Suggestions for 4 Day Pre Cruise Itinerary

My husband and I will be sailing on Celebrity next Friday August 24th from Seward to Vancouver. We are flying into Anchorage on Sunday August 19th arriving in the late afternoon. We are starting to think about making plans for 4 days pre cruise. We want to enjoy the highlights and not rush to see everything. I figure we will spend Sunday night in Anchorage. Not sure if we should rent a car or take buses/trains. What about our luggage? I know the distances are far so we will probably not stay in one place. Any suggestions for an itinerary would be appreciated.

Thanks

Karen

Do you want to go to Denali ? or do you want to stay near the coast and explore the Kenai Peninsula? or do you want to go inland a bit and see Matanuska Glacier, Independence Mine? or maybe stay within an hour of Anchorage and explore the Turnagain Arm.? or take the train to Seward and spend a few days. There are so many options. You really need to do a little research to determine what it is YOU want to see and do.

I always recommend a car. With a car you have flexibility .... you can travel at YOUR pace, go where you want to go, and on your schedule. Driving in Alaska is quite simple; the hwys are pretty much 2 lanes and there aren't many hwys to choose from.

If you want to travel by train, go the the Alaska Railroad web site to view the schedule. The stops are pretty much Seward, Girdwood, Anchorage, TAlkeetna, Denali and Fairbanks. Train travel is very slow with only one departure per day so it can be limiting. ie 8 hrs by train to Denali, 5 hrs by car or bus. The Park Connection Bus has a web site wth their schedule and costs.

Look thru some past trip reports to see what others have done.

Look at alaska.org .....for scenic drives under Things to Do. Here's their mileage/distance chart. http://www.alaska.org/advice/mileage-chart. Borrow an Alaska travel book from your library, Look thru the Helpful Resources thread.

But you need to do some research to figure out your priorities before you can put an itinerary together. When you have a better idea of where you want to do, post again for help with your plan.

Have fun with your research and planning !

With only four days I would rent a car. Enjoy a night in Anchorage, two nights at Alyeska in Girdwood (Turnagain Arm area touring), and a night in Seward. Do some reading online or request some Anchorage tourist material through the mail. It’s fun to leisurely look through Alaska tourist information. Then you can decide what you want to see and do. There are so many opportunities and you need to see the whole picture in order to make good decisions.

A car rental is essential for making the best use of your short time. There are multiple choices possible, so educate yourself on the lists Maple posts. Me, with such short time, I would not be spending half the time at Alyeska, but that is me. Find out what your priority is.

I strongly suggest you determine what YOU want out of your trip and what you want to see and do. Determine your tours of interest- then that does a lot for figuring out your order and locations. - NOT the other way around-- randomly selecting areas and time- then trying to figure out what you are doing there. :)

With two nights at Alyeska you would have 1 complete day. It’s a nice resort to day trip from including a College Fjord glacier cruise from Whittier.

Here's what we did one year: We spent the first night in Anchorage and took the early train the next morning to Seward. We spent two nights in Seward. After we arrived, we did a "Puffin Encounter" (behind-the-scenes tour) at the Alaska SeaLife Center. On our second day in Seward we took a Kenai Fjords cruise offered by Major Marine.

Four days pre-cruise offered us a relaxing time, and we had a ball. In fact, we wouldn't have changed a thing.

Have fun with your planning. For me, hearing what others have done gives me ideas that I maybe would not have considered.

Thanks for the suggestions. We have been doing some research and have decided an itinerary as follows:

Of course we will need to do much more research to fill in details,

Sunday - Arrive Anchorage mid afternoon after 12 hours of travel - stay in Anchorage overnight. Pick up car at airport

Monday - Leisurely drive to Denali - stops along the way - Suggestions for stops??

Tuesday - Full day tour of Denali- Suggestions for which tour to take.

Wednesday - Drive back to Anchorage Tour Anchorage for rest of day.

Thursday - Tour Anchorage

Friday - Travel to Seward - either bus or train

Suggestions/ Comments.

Personally I would use Thursday as an extra day to explore rather than hang out in Anchorage. You didn't indicate your interests, but a couple of options to consider:

1. catch the early morning train to Seward arriving around 11am, and spend Thurs and Fri exploring Seward .... do a Kenai Fjords boat tour, or visit Exit Glacier, or kayak at the glacier, wander the harbor, visit the SeaLife Center

2. instead of driving back to Anchorage on Wed, linger at Denali a bit longer to see the free sled dog demo at 10am, and drive to Savage River which is as far as your can drive a personal car in the Park for he short hike along the river, stop in Talkeetna to overnight. On Thur morning drive to Matanuska Glacier, do an ice trek and visit Independence Mine. ( or instead of stayng in Talkeetna, drive thru to Matanuska to overnight at one of the cabins)

3. on Wed drive to Girdwood instead of Anchorage to overnight ( 1 hr further south). On Thurs eplore the Turnagain Arm .....visit the Wildlife Center, Portage Lake/Glacier, walk along the boardwalk at Potters Marsh, take the tram at Alyeska, fish viewing platforms at Williwaw. Drive back to Anc to o/n if you are taking the train to Seward

Suggested stopping points were in the link I posted earlier. in alaska.org

http://www.alaska.org/things-to-do/scenic-drives

Personally I would use Thursday as an extra day to explore rather than hang out in Anchorage. You didn't indicate your interests, but a couple of options to consider:

1. catch the early morning train to Seward arriving around 11am, and spend Thurs and Fri exploring Seward .... do a Kenai Fjords boat tour, or visit Exit Glacier, or kayak at the glacier, wander the harbor, visit the SeaLife Center

2. instead of driving back to Anchorage on Wed, linger at Denali a bit longer to see the free sled dog demo at 10am, and drive to Savage River which is as far as your can drive a personal car in the Park for he short hike along the river, stop in Talkeetna to overnight. On Thur morning drive to Matanuska Glacier, do an ice trek and visit Independence Mine. ( or instead of stayng in Talkeetna, drive thru to Matanuska to overnight at one of the cabins)

3. on Wed drive to Girdwood instead of Anchorage to overnight ( 1 hr further south). On Thurs eplore the Turnagain Arm .....visit the Wildlife Center, Portage Lake/Glacier, walk along the boardwalk at Potters Marsh, take the tram at Alyeska, fish viewing platforms at Williwaw. Drive back to Anc to o/n if you are taking the train to Seward

 

Suggested stopping points were in the link I posted earlier. in alaska.org

http://www.alaska.org/things-to-do/scenic-drives

Thanks for your suggestions. We will definitely look into all of them. They sound fantastic. We have lots of research to do pre cruise and also ports along the cruise.

Thanks for the suggestions. We have been doing some research and have decided an itinerary as follows:

 

Of course we will need to do much more research to fill in details,

 

Sunday - Arrive Anchorage mid afternoon after 12 hours of travel - stay in Anchorage overnight. Pick up car at airport

 

Monday - Leisurely drive to Denali - stops along the way - Suggestions for stops??

 

Tuesday - Full day tour of Denali- Suggestions for which tour to take.

 

Wednesday - Drive back to Anchorage Tour Anchorage for rest of day.

 

Thursday - Tour Anchorage

 

Friday - Travel to Seward - either bus or train

 

Suggestions/ Comments.

One suggestion and I know that lots of people will disagree w me. Don't fall for the Talkeetna shtick. The time we visited Talkeetna, we stayed there for maybe 2 hours which was 1 hour too long. Unless you are planning to do a Denali flightseeing trip or you like cafes or souvenir shops, there is nothing to do there. Head directly for Denali.

DON

I would go to Seward a day early. I would rather spend time in Seward than Anchorage.

MICA guided glacier walk followed by luxury camping at the base of the glacier.

https://www.alpenglowluxurycamping.com/wickersham-tent/

Tuesday - Full day tour of Denali- Suggestions for which tour to take.

Don't take a "tour". Use the shuttle buses: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm Same road, same views, much cheaper.