skagway...bus to Yukon vs bus/train vs White Pass train only

[vmom]

Before we left on vacation, I was debating on whether to do the bus to the Yukon only, the bus/train combo to Emerald Lake and Carcross or the White Pass Railroad only.

 

Money was a consideration. I did a search on these boards, and found several people asking the same question, so here are my thoughts after returning.

 

We ended up doing the bus and train combo to Yukon, stopping at Emerald Lake and driving through Carcross. We had lunch at Caribou Crossing and got to see the Alaskan Huskies used for dog sleds. We booked out tour through Chilkoot Tours and had a great time. We did the bus first followed by the White Pass Train ride back to Skagway.

 

What we did was the most expensive of the options that we were considering, $175 per person. We had a great time and am glad we did it.

 

I had originally wanted to keep our costs down to about $100 per person, give or take and had first debated on the bus to the Yukon only which was about $100 per person or the White pass rail which was $119 per person (there is only a difference of $2 per person between booking it at the rail station vs on the cruise ship).

 

For anyone who is trying to save money and the bus train combo just isn't in the budget, I would highly recommend the White Rail train ride and then just save the bus to the Yukon for a future trip. The scenery was spectacular, definitely more dramatic from the train then the bus. The train route is across the valley and gets to a higher elevation then the highway the bus or a car would travel on. I enjoyed the trip to the Yukon, but enjoyed the train trip more.

 

I was talking to the people who work on the train and they said that for people doing only the train, they have the people change sides of the train for the trip going vs the trip going back, that way everyone has a chance to be on the "better" side for viewing.

 

These are just my thoughts, hoping that for people trying to make a decision our experience may help.

[traveler525]

Thanks vmom, am thinking what to do as well, this helps:)

[sharecruises]

Thamls...how was "Carcross"??? did this include a lunch??

 

how much extra for a sled ride with the dogs?? was it very dusty?? was it fun to see the dogs?? thank you

[engrdad]

Just got back from cruise; actually in airport now. We opted for the longest tour which maximizes the time on the train (4.5 hrs). We took coach up to Carcross and then boarded train and road up to Bennett station and had lunch and toured the Gold Rush town. It was a long but wonderful day. The tour guide was great, full of facts, stories, and humor. Scenery was breath taking, especially when standing on the platform between the cars. We also saw 3 bears!

[PCruiser22]

I just got back from doing the train+bus trip to Carcross. If I were doing it again I would just do to Bennett lake. The scenery is changing, beautiful and breathtaking up until then but very uniform (lake to the left) after Bennett. Most of the commentary stopped and most people were sleeping after the lunch stop at Bennett. Also, a lot of the good scenery is on the train so not much for the tour bus driver to speak about on way back, we cruised really quickly back to Skagway.

[jimgII]

Took the train/bus combo through Chilkoot Charters and Tours. We took the train from Skagway to White Pass Summit and Frazier B.C. and returned by bus. The scenery was breathtaking. Our driver/guide was Mike, he was excellent. Remember to sit on the left side on the train.

[techgirl502]

We did Chilkoot's bus only option - 7 1/2 hours. I didnt feel like I missed out on anything by skipping the train. There was amazing views from the bus for the entire trip and our tour guide Terrell was awesome. So helpful with picture taking and enteraining. We saw 5 bears by bus and just gorgeous scenery. We stopped for approx 8 photo stops and at Caribou Crossing for an hr and 20 min. The food was good - bbq chicken, half of a baked potato, cole slaw, roll, and donut. You can do a sled dog ride which I heard was quite dusty, but even if you don't you can still go in and see the dogs and puppies. There was a goat petting area, shops, a museum of stuffed animals.

 

Oveall a great day!

[vmom]

Thamls...how was "Carcross"??? did this include a lunch??

 

how much extra for a sled ride with the dogs?? was it very dusty?? was it fun to see the dogs?? thank you

 

Carcross wasn't much. Just a very small town. We were lucky tho, the people of the town had just put up a totem pole and there was a celebration with "First nation" people dancing. If it wasn't for that celebration, it would not have been much different then most other small towns.

 

We had lunch at Caribou Crossing. I don't remember how much the dog sled rides were. We didn't do the ride. You don't have to do the ride to interact with the dogs and observe them. There was no snow, so the dogs pulled a large wheeled cart that held several people. They seemed to love to run with the cart and the dogs seemed anxious to get hooked up to the cart so they could run with it.

 

It was fun to see the dogs. I don't remember it as being dusty. Lunch was good, better than I was expecting.

 

We also saw bear, two bear eating dandelions by the side of the road and a third on the train track that the train had to stop for until he passed.