Alaska Travel Forum

Am going to visit soon. Is there a way to tell if something is being passed off as authentic or is there a commercial tag stating the item was made in China.
Oh, to be able to buy only authentic merchandise!!!!
thanks for your help.
Looking forward to our visit in August.

3 of us need to get to Anchorage from Seward the morning of Sunday 7/6. I see that there are busses and independent van companies. We will be staying on N Street in AK. They all seem to cost about the same. What do you suggest? How long is the trip (bus says 3 hours, vans say 2 1/2)?

Is anyone familiar with trailer rentals(prefer pop-up) in the Anchorage or fairbanks areas? Not interested in a motor home. Thanks in advance.

Questions please.

We are flying into Seattle the 1st part of June and wanted to ferry up and drive back or drive then ferry. It looks like the ferry from Bellingham is only on Fridays. Can we ferry to Vancouver or Victoria and pick up a ferry? Hoe about drive to Prince Rupert and then ferry. What would anyone suggest?

Thanks!

We are flying into Anchorage and will be in Alaska for 4 nights (June 12-June 16). My original plan was to stay in Anchorage for the first night, then drive north to Denali and stay up there for 2 nights and then spend the final night in Anchorage again.

I'm wondering if a better option would be to stay in Anchorage for all 4 nights and take day trips from there. I'd like to see Denali, but from the limited research I've done, it looks like you can see it (on a good, clear day) with just a short car ride (like 2 hours) and not have to go into Denali National Park.

What would you guys recommend? We've never been before and I'm sure there are lots of other things to see than just Denali.

We would like to see the scenery, take road trips, and maybe do some hiking.

Any suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!

Any suggestions on renting a car or SUV for 2 weeks this July? I'd like to get a SUV /large car / minivan for 4 people for our 2 week stay. Part of the 2 weeks will be spent visiting relatives in Soldotna. Searching the typical car rental agencies, I find their prices to be quite high, although this may be normal for Alaska in the summer! Any suggestions on where I can find the best deal would be greatly appreciated. Is it better to avoid picking up and dropping off at the airport? Should we take a taxi to another location away from the airport to pick up a car? Thanks to all who respond!

Will be in Alaska in June. Is Wonder Lake far enough into the park to see the most? Is there a better terminal location? Is it difficult to get on a bus once you get off? Thanks

I am going to fly into haines and rent a car and drive around and go to haines junction, I think it is beautiful. then the nextday i am thinking of taking the fast ferry to skagway, then take a bus tour to the white pass, then take the ferry back to Juneau, but not sure if I need to go to both city or haines is enough for me?

Daisy

I will be fly into haines and stay there and rent a car and drive up to haines junciton, I think it is beautiful...
I was originally thinking of take the water taxi the next day to skagway and take a bus tour to white pass, then take the ferry back to Juneau, but is it all worth it to go over skagway? or haines is just as beautiful?

thanks
Daisy

will there be shuttle near the ferry dock to take me to the chapel then take me to downtown??

Daisy

I will be arriving Juneau around 1PM sept 1st. I heard u can take the bus from airport to about 2 blocks from hostel. it is located at 6th street and harris street.
how do I take the bus from airport? I think I may need to transfer somewhere....

the cab ride is like $25...

also sept 4th I will be coming back from skagway via ferry, is there shuttle bus outside of the dock to take me to downtown as well? back to hostel..

Daisy

I'm planning on taking the typical 3-hour whale watching trip with my husband, but I'm unsure of which companies are reputable, or even just better than the others.

Do you have opinions or experiences?

I love the idea of seeing other wildlife as well, but that's secondary.

Thanks

Does anyone know of any car hire companies that let you drive on the McCarthy Road? I've approached a couple of the big internationals in Anchorage but no joy yet.

Failing that is it easy enough to hitch or get a bus if I get as far as Chitina?

Will the road even be open in May?

Hi everyone, we're tossing around the idea of driving from AZ to AK Aug/Sept this year and I was wondering if anyone had the best path to take and if four weeks round-trip would be enough time...?

Obviously, we just thought of this today and surely a lot of planning goes into a jaunt this huge.

I mapquested it and the route there takes us near the following sites we would stop at on the way:

near Yellowstone
near Glacier Nat'l Park
near Banff Nat'l Park

We're so at the beginning stages here...

Anyone taken the scenic raft float trips offered from Cooper Landing area. I am undecided on which one to take, the Upper Kenai Scenic Float trip through Alaska River Adventures or the Alaska Wildland Adventure float trip. Anyone been on either? Are they about the same? Do they travel the same portion of the Kenai River? One specifically states the upper Kenai and the other just says scenic float trip. Is one preferred over the other? Thank you for any response. We will be there this June. Jem

Hi all

We're three friends doing a cruise from Vancouver visting Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway. After that we have 9 days to explore the country. We want to see best views, canooing, animal watching, etc.
We were thinking about going from Seward to Fairbanks.
Any advice o better suggestions?

Many thanks from spain!

Hi all,

We're planning our honeymoon which will consist of a cruise and land tour of alaska. The cruise will be leaving from vancouver, british columbia. A friend of mine mentioned that we should go 3 days before and drive around the rockies. However I've read in some places that the rockies is about 10 hours drive from the airport. Now i'm not sure which vancouver airport they were referring to...because i also recently found out that there is a vancouver in canada and another in the usa! (this is so confusing lol)!

What i'd like to know is whether it would be a good idea or not to drive to the rockies before the cruise. Even perhaps if we get a flight to somewhere else (calgary?) and drive through the rockies and end in vancouver, b.c. Would this still be a long distance? We don't want it to be too tiring seeing as its our honeymoon!!

Any advise welcome..... Also we're looking at booking with Diamond Princess in beginning of May.... any experiences/comments with them?

Thanks in advance!! :)

My wife and I are planning a canoe excursion into the Lynx lake area, and although I have experience with canoes, I am concerned with the weather, the chill of the water, and the portages involved.

We have been living in the southern California area, so our version of cold begins at 60 degrees. We both had childhoods in colder climes, so we have some idea of what to expect, but any information you can share about this area, what we are likely to expect in temperatures both water and air would be helpful.

Our current plan is for 2009, mid to late August. Is this too late? We are hoping to get 3 nights in, perhaps two at lynx and one at James. My concern is the chill factor, and what provisions there are in the cabins to get warm. It sounds like the stove is for heating only, which I take it means you can't cook on it. I would imagine that is to keep the scents down so bears are not attracted, or am I off base on that one?

We are looking forward to this so much, I just want to know what to expect so I can properly prepare.

Thanks, Eric

My wife and I are reaching to ANC from Chicago on July 2nd and will be flying back on 7th night. We want to cover a lot but at the same time don't want to be rushed all the time. Couple of thoughts we have are:
1) stay in ANC on 2nd night
2) go to Seward on 3rd. Questions here is -- should we hike at Kenai Fjords or take 6 hour cruise. Leave from Seward to Denali on 3rd evening. Night Stay at Healy.
4) on 4th take the bus tour at Denali. Night at Healy.
5) on 5th Denali on our own--any suggestions what should we cover which definitely the bus will not? We intend to drive to Fair Banks that night.
6) on 6th we are thinking going to arctic circle. Night where ? How long does this trip take - it says about 162 miles but we are not sure of the realistic speed.
7) on 7th drive back to ANC and leave.

We have no idea if this trip is pushing the limits? So would appreciate a reality check from you guys. Also, should we leave something and add something else to the itinery.
Any help will be very much appreciated.

We're going to be flying into Anchorage spending a few days then onto Seward this July and are a little torn as to what to do & where. Both places look fantastic as bases to see things. We will arrive late on 24th and stay thru the 31st then on to Florida. We live in China and this 1/2 family vacation (Alaska) and half annual family visit (FL).
Planning so far for Anchorage: Float plane trip to view Bears, Jetboat trip, Stay at B & B (Mangy Moose)

Planning so far for Seward: Kenai Fjords cruise, some easy kayaking, stay at Princess lodge or Fox?? Fox's prices are up there, is it worth it? Princess seemed nice.

Wondering, if we're going to to the Jetboats in ANC is it worth doing the 26 Glacier cruise there too? Keeping in mind that as we live in China we are going to be under some heavy duty jetlag and it might be rough doing too long a day and our 9 year old might not be able to keep up (or we with him more likely) Last year at Yellowstone we were awake at 04:00AM and dead to the world at three in the afternoon.
Anyone compare the Helicopter to glacier dog sled adventures? Which are better the ones out of Seward or Anc?

Thanks,
BC
PS I'll post same in Seward forum

We're going to be flying into Anchorage spending a few days then onto Seward this July and are a little torn as to what to do & where. Both places look fantastic as bases to see things. We will arrive late on 24th and stay thru the 31st then on to Florida. We live in China and this 1/2 family vacation (Alaska) and half annual family visit (FL).
Planning so far for Anchorage: Float plane trip to view Bears, Jetboat trip, Stay at B & B (Mangy Moose)

Planning so far for Seward: Kenai Fjords cruise, some easy kayaking, stay at Princess lodge or Fox?? Fox's prices are up there, is it worth it? Princess seemed nice.

Wondering, if we're going to to the Jetboats in ANC is it worth doing the 26 Glacier cruise there too? Keeping in mind that as we live in China we are going to be under some heavy duty jetlag and it might be rough doing too long a day and our 9 year old might not be able to keep up (or we with him more likely) Last year at Yellowstone we were awake at 04:00AM and dead to the world at three in the afternoon.
Anyone compare the Helicopter to glacier dog sled adventures? Which are better the ones out of Seward or Anc?

Thanks,
BC
PS I'll post same in Anchorage forum

We're going to be in Homer for a few days toward end of July. Some family members want to go fishing (river, ocean doesn't really matter). I've looked at the Homer C of C site and there are dozens of fishing charters. How does one pick one of these. Does anyone have any experiences?

Hello,

We are traveling to Alaska between 4th and 9th May for two of us. I would highly appreciate if someone could suggest a decent but economical place to stay in Anchorage, Seward and around Denali. 4th May - Anchorage. 5th - Seward 6th - Anchorage, 7th - and 8th -around Denali.

Thanks in advance.

Cheerio!
Tosboy

Arriving in Alaska end of July for 5 weeks. Was planning to work northwards picking up the AMHS in Ketchikan and working up to Anchorage but is there any benefit in working southwards instead.

I know 5 weeks sounds a long time - what are the must see/do things?

Thanks in advance

I'd love some help please. I'm planning a trip for August and ariving in Seward by cruise ship. We have about 7 days to travel between Seward & Anchorage and would like to rent an RV. Is this possible from Seward or will we have to go to Anchorage first? Also any info on campsites would be great and can you just park up and overnight anywhere or does it have to be in an RV site? Thanks everyone.

I would like to get feedback on the scenic raft float trips offered from Cooper Landing area. I am undecided on which one to take, the Upper Kenai Scenic Float trip through Alaska River Adventures or the Alaska Wildland Adventure float trip. Anyone been on either? Are they about the same? Do they travel the same portion of the Kenai River? One specifically states the upper Kenai and the other just says scenic float trip. Is one preferred over the other? Thank you for any response. We will be there this June. Jem

We wish to have reasonable weather and to beat the crowds. Would early May be too early? Should we consider August-September? We initially planned to go to Alaska end of May, early June. Is June a busy tourist month in Alaska? Your advise & suggests appreciated. Thanks from Oz.

Hello,

I just needed some information for our travel to Alaska. We are planning to travel to Alaska in 1st week of May. I had following questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

First of all, is the season reasonable enough to visit Alaska? It may not be the best.
We would fly to and fro between Anchorage and Seattle.

Help me in planning our itinerary. We could spend at the most 6 days.
Which places should we visit? Must see places? Could you please list them in priority: 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. We LOVE nature.
Should we rent a car or is there any tour? We are 2 of us.

Thank you.

Cheers,
Tosboy

Hi. Does anyone know of car rental company that will allow you to pick up hire car in Alaska and drop off in Seattle or LA. Also do they charge a one way drop off fare? Thanks

I'm planning to be in Alaska for a month this summer (mid-Aug to mid-Sept). Does anyone know of an Amazing place I can work for room and board (besides WWOOFing)? Anywhere will do.
Thanks!