tdreamer

Hi everyone.
I’m looking for guidance and have read the advice given by you experts to others and hope you may be able to assist.
Plans are for last week of May 2019, I know it’s over a year away but I am a planner (and dreamer) so here goes.

My husband and I will both be 60 next year and have 6 Weeks to travel from Australia to Alaska and Canada.
We don’t want to do the tour thing, rather we like to drive ourselves and take our time and enjoy the journey. For us it’s all about the scenery. Hubby has some health issues so no long hikes but short ones are ok.

First thoughts are:
Arrive Anchorage late afternoon after 30 hours travelling.
3 nights Anchorage
1 Coopers Landing?
3 Homer
2 Seward
1 Alyeska Resort
1 Valdez (ferry from Whittier)
1 Glenallen ?
2 Fairbanks
2 Healy or Talkeetna
1 Anchorage for cruise next day.

Does this Alaska part sound doable?
Any and all suggestions appreciated.
Thank you

Gardyloo

Hi and welcome to Fodor's!

If you plan to arrive in Alaska "after 30 hours of traveling," can we therefore assume that Alaska is the first stop on your trip? Can you give us an idea of the rest of your plans?

The reason being, late May and early June might be a little early to have the best experience, and if you're just now starting to plan, you might give consideration to moving the Alaska part of your big adventure to the end rather than the beginning. Things like the interior of Denali Park might be more accessible (and possibly a little less intense on the mosquito front) and if you wanted to get off the "road system" - say a visit to some bush community - things might be a little easier. You could just as easily cruise north around the end of your trip as cruising south to start it, but maybe the rest of your plans would make this difficult or impossible. Let us know.

Again, welcome!

tdreamer

Thank you so much for the welcome Gardyloo.

I have just recently started and have been trying to plan it in 3 stages. Alaska driving holiday, cruise to Vancouver, then Canada holiday -Vancouver, Whistler, Jasper, Emerald Lake, Banff Vancouver driving loop.

I had thought the cruise in the middle would split the two driving sections.
I had Alaska first as it is where we most want to go and I thought there would be more snow on the mountains then.
Also I thought the roads would be quieter for hubby to get used to driving on the wrong side of the road

I appreciate your help.
Thank you

Gardyloo

It would be the same structure but just reversed - Canada loop, cruise north, Alaska drive, home.

If the overall holiday is six weeks, that means you'd be in Alaska around the first of July. Trust me, there will still be plenty of snow to see on the mountains; but there might be less mud (and fewer bugs) at lower elevations. Glaciers and icefields are permanent things, but a northbound cruise a bit later might mean you'll be able to get closer to some glaciers en route, such as Hubbard Glacier, which earlier might have too much ice in the vicinity (icebergs, larger floes) which would require the ship to stand farther off. If you did reverse things, then we'd need to do some careful scheduling on the Alaska part to make sure you aren't in Seward on the 4th of July holiday; there's a big foot race up a mountain (several thousand insane people) that completely overwhelms the town.

Just some thoughts.

tomfuller

I agree with Gardyloo on delaying Alaska to the end of the trip. You would be better off only spending 1 day in Anchorage before heading north to see Denali and Fairbanks. Use the "extra day" or 2 to see some sights not too far out of Anchorage. Schedule your shuttle bus trip into Denali before you arrive in Alaska. Hope that the weather is good on the day that you pick.
My wife and I spent a few hours in Seward before going to see Exit Glacier. It is a fairly easy walk up to the toe of the glacier.
If you didn't spend the night in Seward, Cooper Landing would work well on the way to Homer.
The University of Alaska - Fairbanks has a good museum with some small dinosaur skeletons found in Alaska. Pioneer Park in Fairbanks has an aviation museum in the center of it.
On the outskirts of the park is a great salmon bake (all you can eat).
While we were in the Fairbanks area we also went up north to see a section of the Alaska pipeline that is open to the public.
Be aware that in late June-early July that the sunset is quite late. I took a sunset picture at midnight before boarding the plane for the flight home from Anchorage.

tdreamer

Thank you both for the suggestions. I will change the itinerary around so we finish in Alaska.
I have looked at cruises and will plan Canada so I can work out dates. I’ll come back when I have re jigged it and will definitely look at the time I allocate to Fairbanks given suggestions made.
thank you kindly