Alaska - Fairbanks or Anchorage?

[homeofthehound]

Hi - We are looking at a land/cruise option for late July or August 2019 and getting a little overwhelmed with the options. We would need to select from any of the 10 - 13 day options and wondering about the differences between Fairbanks and Anchorage? One better than the other? One not to miss? Pros/cons? etc. We would prefer to do the land portion first. I feel like I am leaning to the Anchorage options but I can't put my finger on why...

 

I am also not understanding the differences between "Princess Rail" vs "Direct-to-the-Wilderness" options.

 

About us - My husband and I are 46 and 51, have been on many Princess and HAL cruises before (I have been on a 7 day return to Vancouver Alaska one about 16 years ago). We prefer outdoor activities (i.e. midnight golf sounds great to us) vs. shopping/museums etc. We have also considered just doing the 10 day return to San Francisco and skipping the land portion this year because the price looks quite good, but I really would like to make the land option work for us.

 

Any opinions, hints or things I should consider to help narrow down the options? Thanks in advance!

 

 

[Colo Cruiser]

I know there are so many choices.......

All I can tell you is I agree about doing the land portion first.  😉

[BarbinMich]

Fairbanks itself didn't really have much to offer IMHO, except "panning for gold" when we started our post-cruise land portion there back in 1996.  No doubt they've added to the activities since then!  It will be light most of the night in Jul-Aug.  We've also enjoyed spending time in Anchorage post-cruise.

 

Are you doing the land portion before or after your cruise?  What ship and date are you sailing on as the pre-cruise and post-cruise options sometimes vary? 

 

[Grburkart]

I have never cruised to Alaska but I drive there every couple years or so. I love both Fairbanks and Anchorage. I don’t now how regimented your time will be but there are certainly lots of things to do in both places. 

If I had to choose, I would choose Fairbanks because it’s in the interior of Alaska and you get to see Denali, aka Mt. McKinnley (sp?). Just a magnificent journey!

In Fairbanks, or just outside Fairbanks, there are the most wonderful hot springs. And just on the outskirts of Fairbanks is the town of North Pole. It’s like stepping into a Norman Rockwell scene. It’s Christmas there year round!

Can’t forget about the Riverboat Discovery either. It’s a great river tour, teaching you lots about the history and ways of life about the local people. 

And make sure you visit the Great Alaska Bowl Company! You can tour their factory. 

Thats just the short version! Enjoy your cruise. 

 

Glenn

 

 

 

[homeofthehound]

8 hours ago, BarbinMich said:

Fairbanks itself didn't really have much to offer IMHO, except "panning for gold" when we started our post-cruise land portion there back in 1996.  No doubt they've added to the activities since then!  It will be light most of the night in Jul-Aug.  We've also enjoyed spending time in Anchorage post-cruise.

 

Are you doing the land portion before or after your cruise?  What ship and date are you sailing on as the pre-cruise and post-cruise options sometimes vary? 

 

 

Thanks - we would prefer land first and so far I seem to be focusing in on the Aug 7, Royal itineraries. Both are "On Your Own", ABX (Anchorage) or CBX (Fairbanks)... but there are just so many to choose from :) 

Edited February 10, 2019 by homeofthehound

[miss prairie girl]

Also.......Coral has just posted on this Princess board an upcoming Princess promotion running Feb 12-28 which features 2019 land and cruise options that you may be interested in!

[kennicott]

 

7 hours ago, Grburkart said:

I would choose Fairbanks because it’s in the interior of Alaska and you get to see Denali, aka Mt. McKinnley (sp?). Just a magnificent journey! Glenn

 

 

 

It is 158 miles from Fairbanks to Mount Denali. It is 133 miles from Anchorage to Mount Denali. Having spent 5 winters in Fairbanks and having viewed the mountain from there and having lived now for 55 years in Anchorage and view the mountain almost every nice day, it is better from Anchorage. However, neither is very good. Best views are from the south side and a lot closer, unless you do the NPS tour on the north side into the National Park. Try the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge on the south side.      

[Grburkart]

6 minutes ago, kennicott said:

 

It is 158 miles from Fairbanks to Mount Denali. It is 133 miles from Anchorage to Mount Denali. Having spent 5 winters in Fairbanks and having viewed the mountain from there and having lived now for 55 years in Anchorage and view the mountain almost every nice day, it is better from Anchorage. However, neither is very good. Best views are from the south side and a lot closer, unless you do the NPS tour on the north side into the National Park. Try the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge on the south side.      

Thank you for that and I am envious of anyone who lives in Anchorage. What a marvellous place to live. I’ve lived in Anchorage for a few months and it’s probably my favourite city. Two of my favourite places are the City Diner and the back side if the airport (runway). 

Anyway, from the eyes of a tourist, Fairbanks is a unique place that deserves the attention of visitors. As far as McKinley goes, even if you’re at the foot of the mountain, it’s hit and miss whether you even get to see it, but I do agree with you that the Anchorage side of the mountain is the view of choice. 

 

Glenn

[CindyPie1004]

10 hours ago, homeofthehound said:

Hi - We are looking at a land/cruise option for late July or August 2019 and getting a little overwhelmed with the options. We would need to select from any of the 10 - 13 day options and wondering about the differences between Fairbanks and Anchorage? One better than the other? One not to miss? Pros/cons? etc. We would prefer to do the land portion first. I feel like I am leaning to the Anchorage options but I can't put my finger on why...

 

I am also not understanding the differences between "Princess Rail" vs "Direct-to-the-Wilderness" options.

 

About us - My husband and I are 46 and 51, have been on many Princess and HAL cruises before (I have been on a 7 day return to Vancouver Alaska one about 16 years ago). We prefer outdoor activities (i.e. midnight golf sounds great to us) vs. shopping/museums etc. We have also considered just doing the 10 day return to San Francisco and skipping the land portion this year because the price looks quite good, but I really would like to make the land option work for us.

 

Any opinions, hints or things I should consider to help narrow down the options? Thanks in advance!

 

 

We did the cruise tour a couple years ago and did the cruise first and land second... if you take no other advice, do the land first and cruise second. Don’t get me wrong, we had a wonderful,time but we’re tired coming home; the relaxing cruise would have been a great way to end the trip. 

 

As for Fairbanks vs Anchorage, we disembarked in Anchorage and immediately left so spent no time there;  it was foggy so I didn’t even see it! But, we ended the land portion in Fairbanks and I didn’t care for it; not as much to offer as other cities. 

 

There are so many considerations and choices. Good luck and enjoy!

[caribill]

If you are doing a Princess Cruisetour, I suggest that you pick one that spends two nights at each lodge. That ensures you will have one full day there for tours/excursions. If you are only spending one night at a lodge,there is relatively little time after arrival the first day and before departure the next morning.

 

 

[geoherb]

We flew to Fairbanks for our cruise-tour. I had heard about how some of the included excursions were cheesy, but I enjoyed them all--the paddlewheel cruise, lunch, and panning for gold. We had a train ride from Fairbanks to the Princess Denali Lodge, which was fantastic. I upgraded us from the Natural History Tour to the Tundra Wilderness Tour. We compared with a couple who did the former and found out how much better our tour was. We had one night at the Princess McKinley Lodge. It was sort of a waste of time because we used that day to rest up instead of doing one of the optional excursions. We did enjoy a free guided hike through the forest on which I learned some interesting things about the plants. They bused us to Anchorage for one night there. We did not have much time to do things there other than eat dinner and pick up a couple of bottles of wine. They bused us to the port the next morning with a stop at the wildlife center.

 

If I had to do it over again, I'd choose an itinerary that had two nights at the Denali Lodge.

[BarbinMich]

17 hours ago, Grburkart said:

Thank you for that and I am envious of anyone who lives in Anchorage. What a marvellous place to live. I’ve lived in Anchorage for a few months and it’s probably my favourite city. Two of my favourite places are the City Diner and the back side if the airport (runway). 

. . .

 

Glenn

My cousin's daughter and son-in-law have lived in Anchorage since they got married a few years ago.  She's a pharmacist and works at a Walgreen's, I believe.  He's a natural resources person, but I can't remember exactly what he does.  They love it!  And they survived the earthquake there a few months ago.  We have enjoyed it the two times we've been there.

[BarbinMich]

18 hours ago, kennicott said:

Having spent 5 winters in Fairbanks and having viewed the mountain from there and having lived now for 55 years in Anchorage and view the mountain almost every nice day, it is better from Anchorage. However, neither is very good. Best views are from the south side and a lot closer . . .

The best view we've had of Denali was from an airplane as we flew from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  I don't know how close we were to it, but considering it's 20,000 ft high we probably weren't much higher.  I'm sure I took photos, but this happened long before I had a digital camera, so they're probably slides, not even prints .

[kennicott]

47 minutes ago, BarbinMich said:

The best view we've had of Denali was from an airplane as we flew from Anchorage to Fairbanks.  I don't know how close we were to it, but considering it's 20,000 ft high we probably weren't much higher.  I'm sure I took photos, but this happened long before I had a digital camera, so they're probably slides, not even prints .

Speaking of Denali views. Here is a shot of the painting of Denali accomplished by the great Sydney Lawrence in the early part of the 20th century. It belongs to Alaska Airlines but is on loan to the public museum in Anchorage, takes up the better part of a wall and takes your breath away, visit the museum if you get the opportunity. Sydney did most of his great works in The Tokositna Wilderness on the south side of the Alaska Range. The McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is in this area.

[Grburkart]

1 hour ago, BarbinMich said:

My cousin's daughter and son-in-law have lived in Anchorage since they got married a few years ago.  She's a pharmacist and works at a Walgreen's, I believe.  He's a natural resources person, but I can't remember exactly what he does.  They love it!  And they survived the earthquake there a few months ago.  We have enjoyed it the two times we've been there.

I’ve been to Fairbanks two times in my life but I’ve been to Anchorage countless times and never on a cruise ship. A good friend of mine lives there and she introduced me to the finer things that need to be enjoyed in that area. I love southwest of Anchorage with places like Kenai and Homer. Fishing for salmon on the Kenai and Russian rivers and Halibut fishing in Homer are, to me, life changing events. 

Thank you for your post. I have so many memories. Now I’m longing to return. 

 

Glenn

[Grburkart]

1 hour ago, kennicott said:

Speaking of Denali views. Here is a shot of the painting of Denali accomplished by the great Sydney Lawrence in the early part of the 20th century. It belongs to Alaska Airlines but is on loan to the public museum in Anchorage, takes up the better part of a wall and takes your breath away, visit the museum if you get the opportunity. Sydney did most of his great works in The Tokositna Wilderness on the south side of the Alaska Range. The McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge is in this area.

Thank you for showing the painting. It truly is a magnificent mountain worthy of the name Denali. Correct me if I’m wrong, my understanding is Denali means “large mountain”. 

The curse is I can’t find the photos of my last visit to Denali. The day I was there, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. It was perfect! I had great photos with my friend and myself standing before the mountain. 

We went on a wildlife tour that took us close to the mountain. The wildlife was limited but the mountain! Leaves one speechless. 

 

Glenn

[kennicott]

29 minutes ago, Grburkart said:

Thank you for showing the painting. It truly is a magnificent mountain worthy of the name Denali. Correct me if I’m wrong, my understanding is Denali means “large mountain”. Glenn

Over the years there has been quite a bit of discussion and argument over what to call Mount McKinley based on indigenous people's language, since the mountain is so high it has been viewed by numerous native groups who assigned various names to it. It is my understanding that the Koyukon name was selected since those people were deemed most directly involved with the mountain---Which I don't quite understand since Koyuk is no where near the mountain----However "The Koyukon are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they subsisted by hunting and trapping for thousands of years. Many Koyukon live in a similar manner today."  

 

"The name Denali is based on the Koyukon name of the mountain, Deenaalee ("the high one")."

 

Under the Ahtna Athabaskan language---- "Mt. McKinley/Denali Dghelaayce‟e [Gall-eye-kek-eh]
(ce‘e means ―large or big‖"

 

LOL---All you didn't really want to know.

 

[Grburkart]

27 minutes ago, kennicott said:

Over the years there has been quite a bit of discussion and argument over what to call Mount McKinley based on indigenous people's language, since the mountain is so high it has been viewed by numerous native groups who assigned various names to it. It is my understanding that the Koyukon name was selected since those people were deemed most directly involved with the mountain---Which I don't quite understand since Koyuk is no where near the mountain----However "The Koyukon are an Alaska Native Athabaskan people of the Athabaskan-speaking ethnolinguistic group. Their traditional territory is along the Koyukuk and Yukon rivers where they subsisted by hunting and trapping for thousands of years. Many Koyukon live in a similar manner today."  

 

"The name Denali is based on the Koyukon name of the mountain, Deenaalee ("the high one")."

 

Under the Ahtna Athabaskan language---- "Mt. McKinley/Denali Dghelaayce‟e [Gall-eye-kek-eh]
(ce‘e means ―large or big‖"

 

LOL---All you didn't really want to know.

 

Thanks for the info... seriously. 

 

Glenn

[satxdiver]

Fairbanks is much smaller city than Anchorage.  It has a river nearby and a old fashioned riverboat tour that is interesting.  Also there is a display at the Alaskan Pipeline just outside the city.  You can see Mt Denali from there if it is clear which is not all the time in the summer.  Also North Pole, AK is nearby and you can imagine what they have for tourists.  

 

Anchorage is AK's largest city and has activities near it.  I once rented a bicycle in downtown and rode the path out to a park which was an old Nike/Herc missile site.  I saw  moose grazing along with some other critters.  There is an old mining camp/state park outside the city and a shrinking glacier with an observatory.  One can see the results of the great earthquake in the city.    

[Grburkart]

23 minutes ago, satxdiver said:

Fairbanks is much smaller city than Anchorage.  It has a river nearby and a old fashioned riverboat tour that is interesting.  Also there is a display at the Alaskan Pipeline just outside the city.  You can see Mt Denali from there if it is clear which is not all the time in the summer.  Also North Pole, AK is nearby and you can imagine what they have for tourists.  

 

Don’t forget about Chena Hot Springs in Fairbanks! Very beautiful and relaxing. The story goes that the Japanese folks frequent this place as it provides opportunity and rites of fertility. 

 

 

Anchorage is AK's largest city and has activities near it.  I once rented a bicycle in downtown and rode the path out to a park which was an old Nike/Herc missile site.  I saw  moose grazing along with some other critters.  There is an old mining camp/state park outside the city and a shrinking glacier with an observatory.  One can see the results of the great earthquake in the city.    

 

The big earthquake aka the Great Alaskan Earthquake happened in 1964. Earthquake Park is a great historic site that is informative and the visual damage still remains.

All in all, in my opinion both cities are equal for tourism in very different ways. 

 

Glenn

[Retired_Army]

We decided to skip Fairbanks choosing extra time at Denali. Take the ski plane from Talkeetna and land up on the glacier, absolutely amazing.  Yes, the "upgrade" to the Tundra Wilderness Tour is definitely worth it. We started in Anchorage and bused our way north. If you work with Princess you can really customize your land tour, add an extra day somewhere, go directly from one lodge to another.  They really have the logistics down, each morning you have people going north or south to another lodge by train or bus.  You tag your luggage with the right color tag and it arrives in the right place.   If you have luggage that contains things like formal ware you won't need until the cruise, they can send that directly to the ship and it will be waiting for you.  

 

We chose to take the bus north stoping at the Princess lodges as we went, but then took the train south non-stop all the way to the port.  Beautiful scenery the whole trip, you can get up and move around making it a relaxing ride, except for the time the Engineer apparently missed the "Slow Curve Ahead" sign and we thought we were going to jump the track.  But that is a story for another time.

[daydreamer16]

On ‎2‎/‎9‎/‎2019 at 3:30 PM, Grburkart said:

I have never cruised to Alaska but I drive there every couple years or so. I love both Fairbanks and Anchorage. I don’t now how regimented your time will be but there are certainly lots of things to do in both places. 

If I had to choose, I would choose Fairbanks because it’s in the interior of Alaska and you get to see Denali, aka Mt. McKinnley (sp?). Just a magnificent journey!

In Fairbanks, or just outside Fairbanks, there are the most wonderful hot springs. And just on the outskirts of Fairbanks is the town of North Pole. It’s like stepping into a Norman Rockwell scene. It’s Christmas there year round!

Can’t forget about the Riverboat Discovery either. It’s a great river tour, teaching you lots about the history and ways of life about the local people. 

And make sure you visit the Great Alaska Bowl Company! You can tour their factory. 

Thats just the short version! Enjoy your cruise. 

 

Glenn

 

 

 

I agree with all that you said! We flew to Fairbanks and rented a car for a few days to drive up to the hot springs, Chena, I think. Then came back to start the land tour followed by the cruise, it was great and we did see a lot!

[Eileen G]

On 2/9/2019 at 11:19 PM, kennicott said:

 

It is 158 miles from Fairbanks to Mount Denali. It is 133 miles from Anchorage to Mount Denali. Having spent 5 winters in Fairbanks and having viewed the mountain from there and having lived now for 55 years in Anchorage and view the mountain almost every nice day, it is better from Anchorage. However, neither is very good. Best views are from the south side and a lot closer, unless you do the NPS tour on the north side into the National Park. Try the McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge on the south side.      

 

 

I'm not sure where you got your mileage from but it's supposed to take about 2 hours to get from Fairbanks to Denali and about 4 hours to get from Anchorage to Denali. Did you mean 233 miles from Anchorage?

[zogrand]

Here's our picture of Denali this past July.  This was taken at the far end of the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park.   The train ride from Denali at the end of our land tour was about 8 hours and just beautiful.  We did two days in Fairbanks and two in Denali.  We did the riverboat Discovery and the gold panning in Fairbanks.  It was fun to pan for gold but the history of the gold mining was the most interesting part of the tour for us.  We also saw the Alaskan pipeline on the same tour.

[kennicott]

7 hours ago, Eileen G said:

 

 

I'm not sure where you got your mileage from but it's supposed to take about 2 hours to get from Fairbanks to Denali and about 4 hours to get from Anchorage to Denali. Did you mean 233 miles from Anchorage?

Good observation--Below are the links I used for the "as the crow flies"  158 versus 133 mileage. However, when I used a map in "The Milepost" I got about 140 from Anchorage and about 180 from Fairbanks. Remember, we are talking the top of the big mountain itself, so these measurements are from the peak to about the middle of the cities. Take a look at the map and you will see why. Fairbanks is north of and east of the peak while Anchorage is pretty much directly south of the peak. 

 

With respect to the highway measurements.  The Milepost gives 237 from Anchorage and 125 from Fairbanks but these are road measurements to "Denali". What do they mean by "Denali", certainly not the top of the mountain since you can't drive there. So they must be measuring to the Denali National Park, right? But the George Parks Highway doesn't enter the Denali National Park until way north of the Range, so perhaps they are measuring to the entrance of the Park where the Denali Park Road reaches the Parks Highway?  Go back and look at the map again. Most of the Park is located north of the Alaska Range, meaning closer to Fairbanks. When driving from Anchorage you don't enter the boundary of the NP until you are north of the Range, although the eastern Park boundary isn't all that far to the west of the George Parks Highway once you pass Cantwell going north.     

 

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=exBiXPibAdTA0PEPzKuqsA0&q=distance+from+anchorage+to+mt+mckinley&oq=miles+from+Anchorage+to+Mount+&gs_l=psy-ab.1.1.0i22i10i30j0i22i30.3043.10585..15822...0.0..0.201.3010.23j6j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131j0j33i22i29i30.7l7xxlPVG2c

 

https://www.google.com/search?ei=jRBiXOTfB5H09APigL3oAw&q=distance+from+Fairbanks++to+mt+mckinley&oq=distance+from+Fairbanks++to+mt+mckinley&gs_l=psy-ab.12..0i30.62244.64771..67215...0.0..0.147.1135.7j4......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i7i30.F7JXV9G9tBU