On our own- Land Tour Advice- Help!

[pwc115]

Crown Princess- Northbound- May 24th ~

This will be the 2nd Alaska cruise for my husband and I but this time we are bringing our 22 year old daughter and one of her friends- will be their 1st trip. We want to explore on our own for a few days after the cruise. We will get into Whittier on Saturday and plan to fly home on Wednesday, possible Thursday. We want to do the 26 Glacier tour when we get off the boat on Saturday and the only other thing we know we want to do is Denali Tundra Wilderness tour. Any suggestions for us would be appreciated!!! Car rental? Restaurants? Hotels? Thanks in advance!

 

Patricia and Jeff

[AKStafford]

I would highly recommend a rental car. You can do a one way from Whittier with Avis, or after your glacier cruise take the train to Anchorage and rent your car there.

I would NOT recommend the Tundra Wilderness Tour. You'll get just as good of a trip taking a shuttle and you'll save some money.

You might also do some research at Trip Advisor. The commenters there are good at helping people put together trips.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28923-i349-Alaska.html

[mapleleaves]

There have been some good deals on RT car rentals lately (Enterprise), so make your reservation now or you'll pay 3times the price later. The one-way rental with Avis can be pricey due to the drop off fee, but do the math and compare the options: one-way with Avis vs RT plus 3 transfers to Anchorage.

The shuttle bus to Eielson Visitor Center is 1/3 the cost of the TW Tour, goes further into the park in the same 8 hrs, plus it goes to a great destination.The Visitor Center has exhibits, water fountains to refill your bottles, flush toilets, established trails (plus a ranger led hike at noon), and a great view of the mtn if it's out. With the shuttle you can also choose your exact departure time since they leave every 15 or 30 minutes depending on the date.

The Denali web site has a map showing the destinations of the buses plus info on shuttles and tours. The TWT goes to Toklat, sometimes to Stony Pass. The Eielson shuttle goes to Eielson Visitor Center,

http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/visiting-denali.htm

Edited December 6, 2013 by mapleleaves
np site

[Budget Queen]

The Alaska RR fits in nicely after a Prince William Sound boat tour. Then as already suggested, rent a round trip car out of Anchorage. Spend at least 2 nights at Denali- If you have 3 nights, and a late overnight flight home, you could stay around Mat Su the last overnight, then do some glacier trekking of Matanuska, Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine, or tour some of Anchorage.

 

I never recommend the "Tundra Wilderness" tour with independent visitors, always, consider the shuttle bus to Eielson visitor center. Nice building with ranger exhibits and activities. Cheap costs the bonus. :)