Train into Denali ?

[Harrylinden]

We are doing an Alaska on our own trip in July.The train that was picked for the Anchorage to Denali was Grayline of Alaska Railroad.Anyone have experience with this train line? It say's it is operated by Holland America and Princess.We will be in the domed cars.Any advice would be appreciated!  🙂

[dfilpus]

Gray Line Alaska is a tour company https://www.graylinealaska.com/about/ which offers tours which use the Alaska Railroad for transportation to Denali. Tours may include transfers to the railroad stations and hotel accommodations.

 

The Alaska Railroad https://www.alaskarailroad.com/ is the railroad company. You can book rail directly from them. There are two classes of service.

 

[Northern Aurora]

Just to expand slightly on the answer by "dfilpus" the cruise lines pay for their own cars to be added to the Fairbanks - Anchorage Alaska Railroad runs.  If you book directly with Alaska Railroad you wouldn't be in the Holland or Princess railcars, but will see the same scenery.

[AKStafford]

And to be clear: there is no train "into" Denali National Park. The Alaska Railroad has a depot at the Denali National Park headquarters on their track that runs from Anchorage to Fairbanks. The Alaska Railroad engine(s) will pull their own cars, plus cars owned by Princess and/or Holland America (both owned by Carnival). Holland America is also the Grayline vendor in Alaska.

 

To get into the Park, you use the shuttles: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

 

If you are doing this trip on your own, I would suggest using a rental car to get to Denali National Park. The highway follows the same route as the rail line so the views are the same. Having the rental car gives you more lodging and dining options. If you still want a train ride, you could do the Grandview day trip on the Alaska Railroad.

[Idahoan58]

I worked in Denali at Mckinely Chalet Resort one summer in college. It’s the resort all the Holland America guests stay at. When I left they let me take the train down to Anchorage. 

 

I was in a Holland America cart and it had 2 levels. The first level was for dinning and second level was seating.

 

It was pretty nice.

Edited February 8, 2019 by Idahoan58