Where to stay arrival in Seward for 2 nights and 3 days?

We are a family of 4 (2 girls 10 and 12) and are trying to figure out where to stay after our 7 day NCL cruise from Vancouver to Seward in August 2018. I was thinking of spending the day around Seward (maybe seeing the Kanai fjords), renting a car and driving to Anchorage. Staying overnight in Anchorage and spending the next day in Denali. Trying to decide whether to stay in Denali the second night or drive back and stay in Anchorage. The 3rd day, our flight leaves at 9:45 pm, so we have all day. Any thoughts on where to stay? Do you go with hotel or airbnb?

I was hoping to do some whitewater rafting in Denali with the girls (they are adventurous).What are the must see sights in Denali? Should we spend the night there and make it 1 and a half days? Any advice is appreciated!

I think it's about 5 hours drive each way Anchorage to denali, that seems like too much to drive up, sightsee for several hours in denali, and then return to Anchorage all in one day.

You are underestimating time and distances. You need to allow 6 hours for the drive Anchorage/Denali with a few stops. You only have 3 days? Sorry, I would suggest you skip Denali if the case.

I suggest you figure out more about Alaska and determine what activities you want to include and what you want to see. It's backwards to select a location then try and fill in the time. With such limited time, take a look at http://www.kenaipeninsula.com http://www.anchorage.net

Have you already rented a car? Essential you do that now. Yep- it's going to be a big chunk of change- BUT- it allows you the best use of your time and the ability to include far more.

I definitely underestimated the time it will take to get to Denali. I rented a car from Seward - we arrive early on a Monday morning. I figured we would spend the day around Seward and then drive to Anchorage later in the afternoon, stopping for dinner somewhere and stay overnight in Anchorage. I will change rental cars in the morning on Tuesday and drive up to Denali early. I think we will stay overnight at Denali Fireside Cabins and Suites. We can spend the next day there as well and drive back to Anchorage in the afternoon. Our flight out would be at 9:45 pm. I'd love to stay longer but I don't think we can do it. But we really want to see Denali. Any ideas of what we shouldn't miss?

With only 2 nights, you probably are going to have to choose either Seward / Anchorage or Denali. The driving times and potential for traffic delays on the 2 lane highways limits how much you can do in that time frame.

To really see the National Park at Denali, you must take a bus tour. There are 3 options, 4.5 to 5 hours, 7 to 8 hours and 11 to 12 hours. The minimum Tour to see much is the 7-8 hour tour. Driving from Anchorage to Denali one day and back the next would not allow you to take this tour.

If you really want to see Denali, I would recommend driving from Seward to Denali on the day your cruise arrives, taking a National Park tour the next day, then returning to Anchorage for your flight the next day.

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If we flew out of Fairbanks instead of Anchorage, does that give us more time in Denali? Then, on day 2 we could drive up early from Anchorage to Denali, spend the day there and overnight and the whole next day (day 3). We would leave on a flight out of Fairbanks at 9:45 pm on day 3 so we would not stay overnight.. It will cost an extra $200 on the car rental to not return it to Anchorage, but if it gets us more time to do the things in Denali we want to do, such as a tour and a rafting trip, then it could be worth it (without the cost of an extra night of hotel and another rental car day if we stayed a 3rd night). Any thoughts?

Laura, here is a link that may help with your commute timing http://www.alaska.org/advice/mileage-chart. If Denali is a must do, 2 nights in Denali if you can swing it, will give more time in the park, you can check out http://www.reservedenali.com/ for park shuttle times we are doing the Eielson Shuttle ourselves next summer, it is however 8 hour round trip shuttle trip. I do not have information on rafting so not much help there, only input I have on that is http://www.mahaysriverboat.com/denalialaska-mahay.com/dct.htm, which was recommended to us.

Fairbanks is definitely closer to Denali than Anchorage.