Skagway shore excursion questions

[marrilyn]

Hello! We are sailing in August and trying to firm up our shore excursions. Sounds like the train in Skagway is the thing to do!? I have read a couple of bad reviews regarding it—that it was boring and that if it’s overcast, you can’t see anything. Does anyone have any opinions regarding this? Ive also heard that if you don’t buy tickets ahead of time, they may be sold out?

 

We are thinking of combining it with dog sledding/and or gold panning. Any suggestions?

 

Does it take very long to tour the town itself?

 

Thanks in advance!

[wolfie11]

I only like the Bennett Lake excursion. The bus/train combo is too much time on the bus and I don’t care for Caribou Crossing. The summit trip is ok but I like getting into the Yukon.

[ColoradoMom!!]

We went private with a company that is well known here on Cruise Critic called Chilkoot Charters.

 

https://chilkootcharters.com

 

Look them up on trip advisor for more info. As a matter of fact, trip advisor is great for any private excursions you may consider.

 

They have combination tours that offer the rail one way, and their mini bus the other. It's called Yukon Adventure.

We took the mini bus both ways ( it goes into the Yukon) since we had already spent some time on the rails, and have a narrow gauge RR here in Colorado, and wanted to save a little $$.

We enjoyed the small number of people, the many scenic stops, and our knowledgable driver Mike :) Emerald Lake, and Caribou Crossing were highlights. Going with a smaller group is really great! We had a lot of stops - Mike knew how to avoid the tour buses, take awesome pictures of us, and get back on and going!

 

I was also impressed in town with the National Parks Visitor Center:

https://www.nps.gov/klgo/planyourvisit/visitorcenter.htm

 

We just stumbled upon it by accident, and they had a great short film and little exhibits that add to your appreciation of the Klondike gold rush.

 

We had time to walk around a bit in town, and felt we had gotten our time and money's worth in Skagway!

Edited July 23, 2018 by ColoradoMom!!

[JT1962]

Another recommendation for a bus / train combo with Chilkoot Tours. We did the tour to Emerald Lake and added the dog cart ride and enjoyed it. We did not find the tour too long or boring.

 

 

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[AlanF65]

I would second the National Parks Visitor Center: I spent some time in there after the railway to the summit trip. I was curious about the age of the trees and their size and they handed me off-to an expert who gave me a 10 minute overview of the forest. If you have time the films and other talks looked like they would be worth it.

 

 

 

The town is about 10 blocks long and about a 10-15 minute walk from the dock, allow a few hours at least if you want to poke around in the shops. I went into town after the rail trip to the summit. If I had it to do again I would do rail one direction and vehicle the other.

[jlp20]

May still exist. Bus trip inland with side trips including sit down meal then train back. Expensive but worth every penny.

[stpiloui]

We were there in June. Did a trip with Dyea Dave’s to Emerald Lake. It was great!!

Van for 14 people, but only 5 in our tour. Many stops on side of the road - saw three bears and a lynx!!

We opted for the train ride back from Fraser. The will pick you up at train in Skagway and take you to town or port.

Others who remained on tour to Skagway went to cemetery.

Did I say it was a GREAT tour.

 

 

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[Middleager]

Another vote for the Chilkoot 7.5hr bus/train combo to Yukon, Emerald Lake, etc. Took the bus on the way up, sit on the right, then train on the way back (and sit on the right).

[Budget Queen]

Hello! We are sailing in August and trying to firm up our shore excursions. Sounds like the train in Skagway is the thing to do!? I have read a couple of bad reviews regarding it—that it was boring and that if it’s overcast, you can’t see anything. Does anyone have any opinions regarding this? Ive also heard that if you don’t buy tickets ahead of time, they may be sold out?

 

We are thinking of combining it with dog sledding/and or gold panning. Any suggestions?

 

Does it take very long to tour the town itself?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Sure there are bad reviews, some of those people were dragged along and weren't interested to begin with.

 

Are YOU interested in trains, history, scenery? Your comment "thing to do" is the wrong reason to select tours, in my opinion. There are hundreds of "best" and "things to do", in Alaska.

 

I too recommend Dyea Dave. Caribou Crossing is a large tourist trap that some vendors go to. If I do stop, I'm out of there, when the buses pull up. :)

[marrilyn]

I appreciate all the advice and recommendations. There’s just so much to do and I don’t want to miss any of it! Haha!

[InternetAgeTraveler]

We did the train/bus tour through Chilkoot on our first trip to Skagway and it was fun. The train is historical and was not long just going to the Frazier/summit area. This gave us enough time to do another excursion in the afternoon. The day trips seemed too much (especially since we had our kids with us).

 

On our subsequent two trips, we chose a rental car which gave us a lot more flexibility to do what we wanted to do.

 

However as noted there is plenty to do and you really should do what you want to do not just what others have.

 

Pictures and notes from all in my signature.

[rzmz89]

Just returned from Alaska and we were a family of 6. We took the rain and bus tour with Chilkoot and had a great time. Yes there is alot of time sitting in the train and also on the bus rise back but the conductor on the train gives you lots of information about the history and then on the bus there were several stops in order to take pictures. Wed also went to Caribou Crossing and had lunch. We had Ann as our tour guide and she was great.

[Elvis1001]

We did the Bennett Lake Journey through Chilkoot Charters in June. We chose Bennett Lake because I wanted to ride the train for entire length of railroad currently in service, which is 67.5 miles between Carcross and Skagway. We did bus up and train back, because bus up train back leaves later in the morning around 9 AM. I think the bus held 24 and there were 18 of us. Wife and I were picked up last (the bus will have folks from each ship in port), so we sat on opposite sides in the back of the bus and have pictures of everything on both sides. On the train our bus was assigned it's own passenger car, which again was not full so we could move freely from one-site to the other. The other advantage was fewer passengers competing for space on the open platforms at the end of each car. The conductor puts chains up between each car to keep the passengers in each car on the platforms on their car only. On our car out of the 18 passengers only about eight were actively on the platforms for any length of time. The scenery from Carcross to Bennett along Bennett Lake was amazing. The train stopped in Bennett and we had time to hike the last 1/4 mile of the Chilkoot Trail which ends at Bennett. The scenery from Bennett to Log Cabin was also impressive. Between Log Cabin (the Klondike Highway crossing) and Fraser its the same scenery seen from the bus on the parallel Klondike Highway. Between Fraser and Skagway it's cresting and descending White Pass which is just incredible. You want to sit on the right side for bus up train back. We had perfect weather, I can't comment on what it's like if its raining, etc.We had time to walk up Broadway to Skagway Brewing and enjoy a Spruce Tip Blonde Ale after the train arrived around 6 PM. Our ship did not leave until 8 PM.

[KasiaCzub]

Hello! We are sailing in August and trying to firm up our shore excursions. Sounds like the train in Skagway is the thing to do!? I have read a couple of bad reviews regarding it—that it was boring and that if it’s overcast, you can’t see anything. Does anyone have any opinions regarding this? Ive also heard that if you don’t buy tickets ahead of time, they may be sold out?

 

We are thinking of combining it with dog sledding/and or gold panning. Any suggestions?

 

Does it take very long to tour the town itself?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

We thought about the train, too, but we have 2 younger kids (9, 11) in our group of 8, so we are renting a Jeep and traveling up the road to Canada ourselves, so we can stop along the way if we see interesting/cool sites. We are using Green Jeep rentals (I think now called DIY Jeep rentals),. They are rated high on TA and include a CD and map explaining points of interest.

[peety3]

I only like the Bennett Lake excursion. The bus/train combo is too much time on the bus and I don’t care for Caribou Crossing. The summit trip is ok but I like getting into the Yukon.

Talk about the impossible combo, as the Bennett Lake run to Carcross only operates in one direction per day; even if it did run up and down in the same day, no cruise ship is in port long enough to accommodate that.

[Carlos A.]

We thought about the train, too, but we have 2 younger kids (9, 11) in our group of 8, so we are renting a Jeep and traveling up the road to Canada ourselves, so we can stop along the way if we see interesting/cool sites. We are using Green Jeep rentals (I think now called DIY Jeep rentals),. They are rated high on TA and include a CD and map explaining points of interest.

 

That option sounds very interesting! Next year the Skagway stop on my cruise is going to be from 7:00 to 20:30, so it's plenty of time and I'm thinking on renting a Jeep with that company. It's my fist time on Alaska, what route/trip would you recommend for a newbie like me who want to see interesting/cool sites like you?