1 day in Anchorage/head N or S?

[Alwayshome]

DH and I are on the 14 day HAL Amsterdam next July and have 1 day in Anchorage. We considered a tour company but are thinking about renting a car instead. There are just so many options! If it were you, would you head north or south? Is Denali State Park (not the Fed. Park) just past Talkeetna practical or worth it if Denali is fogged in? Are there other things north that are worth giving up the Conservation Center or portage glacier tour south? We are on the Dangerous Catch boat in Ketchikan and have a private boat tour already lined up in Icy Straight. We also have whale watched multiple times in Juneau and Victoria so have taken several small boat cruises already, but know there is always something new to experience. Decisions, decisions! Thanks so much for the awesome CC insight and assistance!

[AKStafford]

If it were you, would you head north or south?

Either way is a winner. There's no bad choice. Definitely rent a car.

South: The cruises out of Whittier into Prince William Sound focus on seeing glaciers. The drive to Whittier along the Turnagain Arm is very scenic. You could also visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and/or use the tram at Alyeska Resort to go up on a mountain. In Girdwood the short walk to Virgin Creek Falls is nice, or you could go for a longer hike in Whittier to the top of Portage Pass: http://akstafford.blogspot.com/2016/07/portage-pass-trail-to-portage-glacier.html You mentioned the Portage Glacier cruise. This is a one hour boat ride on Portage Lake with about 30 minutes at the face of Portage Glacier. This is a fun, cost effective trip. It's not as good as a Prince William Sound trip, but for a lot of people it fits better into the schedule & budget.

North: Denali State Park does not have much in the way of infrastructure.... There's a couple of viewpoints for the mountain, the Veteran's Memorial and some trails. It's not like the National Park with the road into the park and shuttles and visitor center. You could do a Denali flightseeing trip from Talkeetna or a jet boat ride. Of course, you can also do the flightseeing trip from Anchorage. If you go north, I think my preference would be to go to the Matanuska Glacier and do a glacier hike with MICA guides. The drive is also scenic & you'd probably have time include a drive up into Hatcher Pass & the Independence Mine area.

[VacationCharlene]

You will LOVE this itinerary. We have done it a couple times and have another one planned for May/June 2018 :D

 

Anchorage is the only place we are comfortable renting a car because you are in port for so many hours and there is so much to see on your own.

 

We take the ships free shuttle into town and dropped off at the Convention Center or Egan Ctr, then walk the few blocks to Avis Rental car on "B" Street, or Enterprise Downtown....easy Then we head out SOUTH towards the Seward Highway and all the amazing sights along the dramatic shorelines of Turnagain Highway. So many spots to just pull over and great photo ops. Stop at Beluga Point Lookout, Windy Point, and if you see cars pulled over you can bet they are seeing some wildlife. We have seen Dahl Sheep up in the hills, close to the highway, a few times.........and on towards Girdwood....love Girdwood.....Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center is awesome and a great place that you can either walk thru or drive for about $13 per person. Close to there is also the Portage Glacier 1 hour boat tour that you need to do at least once for about $40 pp. (Hal's version of this trip is so expensive and passes up so many cool places.) We go on even further to take a great stroll up to Byron Glacier Trail...so beautiful. This last time we added the cool views on Girdwood's Aleyska Resort Tram and took advantage of their ride and lunch up at the top for a GREAT sandwich, fries and a beer. TIP: Share a basket of fries they are huge. We will go back here next year. Play in the snow and take in the beautiful valleys. We saw a moose below while we were on the tram. The tram is VERY smooth ride and you will not get sick or anything....super easy for all,, take it from me :)

You can make a very full day and save tons of money renting the car, especially if you have more than two people. We dropped off the car to the rental place after hours....easy peasy.....and stopped in to have a beer in Anchorage at Glacier Brewhouse a busy place that served lots of food and drinks and then walked back to the Egan/Convention Center or drop off location bus and back to the ship. Reserve the car NOW, and anytime the price drops, YOU need to be the one that finds the lower price and update reservtion. We got a SUV for about $60....was perfect!!! We did ALL of this and more with plenty of time to get back to the ship. RENT TODAY.

 

Have a wonderful time and feel free to email me with other questions

compson351 @ cox dot net

[Alwayshome]

Thank you so much for the detailed help! It is good to know that picking up and dropping off the car isn't a big deal - and that I should book it now. CC has been a game changer in cruise planning. A few cruises ago we would never have had the courage to do a port city "on our own" for fear of missing the ship. Now I think, "Gee, what's the worse that can happen? I might have to stay an extra day in Anchorage?" I may be emailing with additional questions. We are on a snow day here in the Midwest. (A day out of high school ha!) Thanks again.

[Glaciers]

The Visit Anchorage office is directly behind the convention center where the bus drops you off downtown. You can pick up maps of the area with driving and venue information going north or south.

 

https://www.anchorage.net/