Enough time last day

[publish]

Our plane leaves Anchorage at 1:14 a.m. Does that give us enough time to spend the day in Seward? Maybe ride the train instead of driving? My son wants to go to Sealife Center. Thanks for advice.:confused:

[GlacierLady]

I just posted on this subject but it's "hidden" under the "Conditions at sea in May" thread...sorry...go read that and if you have anymore questions I'll try to answer them...driving from Seward to Anc allow at least 2.5-3 hrs...on the train don't expect to be in Anc before 10:30 pm

[Budget Queen]

I would strongly encourage you to add a few days and change your flight. It could be a tight time frame if you go by rail. You will need a cab back to the airport, have to claim your bags, the train unloads all at once and cabs are not unlimited in number. I have seen waits for cabs. You also need a 2 hour window at Anchorage airport, very congested with long lines.

[Host Caroline]

Our plane leaves Anchorage at 1:14 a.m. Does that give us enough time to spend the day in Seward? Maybe ride the train instead of driving? My son wants to go to Sealife Center. Thanks for advice.:confused:

 

If you have already made your flight arrangements and don't want to change them you should have time to see the Sealife Center. We did that in the a.m. when we disemarked a few years ago and got to Anchorage around 7 p.m. that evening via motorcoach. There is a train leaving Seward at 6p.m. but doesn't arrive Anchorage until 10:25 p.m .. if there's a delay it could be cutting it close for airport although we had relatively short lines for our "red eye" flight departing at 11:00 p.m.

 

There is motorcoach service http://www.alaskatravel.com/bus-lines/schedule.html that arrives in Anchorage at 9:30 p.m that you might want to check out???? Motorcoach gets "dissed" by some but the scenery is still marvelous and it woudl allow you some time in Seward!

[Giantfan13]

If you are flying out in the summer, I've mentioned this a few times already. Try and book your seats on the LEFT side of the plane. You will have a better than average chance of viewing the Northern Lights from the plane. We had them for over 1 1/2 hours on our flight in late august.

[publish]

I did go back and read the post under "Conditions in May". Forget the train idea. I will have a rental car. So I'll repose the question. Will I have enough time to drive to Seward go to the Sealife Center and maybe take a Kenai Fjords cruise and then drive back before my 1:14 a.m. flight.

[GlacierLady]

I did go back and read the post under "Conditions in May". Forget the train idea. I will have a rental car. So I'll repose the question. Will I have enough time to drive to Seward go to the Sealife Center and maybe take a Kenai Fjords cruise and then drive back before my 1:14 a.m. flight.

More details would really help. I'm guessing your docking in Whittier and not Seward? Where are you picking up the rental car and at what time? Allow 3 hrs driving each way Anc-Seward. How long of cruise are you thinking of?There are many to choice from. The Sealife center is nice,it's one of those places that you can spend 30mins or 3 hrs.How old is your son? If your going to be in Seward,I really recommend a walk up to Exit Glacier also. It's 8.6 miles off the main road and costs $5 per vehicle without a National Park pass.

[publish]

Okay here's our plan. We cruise on the Dawn Princess from Vancouver to Whittier. Arrive in Whittier on July 18. I will have my 11 year old son with me. We are going from Whittier to Anchorage and rent a car. We will drive north to Wasilla and Talkeetna. Have reservation for Monday night in Talkeetna and a summit flightseeing tour scheduled for Tuesday morning. We want to drive back toward Anchorage Tuesday afternoon and either drive to Seward Tuesday night or early Wed. morning. I'd love to take a Kenai Fjords tour but there may not be enough time. Hope this answers your questions. I have discovered from the threads that we need to be at the Anchorage airport 2 hours before flight which means 11 p.m. Thanks for your help.

[GlacierLady]

That's ALOT of driving. Anch to Talkeetna is 113 miles.(3hrs) If you leave in the early afternoon next day,you could get to Seward by evening.(6 hrs maybe? aprox 250 miles 1 way) Shaking my head here. My personal opinion would have been to rent a car in Whittier (would save alot of transit time but might cost alot more?)and drive down to Seward and spend the night and then do all your road tripping up north.You've got your reservations made for up north already so I really don't want to cause added confusion here. If you like alot of driving ( I do) it is do able. Good thing is ..there is alot of daylight in July so even if your driving at midnight you'll still be able to enjoy the scenery.Plan to leave Seward by 8pm to get to the airport and drop off rental by 11pm.

[Budget Queen]

Okay here's our plan. We cruise on the Dawn Princess from Vancouver to Whittier. Arrive in Whittier on July 18. I will have my 11 year old son with me. We are going from Whittier to Anchorage and rent a car. We will drive north to Wasilla and Talkeetna. Have reservation for Monday night in Talkeetna and a summit flightseeing tour scheduled for Tuesday morning. We want to drive back toward Anchorage Tuesday afternoon and either drive to Seward Tuesday night or early Wed. morning. I'd love to take a Kenai Fjords tour but there may not be enough time. Hope this answers your questions. I have discovered from the threads that we need to be at the Anchorage airport 2 hours before flight which means 11 p.m. Thanks for your help.

 

 

If you want to see Seward this is NOT a good plan in your short time span. Rent the car from Whittier with Avis and drive directly to Seward. Overnight then head north. You can have a very early start out of Whittier since your ship is in around 2am. I believe Avis opens at 8am- I would be at the door and ready to go. You then could make the 11:30 am 6 hour Kenai fjords boat tour. THEN head north.

 

For information only- I advise people to work out their ENTIRE touring routing before making nonrefundable reservations. I see all the time, mishaps and not being aware of travel times, distances, interests, timing etc etc etc. ALL THE TIME. My email is full of "problems" that could have been avoided with better planning. Please take NO offense as none is intended. Just trying to promote ease of planning and realistic plans.

[publish]

I had originally planned to do Seward first and then go north. However, I kept seeing reference to the high drop off rates AVIS charges and didn't want that to become an issue. Short of renting a car is there any other way to get from Whittier to Seward...that's reasonable? I'm sure I can change the date of our summit flight but I can't change the departure flight home.

[Budget Queen]

I had originally planned to do Seward first and then go north. However, I kept seeing reference to the high drop off rates AVIS charges and didn't want that to become an issue. Short of renting a car is there any other way to get from Whittier to Seward...that's reasonable? I'm sure I can change the date of our summit flight but I can't change the departure flight home.

 

 

I still recommend- with your short time, my advice above. Price out the car and either live with it or cut back your touring options. Most other transportation options will eat up valuable time. There is taxi service Seward Whittier with Glacier lady's PJ's taxi service.

[publish]

Thanks for your help.:)