Compare Skagway Yukon Pass Train vs. Bus

[Susie51]

Has anyone done both? Which do you recommend and why?

[Alan13]

I've only done the train round-trip. On the return trip you sit on the other side so you get a new view going down. It was well worth the money and I highly recommend it.

 

Now if you were going on a tour to the Yukon then I could see doing the train/bus combo.

 

Alan

[Clarea]

Has anyone done both? Which do you recommend and why?

When we were on Rhapsody a couple of years ago, we did the train, both ways. If I had it to do over, I would have done the train/bus combo, just for a different perspective.

[steveru621]

We just did the 3.5 hour total train that goes only to White Pass and just noses into Canada before reversing direction. I would avoid the first two cars and the last two cars because of the diesel fumes. The benefit to the train is you can stand outside on the platforms, with the bus option you are inside all the time. I'm not sure about other cruise lines, but with RCI you board the train right at the pier. The 3.5 hours was plenty for us, and it gave us the opportunity to take the shuttle into town.

 

http://www.wpyr.com/brochures/english.html

 

The RCI excursions that offer a bus ride are mostly combined with another activity like kayaking or snowshoeing. From what I can see the only pure bus/train option is a very long round trip. We did our own trip to Denali before the cruise so we had seen a lot of snow covered mountains by the time we got to Skagway. I'm glad we only did the shorter trip to White Pass.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[TravelerThom]

When we were on Rhapsody a couple of years ago, we did the train, both ways. If I had it to do over, I would have done the train/bus combo, just for a different perspective.

Still another perspective is to rent a car and drive up through White Pass. It is a gorgeous drive on a decent road without much traffic. I was able to get some great pictures of the White Pass trains (both the diesel and the steam trains at different times); much better pictures of the complete train than you'd be able to get from the train itself. We have done the rental car twice out of Skagway, one time driving all the way to Whitehorse (about 2.5 hours each way, not counting stops). We have also used the rental car to go to Dyea, AK (this was the gateway for the Chilkoot Pass "Golden Staircase" while Skagway was the gateway for White Pass "Dead Horse Trail"), and to the Skagway Cemetery a mile or so out of town (got great shots of the steam train from the Cemetery). Cost for the rental car (which easily held four people) and gas was about the same price as one person on the train.

 

Thom

[cruzeluvr]

Has anyone done both? Which do you recommend and why?

We've done both.

First time - we did the round trip train booked through the cruise line, which we really enjoyed.

Second time - we did a train/bus combo which we booked independently through Chilkoot Charters. We really loved this trip which was a total of 8 hours and went all the way into the Yukon to Carcross (aka Caribou Crossing), with various stops along the way, including Carcross Desert - the smallest desert in the world. This excursion included a BBQ lunch at the Caribou Crossing Trading Post, and also an opportunity to take a dog sled ride while at the trading post. You can also meet and handle the Husky puppies, even if you don't book a dog sled ride. They also offer shorter train/bus combos which you can see on their website.

Given the choice, I would do the train/bus combo. There was so much to see.

[Debitoo]

Still another perspective is to rent a car and drive up through White Pass. It is a gorgeous drive on a decent road without much traffic. I was able to get some great pictures of the White Pass trains (both the diesel and the steam trains at different times); much better pictures of the complete train than you'd be able to get from the train itself. We have done the rental car twice out of Skagway, one time driving all the way to Whitehorse (about 2.5 hours each way, not counting stops). We have also used the rental car to go to Dyea, AK (this was the gateway for the Chilkoot Pass "Golden Staircase" while Skagway was the gateway for White Pass "Dead Horse Trail"), and to the Skagway Cemetery a mile or so out of town (got great shots of the steam train from the Cemetery). Cost for the rental car (which easily held four people) and gas was about the same price as one person on the train.

 

Thom

We also rented a car. It was fantastic! We drove to Emerald Lake (BEAUTIFUL) and back . We'll do it again next trip.

[UtahCruise]

We did a train/bus combo that went to Liarsville for a salmon bake and the Red Onion Saloon (not appropriate for kids) we really enjoyed it.

[mkcoroner]

We were on ROTS last summer to Alaska. We took the train up and the motorcoach down, stopped to see the dogs along the way. Learned alot, got to see many cool things on both the train and bus. Highly recommend this excursion. MK

[Psycopuppy]

You can see all of downtown Skagway in about 45 minutes. We did the train up and bus back last summer and it is a scenery trip. Our teens were bored, but I made them go anyhow as they might not get another chance to visit. It's something to do and given the other choices, is a good use of half the day. We had a "pan for gold" section at the end, but I could have done without it as it seemed to drag on a little longer than I wanted. I would say go visit as there are some great views.

[ksg]

The best excursion we ever did - bar none - was to take the train up. Then we took a bus for a bit (not sure if it continued up or not, or went down). And then we rode bikes down, stopping to show passports at the border crossing. It was magnificent and exhilarating, and pretty easy biking since it's all down hill. The tour operator said they replace the hand breaks every two weeks on those bikes! They put the slowest person in front, so everyone has to go at that pace.

[CarpeCerevisi]

Just did the train up and bicycle down last week. The bicycle group gets their own train car so there's usually plenty of seats for switching sides and the ride down is 15 miles almost all downhill. You must be comfortable riding around 20 mph downhill, but the road and bikes were good and traffic was not a problem. There were a few scenic stops on the way down.

[wvufan]

Another vote for renting car and driving to Emerald. We used the Murray guide which is a mile by mile guide. Phenomenal day,

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE B:D:D ob and Phyl

[Susie51]

Thank you for sharing your experiences.

[camella]

Those who rented cars are there any problems crossing the border? I know you are supposedto take your passports if you take the train/bus tour but I'm wondering about any border crossing issues.

[sherryf]

Those who rented cars are there any problems crossing the border? I know you are supposedto take your passports if you take the train/bus tour but I'm wondering about any border crossing issues.

 

You need a passport to drive across the border too, but otherwise no issues other than sometimes having to wait in line a while.

[camella]

Sherryf

 

Is it a long wait? I know last time we went to AK we took the bus back from Vancouver to Seattle and the line to cross the border was a nightmare. I'm thinking that there just won't be that kind of volume of people up there? At least I'm hoping that :)

[mr green]

I prefer the bus. To start with, it costs less, and you will see far more of the rail bed, and the construction of the track than you can see for the train itself.

 

john

[momthecruisedirector]

When we went in 2005, you just had to hold your passport up while sitting in your seat on the train and 'inspectors' (tired, can't think of proper name!) walked through and checked them all. It was very fast.

[sherryf]

Sherryf

 

Is it a long wait? I know last time we went to AK we took the bus back from Vancouver to Seattle and the line to cross the border was a nightmare. I'm thinking that there just won't be that kind of volume of people up there? At least I'm hoping that :)

 

The day we drove out, we got to the border about the same time as several buses. They seemed to be giving priority to the buses, probably to keep them on their tour schedules. We waited while they dealt with several buses, but probably not more than 10 minutes. I think there was also a line when we came back, but not too bad. I've heard it can be worse, but still nothing like the border by Vancouver, where we've sometimes waited an hour or more.

[TravelerThom]

The day we drove out, we got to the border about the same time as several buses. They seemed to be giving priority to the buses, probably to keep them on their tour schedules. We waited while they dealt with several buses, but probably not more than 10 minutes. I think there was also a line when we came back, but not too bad. I've heard it can be worse, but still nothing like the border by Vancouver, where we've sometimes waited an hour or more.

I have done the Skagway Pass border crossing four times (2 into Canada, 2 returns to the US). 2 or 3 of those times I drove straight up to the inspector with zero delay. They know ships are in, can tell it is a rental car and think it highly likely that you will return to the ship that evening. All inspections have been very short - show your passport (passport cards and Enhanced Drivers Licenses [issued by only a few states] also work since this is a land crossing), answer a few quick questions - never longer than 2 minutes for me. Once there was a traffic jam (two cars ahead of me) and it took me maybe 5 minutes. I've never arrived when buses are there, but I'd believe the 10 minutes only in that case. Remember that the road starts/stops in Skagway so there is not a lot of traffic.

 

The road is two lane, but of good quality with easy curves. I think the speed limit is 55mph in AK and 90 or 100kph in Canada. The road would handle that speed and more without difficulty. Like wvufan (Hi Bob!) I used Murray's Guide; it was nice to have if you like a lot of detail about what you are seeing, but if you just want to see the scenery and don't need the name of every single item the Guide is not necessary. There are lots of pull offs to stop and look in more detail, and several historical sites with informational markers.

 

NOTE: I have heard (I have not confirmed) that by Canadian law, Canadians are forbidden to drive a rental car across the border into Canada, so if anyone is a Canadian citizen check before you rent a car. I think Canadians are okay as passengers as long as the car was rented by someone of other nationality.

 

Thom

[sept10dsm]

I have done both. Back a while ago on my first AK cruise we did the train from Skagway and return by bus. The scenery was wonderful and the train ride a lot of fun. This past trip we did a bus RT (less cost) While it was nice I just liked the train better. They were both the 8 hr. tours total through Princess.

[JimAOk1945]

We took the Klondike Summit & Historic City Bus Tour through the cruise line when we were on the Radiance of the Seas southbound route. My wife wanted to do the train but I talked her into doing this tour because I didn't want to spend the whole day traveling back and forth in a train.

 

We enjoyed this tour and it gave us some time to explore the town when we returned. It has several stops along the way so you don't spend all of your time riding in a bus.

 

The next time we go to Alaska we will do the train or train/bus combo.

 

My wife took a lot of pictures and made them into a slide show for her website. It your curious, you can view them at the link below. Happy Cruising!

 

Klondike Summit & Historic City Tour

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

We have just returned from our northbound Radiance OTS and took a bus tour to the white pass summit, into Carcross, and to emerald lake. We booked outside of the cruise line, with Frontier excursions, who were excellent and our guide Mike was also great and knowledgable. Our tour was amazing, we saw three bears along the side of the road and we stopped for pictures of all three of them and the scenery was outstanding. I have never done the train, but I'm assuming you wouldn't be able to stop at the sight of wildlife.

[huskyguy]

NOTE: I have heard (I have not confirmed) that by Canadian law, Canadians are forbidden to drive a rental car across the border into Canada, so if anyone is a Canadian citizen check before you rent a car. I think Canadians are okay as passengers as long as the car was rented by someone of other nationality.

 

That law was finally scrapped a couple of years ago - Canadians can rent cars and drive into Canada with no problem.