Options in Skagway

[candlelady]

We have 13 hours in Skagway and are trying to decide if we want to book the White Pass Railroad trip or rent a car and do our own tour...there's 4 of us. Which would you suggest? Should it be booked a head of time or are there plenty of options at the dock? Is there a particular tour company that you would suggest if we decide we don't want to drive ourselves? We're doing a land tour after the cruise and riding the Wilderness Express from Anchorage to Talkeetna and then to Denali, which is why we thought we might do something other than the rail in Skagway. Any ideas would be appreciated...this will be our first time in Alaska.

[Yukon]

There's no stock answer that will fit everybody - it all depends on your specific interests. The ride you're taking on the Alaska Railroad, though, shouldn't be used to decide - the WP&YR is a very, very different experience. The WP&YR is consistently ranked among the top 10 rail journeys on earth - the ARR never is.

 

If you decide to rent a car, you need to book very early (now would be good). There are some tour options you can get on arrival, but not many, and most are local (city-Summit) van tours.

 

Murray

[qiangf2]

We have 13 hours in Skagway and are trying to decide if we want to book the White Pass Railroad trip or rent a car and do our own tour...there's 4 of us. Which would you suggest? Should it be booked a head of time or are there plenty of options at the dock? Is there a particular tour company that you would suggest if we decide we don't want to drive ourselves? We're doing a land tour after the cruise and riding the Wilderness Express from Anchorage to Talkeetna and then to Denali, which is why we thought we might do something other than the rail in Skagway. Any ideas would be appreciated...this will be our first time in Alaska.

 

If you don't mind driving, I would highly recommend renting a car from Avis. As Yukon put it, reserve as early as possible. Otherwise, you may end up stuck with the other company. The drive is very easy. Road is well maintained. You can pace yourselves and stop and go whenever you want. Also, I would suggest you follow Yukon's trip guide all the way to Emerald lake. Once you pass the whitepass summit, it is mostly sunny and dry on the other side of the mountain. If you want to adventure a little bit more, book a 2 hours horseback ride with Jodi at her ranch at Emerald lake. It costs only $130 for rental/gas for 6 of us with a SUV last time. You should expect pay less if you get a car from Avis with some coupon code. I believe one ticket will cost that much to get up on Whitepass Summit by train. But, again, that's different kind of experience from driving a car. One just have to sort out which one is more important. Scenic view wise, I won't see any difference, since the train and HWY are on the opposite side of the valley leading up to the summit.

[qiangf2]

double post