what to do on our Last day of Alaskan cruise trip in Fairbanks

[donnadoll]

We are doing a cruise/land tour on the Noordam in June. Our very last night will be in Fairbanks. We will be taking the Discovery Cruise the day before. So, we check out at 11:00AM, our flight home is 8:30 PM. Any suggestions for things to do in about a 6 hour window??

[mapleleaves]

what are your interests ? any kids? where are you staying ?

 

Off the top of my head I'd suggest Pioneer Park which is about 3 or 4 miles from the airport. Lots of interesting exhibits, museums, etc. For the most part it's free.

http://www.fairbanks-alaska.com/alaskaland.htm or http://old.fnsb.us/ParksandRecreation/PioneerPark/attractions/attractions.htm

 

Morris Thompson Culture Center is about 15 minutes from the airport. Again, interesting exhibits. The Antler Arch is a great photo op.

https://www.morristhompsoncenter.org/

 

Have a look thru the Fairbanks Visitor Guide .... there's a link to it in the HELPFUL RESOURCES thread.

 

Doesn't your cruiseline have a list of excursions ? you can replicate anything of interest on that list.

[donaldsc]

We are doing a cruise/land tour on the Noordam in June. Our very last night will be in Fairbanks. We will be taking the Discovery Cruise the day before. So, we check out at 11:00AM, our flight home is 8:30 PM. Any suggestions for things to do in about a 6 hour window??

 

The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum - http://www.fountainheadmuseum.com/. If you are at al into cars, it is one of the great car museums that I have ever been to. I have visited the museum 3 times - once in the winter when I was one of the only people in the museum.

 

DON

[Northern Aurora]

We are doing a cruise/land tour on the Noordam in June. Our very last night will be in Fairbanks. We will be taking the Discovery Cruise the day before. So, we check out at 11:00AM, our flight home is 8:30 PM. Any suggestions for things to do in about a 6 hour window??

 

I am curious as to where the OP will be staying when in Fairbanks. For example the Fountainhead Hotels (there are several properties) offer a shuttle; its route stops at several attractions. Also, I think that "Mapleleaves" has a typo in her post as the Morris Thompson Cultural Center is more than a 15 minute drive from the airport.

[alwaysfrantic]

We have a similar day on the front end. We booked Black Spruce Dog Sled. We won't get to try it on snow, but we will try it none the less.

 

That is booked, but we will also see Pioneer Park & look around town.

[wolfie11]

The University of Alaska Museum is world class, with everything from stunning art to stuffed Arctic animals, Native art and artifacts, umiaks, northern lights information, mummified elephants and bison, and a gold display that will knock your socks off....

 

The gift store is great for authentic souvenirs and they have a special exhibit this summer on Alaska's dinosaurs.

[donnadoll]

The University of Alaska Museum is world class, with everything from stunning art to stuffed Arctic animals, Native art and artifacts, umiaks, northern lights information, mummified elephants and bison, and a gold display that will knock your socks off....

 

The gift store is great for authentic souvenirs and they have a special exhibit this summer on Alaska's dinosaurs.

 

Thank You very much

[donnadoll]

I am curious as to where the OP will be staying when in Fairbanks. For example the Fountainhead Hotels (there are several properties) offer a shuttle; its route stops at several attractions. Also, I think that "Mapleleaves" has a typo in her post as the Morris Thompson Cultural Center is more than a 15 minute drive from the airport.

 

We are taking a Holland American Cruise..so we will we staying at the Westmark in Fairbanks.

Thanks

[donaldsc]

The University of Alaska Museum is world class, with everything from stunning art to stuffed Arctic animals, Native art and artifacts, umiaks, northern lights information, mummified elephants and bison, and a gold display that will knock your socks off....

 

The gift store is great for authentic souvenirs and they have a special exhibit this summer on Alaska's dinosaurs.

 

+1 on this suggestion.

 

DON

[Northern Aurora]

We are taking a Holland American Cruise..so we will we staying at the Westmark in Fairbanks.

Thanks

 

The Fairbanks Westmark is within walking distance to the Morris Thompson Cultural Center. While I live in Fairbanks (actually, outside of Fairbanks) I never use the Fairbanks North Star Borough transit service, but the Westmark is within easy walking distance to the transit center. The FNSB website should have the transit lines on their website (http://www.co.fairbanks.ak.us)

 

If you choose to rent a car for the day you would have more flexibility. Depending on what you would wish to do it may be less expensive to rent a vehicle for the day instead of taking taxis around town. My educated guess is that the taxi fare from the Westmark to the Museum of the North would be $20.00 one way pre-tip.

[trrn2016]

We will be staying at the Fairbanks Princess Lodge and will not be flying out until 8:20pm. Will they hold our luggage for a few hours? Do they have shuttles to take you to various museums? Any suggestions? Thanks!!!

[Northern Aurora]

We will be staying at the Fairbanks Princess Lodge and will not be flying out until 8:20pm. Will they hold our luggage for a few hours? Do they have shuttles to take you to various museums? Any suggestions? Thanks!!!

 

The Fairbanks Princess is located on the Chena River near the airport. It is not located near our spread-out downtown area. The closest museum would be the Museum of the North on the University of Alaska campus.

 

Hotels in Alaska work like hotels in the rest of the world. While I have been inside the Fairbanks Princess a number of times, I have not stayed there. But I am sure that they store luggage for folks checking out.

 

Princess, unlike the Fountainhead hotels which is alocally owned company, doesn't offer a local shuttle which operates throughout the day and takes the Fountainhead customers around to local attractions. But two summers ago, in response to the limited food options on premises, the Fairbanks Princess did offer limited shuttle service to downtown.

[ace1zoe2]

We spent our day in Fairbanks doing the Riverboat Discovery, Morris Thompson Cultural Center, the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum, visited North Pole, Alaska, Creamer's Field, the LAR Large Animal Research Center.

 

Here is a link to my blog if you'd like to see pictures, get pricing, etc. The first one is the Riverboat Discovery and subsequent postings cover the other stops.

 

http://ocdplannercindy.blogspot.com/search?q=fairbanks#!/2014/04/2013-alaska-cruise-tour-fairbanks.html

 

Happy Planning!

Cindy