End trip in Fairbanks or Anchorage?

[Cruisin Cheeseheads]

We're working on planning our cruise for June 2015 & are hoping to book airfare soon. When we first started planning, we were planning to take the train or a shuttle between Seward & Anchorage, then to Denali, and then on to Fairbanks to fly home.

 

Now we're thinking that we will take the train to Anchorage, but then rent a car the following day to drive to Denali. We'll stay two nights in Denali, but then have the option to continue up to Fairbanks & spend a night there before flying home (to Minneapolis-St. Paul) or drive back down to Anchorage & spend another night there.

 

So, I need opinions - it will cost significantly more (between the one-way car rental & the flight home) to go to Fairbanks, but I'm sure it'd be a nice drive & there are different things to do an see in Fairbanks. Is it worth the extra money to finish our trip in Fairbanks? Or would we be better off heading back to Anchorage??

 

Thanks!

[kennicott]

I think I would do the early train to ANC, then a rent-a-car in Anchorage(1) --Denali(2)-- then Fairbanks(1). Flying home from there.

 

Two bad you don't have 5 nights instead of four, I could think of another arrangement then. The rental car will allow you to move around freely and see more in your limited stay. No doubt it's the drop off fee that jacks the rate, right?

[Cruisin Cheeseheads]

Thanks for your response! What would your 5-night plan be? I think we're pretty stuck with 4 nights because of our traveling companions' work schedules, but I'm curious. :)

 

I'm sure that it's the drop off fee. We only looked at one rental agency so far, but it was $180 more to do a one-way. The flight is about $100 more home from Fairbanks.

[kennicott]

It would still be rather tight. But I would drive back to Anchorage via the Richardson and Glenn Highways, after the night in Fairbanks. Stay overnight at the Copper River Princess Lodge (at Copper Center), just a few miles south of the "Y" where the Richardson and Glenn meet (At Glennallen). You would have traveled north to Denali and Fairbanks via the Parks Highway.

 

It is a little over three hour drive into Anchorage from Glennallen. If you left out of Anchorage on one of the late flights that evening it would give you a lot of time to sightsee along the way. Like the Wrangell St.Elias National Park (The largest National Park in the U.S.) pavilion at Copper Center as well as catch a few more things of interest in and around Anchorage that you might have missed on the way up.

[kennicott]

Get yourself a copy of the "Alaska Milepost". Not important if you do have a current one as things don't change that fast. Local libraries often have them, they are sort of the travel Bible for Alaska. Many Alaskans, including yours truly, get a new one every year and throw it their vehicle, just for reference, just in case. http://www.themilepost.com

[Cruisin Cheeseheads]

Thank you! We're actually waiting on a copy of The Milepost from the library, just to check out for now but we're definitely planning to get a copy before our trip!

[paddingtonbear]

The best time to book a car rental for Alaska is around October for the next summer. You can watch (if it is important to you) and see them drop by about half for a weeks rental. Snap it up then. You don't have to pay just book it. They will be more expensive from then on.