Skagway - Train or Rental Car?

[gymjudge55]

We have a rental car booked for our day in Skagway to drive up to Emerald Lake. My friend is having buyer's remorse and wonders if we should book the train. We will be on the domed railcar twice during our cruisetour so my feelings were another train would not be necessary.

Thoughts? I really don't want to pay what they charge for the train especially if we can see it with the car.

[Budget Queen]

Well your Alaska RR train travel is transportation and in no way comparable to the White Pass RR. The White pass RR- is superior scenery, only about a couple miles is similar viewing in the 20+ miles parallel section with the Klondike Highway DISPITE what others report- it being the "same" it is not. It is loaded with history and is narrow gage.

 

This apparantly does NOT interest you, and You have said you do NOT want to pay for the train. So why your question? Split up from the others and let them take the train. Simple solution, in my opinion.

[gymjudge55]

Well your Alaska RR train travel is transportation and in no way comparable to the White Pass RR. The White pass RR- is superior scenery, only about a couple miles is similar viewing in the 20+ miles parallel section with the Klondike Highway DISPITE what others report- it being the "same" it is not. It is loaded with history and is narrow gage.

 

This apparantly does NOT interest you, and You have said you do NOT want to pay for the train. So why your question? Split up from the others and let them take the train. Simple solution, in my opinion.

 

My friends do NOT read or post on CC, I am merely trying to get a good answer for them. I am merely looking for opinions. We probably will not take the train as we are tapped out for excursions but when they ask I would like to be able to help them out and recommend whether or not they should break away and go.

I really thought the purpose of this forum is to ask questions.

[Budget Queen]

My friends do NOT read or post on CC, I am merely trying to get a good answer for them. I am merely looking for opinions. We probably will not take the train as we are tapped out for excursions but when they ask I would like to be able to help them out and recommend whether or not they should break away and go.

I really thought the purpose of this forum is to ask questions.

 

Sorry for the offense. Your post clearly indicates you do not want to take the train. I was only responding to your comments. Why not have your friends take a look at the White Pass site and read reviews here.

[gymjudge55]

Sorry for the offense. Your post clearly indicates you do not want to take the train. I was only responding to your comments. Why not have your friends take a look at the White Pass site and read reviews here.

 

I wish.....they work 60+ hours a week. I am the planner. I have done all the work and I only work 45 hours. :rolleyes:

[geoherb]

I've never taken the train, but I did rent a car in Skagway and loved driving to Emerald Lake and back. I liked the freedom to stop when and where we wanted to stop. Murray's Guide was great at pointing out places of interest. You should do the trip with another person so someone can read along as you drive. I picked out several stops in advance, but my partner also saw things that interested him in the guide so we stopped a couple of times more than I had planned.

[firsttimer2012]

We rented a jeep in Skagway and loved that we could stop whenever we wanted and didnt' have to wait for anyone else. We seen a bear and other wild life in May...:)

 

Going thu customs was a breeze, both ways.

 

Enjoy whatever you decide...:)

[vtwgalmm]

When we went I couldn't decide between the RR and the car so we did both. They are nothing alike. There were four of us and we loved both parts but when we voted that evening what we would tell someone who could only do one - all of us said the railroad. That's not to say the drive wasn't very good we just liked the RR better. Maybe this helps.

[KAYEF]

I, too, would say the train is a MUST, especially if it's the first visit to Skagway................the scenery and history are both excellent.

Now, we rent a car (this year it's a Green Jeep ;) ) and stop wherever we have the desire.............hike and picnic!

I hope each of you will have a wonderful day, whatever you decide.

I love Skagway SO much!:p

[vbmom87]

If truly on a budget, then rent the car, get Murray's Guide (you purchase it online and print it out) and enjoy your time driving the Klondike highway, making sure to get all the way to Emerald Lake. Make sure everyone has their passports.

 

If you have the budget, I suggest going with a private vendor like Chilkoot Charters. You take the train in one direction and one of their mini-buses in the other direction. To get the maximum scenic experience, take the train to/from Carcross with the stop at Bennett Lake. ....absolutely stunning scenery after Fraser, which is where many of the other tours end. With Chilkoot, when you are on the bus portion, they make many stops so you can photograph the beautiful scenery. They will also stop whenever a passenger asks, as long as they can safely pull off the road.

 

Either way, you will have a great experience. I just consider the train an "enhanced" experience. It is surely not for everyone. There are those who really aren't into scenery like others are. I can't get enough of the beauty of our world. It is why I go on vacation.

 

Good luck with your decision. It is very nice of you to plan for your friends. I am always the planner for our trips, and I know how stressful it can get when you want to try to keep everyone happy. I dream of the day when my DH will plan a trip and I just show up. Whenever I suggest this, he laughs it off and tells me I enjoy planning trips. I don't think this will ever happen. His answer would be to just take bus tours, cruises, cruiseline excursions and cruisetours. :rolleyes:

[Lancer1568]

We have a rental car booked for our day in Skagway to drive up to Emerald Lake. My friend is having buyer's remorse and wonders if we should book the train. We will be on the domed railcar twice during our cruisetour so my feelings were another train would not be necessary.

Thoughts? I really don't want to pay what they charge for the train especially if we can see it with the car.

We rented a car and drove up to emerald lake ...stopped at scenic overlooks along the way and stopped at yukon suspension bridge which is a made for tourist attraction it is not a historical bridge but interesting anyway. We absolutely loved the drive beautiful scenery several bear sightings etc. Never have done the train and it may be bettter but I can assure you that you will be delighted with the drive in the car!!!

[Cruiser Joe Bob]

I had done a lot of research as to renting a car, taking a bus or taking the train. In the end we rented a car on July 24, 2012 from Avis 907-983-2247 for $130.00 and purchased Murray's Guide at http://*****************/ for $5.00. This worked great for us, as it was my wife and our two kids who are in high school.

Renting the car was a lot less money and I believe we were able to see a lot more. We could stop when we wanted to and do what we wanted to. While driving up the Klondike highway we stopped 3 different times to see black bears and one time to see a grizzly bear. On two of these occasions we spent about 10 minutes just watching the bears eat flowers

and we watched the grizzly bear eat berries

. While we were watching the bears we had a lot of buses slow up to take pictures but then they had to keep going. If you are on the wrong side of the bus you probably won't get a chance to even take a picture. That is why we liked the rental car.

When we got up to Emerald Lake we were able to hike up the hill on the opposite side of the road to take pictures.

 

On the way back down we stopped and hiked down to some waterfalls

and stopped and had our picture taken at the border and by the Alaska sign.

After we got back to Skageway then we took the rental car and drove over to Dyea Road

which was also listed on Murray's Guide. This was a nice drive as well. A lot of the road was gravel but scenic. We went over some one-lane bridges that brought us into the woods, which was nice.

We also got to take some nice photos of the Golden Princess because we were able to go over the bridge to the other side.

 

We talked to a lot of people who took the train and they enjoyed it but the one's we talked to did not see any bears and the bears were one of the things we really enjoyed watching. Whatever method you take I am sure you will enjoy it.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We have done the train a couple of times -- and loved it both times.

 

The idea on one of us driving and keeping our eyes on the road -- missing the sights along the way - doesn't appeal to us.

 

There is no reason why you can't take the car and go where you want to go and let your friends take the trains. You all don't always have to do everything together.

[msvacation]

We have done both. The first time we visited Alaska, there were 9 of us and one was in an electric wheelchair. We chose to do the White Pass and Yukon Railroad. The scenery was beautiful and we all enjoyed the trip and had a lot of fun being all together also.

 

This time, about 5 weeks ago there were 7 of us, we rented two vehicles and traveled the Klondike Hwy with Murray's Guide. We went beyond Emerald Lake and our friends actually went all the way to Whitehorse. We also did the Dyea Road. The views were fantastic and we had the luxury of stopping as much and for as long as we wanted.

 

It all depends on what you want to do. We enjoyed doing both. My Dh was the driver in our car, and he felt he got to see as much as me. I would point out interesting things in advance and we just pulled over a lot. I think you will enjoy whatever you decide. Both choices are amazing!

[MumInOz]

We took the train. The ability to just relax and enjoy the scenery was worth it. I saw the road on the other side of the valley while on the train and I would be so stressed out driving on it because its a 2 lane road just hugging the mountains. Albeit, that was the only part I saw and maybe other parts of that road are not as scary. I also have 2 little kids and we are Australians, just didn't want to deal with the hassles at the Canadian border (they always give us the 3rd degree why we are entering the US).

[WarmWaters]

Just back from Alaska, we rented from Avis. Having the car was wonderful. I googled the road to Emerald Lake and got the points of interests for free from the internet and printed that, it was great.

 

1 st thing after picking up the car, we stopped at the Visitors Centre and asked about the gravel road conditions to Dayiea and they said the road was really good.

 

We then drove to Emerald Lake and on the way back, we decided to go and have a late lunch on the ship. We drove right up to the ship and parked our car 2 mins walk from the ship in the early afternoon and had lunch on the ship, it was so nice.

 

Then we went back to our car and drive the road to Diyea and sightsee around Skagway. Gave back the car around 6 : 30 ish.

 

Money well spent ! Loved our day trip having the car.

[dogdoc14]

I'll agree with others that the White Pass RR is not the same type of train experience that you get on the dome trains elsewhere. We took the train up and a bus down. The scenery was much more impressive from the train.

 

Our excursion that we booked also allowed us to kayak on a lake on the Canadian side. It was fantastic! We had a great time and had a lot of fun with the guides. When we got back to Skagway, we met up with a few of the guides at Skagway Brew Co and had a nice time chatting and drinking with them.

[ISLABONITA]

We ( husband and I) booked Chilkoot Charters ( a shuttle -small bus) and it was an 1/1/2 of stopping and history/narration from Mike to White Pass and Yukon territory

We then met up with the 12 people or so that took the train and some expressed their disappointment in the fact that they couldn't stop and take photos as easily as one being on the bus.

We then continued to Emerald lake , stopped and took lots of photos on the way up , a view of the earthquake proof bridge etc...

We had a lunch at Carcross and stopped some more on the way back beating out the large buses to photograph the many falls we passed by, even took photos of the train.

I would personally not rent a car in case something goes wrong and wouldn't be able to enjoy the scenery as much as when someone else is driving and pointing out historical places.

He gave us a brief history/tour of Skagway and dropped people off where they needed to be even to the ship.

[bunnyette]

 

Good luck with your decision. It is very nice of you to plan for your friends. I am always the planner for our trips, and I know how stressful it can get when you want to try to keep everyone happy. I dream of the day when my DH will plan a trip and I just show up. Whenever I suggest this, he laughs it off and tells me I enjoy planning trips. I don't think this will ever happen. His answer would be to just take bus tours, cruises, cruiseline excursions and cruisetours. :rolleyes:

 

LOL - I thought I was the only one! My DH doesn't even know what airport we are flying to half the time! I asked DH to book a restaurant in Vancouver (before our cruise) to celebrate our anniversary...no such luck I ended up doing it.

 

Anyway back to the matter at hand...Chilkoot does offer a good rate that includes lunch. You don't need to drive, you can relax and enjoy the scenary along with your friends.

[Budget Queen]

Although two of the above posters drove the Dyea Road, one because the "visitor center" claimed it was in good shape. It still is in VIOLATION of the Avis contract, they do not allow driving on this road. So, you take a risk doing so, and if in your plans you may want to verify what insurance you have, since mine is also void on gravel roads. Some cars are loaded with GPS, so they know exactly where you are despite you thinking they don't.

 

I was just there, again, less than two weeks ago, and this has always been their terms, over years.

[cruzisme]

Names of companies other than Avis?

We are in Skagway Sept 19 and DH said some companies are closed then.

Ideas?

 

This is our 5th time up so want to drive to Whitehorse.

[Dani83]

If you have the budget, I suggest going with a private vendor like Chilkoot Charters. You take the train in one direction and one of their mini-buses in the other direction. To get the maximum scenic experience, take the train to/from Carcross with the stop at Bennett Lake. ....absolutely stunning scenery after Fraser, which is where many of the other tours end. With Chilkoot, when you are on the bus portion, they make many stops so you can photograph the beautiful scenery. They will also stop whenever a passenger asks, as long as they can safely pull off the road.

 

I agree! :)

 

 

I came back from an Alaska cruise in August, and on our day in Skagway we booked through Chilkoot Charters. We took the White Pass train north, all the way to Carcross, Yukon (along the way....stopping briefly in Fraser, then for lunch at beautiful Lake Bennett). Then at the end we were picked up in Carcross by the company driver, and made our way back to Skagway on the highway, first stopping at Emerald Lake.

 

The scenery from the train is.....INCREDIBLE! This is a train-trip you must take, at least once in your life. You really feel the history of this train route through the mountains, and how remote it really is. And travelling past the summit, all the way to Lake Bennett and then Carcross.....the scenery was just stunning!

 

Our drive back on the highway was very nice as well, lovely scenery and we stopped along the way at beautiful Emerald Lake, and the 'Alaska' and 'Yukon' signs to take photos. But in my opinion, the train route's scenery is more wild and remote!

[mskaufman]

If you can do both that would be great. There is only one road in and out of Skagway so much of what you will see in both directions is the same. Same thing for the train. It is the same tracks both ways. If you can take a tour that drives one way a rides the other, that is great. A couple of pictures from the train:

 

http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff386/mmkbx75/IMG_6854.jpg

 

http://i1233.photobucket.com/albums/ff386/mmkbx75/IMG_6879.jpg

[Coral]

Names of companies other than Avis?

We are in Skagway Sept 19 and DH said some companies are closed then.

Ideas?

 

This is our 5th time up so want to drive to Whitehorse.

 

Hopefully this helps:

http://www.superpages.com/bp/Skagway-AK/Sourdough-Vehicle-Bicycle-Rentals-L2060631073.htm?SRC=portals&C=Car+Rental&lbp=1&STYPE=S&TR=77&bidType=FLCLIK&PGID=yp603.8081.1347412232202.1271584703458&dls=true&bpp=10

 

I can't recommend them though. I didn't use them but saw a car that was used by them and it looked like a 10 year old car that hadn't been cleaned in a month or so. The couple driving it was glad they secured a rental and had no issues with it.

 

This was many years ago - it may have improved.

[bonvoyagie]

We have a rental car booked for our day in Skagway to drive up to Emerald Lake. My friend is having buyer's remorse and wonders if we should book the train. We will be on the domed railcar twice during our cruisetour so my feelings were another train would not be necessary.

Thoughts? I really don't want to pay what they charge for the train especially if we can see it with the car.

 

The only way to see Bennett is on the train - no roads. Bennett is historic and is where the white pass and chilkoot trails meet. While little remains of the town today it is still very interesting to walk around. The scenery around the lake is wonderful. I happen to enjoy trains, history and scenery (in that order :D) so this trip was a must. You might want to look into a train only trip for your friend and meet them in Carcross for the rest of the trip by car. BTW I used Chilkoot tours and had a great time along with five other people.