Skagway: Train vs. Rental Car (with photos)

just a word of caution... if you are planning to drive you might not want to pick Radiance of the Seas. our all aboard time was 4:00 and it was stressful getting back in time. I wish I had picked an itinerary that gave us more time because we missed out on several things. btw, the cinnamon bun at the bakery shown above was the best we ever had!

Thanks for pointing that out! I wouldn't want to be stressing about the time either.

Excellent video! Which tour did you take?

Thanks. It was the Yukon Bus & Rail Excursion (7.5 hours) run by Chilkoot Charters and Tours http://www.chilkootcharters.com

We did it in rail/bus order, with a pick-up start time of 7.30 a.m. (by your ship). If you do it the other way round it starts at 8.30. It doesn't matter which way you do it.

We chose the earlier start so there was more time to walk around Skagway when it was over, but the town is not that big and if you do the 8.30 tour you'll be back in good time for a good look round as long as you have an all-aboard time of say 6 p.m. It cost (July 2014) $179 pp adults, $119 for children. And of course you can do a Skagway-Fraser train return journey, but we wanted to see a bit of the Yukon too.

All the best, Tony

It's 112 miles, so 2.5 hours each way plus whatever stops you make. Figure 8 hours minimum total, and much more is much better.

This isn't a trip report as such, but it has good info and great photos, so I'm adding it to the trip report list. I think folks will find this thread very useful.

just giving this thread a bump due to recent train inquiries.

Thank you for the posts with the pictures. We are trying to decide whether to take the train or a rental car. I really want to go to Emerald Lake BUT don't want to spend over $100 for each of us (3 total). :rolleyes:

Did you use a wide angle lens on a lot of your photos? I recently bought my first Canon DSLR and need to get a wide angle lens for several upcoming trips-both the Alaska trip and a South Africa land trip. Any suggestions?

Your photos are spectacular.

I rented a Tokina 11-16mm for my Nikon when we went to the Grand Canyon and LOVED it!!! I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

Thank you OP for your wonderful photos and narratives.

1. When you did the rail trip, what month was that? We are sailing on the Coral Princess June 3,2015 and it would be helpful to us to know if we will see any lovely wildflowers,snow,etc that early in the season.

 

2. Did you use a wide angle lens on a lot of your photos? I recently bought my first Canon DSLR and need to get a wide angle lens for several upcoming trips-both the Alaska trip and a South Africa land trip. Any suggestions?

Your photos are spectacular. Thank you:)

We are considering doing Chilkoot tours in Skagway-this is our first Alaska trip.

 

3. Would you recommend the rail portion first or minivan first or vice versa if we opt for the Rail/Bus/Dogsled tour?

Thanks in advance

1. Just checked the photo time stamps - The train trip was August 11, so flowers were out in full glory. Our road trip was July 10. Early train (8:30am)

2. On most of these photos I used my Nikon 3100 (an entry level DSLR) with no special wide angle lens. For the train, I used the Nikor 18-55 lens that comes with the camera.

For the drive portion, I used a Sigma 18-250 zoom. I love this lens, it goes from wide angle to zoom with no need to always be switching lens.

so, nothing expensive. I do have a pocket point and shoot that I used for a few of the photos. It is a Panasonic Lumix ZS30 which is a great little compact camera that fits in a pocket.

3. Just my opinion but for the WOW factor and the FUN factor I would do the train first. There is nothing like seeing those views while in a little train hanging on the side of a cliff :eek: And you are guaranteed a great commentary from the train staff to start your journey.

Thanks Mapleleaves for bumping this up. I'm looking at our Skagway excursions, so this is great info!

Bumping this up again.

Thank you OP for your wonderful photos and narratives.

When you did the rail trip, what month was that? We are sailing on the Coral Princess June 3,2015 and it would be helpful to us to know if we will see any lovely wildflowers,snow,etc that early in the season.

Did you use a wide angle lens on a lot of your photos? I recently bought my first Canon DSLR and need to get a wide angle lens for several upcoming trips-both the Alaska trip and a South Africa land trip. Any suggestions?

Your photos are spectacular.

We are considering doing Chilkoot tours in Skagway-this is our first Alaska trip.

Would you recommend the rail portion first or minivan first or vice versa if we opt for the Rail/Bus/Dogsled tour?

Thanks in advance

If yours is a crop Canon DSLR, this should be a good wide angle lens that's reasonably priced.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?N=11051476&InitialSearch=yes&sts=pi

bumping this again since there are more questions about the train.

Thank you for the posts with the pictures. We are trying to decide whether to take the train or a rental car. I really want to go to Emerald Lake BUT don't want to spend over $100 for each of us (3 total). :rolleyes:

 

 

Rental car seems to be your best bet. You can drive to Emerald Lake and it will only cost about $100 for all 3 of you.

Thank you so much for this post. We have been trying to decide between the train or renting a car. We are in port on a Saturday and the Avis office is open 8-5; our ship doesn't leave until 8:30so we should have time to get the tram in too. Just have to make sure we get the car back by 5. I believe we will turn at Emerald Lake would love to be as lucky as you were to see the bear! Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos

thanks for this great post! you helped us decide to drive as we have done the train once already! :D

Your pictures were gorgeous!!!:)

Great pictures!

Great photos and recap. This gives me a little more of an idea of just which way to see outside of Skagway in June!

How long is the drive to Emerald Lake at a leisurely pace with short stops? Our ship will be leaving at 5:30 so want to make sure there is enough time.

We are thinking of driving to Emerald Lake. Aside from pull outs to snap photos, are there places that you can take little hikes and poke around?

Thank you so much for this post. We have been trying to decide between the train or renting a car. We are in port on a Saturday and the Avis office is open 8-5; our ship doesn't leave until 8:30 so we should have time to get the tram in too. Just have to make sure we get the car back by 5. I believe we will turn at Emerald Lake would love to be as lucky as you were to see the bear!...........

You only need to make sure you get it back before your ship leaves at 8:30. :D

If you return from your drive after the Avis office closes, you simply leave the car in their parking lot and drop the car keys together with their portion of the rental agreement (where you record the final mileage) into a box by their office door that is provided for this purpose.

We also stopped and spent some time watching a black bear by the side of the road on our drive to Emerald Lake a few weeks ago.

That to us is the main advantage of the rental car over the train -- being able to stop for sights along the way whenever and wherever we want, for as long as we like.

We are thinking of driving to Emerald Lake. Aside from pull outs to snap photos, are there places that you can take little hikes and poke around?

He describes everything to see and do along the way.

To find it, you can google Murray's Guide.

How long is the drive to Emerald Lake at a leisurely pace with short stops? Our ship will be leaving at 5:30 so want to make sure there is enough time.

I would tack on some additional time if you want to go hiking and poking around, depending on how much hiking and poking you want to do. ;)

With such an early ship departure time, I would strongly suggest taking the drive early in the day and leaving sightseeing or shopping in Skagway for last, after you return from the drive, to give yourself a "just in case" buffer.

just a word of caution... if you are planning to drive you might not want to pick Radiance of the Seas. our all aboard time was 4:00 and it was stressful getting back in time. I wish I had picked an itinerary that gave us more time because we missed out on several things. btw, the cinnamon bun at the bakery shown above was the best we ever had!

Anyone know the name if this bakery?

Anyone know the name if this bakery?

The picture in post #21 shows Chilkoot Trail Authentic Sourdough Bakery.

Hi there

I realize this thread was almost a year old until someone else asked another question so I thought I would take the opportunity to ask my question.

We will be cruising Alaska this May :). Looking at driving to Emerald Lake and back...is it likely that we might encounter any snowfall (on the roads). I was wondering, if this might happen, do the rental cars typically have snow tires on them? I drive through a lot of snowstorms at home, but I put snow tires on in Nov. and don't take them off till the end of May.

thanks for any help

We will be cruising Alaska this May :). Looking at driving to Emerald Lake and back...is it likely that we might encounter any snowfall (on the roads). I was wondering, if this might happen, do the rental cars typically have snow tires on them?

Although snow isn't impossible in early May, it melts very quickly. By the end of the month, it's not going to happen. This winter has been so warm, it might not even happen in April! :) Rental cars don't have snow tires.