Its official- July 2021 RV trip (Anchorage, Fairbanks: rent, motorhomes, buying)

[LO28SWM]

For the umpteenth time..a thread about visiting Alaska.

My niece is stationed in Fairbanks so we are planning a big family trip up in July. We are only going for a week so our options are limited. We are renting a few RVS and will caravan around. We will rent a car if necessary when we are in Anc.

Our plan is

Day 1 and 2 Denali and Talkeetna
Day 3 and 4 Seward/Whittier
Day 5 and 6 Anchorage

We realize its a huge state and traveling can be rough and slow so we are trying to not pack a million things in.

So my questions are is there anything you recommend as a MUST DO in these areas? Is it possible to charter a boat for similar cost of all buying tickets from seward/whittier? Is a flying tour of Denali worth it? Anything you would like to add?

Also sorry in advance for being yet another lower-48-er on the roads in a RV, it was the best way to travel and we are all well acquainted with large vehicles and my husband has a CDL

[Parnassia]

How many people would go along on these side excursions? The size of the aircraft/boat will matter.

Charter a boat to do what? Fishing? Sightseeing? Transportation somewhere?
Charter a plane to do what? Flightseeing? Point to point air taxi to somewhere?

I'd suggest calling or emailing some charter businesses operating out of the towns you want to leave out of and ask about their rates (point to point seat fare vs charting the entire craft). Be aware: what is true for 2020 may not be true for 2021, but it might give you a ballpark of costs and also some excursion destination ideas.

[LO28SWM]

Originally Posted by Parnassia

How many people would go along on these side excursions? The size of the aircraft/boat will matter.

Charter a boat to do what? Fishing? Sightseeing? Transportation somewhere?
Charter a plane to do what? Flightseeing? Point to point air taxi to somewhere?

I'd suggest calling or emailing some charter businesses operating out of the towns you want to leave out of and ask about their rates (point to point seat fare vs charting the entire craft). Be aware: what is true for 2020 may not be true for 2021, but it might give you a ballpark of costs and also some excursion destination ideas.

Sorry I wasn't intentionally vague! Flightseeing denali. Charter fishing/wildlife viewing/glaciers. There will be between 11-14 people including some children. Ive tried looking up info online but the only boats I can find are for 6 people

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by LO28SWM

Sorry I wasn't intentionally vague! Flightseeing denali. Charter fishing/wildlife viewing/glaciers. There will be between 11-14 people including some children. Ive tried looking up info online but the only boats I can find are for 6 people

That will be too many people for affordable charters; either flightseeing or boating. Most small flightseeing aircraft (single engine Cessna 206 or similar) will hold a max of about 6. Their rates tend to be by the hour. I suppose you could charter one plane and make two shifts, but the total charter will probably be very very expensive. Two aircraft would be astronomically expensive. There are lots of charter fishing boats commonly referred to as "6 packs"; 6 clients and one or two crew. There are larger capacity marine excursion type day tours you could buy seat fares on out of Whittier, possibly Seward.

[AKStafford]

With your schedule and just 6 days, you are going to spend most of your time in the car... It takes most of the day to get to Denali National Park. And then you'll want a full day getting into the park on the shuttle buses, and then the better part of a full day getting back to Anchorage. So there's 3 days.
And I would spend as little time in Anchorage as possible.
And is your trip this July? Or in 2021?
And in addition to whatever advice you receive here on City-Data, I would also do some research and ask your question on the TripAdvisor forum for visiting Alaska: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForu...49-Alaska.html

[LO28SWM]

Originally Posted by AKStafford

With your schedule and just 6 days, you are going to spend most of your time in the car... It takes most of the day to get to Denali National Park. And then you'll want a full day getting into the park on the shuttle buses, and then the better part of a full day getting back to Anchorage. So there's 3 days.
And I would spend as little time in Anchorage as possible.
And is your trip this July? Or in 2021?
And in addition to whatever advice you receive here on City-Data, I would also do some research and ask your question on the TripAdvisor forum for visiting Alaska: https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForu...49-Alaska.html

July 2021 4th of july week. We are renting campers so the idea is to be in the car most of the time. We have a day that is sort of for assorted travel.

1)We plan to leave early in the morning our first day and drive to talkeetna, spend most of the day there (map says 2 hr) I say 3 hours. Leave there in the late afternoon and drive the rest of the way to Denali, another 3 hours. (or camp there and leave very early)

2)Camp there and do Denali the following day for the whole day. Camp here

3)Spend most of the next day making a leisurely trek back toward whittier which is 5.5 hours but probably closer to 8. Camp for the night.

4)Spend the day in whittier/seward depending on boat reservations and such. Camp for the night

5)Head up to anchorage and experience anchorage and the surrounding areas

6)Anchorage and surrounding area (some biking/hiking/exploring/local drives)

7)Home

The drive from Denali to Whittier is the longest stretch driving but we plan to go slowly and take our time. The 2 days in anchorage can be adjusted back to 1 day depending on how slowly we move from place to place so we dont feel hurried or like we are missing anything

[Northrick]

Originally Posted by LO28SWM

Sorry I wasn't intentionally vague! Flightseeing denali. Charter fishing/wildlife viewing/glaciers. There will be between 11-14 people including some children. Ive tried looking up info online but the only boats I can find are for 6 people

Look up Talkeetna Air Taxi. They fly a turbine Otter on wheel skis. It's a cool airplane that can carry about 10 people. I'd call them and see if they would make you a deal if you filled the whole plane. Even with a discount it won't be cheap. Still, if you do it, and you should, pay the extra for landing on the glacier. Getting out of the plane and being able to walk around and look at all that rock and ice is worth it.


For fishing, most boats are "6-pack" boats but not all. There are some boats that can take 10 or 20 people. There are many more options for fishing boats in Seward than in Whittier. Keep in mind that at both places it is a long run out to the fishing grounds.



For sight seeing, both locations have sizable boats that will accommodate your group and many more. Epic Charters in Whittier has a boat that will carry 12. I don't know if that would be cheaper than 12 tickets on a big boat or not.

Originally Posted by LO28SWM

July 2021 4th of july week. We are renting campers so the idea is to be in the car most of the time. We have a day that is sort of for assorted travel.

1)We plan to leave early in the morning our first day and drive to talkeetna, spend most of the day there (map says 2 hr) I say 3 hours. Leave there in the late afternoon and drive the rest of the way to Denali, another 3 hours. (or camp there and leave very early)

2)Camp there and do Denali the following day for the whole day. Camp here

3)Spend most of the next day making a leisurely trek back toward whittier which is 5.5 hours but probably closer to 8. Camp for the night.

4)Spend the day in whittier/seward depending on boat reservations and such. Camp for the night

5)Head up to anchorage and experience anchorage and the surrounding areas

6)Anchorage and surrounding area (some biking/hiking/exploring/local drives)

7)Home

The drive from Denali to Whittier is the longest stretch driving but we plan to go slowly and take our time. The 2 days in anchorage can be adjusted back to 1 day depending on how slowly we move from place to place so we dont feel hurried or like we are missing anything

That's a tight but doable itinerary. I'd pick either Whittier or Seward but not both on a short trip. Seward would be more driving but there is much more of a town there. Whittier is - how shall we say this - special. You go to Whittier to get on a boat and head into Prince William Sound. You can see the whole town in an hour if you walk real slow.

[LO28SWM]

Originally Posted by Northrick

Look up Talkeetna Air Taxi. They fly a turbine Otter on wheel skis. It's a cool airplane that can carry about 10 people. I'd call them and see if they would make you a deal if you filled the whole plane. Even with a discount it won't be cheap. Still, if you do it, and you should, pay the extra for landing on the glacier. Getting out of the plane and being able to walk around and look at all that rock and ice is worth it.


For fishing, most boats are "6-pack" boats but not all. There are some boats that can take 10 or 20 people. There are many more options for fishing boats in Seward than in Whittier. Keep in mind that at both places it is a long run out to the fishing grounds.



For sight seeing, both locations have sizable boats that will accommodate your group and many more. Epic Charters in Whittier has a boat that will carry 12. I don't know if that would be cheaper than 12 tickets on a big boat or not.









That's a tight but doable itinerary. I'd pick either Whittier or Seward but not both on a short trip. Seward would be more driving but there is much more of a town there. Whittier is - how shall we say this - special. You go to Whittier to get on a boat and head into Prince William Sound. You can see the whole town in an hour if you walk real slow.

The reason I chose whittier is because there seemed to be more boat options there and the tunnel is just kind of cool. But we will do one or the other not both we just have figured out which one yet. Thanks for the info on the air taxi and the charter boats. We try to start planning a long time in advance so we can make sure we get what we want

[Alaskan Mutt]

If you have not already done so I would get a copy of The Milepost. While given the current events going on right now will have a big impact on what is around next year, The Milepost is a great source of information for planning travel around Alaska.

Actual campgrounds are few and far apart in Alaska. I would do a lot of research on where camping is allowed and not allowed.

If your trip is anywhere close to the 4th of July I would strongly consider not going to Seward. Things tend to get crazy stupid and very crowded there.

Other than taking a day cruise out of Whittier there is not a lot to do there.

Denali National Park is different than most parks elsewhere. Road access to much of the park is limited.

Keep in mind most of your trip will be driving on 2 lane highways crowded with motorhomes. On top of that is the never ending road construction. What you have planned leaves little time for sightseeing.

[Parnassia]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Mutt

Keep in mind most of your trip will be driving on 2 lane highways crowded with motorhomes. On top of that is the never ending road construction. What you have planned leaves little time for sightseeing.

This. Everyone else with the idea of flying up and renting a motorhome will be on the exact same roads you plan...there are few others. Agree about the drive to Seward. There's a bit more actual "town" than Whittier certainly, but the traffic is there for a reason. The stretch of highway getting there is sort of one long drawn out party. I haven't driven the new road to Whittier. The last time I went there the highway didn't exist. Just the railroad. All vehicles were driven up onto a flatbed railroad car and you sat in them for the trip through the tunnel. Then you had to wait for the train to go back the other way to leave town again.