11 day pre cruise questions

[loveturtles]

Hi, Will be doing cruise and land tour with Princess starting in Fairbanks on May 22. 

We will do a pre tour on our own starting May 10th. Renting a car and then driving to Anchorage on the 12th for 2 days then head to Seward for a night on the 14th. Drive to Homer for 2 nights, head back to Anchorage on 17th. Leave for Fairbanks on the 20th.

I guess I'm wondering if this will work time wise? My biggest concern is the anchorage to Fairbanks leg and back. Want to be able to stop and see points of interest but don't really want to push hours in the car. We thought about staying somewhere in between but not really finding any towns that have points of interest once we got there. We are not hikers.  We will be going to Denali with the cruise, but maybe that would be good to spend 1 more night there.

Also if you know of any interesting things to see/do I'm open. We have a few things planned in each city but not set in stone. Any thoughts welcome.

Thanks!

[AKStafford]

So you are coming just before the traditional summer visitor season starts at the end of May. That will limit some of your options.

Have you considered flying from Anchorage to Fairbanks? Or are you starting your trip in Fairbanks?

Lodging in between Anchorage and Fairbanks can be found in Talkeetna, Cantwell or Healy. Healy would be a decent choice.

[Northern Aurora]

Reading this I am a little confused.  Are you flying into Fairbanks and then driving to Anchorage?  And then back-tracking driving back north to Fairbanks.  

 

I would suggest flying into Anchorage and starting your 11 day pre-cruise there.  Drive down to Seward and spend two or more nights there, then over to Homer.  Around Anchorage consider time spent at Matanuska Glacier.  After spending time in south-central Alaska either do a one-way vehicle drop off driving north to Fairbanks, or return the rental car in Anchorage and fly to Fairbanks.  Alaska Airlines has multiple flights each day between Fairbanks and Anchorage.  It could be less expensive to fly.  

 

Regarding the Denali area there may not be much open around May 10th.

[loveturtles]

39 minutes ago, AKStafford said:

So you are coming just before the traditional summer visitor season starts at the end of May. That will limit some of your options.

Have you considered flying from Anchorage to Fairbanks? Or are you starting your trip in Fairbanks?

Lodging in between Anchorage and Fairbanks can be found in Talkeetna, Cantwell or Healy. Healy would be a decent choice.

10 minutes ago, Northern Aurora said:

Reading this I am a little confused.  Are you flying into Fairbanks and then driving to Anchorage?  And then back-tracking driving back north to Fairbanks.  

 

I would suggest flying into Anchorage and starting your 11 day pre-cruise there.  Drive down to Seward and spend two or more nights there, then over to Homer.  Around Anchorage consider time spent at Matanuska Glacier.  After spending time in south-central Alaska either do a one-way vehicle drop off driving north to Fairbanks, or return the rental car in Anchorage and fly to Fairbanks.  Alaska Airlines has multiple flights each day between Fairbanks and Anchorage.  It could be less expensive to fly.  

 

Regarding the Denali area there may not be much open around May 10th.

38 minutes ago, AKStafford said:

So you are coming just before the traditional summer visitor season starts at the end of May. That will limit some of your options.

Have you considered flying from Anchorage to Fairbanks? Or are you starting your trip in Fairbanks?

Lodging in between Anchorage and Fairbanks can be found in Talkeetna, Cantwell or Healy. Healy would be a decent choice.

 

[loveturtles]

Thanks for your quick responses.

We are flying into Fairbanks as that is where cruise tour starts. We booked this awhile back and fairly recently decided to do the extra pre-cruise. I suppose I could look into changing flights although this late they are probably more expensive. Re: The towns that were mentioned above is there anything to see other than Denali excursions, as we will be doing Denali with cruise line. Also do you think driving FB to Anchorage will be to long of drive with stops along the way?

[loveturtles]

Just checked on flights, flying into Anchorage instead of FB. About $150 pp more and there is 4 of us. We'll have to pass on that idea.

[AKStafford]

3 hours ago, loveturtles said:

The towns that were mentioned above is there anything to see other than Denali excursions

How about this... Leave Anchorage and head to the Matanuska Glacier for a guided glacier hike. Then visit Hatcher Pass for a scenic drive or a hike. Then head to Talkeetna, getting there in the evening. Then the next day make the drive to Fairbanks.

[Northern Aurora]

As I understand @loveturtles plans I can only state that I would have never suggested such a plan.  I, as does @AKStafford, live in Alaska.  I try to read the CC Alaska forum on a regular basis, but of course, have a life and travel frequently.    If the proposed plan was suggested in prior posts, and I missed the post.   As I read and understand the plan I am really sorry.  And I mean really sorry.  Hopefully I am misunderstanding the plan

 

Another idea to salvage this plan, since apparently changing air fare has been dismissed, would be to pick up the rental car in Fairbanks (as apparently has been booked and I read the post change is not flexible), drive to southcentral  on the George Parks Highway Alaska making some stops, visit Seward, drive across the Glenn Highway to Glennallen, possibly detouring south to Valdez, possibly visiting the Wrangell -- St. Elias National Park and Preserve and then driving north toward Fairbanks.  This would mean driving in essentially a triangular route.  But the OP states that they are not "hikers" so don't know what their activity level is of interest.

 

The drive from Fairbanks to Anchorage, assuming no stops for road maintenance or brush clearing, and few stops for tourist activities, takes between 6 and 7 hours.  The drive from Fairbanks to Healy takes about two hours and 15 minutes.  When we drive from our home in Fairbanks to Seward we generally stop at the Princess Mt. McKinley View Lodge (at which I have had a number of problems through the years).

 

The other comment I want to make is that Alaska communities have visitor and convention bureau websites.  In the small communities they are generally operated in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce.  Use google to find those websites.

[loveturtles]

Thank you @NorthernAurora for your advice and taking time from your busy life to answer my questions. We will look at changing up the schedule a bit, other couple with us definitely wants to go to Homer, so need to look a bit closer at the smaller towns.