Seward Area Questions

My husband and I are cruising on Princess early June 2006 and for a few days before we leave, we will be touring the Anchorage and Seward areas.

I have a few questions I need help with to better plan our trip....

1. We will be doing a 6 hour Kenai Fjords cruise one day. Does is matter what time of day to go to best see any wildlife?

2. We will be driving from Anchorage to Seward, sightseeing along the way, and would like to see Exit Glacier and do the Seavey sled dog tour near Exit Glacier. The Seavey tour lasts 1 1/2 hours and the ones we are thinking about are at 3:30P or 6:00P. How long can we expect the drive from Anchorage to take including stopping for photos/scenery and possibly stopping at the Alaska Wildlife reserve. We will be staying in Seward that night; is this a do-able plan?

3. What places are available to stop for lunch between Anchorage and Seward?

By the way, we expect to leave Anchorage between 8 and 9 in the morning. Thanks in advance for any & all responses.

Kristi:)

Allow about 3 hours for the drive, plus the wildlife park stop. You may also want to take a look at the Portage Glacier Visitor Center- also a worthwhile stop. You could make a slight detour for lunch at Qwins, in Cooper Landing on the Sterling Highway. Otherwise should be no problem to get to Seward for lunch. As for time of boat tours, really doesn't matter, wildlife is visable at all timeframes. Be certain to bring binoculars and have proper attire- hats, gloves. Again, doesn't matter what time for Seavey's either.

Yes your plan is totally doable- have a great time!! :)

The Summit Lake Lodge has really good food and you'll pass it on the left hand side of the Seward Highway though if you leave town at 8 or 9, according to how long you stay at the Wildlife Park, it's a drive through place, you'd probably hit there before lunch time. But if you took a little side trip to the Park and then across the highway to Portage you'd make it during lunch time then.

It's a really easy drive with pullouts for pictures all over the place.

As Budget Queen says on the Kenai Fjord trip in regards to the wildlife since what you see mostly is aquatic it doesn't matter what time you go.

My cousins did Seavey's tour and loved it. The kids really liked handling the puppies. I like the walk to Exit Glacier as it's very easy and makes it accessible to lots of people.

Susan in Anchorage :)

Kristi, it sounds like you are planning to do as we did in one day with no problem. We did the wildlife refuge, Portage Glacier visitor center, Seavey's (3:30 pm), Exit Glacier walk, and also took the tram at the Alyeska Prince (wonderful views if the weather is good). You can easily fit it all in and not feel rushed. I don't think I"d add the side trip to Cooper's Landing that day, though. We did the raft trip there on the morning we were returning to Anchorage, and it was very enjoyable, though tame.

The Kenai Fjords trip is worth it any day. We hit a rainy day and the tour was cut short, but we still saw plenty of wildlife and calving glaciers. It just made for lousy photos. I strongly recommend that if you are at all prone to seasickness and the weather isn't perfect, take some Bonine or your favored remedy. Many people on our cruise were leaning over the rail, and you will be glad you took precautions.

Seward was one of the major highlights of our trip last year. You will love it!

BQ and Yukon provided plenty of great info for planning the independent parts of our trip (and self-chartered things we did during the cruisetour). The folks who hang out here are a resource you will really appreciate.