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First time in Alaska - Denali or Kenai?


ollienbertsmum
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I am planning a trip to Alaska with DH to celebrate 30th anniversary and will be taking daughters aged 25 and 26. I just want a nice trip and scenery. Youngest wants to see Orcas ! not just whales so no pressure, I have told her to manage her expectations. Eldest likes bears and dogs.

 

I have had a lovely trip prepared for me by a TA which includes a bear watching flight from Homer, a 5 day tour from anchorage to Denali (including a flight tour) and a princess cruise south from Whittier. We also have a whale watch from Vancouver. It is just at the maximum of my budget - but it will include too many days. We have to take an extra day at each end to go from Gibraltar to London and then London to anchorage. Something has to give.

 

We are not very good at doing tours so we will hire a car. I just need advice about which portion of the trip to cut out. I have read a few trip reports to see if I can get an answer to my question. I just find that everyone's trip sounds great. Denali seems to be popular.

 

But if something has to give, would it be crazy to miss out Denali and just sty in the Kenai peninsular _ maybe two nights in homer and three in Anchorage as our land tour part of the cruise so that we can do the bear watch. Alternatively is that an expensive way to see wildlife that we are likely to see in Denali anyway? The Vancouver part can stay because eldest can return without going to Vancouver, it is theprecruis landtour that is the issue.

 

Can anyone who has been to Alaska share any thoughts

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If you have 5 full days in Alaska before your cruise with a rental car, you could squeeze in both Denali & Seward (On the Kenai Peninsula).

Day 1: Drive to Denali

Day 2: Denali

Day 3: Back to Anchorage

Day 4: Seward

Day 5: To Whittier for the cruise.

Oh wait... The bear flight. Hmm. Well, you can do a bear flight out of Anchorage: https://flyrusts.worldsecuresystems.com/bear-viewing/index.html

So... Maybe this:

Day 1: Bear flight from Anchorage

Day 2: Drive to Denali. You'd have time to include a detour over to the Matanuska Glacier for a glacier hike. Or up into Hatcher Pass for a hike.

Day 3: Denali. Use the shuttles to get into the park: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

Day 4: Back to Anchorage.

Day 5: If you've rented from Avis you can pay for the one-way drop off in Whittier. Or you can return the car and use the Alaska Railroad to get to Whittier. Once there, you can do a Prince William Sound glacier cruise before boarding your ship.

 

But with just 5 days, I don't think you'll be able to pull of a bear flight out of Homer AND Denali. But again, the bear flight can be done out of Anchorage.

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If you are looking at Denali vs. Kenai ... I'll qualify this by saying we've only been to Denali and didn't spend time on Kenai. But a point of consideration, if you are visiting Denali specifically to see the mountain, the mountain is not always visible. Depends on the weather. It can be above the clouds a lot and you might see only part of it or not see it at all. You need a whole day to do a complete park tour, if you drive into the park, you can only go so far. The park tour was amazing and we saw a lot of wildlife, but IMO, you can see wildlife everywhere in Alaska, lol.

 

We took a bus from Denali-Anchorage-Seward, and we thought the best scenery was definitely Anchorage to Seward. If we had a chance to do it again, I think we'd probably skip Denali and do Kenai. Also looking at info on orcas, it looks like Prince William Sound (which you *may* be able to tour from Whittier or Seward, I don't know) has large permanent population of orcas, at least it does according to a whale watch company anyway.

 

Anyway, those are some thoughts from someone who has only visited Alaska once, for what it's worth. You are going to love it no matter what itinerary you choose!!!!!!

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You need to determine what is of your priority. Have you looked at these areas, and KNOW what you would see and do there? How much time are you spending in Homer? What have you actually planned so far? Actual days, where the overnights are, what the activities during the day are? And what actual days you are working with.

 

Finally are you open to change? Note what is firm for you.

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Great replies? I hadn't thought about bears from Anchorage.

 

I like the Kenai thoughts but I am not going to see the mountain. We have experienced the shyness of a mountain when visiting Fuji in Japan - those expectations are very well managed.

 

I think I have a fear that Doing a guided tour in Denali will seem too "guided" and we like to be free to do our own thing.

 

So even if I decide to stay on the Kenai peninsula - does the bear watch location matter. Is there an advantage of Anchorage over Homer?

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You need to determine what is of your priority. Have you looked at these areas, and KNOW what you would see and do there? How much time are you spending in Homer? What have you actually planned so far? Actual days, where the overnights are, what the activities during the day are? And what actual days you are working with.

 

Finally are you open to change? Note what is firm for you.

 

I think I am getting my thoughts together. I actually think we could do an extra glacier tour - and I can really see the girls wanting to do some sea kayaking- sounds like Kenai is getting my vote. Hmm fun times planning ahead.

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When are you going? If salmon running, you can see brown bears in katmai from anchorage or black bears at Anan outside of Ketchikan. Other than denali, any bear excursion is going to be pricey. Unless you would be happy with wildlife conservation outside anchorage.

I would advise looking at pictures of denali and Kenai to narrow down what interest you.

 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Forums mobile app

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My opinion on Homer, is, it's at least a 2 night stay. Plenty of excellent touring available. I am no fan of the fly in - day tours for bear watching. I always go 2 overnights. Just significantly more viewing opportunities for my preferences. when is your trip? timing is significant. The jackpot bargain for bears however, is Denali Park, very high percentage of sightings. I've only had one trip without a bear view, out of over 25 trips in, as example. Likely to see moose, dall sheep and caribou. Binoculars are necessary vewings usually aren't "close". Absolutely- just take the shuttle bus- I never recommend independent visitors do the tours. :)

 

Take a close look at the areas. Maybe you've gotten a little more direction now? Make some lists- of activities, with them on paper it's sometimes easier to rank them.

 

Best wishes for a great itinerary. The best come together, with multiple refinments, a lot easier to change on paper as well. :)

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An additional thought about Denali - I forgot, there is a shuttle bus that goes through the park and you can get off at various places and catch the next shuttle to go to your next stop. So you're not confining yourself to a bus tour. You just have to watch the times closely so you don't miss the last shuttle going out of the park, lol.

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Just want to let you know most of the extras you are talking about can be done in ports while on the cruise. That can cut down your days prior to the cruise.

 

There are whale watching excursions from some ports. There are kayaking excursions. There are dog sled places you can visit. There are scenic flights you can take. And there are recomended places to do bear watching.

 

Just want to add, we did enyoy our trip to Denali. Took the longest bus trip into the park, saw a good bit of wildlife. We lucked out and the mountain was gorgeous. We had a beautiful sunny day there.

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To answer the question about when we are going - last ten days of June and first few of July.

 

I am getting persuaded back to Denali but using the shuttles not a guided tour.

 

Thanks for all of your thoughts

 

You can expect similar for 2018 https://www.nps.gov/dena/learn/news/newspaper.htm

 

 

You are too early for the bear tours, if thinking about salmon feeding, in my opinion, off peak. The razor clam feeding would be going strong though. I've used the same vendor with my overnight trips, and have had superb sightings.

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Right everyone that has been great help.

 

You really have sorted me out.

 

I am going to do a bear watch (clam feeding) from anchorage. We will then drive up to Denali for 2 nights with a one night stop over in

Talkeetna.

 

The decision to go north was after a chat with my TA who suggested that I had a fairly glacier-rich cruise, so Denali is more of a contrast.

 

Thanks for the advice about shuttles, it made me look at Denali a bit more closely and I think I was signing up for a tour that was a very expensive way of seeing Alaska. It is the first time I have tried a TA, I got some great advice but it is so easy to be persuaded to go over budget. I am paying for 4 adults and do that gives me Sticker shock x 4 - with nothing left for tours during the cruise.

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