Alaska 2020 Denali pre-cruise. How long from Fairbanks to Denali.

[ElaynaB]

Hello, we are on the 7/25/2020 Alaska cruise with a pre- cruise extension in Denali.  Looks like we are flying into Fairbanks.  Does anyone know how long the trip is from the airport to the park, and what the method of transportation is? In my experience asking Viking does not always provide the correct info.  Did Amsterdam to Budapest this year with the extension in Prague and was told transportation from Budapest to Prague would be by train when, in fact, it was by motorcoach.

[dd57]

We did an Alaskan  extension this July, but I'm not sure if it is the same one as yours; there are several.  Our excursion spent two nights in Fairbanks before taking the train in the morning, arriving at Denali in time for lunch.  The lunch included a talk by about Predator vs Prey, which was a lead into the next day's excursion into the park.

 

The entire excursion was very well done, including some very interesting discussions by experts.  This was our first Viking Ocean cruise and our second time to the interior of Alaska.  We were very impressed.

[ElaynaB]

19 hours ago, dd57 said:

We did an Alaskan  extension this July, but I'm not sure if it is the same one as yours; there are several.  Our excursion spent two nights in Fairbanks before taking the train in the morning, arriving at Denali in time for lunch.  The lunch included a talk by about Predator vs Prey, which was a lead into the next day's excursion into the park.

 

The entire excursion was very well done, including some very interesting discussions by experts.  This was our first Viking Ocean cruise and our second time to the interior of Alaska.  We were very impressed.

  So glad to hear you had a positive experience.  Did you do any optional excursions that you would recommend?  

[dd57]

This was our third cruise to Alaska (2nd trip to the interior), so we had already done many of the "must do" excursions and did not do a lot of optional excursions.  More of a kick-back vacation with some new to us ports added.  But I really enjoyed the Whale Watching & Mendenhall Glacier Photo Safari excursion in Juneau.  This was done by Gastineau Guiding in their small vessels built for photography with large windows that open.  You can check it out on their website https://www.stepintoalaska.com/excursions/whale-watching-mendenhall-glacier-photo-safari/ 

 

We also did Spasski River Valley Wildlife & Bear Search in Icy Strait Point.  Although we did not see any bears, the bus behind us did.  The countryside was interesting, as was the guide's description of growing up in a small native community.

 

Our last optional excursion was Cruise the Misty Fjords from Ketchikan.  We had never been to Misty Fjords and were not interested in flight seeing as we had done some on a previous trip out of Soldatna.  This excursion was the perfect trip at the end of a busy cruise: laid back, comfortable, with gorgeous scenery.

 

The one excursion I would strongly recommend that we have done in the past is Kenai Fjords National Park by Boat.  The scenery and wildlife that you see is amazing.

 

[Baron Barracuda]

Denali is 120 miles from Fairbanks, so by train and bus a few hours.  We flew into Fairbanks a day ahead, did free self-guided walking tour then rented a car and visited the Alaska Museum of the North on the U. of Alaska Fairbanks campus and the botanical gardens.  Very informative.