KathyD87

Message: Hello, I am planning the land portion of my Alaska vacation. Will be travelling solo, and I arrive in Seward from a cruise on June 10. This is my tentative itinerary plan:

Day 1, 6-10 -- arrive Seward; take Kenai Fjords full-day tour; overnight in Seward.
Day 2 6-11-- Homer Stage Line bus from Seward to Homer (leaves Seward at 3 p.m., arrives Homer at 7p). Overnight in Homer.
Day 3 6-12 -- Bear-viewing trip with Emerald Air; overnight in Homer.
Day 4 6-13 Bus to Seward (depart Homer at 9a, arrive at 1:30 p.m.; sightsee until train departs for Anchorage) overnight in Anchorage
Day 5 6-14 -- pick up rental car in Anc, drive to Talkeetna with stops along the way (Eklutna, Eagle Nature Center, etc). Flightsee in Talkeetna & overnight
Day 6 6- 15 -- Drive to Denali; sightsee; overnight in Healy
Day 7 6-16 -- 6 a.m. shuttle to Eilson; sightsee; overnight in Healy)
Day 8 6-17 -- Leisurely drive to Anchorage; overnight
Day 9 6-18 -- a.m. sightseeing; return rental car; depart Anc in late afternoon for home

The arrival in Seward and the 6/18 departure from Anchorage are fixed. My interests are wildlife, nature & sightseeing. I'm trying to be somewhat cost-conscious so I can afford the expensive excursions! I'm not sure though if saving a few $$$ by taking bus or train will be worth it because I will lose flexibility if I have a rental car. At one point earlier I was considering Valdez but I think Homer is more appealing. Very interested in bears.

Looking forward to feedback! THanks very much!

Kathy D.


P.S. I apologize if this is posted multiple times. I'm having trouble making sure my post gets to the Alaska board and not the U.S. board. Thanks.

repete

Looks like you've done some good research. Here are a few ideas to consider:

On Day 2, you might add a morning trip to Exit Glacier.

On Day 4 -- browse ``downtown'' Seward, perhaps visit the Sealife Center.

Day 5 -- Add Hatcher Pass and arrive evening in Talkeetna. Move flightseeing to Day 6.

Day 6 -- Other than park shuttles there's not much to sightsee so do your flightseeing in Talkeetna this day drive up to Healy in the afternoon.

Your plan is solid as it is, but these tweaks might space things out a little better IMO.

KathyD87

Thanks for the input. Have you ever taken the Homer Stage Bus from Seward to Homer? Just thinking it might be an option to cut back on some of the driving.

caniac

There is a marathon in Anchorage on June 18th. They will have 3500 runners in town for this race. I have never been to Alaska so I don't know how the traffic will be but certainly, some areas of town will be off limits and congested. You may want to go to runnersworld.com and post a question on the marathon forum to get insight on the race, traffic, accommodations, and areas to aviod.

caniac

Here is a link to the marathon website: http://www.mayorsmarathon.com/

repete

The marathon is basically a non-issue -- unless you want to walks on some of the city trails (not the Coastal Trail), including Campbell Creek Trail and the Westchester Lagoon areas.

Thanks to Anchorage's wonderful bike/hike trail system, there's little road impact.

Here's a cool link to the race, BTW:
http://www.mayorsmarathon.com/flashmap.htm