Skagway train/ bus combo tour

[przyk]

Looking at doing a private tour in Skagway probably either with Dyea Dave or Chilkoot.  I know they both get great reviews. Does anyone have thoughts on whether it makes a difference to ride the train first or bus first and train back?

[Coral]

I don't think it makes a difference.

[smithop]

I think it makes a big difference, bus first then train return.  We did it with Dyea Dave and they will recommend the one way return from Fraser.

 

All the bus sightseeing is on the way up, you get the train coming down with the nice scenic views.  Sit on the right side as you face the direction of travel, you will be on the outer side of the curves, not looking at the rocks.

 

Mornings going up on the train may be foggy / overcast, afternoon returns its burned off by the sunshine.  Its easier to enjoy the views facing downhill rather than having to swivel around going up.

[tetleytea]

To compare, we rented a car in Skagway 3 days ago and drove the same route; saw Dyea Dave, Chilkoot tours, Frontier, Southeast Tour buses the whole way.  Our "tour guide" was Murray's Guide.  

 

We spotted 3 brown bears right on the side of the road, plus 2 black ones.  So long as we stayed in the car, we were safe.  One bear just laid down in the flowers by the roadside; we could have stayed there watching him all day.  We walking-toured Carcross and hiked the Carcross desert as long as we wanted.  We spotted 3 dalls sheep (which is not very many), not counting the two, uh, "mountain goats" at Caribou Crossing.  A beaver ran out in front of me near White Pass.

 

White Pass was foggy at the top.  The driving wasn't too bad there, but the views were not very good until the fog burned off, revealing the tundra-like landscape.  Not much snow at all.  

 

Since I made this drive before, my strategy was to drive off first thing in the morning and gun it for Caribou Crossing, to beat all the tour buses.  We stopped for wildlife sightings only, on the way up.  That largely worked out.   Unlike last time I drove this, we did NOT get stuck driving behind slow tour buses.  After stopping for bears, we reached Caribou Crossing at 10:30am and beat all the crowds.  And unlike the tour buses, we got to actually play with the puppies, since it was just us there.  We also got a lot of attention from their domesticated ponies, alpacas, chickens, hare, and goats when we were feeding them.  By the time we left, it was quite crowded.

 

After a long stay in downtown Carcross (longer than the buses would have allowed), we took all our scenic photos on the return trip, back to the boat.  That was the plan.  Tour buses were not an issue.  Some of the fog had burned off atop White Pass, which helped.  

 

A couple of the bummers (not major ones) using my plan:

1)  although we beat all the tour buses going up, we also beat all the trains.  You can see the trains from the road and take some good pictures, but alas, there were none.  

2)  We were late to Jewell Gardens going back.  Jewell Gardens is good to visit if you have a car.  But the Glass Blowing Studio had already closed, and we got to see only the garden.

 

The last thing we did was the Gold Rush Cemetery and Lower Reid's waterfall, since we had the car.  All-in-all, we put in a long 13-hour day.  Which was only hard on the driver's stamina (me).  The passengers only had to spot wildlife while I drove.  On the smaller tour buses, you have experienced wildlife spotters with you, but unfortunately they are also driving.  

 

At the very very end, I dropped off all the passengers and all our stuff close to the ship, while I drove back to drop off the car and walked myself back.  I was the only one late to dinner that night.  

 

 

We are doing the White Pass train (and no bus) next time we reach Skagway, because it is different.  Not better, but different.

Edited June 15, 2019 by tetleytea

[Coral]

6 hours ago, smithop said:

I think it makes a big difference, bus first then train return.  We did it with Dyea Dave and they will recommend the one way return from Fraser.

 

All the bus sightseeing is on the way up, you get the train coming down with the nice scenic views.  Sit on the right side as you face the direction of travel, you will be on the outer side of the curves, not looking at the rocks.

 

Mornings going up on the train may be foggy / overcast, afternoon returns its burned off by the sunshine.  Its easier to enjoy the views facing downhill rather than having to swivel around going up.

I have done this trip multiple times, multiple ways and both directions first. I don't think it makes that big of a deal.

[Ashland]

It probably makes little difference but we're glad we used Chilkoot and did the bus up and train down.

[CaribbeanIsland]

I am going to agree with Coral. I have done this trip probably 15x in a variety of ways. Sometimes mornings are better and other times afternoons are better. Weather changes within 5 minutes in Alaska.

[Casey12]

Each day can be different. Do what works best with your schedule. We have been multiple times and the order doesn't seem to matter much.

[Budget Queen]

I have already been up to Emerald Lake 4 times this year.    I also think both directions are different views and both very worthwhile.   Fog isn’t just in the morning.  I certainly have encountered it many times in the pm.      EACH trip will be unique and never repeated.    The train is certainly very worthwhile with a history, scenery, engineering interest.    😀

[przyk]

Thanks everyone for your replies.  Looks like I was making this a bigger issue than it needed to be.  How shocking, me overthinking vacation planning?  I tentatively booked with Dyea Dave and I think I will just finalize it.

[MellyBell]

I have not been but my father has and recommends the train back.  We are going June of 2020.  His logic is that if the van breaks down they won’t wait for you but if the train breaks down or is late they will wait because so many of the cruise line tours will be on the train. 

[przyk]

2 hours ago, MellyBell said:

I have not been but my father has and recommends the train back.  We are going June of 2020.  His logic is that if the van breaks down they won’t wait for you but if the train breaks down or is late they will wait because so many of the cruise line tours will be on the train. 

 

In all my reading about Alaska cruises I have not heard of anyone stranded by a private tour operator.  I'm guessing they have contingency plans for break downs and such, but maybe I'm wrong about that.

 

We did finalize the bus first train back option with Dyea Dave, but not for fear of being stranded. 

[MellyBell]

4 minutes ago, przyk said:

 

In all my reading about Alaska cruises I have not heard of anyone stranded by a private tour operator.  I'm guessing they have contingency plans for break downs and such, but maybe I'm wrong about that.

 

We did finalize the bus first train back option with Dyea Dave, but not for fear of being stranded. 

Sounds good.  I'm sure they have something in place that was just my fathers logic but he does not have as much experience as most of the other posters on Cruise Critic.  Hope you enjoy!