Skagway - 6 hours with car help!

Our cruise is less than 2 weeks away and I need some advice on our day and Skagway. We will be two adults and two kids renting a car with Avis. Our cruise ship leaves at 5:30 p.m. our rental is 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. so about 6 hours. I did see the website with murrays guide (do I buy the guide or just go with the free version?)

How far do you think we will be able to drive with our limited time?

What are the must do stops we should see with our limited time?

Are there any bathroom stops along the road?

Are there any food or restaurant stops along the road?

Any other tips are greatly appreciated

With the questions you are asking, I'd suggest buying the detailed guide. Where you stop is up to you. Most enjoy a round trip Emerald Lake. This is a 5 hour trip. Most of the services are 75 miles from Skagway. in Carcross.

The guide isn't necessary (detailed or otherwise), but it is informational. There are services in Carcross and a restaurant north of Carcross that I've forgotten the name of. We got a great breakfast there.

We did this a few weeks ago with the free guide. There are a few bathroom stops and they are indicated in the free guide.

We made it to Emerald Lake and back in about 5 hours - that included many (many!!) stops for pictures, a stop in Carcross to walk around and a sit down lunch. I will say it was one of our favorite days of an amazing fun, filled cruise (we did a helicopter ride and a float plane excursion). The best part was seeing a black bear eating grass on the side of the road! I loved being able to avoid the big tour buses (or following them and then stopping on the way back when it was less crowded).

Attached are a few pictures of the drive - the scenery is spectacular. (Unfortunately I only have a video of the little bear and it won’t let me upload it).

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We did this a few weeks ago with the free guide. There are a few bathroom stops and they are indicated in the free guide.

 

We made it to Emerald Lake and back in about 5 hours - that included many (many!!) stops for pictures, a stop in Carcross to walk around and a sit down lunch. I will say it was one of our favorite days of an amazing fun, filled cruise (we did a helicopter ride and a float plane excursion). The best part was seeing a black bear eating grass on the side of the road! I loved being able to avoid the big tour buses (or following them and then stopping on the way back when it was less crowded).

 

Attached are a few pictures of the drive - the scenery is spectacular. (Unfortunately I only have a video of the little bear and it won’t let me upload it).

 

Thank you!! Beautiful photos! Did u rent a car from avis?

Did you stop to eat?

Did you have cell service?

Thank you!! Beautiful photos! Did u rent a car from avis?

 

 

Did you stop to eat?

 

Did you have cell service?

Yes, we rented from Avis. A very easy process. It is a walk from the pier (like everything in Skagway) but easy to find. We did not have time to explore the actual town of Skagway.

We did stop to eat at a place outside of Carcross Dessert- it was an old motel and I don’t know the name of it, but it was decent. We also took some fruit and some sandwiches I put together from the buffet (butter, bread, cold cuts and cheese). We ate the sandwiches before getting to the border - I declared the fruit to Canadian customs and he let us pass. I had packed some extra ziplock baggies that came in handy for this.

There was very little cell service for us - we have AT&T. We also didn’t want to pay roaming so switched to airplane mode when we saw we were picking up Canadian towers (this was throughout the entire cruise). Having said that, there were plenty of tour buses on the route so if something should happen help would be near by and someone would have a phone.

I think the main thing is to set an alarm to give yourself time to make your way back with time to take pictures - the scenery is just as gorgeous (maybe more so) heading back towards Alaska.

While mile-wise it doesn’t seem far, however it is a trip to savor and take in slowly - also there was still lots of snow on the ground when we went and the road itself is in has lots of rough spots and pot holes.

Enjoy yourself - I so wish I could do it again. Of all of our adventures on our cruise, if we were to repeat we would do the rental/road trip again in a heartbeat. In fact, I was afraid we would be sad we missed out on the train, but heard from some people at dinner that there was a breakdown on the tracks which caused a major delay for both the broken down train and a train that had to loan its engine to go and rescue it. I was so glad we did our road trip [emoji3]

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Can you pick up your car earlier?

Yes - pay for the guide.

Ditto the car ride. It’s the least expensive way with kids and there are so many beautiful stops along the way. We also saw bears and a mother and her cubs. It was a week ago and literally outside our car window. We probably took 5 hours. There is a short stop for construction in Canada. Maybe 10 minutes one way, but kids were out skipping stones on water beside the road while we were waiting

How many pages is the Murray's guide? Going to purchase.

I bought a used copy of The Milepost for $5 including shipping. Over 300 pages of very detailed information about all major highways in Alaska and the Yukon.

Wesley

How many pages is the Murray's guide? Going to purchase.

The $5 guide is 33 pages.

The $5 guide is 33 pages.

Thanks. I wanted the guide, but not really the pictures. I can see why it takes 33.

I have a car rented from Avis for August 2018. The lady I spoke to emailed me a 1 page guide with mile markers. We have done this drive before but I thought it was nice of her to send that information to us.

For us, the road was spectacular and easy to drive without any guidance.

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Y

We also took some fruit and some sandwiches I put together from the buffet (butter, bread, cold cuts and cheese). We ate the sandwiches before getting to the border - I declared the fruit to Canadian customs and he let us pass. I had packed some extra ziplock baggies that came in handy for this.

 

 

 

 

[emoji3]

 

 

 

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This is a huge violation, not allowed and subject to fines.

Think- about the losses in California from med fly as example.

This is a huge violation, not allowed and subject to fines.

 

Think- about the losses in California from med fly as example.

Fruit & Cold cut gate!!! :'):'):')

We too chose to rent a car from Avis in Skagway and do the day drive up the Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake. I absolutely loved this day. It is an easy drive and the scenery is breathtaking.

We took our bottled water from the cabin and, after picking up the rental car, drove to Skagway's one little grocery store to buy snacks to take along. Our plan was to have lunch in Carcross but the place was closed so we drove just a bit farther north for lunch at the Spirit Lake Wilderness Lodge. We both had wonderful Hawaiian BBQ cheeseburgers---best I've ever had!

I had bought the $5 download of Murray's Guide and highlighted some things on it the night before. It is nice to have but not necessary. Every thing you see is a highlight!! Oh, be sure to watch for white dots on the mountainsides, then check them out with your binoculars. They will probably be mountain goats! We saw quite a few.

Here is a link to my trip report; you might want to especially check out all the photos from our Skagway day---our do it yourself excursion! And yes I have tons of photos from this trip!

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2632022

You are going to really enjoy this cruise, I promise! Have fun.