We have taken one "Cruise only" trip to Alaska, so we were very excited about the land portion of our trip. Our Land Tour was first, so we were going to beginning in Fairbanks. We liked most everything that HAL offered on tour D1L. However, we thought we'd enjoy a more relaxing pace, so we could really see Alaska and all its beauty. We would want to see Denali, but don't really care if we go to Fairbanks. Can you drive to Denali from Anchorage? Do you have to rent a car to do your own Land Tour, or can you get around on the dome top Trains. As you can tell, I have no idea how to plan a Self Land Tour, since we have only cruised Alaska. And then there's the pesky luggage, that I assume you have to lug with you everywhere. Can anyone give me some advice and guidance here? 😜

I began my own land tour in Fairbanks too- 3 years ago just me and my 7 year old grandson. I rented a car at the Fairbanks airport(pick up there and drop off at Anchorage which is a lot more expensive then a return to same site unfortunately) we did the Riverboat cruise there, went to Pioneer Park then travelled down the highway to Denali where we stayed for two days- did the Tundra Wilderness tour in the park which was amazing and we saw moose but no bear, we saw a fox. Went to see the Rangers presentation in the park with the sled dogs, went to the Cabin night dinner show in Denali which was a little hoaky but cute and the food was good then the 4th day we headed toward Anchorage but stopped in Palmer and went to the Reindeer farm which was really wonderful. they had reindeer and a resident moose there and you can go around and pet them and learn about them and then we continued on toward Anchorage and just walked around the town, had dinner, shopping, walked down by the water and then returned the car that evening. The next morning we got up, our hotel shuttled us to the Alaska Railroad where we took the train to Seward which was amazing scenery and we had the Goldstar train which has the upper viewing area and the windows are glass almost all of the way up and down. When we got off the train we went to the Seward Sealife Center and had an octopus encounter which was awesome and we fed and touched the octopus before boarding our ship the Radiance of the Sea for a southbound cruise down to Vancouver. It was awesome!

I retire in 2 years and am in the process of thinking through doing this again with 8 of us this time which will involve more rooms on land, more cars, etc. etc. But it was so much fun and so memorable that i just have to share it with the entire family now. Have a great time- it really is a trip of a lifetime!

We rented a car and went to MICA for a three hour glacier trek. Highlight of the trip. Stayed at Majestic Lodge, beautiful.

Did a DIY post cruise land tour myself 5 years ago and was very very happy. As others here have said, you need to decide what your priorities are and how much time do you have. Once you have a list of things you know you want to see and do, then you can start putting together a plan with a timeline.

This board can then help answer any questions and offer up possible suggestions that you may have overlooked. I do think that a car would be the best option for a trip to Denali, whether you're coming from either Anchorage or Fairbanks.

I think planning the trip is a lot of fun, if you do to then I think its just a matter of starting your research.

Good Luck and have fun!!!

Our first trip to AK was a cruisetour. Since then we have done three DIY land tours and I’m in the process of planning our fourth. I use this website--it's a wonderful resource, Trip Advisor and I use the Milepost book. You can buy it used on Amazon and eBay.

On our previous trips we landed in Fairbanks, rented a car and spent a couple nights there. We took a Chena River dinner cruise. We went to the Ice Museum and Pioneer Park. On one trip we booked a flight and flew along the pipeline up to Coldfoot then road down the Dalton Hwy to Fairbanks in a van, stopping many times for site seeing, dinner—a wonderful dinner at a restaurant beside the Yukon River. We learned so much about the pipeline. It was a long and tiring trip but very interesting.

We have been to North Pole, Delta Junction, Tok, Wasilla, Denali Nat Park 3 times—we’re skipping it this time. We’ve been to Girdwood, Homer, Seward, Whittier, Talkeetna, Anchorage (of course) and many others. This time we’re starting and ending in Anchorage, going to Wasilla, Copper Center, Valdez, and to Palmer for the state fair. We’ll take a bus to Seward to board a cruise ship. On the previous DIY trips we did a one-way car rental and turned the car in at Whittier or Seward. It is very expensive. This year, since we are going so late in the year—boarding the last RCCL southbound cruise, the car rental company would not let us drop the car at Seward so we’re going to Seward by bus.

Alaska is expensive, everything costs more than it does in the lower 48 but we feel that it is worth the expense. Each time we go we think it will probably be our last Alaska trip and use that excuse to justify the cost. :rolleyes:

I enjoy planning these trips, doing the research, reading reviews and figuring out what seems like the best option. It can be a little over-whelming sometimes. I can’t say enough about the kind folks on this message board. You can ask questions and get very good advice and info. Good luck planning your trip.

I agree that with good planning you can DIY a land tour of Alaska. You can also do a cruisetour from HAL, Princess, RCL, NCL etc.

Here are a couple of websites that can help you plan.

http://www.alaskatravel.com

http://www.travelalaska.com

I am also planning a trip to the interior of Alaska - with or without a cruise leg ;)

My personal preference would be to rent an RV for a week and do a camping vacation - either that or drive my own truck and travel trailer from Oregon - I had a friend do this with his motorhome - he said that all he thought about while touring Alaska was the trip back down - he almost put the RV on the ferry and came home that way :D

We hired an RV from Anchorage after our cruise and Denali land tour and spent 2 weeks driving around Alaska and the Yukon.

I'd thoroughly recommend this as we could stop when we wanted for as long as we wanted and the RV parks along the way we're wonderful, but there is a lot of free camping places which would have been ideal as well.