Expert: Michael Donaldson - 6/21/2003

Question
My husband and I are planning a 6 day trip to Alaska and are not at all familiar with Alaska and where to begin.  We are flying into Anchorage and would like to spend as much time viewing the beautiful scenery that Alaska has to offer.  We also would like to see lots of the spectacular wildlife.  We know we need to look into cruise tours, train transport but are uncertain which are best.  Also as far as lodging goes, thats another big uncertainty.  We like a bit of luxury (nothing too rustic) with great surroundings.  Activities we want to include are kayaking (which neither of us have done) and hiking (which we've done very little of)  Can you suggest some of the best places, cruise tours, lodgings etc...  Anything you can offer will be MUCH appreciated.  Look forward to hearing your response!  Thank You!  Cindy

Answer
Hi Cindy!

Sounds like you have an awesome trip planned. The #1 suggestion I give everyone planning a trip to Alaska is to go to your nearest bookstore and buy a great travel guide entitled "The MILEPOST". It's a large easy-to-carry paperback, jam-packed with every bit of information you could ever want while traveling up in Alaska. It will provide you the name of every paved and gravel highway and explain where you're at and what you'll expect to see along the entire route. It'll also give you information about hotels, gas stations, restaurants, gift stores, the ferry system and locations, and even all the phone numbers you could ever want at each location. Bottom line: it's considered the "bible of Alaska" and it'll become a great companion up there...trust me! I lived up there for over 3 years and had it by MY side anytime I did any kind of traveling. It only cost about $25, but would be well well worth every penny.

The Kenai Peninsula is gorgeous and very photogenic. If you fly into Anchorage, it should only take you about 2 hours to get to Seward - a beautiful and quaint fishing town near Exit Glacier. There's a great charter company that leaves from Seward called "Kenai Coastal Tours".  You can book a full day tour of the Kenai Fjords National Park and Chiswell Islands Wildlife Refuge, so you can get up close and personal with glaciers of Harding Icefield, puffins, seals, and whales.  Give them a call at (907) 277-2131 for more info -- I believe they're headquartered in Anchorage.  Other towns on the Kenai are Homer, Soldotna, and the town of Kenai itself. The Russian River is on the north side of the peninsula and is very famous for a fishermans fiasco called "combat fishing", where you can see hundreds of fishermen shoulder-to-shoulder all trying to get their share of the thousands of salmon racing up river to spawn. It's an amazing sight to behold. I would highly recommend visiting Homer. It has a famous site called the "Homer Spit", and you can walk around shopping or dining out on their long, narrow, and picturesque peninsula surrounded by mountains.

About 2-3 hours north of Anchorage, you will come to "the pearl of Alaska" - Denali National Park. I spent a lot of time inside that park doing my hiking and photography. You will have to park your car (or get off at the train station if you want to take the Alaska train ride from Anchorage) at the visitors center and take the bus in, but you can get off the bus where ever you like, go hiking around if you'd like, and then just wave down the next bus that comes along. It's a very nice and easy system. The MILEPOST will explain much more about it. The wildlife is in abundance in that park. I have seen wolves, moose, mountain goats, golden eagles, caribou, and of course grizzlies there. Of course, you'll also see many of these animals OUTSIDE the park while driving around Alaska, but they're more concentrated in the park itself.
The mountains will be breathtaking even as you head north out of Anchorage. The city is wrapped by the Chugach Mountains to the east and the Talkeetna Mts. to its north. But the BIG mountains start past Wasilla, Alaska where you'll bask in the majestic scenery of the Alaska Range (which includes Mt McKinley) to the northwest. I highly recommend going to the town of Talkeetna and charter a 1-2 hour plane ride over Mt McKinley and its neighboring mountain range. It will be something you will never ever forget.

One more suggestion: on your way to Denali, you must go visit the town of Palmer too. It is famous for its giant-size vegetables and its "Swiss Alps" scenery. You'll see signs for the Glenn Highway near Wasilla, and then you'll see how to get to Palmer. It's worth the trip.

I won't go into any further detail about other locations,since there are hundreds. If I can, I'd like to just list for you a few other "must see" places that you'll want to make every effort to visit:

* Wrangell-St. Elias National Park
* The town of Valdez, Haines, Skagway, and North Pole
* The city of Fairbanks (including a great view and hands-on of the famous oil pipeline, the University of Alaska Museum, the riverboat ride along the Nenana River, Alaskaland, and some actual gold panning)
* The Yukon River and Arctic Circle crossing along the Dalton Highway(head north out of Fairbanks on the Steese Highway, then along the Elliott Highway until you hit the Dalton)...you'll be treated to a wild and spectacular up-close view of the tundra and numerous kinds of wildlife, including grizzly, caribou, fox, and moose.

As far as lodging: there are numerous hotels and bed-n-breakfasts all over Alaska, ranging from the VERY exquisite to the very low-cost-rustic-type.  The MILEPOST will list many of the hotels in the area you would like to visit along with providing their phone number for more information.  I'm sorry I can't help more in this area, but there's too many to chose from and it depends on where you'll be and on your personal taste and budget.  I also cannot give you a good answer about your kayaking question, since I have no experience with that...not YET anyway.  I'm sure you'll have no problems finding someone somewhere that can help you locate a local canoeing/kayaking rental or guide service when you arrive in Anchorage though.

Well, I hope that I helped you out some. If you need any more information about "Gods Playground", I'll be right here. Take care, happy traveling, and be safe.

Michael