Thanks!! She's been reading everything she can find on the internet and has decided to do an independent pre-cruise tour.
She's thinking of flying into Fairbanks and starting her touring from there. It seems to her there are a lot of good day trips from Fairbanks.
That way they won't be going straight from their very very long flights (across the Atlantic and across the US) to very long train and bus rides.
That way when they get to Denali, they'll be up for the long rides deep into the park.
What do you think of that approach?
Also, in addition to the Eielson Visitor Center, which she's planning on doing, what other things do you suggest she do in Denali?
Also, is there anything specific you suggest they see in Talkeetna?
And finally, in Kenai, which length cruise of the fjords and whale watching do you suggest? And which company do you think is good?
oh...and one final final question, do you think it's worth spending time in anchorage?
Where does your daughter live that she will be flying across the Atlantic? If she is going to take trains rather than rent a car, then flying into Fairbanks is a great idea. If she is going to rent a car in Fairbanks for drop-off in Seward, then I think Hertz is the only national car rental company with locations in both cities. (There are more flights into Anchorage than into Fairbanks, and they usually cost a little less into Anchorage.) I haven't been to Fairbanks, but there are plenty of things to do there for a few days. If/when I get to Fairbanks, I want to do a day trip to the Arctic Circle:
http://www.northernalaska.com/
The park road at Denali National Park is 92 miles long. When you buy your shuttle ticket in advance, you choose how far into the park you want to go. The Eielson Visitor Center at mile 66 would be my minimum, but a lot of people go to Wonder Lake at mile 85 or even to Kantishna at mile 90. I stayed at the Denali Lakeview Inn (
www.denalilakeviewinn.com) in Healy 2 nights and took the shuttle bus into the park one day. We were there in early August, and it snowed the day we went into the park! The web site for Denali National Park (
http://www.nps.gov/dena/index.htm) will list other activities - including seeing the sled dog kennels.
Talkeetna is a cute town, and most of the Mt. McKinley flights depart from the airport there. We did a flight with a glacier landing out of Talkeetna on the day we drove to the park from Anchorage;
http://talkeetnaaero.com/
The Kenai Fjords tours are all out of Seward. I went on a 6-hour glacier cruise (11:30-5:30), and that would be my minimum time recommendation. The Northwestern Fjords cruise is 9 hours. The Resurrection Bay cruises are much shorter (~ 3 hours), and they don't get very far into the bay. Warning - those cruises can be rough, so take precautions for motion sickness! There are several companies that do the cruises, and I have heard good things about all of them. Kenai Fjords Tours:
http://www.kenaifjords.com/; Major Marine:
http://www.majormarine.com/
Anchorage is a big city, but it's a great home base for exploring the area with a rental car. There's a lot to see north, east, and south of Anchorage!
I want to recommend my favorite Alaska guide book:
Frommer's Alaska by Charles Wohlforth. The 2011 edition came out in February, and I imagine the 2012 edition will be out around the same time this winter. I prefer it to the "ports of call" books by Frommer and Fodor. I also suggest taking a look at the Alaska board at Cruise Critic:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55. One more thing: there are several discount coupon books that can save you a lot of money...IF you plan to do some of the more expensive tours on the land trip such as the Kenai Fjords cruise, McKinley flightseeing, and the Alaska Railroad. Some will also work in the port towns. They are the TourSaver @ $99.95 (
http://www.toursaver.com/home/) and Northern Lights @ $55.00 (
http://www.alaska-discounts.com/).
