Alaska Non cruise vacation

[Anonymous]

We are thinking of going to Alaska at the end of June. Any recommendations for a non-cruise Alaskan trip?

[Anonymous]

What kinds of activities are you looking to do? Who is going? How long do you have? What's your budget? The state is 2.5x the size of Texas, you've got to narrow it down a bit.

[Anonymous]

We fly into Anchorage and then focused on the Kenai Peninsula. Cruises aren’t our thing.

[Anonymous]

We did a one day float plane fishing trip from Anchorage, Seward (wildlife viewing boat, kayaking, dogsledding on a glacier), glacier view AK (ice climbing with Mica guides) and Denali. If I were to go back, I'd do Denali and then the drive from Anchorage to Valdez and take the ferry back to Anchorage.
You may want to look at the itineraries posted on Get Up and Go tours. They are a local tour operator. Even if you don't use them, they may give you good ideas.

[Anonymous]

Tons of ideas - Talkeetna, Denali, Seward, Whittier, Katmai, SE AK not by cruise (fly and/or ferry to Juneau or Sitka - much more pleasant experience if you are there on non-cruise-ship days).

What age kids, if any? What kind of activities do you enjoy - hiking, camping, sightseeing, fishing?

[Anonymous]

We flew into Anchorage and rented a car and drove down to Seward for wildlife and glacier cruise, hiking up to a glacier, and a guided sea kayaking trip (very calm water on a protected inlet for a couple hours). Then drove up to Denali and stayed outside the park for 3 nights. Truly amazing. Buy the Milepost guidebook for lots of suggestions on scenic pull outs etc.

[Anonymous]

Aleyeska Resort in Girdwood is nice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We fly into Anchorage and then focused on the Kenai Peninsula. Cruises aren’t our thing.

I'm from the Kenai. Base yourself in Soldotna and do day trips to Seward, Homer (maybe a few days here) and Kenai. Take the Danny J ferry to Halibut Cove.
Go to Sisters bakery in Homer. Order a Mocha Bean Freeze at any coffee wagon.

[Anonymous]

^^^ I wrote the above. Also, maybe stop in Cooper Landing for a lunch and raft there, if you want.

[Anonymous]

We did this a few years back and it was and remains our favorite vacation ever.

Spend lots of time on the Kenai peninsula. There's also a bunch of places you can stop between there and Anchorage. It may be too late to get a hotel in Seward - we did it as day trips from Anchorage which was fine.

Other great stops we made were the Reindeer Farm, gold panning, Iditarod sledding and puppies (puppies are always a hit!), Alaska Sea Life Center, Knik Glacier Tour (this was amazing), and lots others. We also did a lot of hiking but make sure you know what to do about bears if you see them as we frequently saw fresh tracks (hey, bear)

We're planning to go back at some point for Denali and Katmai (for the bears).

[Anonymous]

If you want to go to Denali check now and see if there are still spots on the bus tour into Denali. They don’t allow driving in Denali. There is a on and off hikers bus with no narration and then the NPS tour bus, which I think goes further in and has narration and books up very quickly.

I highly recommend the native Alaska heritage center outside anchorage.

If you have kids, the wildlife rescue center between anchorage and Seward is a fun stop.

I would suggest maybe 2 days anchorage, 2 days Denal and spend the rest heading towards Seward and beyond. More in anchorage if you’re gojng yo use that as the base for helicopter or floatplane trips. More in Denali if you are big hikers. Don’t skip the bark ranger kennels at Denali — it’s the best part.

[Anonymous]

Also get your car rental in place quickly. They book up.

[Anonymous]

There is NO WAY I'd split a trip between the Kenai and Denali unless I was there about three weeks.
Alaska is darn near as big as the lower 48

[Anonymous]

I think part of Denali and a not accessible as the road is closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is NO WAY I'd split a trip between the Kenai and Denali unless I was there about three weeks.
Alaska is darn near as big as the lower 48

I agree with you and we didn't do it but it appears that quite a few people do. It's a bucket list item for some. For us, it would be a definite puke experience for my kid who gets motion sick very easily. They tack on 3 days for Denali, drive back to Anchorage, and then head down to Kenai.