Land Tour ANC- FAI on your own

[lilmiss]

Hi everyone...since I couldn´t do my Alaska cruise this year, I am already planing for 2010. I will take a Inside passage cruise with my brother, with Princess northbound out of Vancouver to Whittier. I have been flirting with the cruise tours, but my question is, can the tour from Anchorage to Fairbanks via Denali be done on your own ? What is the advantage of driving yourself ? How many days would you plan ? Are the costs much higher ??? Would you already take a rental car in Whittier ???

Sorry so many questions.... but since I live in germany, I have really to get into detail and know before I go...

Thx for the help...

[thinfool]

Hi everyone...since I couldn´t do my Alaska cruise this year, I am already planing for 2010. I will take a Inside passage cruise with my brother, with Princess northbound out of Vancouver to Whittier. I have been flirting with the cruise tours, but my question is, can the tour from Anchorage to Fairbanks via Denali be done on your own ? What is the advantage of driving yourself ?

You will have more time at your chosen sites and at a lower cost.

How many days would you plan ?

As many as you can, but 3-4 days would be a minimum.

Are the costs much higher ???

See above, tho I would add that when you explore your own costs they may seem high. Be sure to compare them with the really high cost of a cruisetour for the same itinerary. (apples to apples)

Would you already take a rental car in Whittier ???

You can do so, but compare the drop off charges if you are doing a one-way rental to FAI.

 

As others have stated here, you might want to consider either dropping FAI from your itinerary or at least returning to ANC to leave Alaska. That way you could avoid rental drop-off fees if you wind up renting from ANC rather than Whittier.

 

Personally I would replace FAI with a day or two on the Kenai (Seward, possibly Homer) as well as two days or more at Denali