How easy is it to rent a car in Skagway?

[fleckle]

We were thinking about renting a car in Skagway but my parents don't have passports. It seems that everyone that rents a car heads across the border. Does anyone have any recommendations without crossing the border?

 

No hiking as my parents are elderly.

If they enjoy train rides, they may want to consider the White Pass Summit Excursion as no passport is required for it. Here is a link:

 

White Pass Summit Excursion

 

If they have trouble walking, or don't want to go into town, it would be a good idea to book it as a ship excursion because the train rides booked through the ship pick up and unload their passengers right beside the cruise dock.

 

[Budget Queen]

Lots of great tips on this thread and we have reservations with Avis but I'm a little worried about my fear of heights. Are there a lot of suspension bridges and steep drops on the side of the road?:( I think I can handle one or two suspension bridges but if it is six hours of steep winding road and drop offs I will be freaking out and my DH will not be a happy driver.

 

There aren't that many "turns", some, but it is drop off most of the way until Fraser. After that point, it is some drop offs on the east side of the highway.

[cruisin619]

We rented a green jeep from the Green Jeep Tours. It was a great car (we rented a four door since we had kids with us) and drove up to Emerald Lake. It was nice to take our time, be on our own and stop where we wanted for as long/little as we wanted. They are located in the back of a Popcorn Shop on Broadway.

 

They provided us with a cooler, four bottles of water, a few granola bars and a laminated binder copy of Murry's Guide! It was really a fun day, and we still had time to explore Skagway when we returned.

 

A few cool stops along the way were Carcross Town (there is a really cute beach at the end of town where you can have a picnic or eat your ice cream cone from town!) Carcross Desert, and quite a few other turnouts to enjoy the view!

[Kaki]

For those of you that rented from Avis.....how far in advance did you reserve? We need a mini-van. I called Avis in Skagway and they can't tell me when reservations will open for the 2015 season. I like to take care of reservations like this well in advance!!!

[Budget Queen]

For those of you that rented from Avis.....how far in advance did you reserve? We need a mini-van. I called Avis in Skagway and they can't tell me when reservations will open for the 2015 season. I like to take care of reservations like this well in advance!!!

 

Later this fall they will be taking 2015 reservations. I would check occasionally for when they open up and book early.

[Kaki]

Later this fall they will be taking 2015 reservations. I would check occasionally for when they open up and book early.

 

 

Thank you!!

[deddans]

I booked through the Avis website back in July 2014 for July 2015

Edited August 17, 2014 by deddans

[marysb]

I did a post comparing our train trip to our rental car trip. There are lots of photos of the road trip to give you an idea what the drive is like.

Check it out here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2078780

[pokerpro5]

I also stopped at the Chilkoot bakery in Carcross, and bought a $6 (Canadian) loaf of bread. Pretty good.

 

If you want a tip off the beaten path, go to Lewis Lake. It's about 80 miles north of Skagway, but only a few miles past Emerald Lake. Almost NOBODY goes there, but it's very nice, peaceful, and you will feel like you have the whole area to yourself. It is right off the main highway, though requires about a mile of driving on gravel roads, and then a dirt road.

 

Beware of the last segment of road going down there, as it's dirt and is only wide enough to accommodate one vehicle (despite being two ways). You are unlikely to encounter another vehicle, though. Was the highlight of our Skagway visit, and I just visited there on a whim.