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Need advice for trip planning


Akaicb
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Hello,

 

I am currently booked for the May 25th, 2019 Southbound Princess cruise but we are planning to fly into Anchorage on Wednesday May 22. My plan had been to get a hotel, B&B or Airbnb in Anchorage and then do some site seeing from there and take the train down to Whittler on the Saturday.

 

However, one of the excursions my husband has fallen in love with is a Jeep tour out of Denali. I just found out that Denali is 4 hours from Anchorage and the jeep tour either leaves at 7:30am or 6:30pm.

 

Making a 4 hour drive either before the 7:30am or after the 6:30pm tour is not on my high lists of things I want to do.

 

They way I see it I could do one of the following but I'm just not sure and need advice:

 

1. Land in Anchorage around 3pm from Toronto and drive the 4 hours and spend the night in Denali and take the 7:30 jeep tour the next day. Then drive back to Anchorage after the tour and spend the next 2 nights there.

 

2. Find a place that is between Anchorage and Denali and make that base camp for the 3 days. Not sure of what a suitable place would be??

 

3. Land in Anchorage and stay there Wednesday night, drive to Denali on the Thursday and check in and then take Jeep tour at 6:30pm then go back to Anchorage on the Friday.

 

After typing it out, I would say either 1 or 2 are my best options I just am not sure where to stay if everyone things # 2 is the best option.

 

Thanks in advance.

Kim

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Anchorage to Denali is going to be more like a six hour drive, plus any stops.

Just so you know... The Jeep tours do not go into the National Park, but are on land around the park. To get into the park, you can use the shuttle buses: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

And you should know, with your early dates, the park road is only open to Toklat and the area the Jeep tour is in may not be accessible do to snow. Just depends on how the severe the winter is and how spring shapes up.

I don't think you have time for Denali...

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Anchorage to Denali is going to be more like a six hour drive, plus any stops.

Just so you know... The Jeep tours do not go into the National Park, but are on land around the park. To get into the park, you can use the shuttle buses: https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm

And you should know, with your early dates, the park road is only open to Toklat and the area the Jeep tour is in may not be accessible do to snow. Just depends on how the severe the winter is and how spring shapes up.

I don't think you have time for Denali...

 

Thanks for letting me know it's more like 6 hours drive, I wonder why Google maps has it at 4 hours.

 

We do not have any interest in going into the park this time. That would be for another trip in the future.

 

I sent a note to the Jeep tour people to get their opinion as well, so I'll see what they say for that time of year as well.

 

Kim

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That would be too much driving and time for one tour for me. I would take a look at going South to Seward for one of the days. The Kenai Fjords cruises are very good. There are also several other great stops along the way to / from Seward.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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Thank-you for your input, I went back and realized that we would have to arrive on Tuesday instead of Wednesday if we really wanted to do the Jeep excursion. Unfortunately, my husband would not be able to take the extra day so we will just have to plan for another trip in a couple of years.

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There must be some other option similar to that jeep tour offered at one of your other ports which would work for a substitute. But just a comment to the OP -- Google maps is notoriously bad in Alaska, and my fellow Alaskan (AKStford) is certainly correct that you should estimate the time to drive between Anchorage and Denali to take six hours. Summer is our fifth season here -- the season of road construction, which you can hit even in late May.

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There must be some other option similar to that jeep tour offered at one of your other ports which would work for a substitute. But just a comment to the OP -- Google maps is notoriously bad in Alaska, and my fellow Alaskan (AKStford) is certainly correct that you should estimate the time to drive between Anchorage and Denali to take six hours. Summer is our fifth season here -- the season of road construction, which you can hit even in late May.

 

I'm going to start to look for excurisions in the other ports that might work for us, thanks for the idea and the advice about Google maps.

 

Kim

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It sometimes ends up being poor planning, "basing" yourself out of Anchorage. You are going to run out of "day trips". and adding all those multiple hours of backtracking transit could be a mistake with only a short visit. Alaska, is, overall superior being on the move and staying near where your activities are. So, I'd suggest, backing up and figuring out what you want out of your trip and what you want to see and do? The Kenai Peninsula offers many opportunities. The Glenn Highway is especially beautiful in May as example. IF you truly find attracting you want in Anchorage then by all means enjoy your visit.

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