Train: Seward to Fairbanks?

[disneyochem]

We are booked on a 10-day land tour (with a cruise) in June 2020.  We are planning on arriving in Seward beforehand (niece is interning at a medical clinic there) and doing a little DIY tour before jumping on the land tour.  My question is about transportation from Seward to Fairbanks.  Hubby is a big train fan so he wants to ride the train as much as possible (and is adamantly opposed to renting a car!).  Tentative plan is taking the train from Seward to Anchorage, one day layover in Anchorage, train to Denali, one day layover and then train into Fairbanks.

 

How is the train experience from Anchorage to Fairbanks?  Hubby wouldn't mind going to Anchorage to Fairbanks in one day but I want to break up the trip (not as big as train fan as him.....).  Also, worth getting the gold class tickets?  We're doing gold class during the land tour so don't think we have to do it then.

 

Any comments, recommendations appreciated.  I personally would just like to rent a car and drive but he does not!  Looks like bus service is available too.

 

Thanks!

[oaktreerb]

What is your land tour itinerary with the cruise line?   Does it start in Fairbanks?  With a 7 day cruise, three more days on land is mostly travel.   Would it make sense to cruise and do a land tour on your own to coordinate it with your time in Seward?

 

Seward is generally a beginning or ending port for a cruise.  The train ride from Seward to Anchorage is beautiful, the ride from Anchorge to Denali is interesting and scenic in some areas,  I find the train ride from Denali to Fairbanks boring.  I would take the bus on the Denali to Fairbanks segment.  Many people recommend the gold class train tickets.   A minimum of two nights in Denali is recommended if you want to see the park.

[disneyochem]

Our land cruise starts in Fairbanks (a 10-day connoisseur tour with Princess).  We want to spend some time with our niece which is why we will be in Seward.  Decided to tour first due to her schedule.

 

Thanks for the information about the train ride.  Looks like I might be able to break it up into segments.

[Northern Aurora]

Many years ago I was working out of Anchorage for several weeks, and my husband would fly down from Fairbanks to Anchorage on the weekends.  When I was returning to Fairbanks we decided that since we had never done the train from Anchorage to Fairbanks we would do it.  All I can say is that it was a VERY long day.  We have never done it again.

 

The train from Denali to Fairbanks runs on the flats, while the road from Denali to Fairbanks is on the ridges.  So scenery from the road is more appealing to most.  

 

Since he is a train buff you might consider doing the train from Seward to Anchorage which is very scenic.  His other Alaska train option is the historic White Pass and Yukon in Skagway.  How much time in Denali does your cruise tour include?  Would he consider just flying from Anchorage to Fairbanks?  

[Glaciers]

5 hours ago, disneyochem said:

We are planning on arriving in Seward beforehand...

 

How are you getting to Seward?

[disneyochem]

4 minutes ago, Glaciers said:

 

How are you getting to Seward?

Northbound cruise out of Vancouver. We arrive in Seward about a week before our land tour.

[disneyochem]

7 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

 How much time in Denali does your cruise tour include?  Would he consider just flying from Anchorage to Fairbanks?  

 

We have two nights in Denali, 2 nights McKinley, 2 nights Kenai, 2 nights Copper River and 2 nights Fairbanks.

 

Thanks for the suggestion about flying—not sure why, but hadn’t even considered fly8ng as a possibility!

[Northern Aurora]

4 minutes ago, disneyochem said:

 

We have two nights in Denali, 2 nights McKinley, 2 nights Kenai, 2 nights Copper River and 2 nights Fairbanks.

 

Thanks for the suggestion about flying—not sure why, but hadn’t even considered fly8ng as a possibility!

 

 

The flight time from Anchorage to Fairbanks is about 55 minutes, and Alaska Airlines runs a number of them daily.  

 

Also, there is a historic train engine at Pioneer Park in Fairbanks -- one of the engines from the long gone Tanana Valley Railroad.  It was a narrow gauge line which ran from Fairbanks to the various mining communities.  Fairbanks is one of the few gold camps which survived.  The old engine is located in one of the mini-museums at the park, and is operated for special events such as the Fourth of July and day of the Governor's Picnic.