Need help with Haines, Whitehorse, Fairbanks

[hbear]

We're on a HAL cruise/tour. The challenging part of planning this trip is the myriad of excursions offered during the land tour. I've been researching the ship excursions and other websites. Haven't been able to find much information in this forum.

 

I found that in Haines, all of the tour companies tell you that you must book through the ship. I've never encountered that before.

 

Your help would be greatly appreciated:

 

In all of the cities mentioned, will we be able to find tour companies at the dock? We're interested in easy hikes and river trips.

 

It seems to me that these towns are so small that we can see and do a lot on our own, except for the river trips. Do you agree?

 

Please share your experiences in these towns.

 

Thank you

[cjsquaredancer]

I just left Fairbanks today and did the Discovery River trip. It was a waste of money. Didn't go very far and all they do is take you up the river a very short distance and then leave you off in a re-created village. You can get the same information at several other venues, like in Anchorage at the Heritage Center. Or you can go down the street to the park and rent kyacs anc see and do the same thing that we did. You can get off the small boat you are in and go ashore and see the village. We were packed on the boat like animals and shepherded off the same way.

[mapleleaves]

When you say "river trip" do you mean white water rafting? a scenic float? a day cruise? jet boat?

Will you have a car to get to a trail head for the hiking?

Have you looked at the town's forum on Trip Advisor?

Or the city's visitor information web site? ie http://haines.ak.us/activities

[Budget Queen]

We're on a HAL cruise/tour. The challenging part of planning this trip is the myriad of excursions offered during the land tour. I've been researching the ship excursions and other websites. Haven't been able to find much information in this forum.

 

I found that in Haines, all of the tour companies tell you that you must book through the ship. I've never encountered that before.

 

Your help would be greatly appreciated:

 

In all of the cities mentioned, will we be able to find tour companies at the dock? We're interested in easy hikes and river trips.

 

It seems to me that these towns are so small that we can see and do a lot on our own, except for the river trips. Do you agree?

 

Please share your experiences in these towns.

 

Thank you

 

There is plenty to see and do in Fairbanks, http://www.explorefairbanks.com but tour best use of time would be to rent a car and which will offer you the best use of short time.

 

Whitehorse is a "city", has some museums that may be of interest, but if there are any tours that take you "outside" those probably would offer you more.

 

The raft trips in Haines are very good. No there aren't a lot of tour options at the dock. Here is a hiking brochure from their visitor guide. http://www.haines.ak.us/sites/default/files/Haines%20is%20for%20Hikers.pdf

[hbear]

There is plenty to see and do in Fairbanks, www.explorefairbanks.com but tour best use of time would be to rent a car and which will offer you the best use of short time.

 

Whitehorse is a "city", has some museums that may be of interest, but if there are any tours that take you "outside" those probably would offer you more.

 

The raft trips in Haines are very good. No there aren't a lot of tour options at the dock. Here is a hiking brochure from their visitor guide. http://www.haines.ak.us/sites/default/files/Haines%20is%20for%20Hikers.pdf

 

 

"will we be able to find tour companies at the dock?"

I must have been awfully tired when I typed that considering I was questioning the LAND portion of the tour!

 

cjsquaredancer - thank you for your thoughts on the Discovery River trip, that was one thing I was considering.

 

mapleleaves - we'll do any kind of river trip EXCEPT white water.

 

budgetqueen - you have been so helpful to so many people, thank you.

I had not been to explorefairbanks.com and I'll spend more time there later today. This is the beauty of these boards, someone else always has some other place to research. And thank you for the hiking information - looks like a good possibility.

[texasmomoftwo]

in Haines, We booked independently through Misty Bay Lodge. We did a bear search. We found two bears (although they fled quickly...and I mean quickly) and then one blonde bear. The blonde bear we sat and watched for at least 30 minutes. She just let us watch her. It was great!

[Budget Queen]

in Haines, We booked independently through Misty Bay Lodge. We did a bear search. We found two bears (although they fled quickly...and I mean quickly) and then one blonde bear. The blonde bear we sat and watched for at least 30 minutes. She just let us watch her. It was great!

 

You weren't in Haines you were in Hoonah for this tour.