Alaska On your Own Pre Cruise - 5-6 Days

Thinking of doing a pre-cruise tour on my own for 5 or 6 days before a cruise end of August. I can fly into Fairbanks or Anchorage, but 1-way car rentals are outrageous and will need to drop the car off in the same place and then figure out transportation to the boat.

What would people suggest? Was looking at Fairbanks for 2 or 3 days and some excursions there then driving to Denali and then back to Fairbanks to return car. Transfer to Seward is not as easy from Fairbanks or Anchorage.

Thinking of doing a pre-cruise tour on my own for 5 or 6 days before a cruise end of August. I can fly into Fairbanks or Anchorage, but 1-way car rentals are outrageous and will need to drop the car off in the same place and then figure out transportation to the boat.

 

What would people suggest? Was looking at Fairbanks for 2 or 3 days and some excursions there then driving to Denali and then back to Fairbanks to return car. Transfer to Seward is not as easy from Fairbanks or Anchorage.

There are private companies that do transfers to ship from Anchorage. Your cruise line will have transfers as well.

Here are links to some transfers from Anchorage to Seward.

https://alaskacruisetransfer.com/

https://www.akcruiseshuttle.com/seward/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIhMDpz7T22QIVAa1pCh3jKQuiEAAYAyAAEgKpMPD_BwE

http://www.sewardalaskabus.com/

With only 5 or 6 days it would be hard to include Fairbanks if you fly into Anchorage. Does that include your travel day ?

Yes, a one-way car rental would be pricey but your only other option would be to fly into FAI for 2 nites, then take the train to Denali for 2 nites, then the Park Connection Bus to Seward ( 1pm - 9pm ). You're covering a lot of miles .... 500 miles from Fairbanks to Seward..

The cheapest option is to fly into Anchorage and drive to Denali. If you arrive mid afternoon, you could easily pick up a rental car and drive 5 hrs to Denali same day, or, go half way and overnight in Talkeetna.

There are several cruise transfer companies to Seward, or you could take the 8am train (that leg is the most scenic of the Alaska Railroad). Depends on your budget and which schedule you prefer.

If Fairbanks is your priority another option to price is; fly into FAI, get a rental car for 5 days to do your sightseeing around town as well as for a nite or 2 in Denali, then return the car and fly to ANC. (Alaska Airlines has several flights a day. Book in advance and you should be able to fly for $100 or less.) Spend a night in Anchorage and either take the 8am train from downtown Anc into Seward , or a 9/10am bus to Seward leaving from the airport.

I think you need to price each option, and also plot out each day so you know what your schedule looks like. You might end up with too much driving or too rushed, so look carefully at each option to see which fits your travel style and budget.

I did a two week road trip of interior Alaska last year. What I came away knowing is it takes much longer to get from one place to another than just knowing it's "X" miles. I think people will tend to underestimate travel times. The reason (for us) is that there is just SOOO much to see - you'll want to stop much more than you might think. Around almost every bend in the road is something spectacular or interesting to see that will make you want to stop. An example: It's only about 125 miles from Fairbanks to Healy (Denali area) yet it somehow took us the better part of a day - about 8 hours. It's also a good idea to assume you could get caught by road construction or a wreck. Either could cause a considerable delay. We enjoyed our nearly 2,000 mile trip - I would have no trouble repeating it again. Good luck!

I think I have decided in just 5 or 6 days I would be spending too much time driving and moving. I don't want to do one of the cruise tours as I don't want to be in a different bed every night and the same for touring on my own. Would want to spend 2-3 nights in each place. So I think I will keep with my original plan and do the round trip 7 day cruise for this trip and then return and do a land tour for my next visit when I have 10-14 days to spend.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

On a positive note, we did a road trip, Anchorage to Fairbanks and back. On the last day we had a late flight out, and drove from Fairbanks back to Anchorage with only a couple of stops. We did our obligatory Costco visit, had "dinner" with some locals in the food court, then off to the airport. You have lots of daylight in Alaska in the summer!

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