Fairbanks

[tweety522]

We have a full day before our tour begin. We will be at the Fairbanks Westmark.

Wondering if its worth it to rent a car to sightsee. Need suggestions please.

[donaldsc]

Fairbanks is one city where you absolutely have to rent a car to see anything. Otherwise, you will see very little and spend half your day waiting for public transport.

 

DON

[Northern Aurora]

While Fairbanks has a public transit system it will much more efficient for you to rent a car for the day.

 

Please check the Fairbanks Convention and Visitor's Center webiste (just google it) for a list of suggestions as what to do in our community. While it is very difficult to make recommendations or suggestions without knowing anything of your interests, some ideas are the Museum of the North (located on the University of Alaska campus), the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and the Morris Thompson Cultural Center. All three of those venues have websites, so just use google to find them.

[tweety522]

Thanks, so now I am looking for cars. Our hotel does not have a shuttle and some of the car rentals in Fairbanks are not open on Sunday. Then the airport is the choice for a rental. Where have any of you picked up your rental car. We re at the Westmark Fairbanks.

[Ginger Pepper]

We will be in Fairbanks for a couple of days before the beginning of our cruise tour and plan to rent a car and drive (about 60 miles on paved road) to Chena Hot Springs and Ice Museum. We understand that the route and the place itself are lovely. There is also a restaurant, bar and guided tours of the site.

[KroozFoolz]

We also will be arriving in Fairbanks a day before we join our HAL cruisetour, and will be staying at the Fairbanks Westmark. I had found a downtown walking tour that I thought we could do on our own from the hotel. Some of the stops include the Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center, the Dog Mushers Museum and Fairbanks Community Museum, Golden Heart Plaza, and the Yukon Quest Log Cabin, as well as some stops on the Fairbanks Pioneer Neighborhoods Walking Tour ("side-by-side homes in this area are good examples of typical pioneer neighborhoods"). I also thought we could walk from the hotel to the co-op on Gafney Road to pick up some snacks. All this seemed like it would take up a good part of our day there. Any comments or advice re this?

We would like to go to the Museum of the North and the Botanical Gardens but it would have to be via MACS bus as we are not renting a car for the day. Any idea of what a taxi would run to get us there?

 

Thanks!

[paluni]

As a little side trip away from the downtown, I really enjoyed seeing the Alaska pipeline. It is very impressive. Also, totally unobtrusive and I wouldn't protest any necessary pipeline after seeing it. It was much nicer than I ever expected. Animals can walk under it as if it wasn't there.

[Munkee]

We have a full day before our tour begin. We will be at the Fairbanks Westmark.

 

Wondering if its worth it to rent a car to sightsee. Need suggestions please.

 

 

Just did this on the 12th. Stayed at the Westmark as well. The local Enterprise (not the airport location) will pick you up at the Westmark. If you can return the car before 6pm when the office closes, they can take you back to the Westmark too.

 

FYI - a taxi from the airport to the Westmark is about $20 to $25.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[Northern Aurora]

Thanks, so now I am looking for cars. Our hotel does not have a shuttle and some of the car rentals in Fairbanks are not open on Sunday. Then the airport is the choice for a rental. Where have any of you picked up your rental car. We re at the Westmark Fairbanks.

 

Have you considered just renting a car the day you arrive and just driving to the Westmark yourself.

 

Also, I see white Westmark vans at the airport dropping folks off and also around town. Have you called the hotel directly to confirm that they don't have shuttle service; their local number is 907-456-7722? While they certainly don't have the capacity to shuttle large numbers of folks without using their Holland America motor coaches, they seem to have small (i.e. seven or eight passenger capacity) vans.

[mort&fran]

KroozFoolz - where did you find the Fairbanks walking tour? We will also have a full day in Fairbanks after our HAL cruise/tour and would much prefer to not rent a car.

[Ginger Pepper]

Here is the information on the Internet -

Self-guided Walking Tour of Fairbanks, Alaska

The self-guided Walking Tour of the downtown area is a favorite for many visitors.

Allow two to three hours for the entire tour, or tailor it to meet your needs.

You can pick up the tour brochure for $1 at the Visitor's Center on First and Cushman. Available in Japanese and German, too!

 

The 38 point walk takes visitors across the Chena River to Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, then back across the river to First Avenue for a close-up look at the residential section of Old Fairbanks. It also includes one of Fairbanks' most infamous land marks: The Line. The former red light district stretches along Fourth Avenue between Barnette and Cushman streets.

 

The walking tour also includes stops at Courthouse Square, at the corner of Cushman Street and Second Avenue, the Clay Street Cemetery, and the old Empress Theatre, now the Co-op Building.

 

The tour winds back to Golden Heart Plaza, just behind the visitors center. The plaza features a fountain and bronze statue honoring Alaska's "Unknown First Family."

 

For more information on some of the historic buildings you will see, see our Fairbanks History page, as well as the link from there to Historic Preservation.

[Ginger Pepper]

The website and much more information is on: http://fairbanks-alaska.com/