Alaska (not cruise)
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Anonymous
| Hi, we are considering a trip to Alaska in August. We would fly into Anchorage and either do day trips or fly/drive to other destinations, such as Kenai fjords, plane to see bears. We would have about 6 days. Would love any recommendations and suggestions if you have done a similar trip. |
Anonymous
| Go look at the Tauck Tours itinerary for its Alaska Bridges trip. (Bridges is the group that caters to intergenerational travel, so they have plenty of options for older folks as well as the grandkids). We did that tour just before Covid and it was FABULOUS. You can just copy it. |
Anonymous
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I live in Alaska. The Southeast archipelago and the Aleutian islands are best. The train is also cool if you want to make a lap through the Interior.
Really check the safety records of any flightseeing operations. And I'm not saying this for DCUM drama. There are a lot of fatal crashes in Southeast Alaska. Find a multi-decade owner/operator with a spotless (and I mean SPOTLESS) safety record. They exist. I have to fly for work sometimes, both fixed-wing and helicopter. And we will not fly with most operators. |
Anonymous
| Tripadvisor's Alaska forum is very helpful when planning. |
Anonymous
Wow, thank you for this. Are there any that you particularly recommend? |
Anonymous
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I don't know who to recommend on the Kenai. If you were based in Ketchikan, I'd recommend someone like https://www.islandwings.com/. If you're stuck on ANC and the Kenai, try to map her characteristics onto those local options.
But also, Anchorage sucks. You'll see way cooler stuff even if you just stick with Southeast AK. If you wanted to drive around, fly from KTN over to Prince of Wales Island and rent a car. The island has amazing (and empty) paved roads. Truly wonderful. And lots of little fishing towns and villages. And not overrun with tourists at all. You could also rent a car in KTN and take the ferry to POW. |
Anonymous
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Anchorage does not suck.
If you're only doing 6 days, I would recommend flying into Anchorage, spending a few days there, and driving down to Seward. Do one of the boat trips out of Seward, they're great. You can do the Exit Glacier hike as well. Other things in the area: Girdwood (good brewery, nice hiking, generally cute). In Anchorage, the main museum is excellent, there are lots of good places to eat, the various public parks are lovely, there are *great* hikes in the foothills, the Native Heritage Center is awesome, lots of good breweries. You could, conversely, drive up to Talkeetna and see Denali. It's easy to add on little excursions (glacier tour, dogsledding, fishing) depending on your interests, in any of these places. -- Person who grew up in Anchorage and goes there at least once a year. |
Anonymous
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I'm the PP recommending caution with the flightseeing operators and also observing how sh!tty Anchorage is.
All I can recommend is do a dry run of your driving around itinerary in Google Earth. |
Anonymous
| It has a lot of drug use and poverty. The locals also hate mainlanders. FYI. |
Anonymous
| Denali is the most amazing place I’ve ever been. If you’re going all the way to Alaska, I think it’s worth it. The drive there is amazing, and it’s then you take a bus into the park. Unfortunately it isn’t totally open right now, but the bus ride by itself was amazing (the drivers stop for all the wildlife) and then you can get out anywhere and hike around then get back on the next bus. |
Anonymous
We did a similar trip - Seward, etc. We also added Homer and a flight to see bears. We didn’t go to Denali because one kid gets so carsick that he wouldn’t have managed the bus. It was a great trip. |
Anonymous
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We are heading to Alaska this summer so I haven’t experienced it yet, but I can share our plans. Going with elementary age kids.
We are flying into Anchorage and spending the first week on land. -in Anchorage we are renting bikes for the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail and hiking Flattop Mountain. Maybe going to the museums, depends on how the kids are doing. -Hiking Matanuska Glacier. -helicopter for glacier dog sled out of Girwood - Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center -Kenai Fjords boat trip -hiking Exit Glacier and Bryon Glacier Trail - Seward sea life center - gold panning We might do a flight to see bears with Rusts out of Anchorage, we are really going back and forth on this and at this point it may be sold out. After the above we are cruising down to Vancouver. |
Anonymous
| Exit glacier was my favorite all time hike! |
Anonymous
Alaskan here and this is just not true. There is homelessness and it’s obvious downtown but it’s not that different from many other cities. And the locals do *not* hate ‘mainlanders’ (which is not a term we’d use). Most locals *are* from the lower 48. It’s not like Hawaii. |
Anonymous
| 6 days is not enough time. |