Skagway Train

[modem9]

I have reserved a car for 4 of us to drive up to Emerald Lake and Carcross. However, as I will be taking my elderly parents with me, I also need to consider the availability of restrooms. Can anyone tell me if there are suitable places along the route with restroom facilities?

[Budget Queen]

I have reserved a car for 4 of us to drive up to Emerald Lake and Carcross. However, as I will be taking my elderly parents with me, I also need to consider the availability of restrooms. Can anyone tell me if there are suitable places along the route with restroom facilities?

 

There is only one outhouse between Skagway and Carcross. It is listed on http://www.***** There are public restrooms at the Visitor Center in Carcross.

[modem9]

Thank you Budget Queen. Well, that will give us something to think about.

[smitty3000]

Budget Queen,

 

I know you have been to this area many times. In your opinion, which would be better renting a car from Avis or taking the train? I want the most scenic trip. I don't mind the extra cost if it is more scenic. Is there truly a difference? Thanks for any input.:)

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen,

 

I know you have been to this area many times. In your opinion, which would be better renting a car from Avis or taking the train? I want the most scenic trip. I don't mind the extra cost if it is more scenic. Is there truly a difference? Thanks for any input.:)

 

They are both excellent choices. With the train, you need to also have an interest in history, my opinion only. The scenery is superior from the train, but it isn't for everyone. The combo tours are well run and do give both perspectives. I have not done the Bennett Lake train, but for me, I hope to be on that.

 

Both are very scenic trips. Not much help, but only you can decide what is of the most interest for you.

[emste]

Yes, we have 12 hours in Skagway, so we will have plenty of time, I just wanted to make sure that the driving distance wasn't that long. Also, does anyone have an idea as to how much it is to rent a caravan for the day?

[SharonK]

We are going on the Coral Princess in June and considering our options in Skagway - renting a car from Avis or taking a Chilkoot Charter train and bus excursion. Does anyone know anything about the 3 1/2 hours White Pass tour versus the 7 hours Carcross one?

Any comments or opinions are greatly appreciated!

 

Sharon:confused:

[NancyIL]

We are going on the Coral Princess in June and considering our options in Skagway - renting a car from Avis or taking a Chilkoot Charter train and bus excursion. Does anyone know anything about the 3 1/2 hours White Pass tour versus the 7 hours Carcross one?

Any comments or opinions are greatly appreciated!

 

Sharon:confused:

 

 

I first booked the 3.5-hour rail/bus excursion to Fraser, BC and back before changing my mind and booking the longest (9-hour) one. As I mentioned above, the train wasn't running to Carcross the day we were in Skagway, so we ended up with the 7-hour rail/bus excursion. The scenery to the White Pass Summit is beautiful, but going farther into the Yukon is even better.

[lovesublime]

Yes, we have 12 hours in Skagway, so we will have plenty of time, I just wanted to make sure that the driving distance wasn't that long. Also, does anyone have an idea as to how much it is to rent a caravan for the day?

 

We rented a full size car for $78. From what I've read here there are no vans or SUV's at the Skagway location. Although I have read that in the past they have had them. Perhaps you should just contact them.

[CC Help Michell]

They are both excellent choices. With the train, you need to also have an interest in history, my opinion only. The scenery is superior from the train, but it isn't for everyone. The combo tours are well run and do give both perspectives. I have not done the Bennett Lake train, but for me, I hope to be on that.

 

Both are very scenic trips. Not much help, but only you can decide what is of the most interest for you.

 

Thanks for this, BQ. For our Skagway day on our cruise I have a car booked through Avis, and have booked the Chilkoot 7 hour tour via rail/bus (the latter has a small cancellation penalty, but having our seats guaranteed was worth that risk). We don't mind a bit driving ourselves, since researching and deciding what to do is half the fun -- but I inquired here a few weeks ago and had pretty unanimous input that for a FIRST trip, take the train. So we booked, and I'll hold the car reservation a few more months, but I think we are going to go with the train/bus trip. We are big history buffs, so your post helps confirm that "feeling." I'm a Libra, though -- good thing I don't have to make a final decision for another few months! :)

[SharonK]

Thanks for the quick response. But with each answer I seem to think of another question...

 

Has anyone booked the train with Princess instead of going directly to Chilhoot Charters? I think you can also go to White Pass and Yukon Railway and book directly with them. Which is the best way to go? I see alot of talk on the board about Chilhoot. Is it better for some reason?

 

Sharon:confused:

[NancyIL]

Thanks for the quick response. But with each answer I seem to think of another question...

 

Has anyone booked the train with Princess instead of going directly to Chilhoot Charters? I think you can also go to White Pass and Yukon Railway and book directly with them. Which is the best way to go? I see alot of talk on the board about Chilhoot. Is it better for some reason?

 

Sharon:confused:

 

If you do a rail/bus excursion with Chilkoot Charters, the bus portion will be on a smaller mini-bus. Ours held 13 passengers, I think. If you do a rail/bus trip through Princess, you'll be on a large tour bus. I have no information about the rail/bus excursions booked directly through the railroad.

[mochuck]

I have read repeatedly how wonderful the train/bus/or car ride up into the Yukon is. But i recently talked to a friend who did this and she was not at all impressed. She said many people did not even get off the ship. (She had already done the land trip up to Denali). Has anyone else felt this way about this excursion? And what other good options are there for this port? thanks

 

I can't even begin to comprehend why anyone would go on an Alaskan cruise and not get off the ship in port.

[itsanita]

We already did the train last trip and thought it was great, not to be missed IMO.

 

This summer we plan on renting a car and driving. Our friends, who have never been to Alaska plan on taking the train one way to Fraiser where we will pick them up and drive on to Carcross/Emerald Lake. We are in Skagway over 12 hours so we should have plenty of time.

 

My question is about the train tickets. Should they go on line and purchase the one way tickets? Can they even do this? Or can they just walk down to the station that morning and get the tickets? Are the trains ever full? We will be going the first week in September.

[Cruisin Rick]

Does the White Pass train still do the shorter trip to the Sumit and back? That's the trip that we took. There was two excursions that day for this. One in the morning and one in the afternoon. We took the later one and it was back in time to easily catch the ship. We booked through the ship in advance as the cost of going direct wasn't that much of a savings to make it worth pre-paying and taking your chances.

 

The nice thing about this one was that we had some time to walk around Skagway in the morning and and visit the NPS building in town. They have some wonderful movies and slide shows that tell about the history of Skagway, the Klondikers and building the Whitpass railway. It was pretty amazing what those people went through and it makes you appreciate what you're seeing when you board the train and head up the pass. I highly recommend visiting the Park Service building in town no matter what excursions you take.

 

We enjoyed the train and I'm glad we took it. For us, the shorter route worked well as it gave us more time for other things. We did get a great souvenier at the White Pass Depot also. They had cut sections of the old original rails and made them into nice engraved bookends. We have a bit of Skagway history in our family room!

 

The one negative I can think of is that sometimes it's cloudy up the pass and you can't see a lot in some areas. We took the later train and it was clear weather for us that day.

 

Whatever works best for you... Enjoy!