Alaska Vacation Planning Assistance

 The Challenges of Alaska Travel

When planning your Alaska vacation, it's easy to forget how large our State is.  If you were to super-impose the State of Alaska on top of a map of the 48 State, you would see that Alaska stretches from California to Florida and from Michigan to Texas.

Although our state is HUGE, it only contains a population of about 650,000 people.

• Our roads are almost all 2 lane undivided highways
• Our "public transportation" is not what you are used to (1 train or bus a day (if that))
• There is a limited number of "nice" places in any given town, far fewer than the number of our summer visitors
• Car rental agencies are few and far between except in the largest of cities (Anchorage)
• Hefty one-way drop off fees on rental cars is very common
• It's easy to mis-judge distances and driving times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suggested Itineraries

We are focusing our first suggestions on the most easily accessible areas of Alaska, the South Central and Interior sections.  As time allows we will be embellishing this information.  If you see an itinerary that is of interest to you, we will help you fine tune it to meet your specific needs.

These are very "rough" suggestions, just intended to be an overview.  Please be sure to visit our Alaska Travel Info (Getting Aroung) section for information on the various methods of travel. 

• 7 Day Itinerary 
• 10 Day Itinerary
• 14 Day Itinerary 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Regions of Alaska


The State of Alaska is generally divided into 5 regions:

• South Central Alaska 
  • the most populated region, includes the largest city, Anchorage and provides access to an amazing playground of ocean, rivers, streams, mountains, lakes. Easily reached by plane. This is the section we are located in, and focus most of our recommendations in.
• Interior Alaska 
• • includes Denali National Park and North America's tallest peak, Mt. McKinley. This region features warm weather in the summer, and can be rather buggy; Fairbanks is located in this region. This is the second region we focus our recommendations in.

• Fly into Fairbanks, spend night
• Train south to Denali National Park, spend night
• Take the Park bus ride, spend night
• Train to Anchorage, rent car, drive to Seward, spend night
• Visit Kenai Fjords National Park by boat, spend night
• Visit Exit Glacier, hike, visit the Alaska SeaLife Center, take a sunset kayak paddle or relax & watch wildlife, spend night
• Return with rental car to Anchorage, and fly home.

10 Day Itinerary

• Fly into Anchorage, spend night
• Train north to Denali National Park, spend night
• Take bus ride inside the Park, or spend the day hiking, taking a flightseeing trip or rafting; then spend night
• Train to Anchorage, rent car, drive to Seward, spend night
• Visit Kenai Fjords National Park by boat, have a relaxing evening in town or at the cabin, spend night
• Visit Exit Glacier, hike, visit the Alaska SeaLife Center, take a sunset kayak paddle or relax & watch wildlife, spend night
• Drive to Homer, spend the night
• Fish, kayak, take boat tour, visit Pratt Museum, visit crafty shops, spend night
• Return with rental car to Anchorage, and fly home
• Variation, use the 7 day itinerary  into Fairbanks and just add a night, two or three along the way in any area that is appealing

• Using either the 7 or 10 day Itineraries you can spend more time in these areas, you can add a town or two into the mix (Talkeetna, Girdwood, Hope, Homer)
• You can have a rental car the entire time rather than train (although we recommend the train for the northern section) (BEWARE of one-way drop off fees with rental cars, see our section on rental cars for more information.)