Alaska Master Thread

[Cat18]

planning a last minute late may/june 5-7 night trip for the family, and thought to do the following below while staying in an airbnb in anchorage (flexible, as may be worth to move around):

day cruise (glacier)
bear viewing tours
dog sledding
fishing (salmon) 

thoughts so far? any other suggestions on what to do?

i figured to have 1 big activity per day, interspersed with seeing sights when possible. traveling with young child so limited in activities as he will be walking but terrain needs to be flat.

[TravelMoshe]

planning a last minute late may/june 5-7 night trip for the family, and thought to do the following below while staying in an airbnb in anchorage (flexible, as may be worth to move around):

day cruise (glacier)
bear viewing tours
dog sledding
fishing (salmon) 

thoughts so far? any other suggestions on what to do?

i figured to have 1 big activity per day, interspersed with seeing sights when possible. traveling with young child so limited in activities as he will be walking but terrain needs to be flat.

Your best resource to find this information is at Alaska.org.
Dog sledding, as far as i know can only be done by helicopter. Alpine Air in Girdwood (about 40 minutes from Anchorage) offers that.
Bear viewing- a few companies offer it from Anchorage but there are a couple of issues: 1. they're more expensive than let's say from Homer or Soldotna. 2. because they have to fly so far, often weather shuts them down. You also need to speak to them about where to go at that time of year and what to expect ( I don't know if the bears are fully out of hibernation yet in May) Some bear viewing outfits offer fishing as well.
Day cruise- Cruises go either from Seward (2.5 hour drive from Anchorage) or Whittier (1.5 hours from Anchorage but need to take into account the Whittier tunnel schedule). See Alaska.org for pros and cons for each location.

[TravelMoshe]

Has anyone had experience whitewater rafting with children in Alaska? If yes, what company did you use? In what location? And how would you describe, as well as rate, your experience? What ages did you bring along?

[Minyan]

Has anyone went on the Kosherrica cruise?  Did you book your own day trips or you booked thru the cruise?  Any recommendations what to do?

[Joe4007]

Posting for a relative:

Booked the Brooks Falls and Katmai National Park Bear Viewing for 5, but won't end up using it. If anyone is interested in those slots for either July 21 or July 28, please PM.

https://regal-air.com/alaska-shore-excursions/alaska-bear-viewing/

[lcm]

PM for the contact of the new shliach to Fairbanks!

[TravelMoshe]

Can anyone that has been to Alaska explain what is this big excitement about Seward? Is it just that it is the closest to Anchorage? It seems to me that Valdez, Homer, Whittier, Kenai etc. have the same to offer, if not better. If you want a pretty quaint town-all those towns have it too. If you want a glacier/wildlife tour- Valdez & Whittier do it too, and they do it cheaper, & in calm waters with no possibility of seasick. Hikes to glaciers? You can do that in many places in Alaska. Am I missing something? Are there other things about Seward that I don't know?

[ben moshe]

i spent 2 weeks in alaska last summer i went to anchorage, seward, valdez, fairbanks, wrangel, denali and barrow
each place has its own beauty
regarding cruises i would opt for valdez as from all the reviews it sounds very similar,
the drive to seward is wild we stopped at potters marsh, bird point (beluga whales), and did a scenic flight in moose pass, after we hung out in seward for 2 days but it's worth it just for the drive, the drive from anc to valdez is also great and very scenic we saw many moose along the way, you cld glacier hike matsuka (near palmer), and do glacier kayaking for 3 hours in valdez for $60 (anc area $400), the salmon hatchery where you may spot wildlife, many hikes and waterfalls in valdez, and other activities such as jetski, bike rentals ect., if your adventurous go to wrangel the glacier hiking is really nice and quite, although the drive down is very bumpy and long. hope this helps

[Gvann]

Can anyone that has been to Alaska explain what is this big excitement about Seward? Is it just that it is the closest to Anchorage? It seems to me that Valdez, Homer, Whittier, Kenai etc. have the same to offer, if not better. If you want a pretty quaint town-all those towns have it too. If you want a glacier/wildlife tour- Valdez & Whittier do it too, and they do it cheaper, & in calm waters with no possibility of seasick. Hikes to glaciers? You can do that in many places in Alaska. Am I missing something? Are there other things about Seward that I don't know?

Whittier and Seward are two totally different experiences. Whittier is stunning glaciers with almost no wildlife that you actually care to see. Kenai is packed and you get closer to them.

Whittier is calm smooth sailing and maybe youll see a glacier calving and thats the highlight (not putting it down its an amazing tour and you'll have a blast, just not so action packed) and in kenai we saw a whale jumping out of the water and tons of cool scenery and animals. and its out in the ocean so its bumpy and natural. Seward seems to be the biggest attraction for its type of activity, and there are various lengths that allow you to see glaciers and more wildlife. I would recommend both, though i know people try to pick one over the other.

[Gvann]

Alaska Airlines has a new JFK-ANC nonstop this summer.

do you know the dates?

[Ell Eee]

Hi
Being in AK August 18 to 22 anyone got any suggestions of a in budget itinerary that covers the basics AK has to offer?
TIA

[TravelMoshe]

Hi
Being in AK August 18 to 22 anyone got any suggestions of a in budget itinerary that covers the basics AK has to offer?
TIA

Not sure how to do it on a strict budget. Alaska experiences are not cheap. However, if you take a day cruise from Seward one day, drive up to Denali for another day, and do some hikes like Hatcher Pass, Exit Glacier, etc., then you've seen and done some of the very basics of Alaska and not spent a lot of money...

[Cleveland]

Not sure how to do it on a strict budget. Alaska experiences are not cheap. However, if you take a day cruise from Seward one day, drive up to Denali for another day, and do some hikes like Hatcher Pass, Exit Glacier, etc., then you've seen and done some of the very basics of Alaska and not spent a lot of money...

Drive to seward is an activity by itself, you can make a long trip out of that. In seward is exit glacier hike. Nice hike and you can get really close to it.

On the way to whittier is portage glacier, a cheap boat ride to see a glacier. Also good chances of calving as it recedes pretty fast. There is a hike where you can touch it.

Ox musk farm is fun but its about 45 minutes and the area is not the most exciting.

Youre gonna be left with a lot of driving and hiking, as most activities will be expensive. You’ll have a good time but there is a whole other side to the experience with a looser budget

[Cleveland]

Drive to seward is an activity by itself, you can make a long trip out of that. In seward is exit glacier hike. Nice hike and you can get really close to it.

On the way to whittier is portage glacier, a cheap boat ride to see a glacier. Also good chances of calving as it recedes pretty fast. There is a hike where you can touch it.

Ox musk farm is fun but its about 45 minutes and the area is not the most exciting.

Youre gonna be left with a lot of driving and hiking, as most activities will be expensive. You’ll have a good time but there is a whole other side to the experience with a looser budget

Something to consider may be booking cruises on chase portal with points. Theyre very unique boat rides and can definitely be worthwhile use of points

[Ell Eee]

Thanks for the informative responses

Question has anyone been to King Slamon overnight? I'm just considering it so I can get easier and cheaper to Brooks Falls (I'll be flying in from ANC and back using points on alaska airlines
I can get  a rt plane for 4p 1400 from King salmon to the falls

[Something Fishy]

Thanks for the informative responses

Question has anyone been to King Slamon overnight? I'm just considering it so I can get easier and cheaper to Brooks Falls (I'll be flying in from ANC and back using points on alaska airlines
I can get  a rt plane for 4p 1400 from King salmon to the falls

See my trip report

[Ell Eee]

Ye, didn't look to exciting
Would you think it pays to go thru there just to save $?
Maybe I can arrange a fishing tour for the few hours I have extra?

[TravelMoshe]

Thanks for the informative responses

Question has anyone been to King Slamon overnight? I'm just considering it so I can get easier and cheaper to Brooks Falls (I'll be flying in from ANC and back using points on alaska airlines
I can get  a rt plane for 4p 1400 from King salmon to the falls

Just want to caution you an important note about Brooks Falls. I am also going to Alaska IYH the same time as you. I did a bunch of research and it seems like that this particular period of time is actually pretty slow at Brooks Falls because there aren't many salmon there. I spoke to a park ranger who told me that there is a good chance that there will be no bears actually at the falls in mid August. He said that the heavy time is July and then again in September. It is for that reason that, although my biggest dream for Alaska by far was to go to Brooks Falls, I couldn't see myself spending between 1k-1.5k per person on the chance of seeing a nothing burger. Instead I booked a bear viewing trip to Lake Clark National Park where this time of year is teeming with bears going fishing.

[Ell Eee]

Ok really appreciate your info
I had that concern but you made me rethink it
Can you plz share with me the tour you're taking on LC?

[Cat18]

rainy day activity suggestions?

planning on visiting the last week in August and little worried about the weather.