This post of mine has been rusting in the drafts folder and I thought that I should really post this before I forget the details of the trip.

I took a trip to Alaska in July 2007 and it was an awesome experience ! I liked that place a lot ! It is very different than the other places that I have been to. I loved the 20+ hours of daylight – no wonder it is called the “Land of the Midnight Sun”. I felt the place was very raw – It is left untouched for the most part, and that made me feel a little uncomfortable in the beginning because I was not used to it, but I quite started to like the place after the while – the rustic feeling is something that everyone should experience !

This post is how I went about doing my trip – it wasn’t perfect and I will give you tips on how to plan and do things better. Once again (like from my Maui post) – this is all based on what I did, what I feel I should have done and what majority of the people do !

WHEN TO GO

I went there in the beginning of July, and I liked the weather there. Temperatures ranged from 55 to 70F. There was always a lot of cloud cover, but there were also days when the sun was shining out of those clouds ! It did rain one day out of the 5 that I was there – but then like an Alaskan told me – whenever he has flown back to Alaska in July (summer) he has always had a bumpy flight !! I believe that the weather of the Earth is actually influenced by the winds, clouds etc. at the Poles – so it all starts here !

I do believe though that July-August is probably the best time of the year to visit Alaska, though I would love to go there later in the year just for the Aurora Borealis !

HOW MANY DAYS TO GO FOR

This is a tough question. There is a LOT to do in Alaska, the places are far away and they require a lot of driving most of the times. Depending on how many places you want to visit and how many activities you want to do, you might want to plan a trip of about 5-10 days. The more days you can spend, the better. I personally felt that the 5 days I had weren’t enough to do the things I wanted to do.

GETTING THERE

I took a flight from San Jose. There are direct flights from San Jose and San Francisco. Most of the flights have a stop at Seattle, though you may find some direct flight but that is very rare. I flew Alaskan Air and they were ok. There are flights mostly to major cities like Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau etc. I flew in to Anchorage as that is one of the central places. The city to fly to will decide where you can go and what you want to do.

Juneau is the southern part of Alaska – this is one of the famous places where a cruise ship will stop for some activities. There are lots of places here to see, however, this is not the part of Alaska that I went to and hence I will not be talking much about this part of Alaska.

Fairbanks is in the Northern part of Alaska. You can fly in here and do a lot of things. If you are going in winter (you have to be crazy enough to do so) then fly in to Fairbanks and watch the Aurora Borealis – It is an awesome experience and I would love to see it someday ! You can drive down to Denali National Park from here and also Yukon Charley Rivers National Park.

Anchorage is in the central part of Alaska and I feel that it is the best place to land and start going to places from. This is where I flew in to and was the hub of my entire trip.

WHERE TO GO AND WHAT TO DO

Anchorage:

Anchorage is the largest city of Alaska and has 2/5th of the population of Alaska ! Anchorage is located in south-central Alaska. What I like about this place is that it is central to a lot of good places. Anchorage itself isn’t as big as other cities and there isn’t much to do here. I landed here, stayed the night and took off to Denali National Park the next day.

There are a lot of good hotels in Anchorage. I stayed at 2 different hotels while I was there – The hotel Captain Cook and The Sheraton. I liked both the hotels, though I preferred the Captain Cook Hotel just a little bit more as the rooms are better.

When I did get back from Denali – I spent a day here just walking around 4th, 5th, 6th Avenue and some of the cross streets, visiting the numerous gift shops. I went to many gift shops that were run by the locals there and spent time talking to them – asking them how life was in Winter and got some really nice insights. Apparently the sun rises at around 10:00 a.m. or later and sets by 4:00 p.m. Pretty tough ha? Not many people live in Anchorage in winter. The gift shops have amazing things and I would recommend you go there and talk to the shopkeepers about the artifacts – some of them love to do that ;) The shops contain stuff from local artist that are amazing – not within our reach but amazing ! This one shopkeeper showed us amazing carved mammoth tusks done by an artist in Juneau and that was unbelievable ! The same artist had also done some carvings on Doll Sheep horns and whale teeth !! – That blew my mind !

There are a few museums that you can go to in Anchorage. One of the recommended museums is the Alaska Museum of Natural History. I did not have enough time to go there but if you are interested in museums then look this one up.

One thing I would recommend to do is to get one of the “Anchorage Activities map” from the concierge at your hotel. That will be very helpful.

Denali National Park:

One of the most amazing national parks that I have been to and definitely worth the long drive from Anchorage ! Denali National Park is located 235 miles north of Anchorage. The drive up to Denali is amazing – it is a small 2 highway called Parks Highway and goes through a lot of wilderness. All around you can see the amazing landscape of Alaska. I really enjoyed the drive. This drive can take up to 4 hours since it is not a very big highway and has only 2 lanes for the most part. The speed limit is also not that high. Along the way make sure to stop at the Vista point that will give you this view of the Alaskan Range:

Alaskan Range

There are some good lodges to stay at in Denali. I stayed at the Denali Bluffs Hotel and it was an average hotel. I did not feel as bad since I didn’t spend so much time in the hotel anyways. If you are booking way in advance – 3 months or so, then try to get a room at McKinley Chalet Resort – this is a much better hotel but reservations are difficult to get. I have heard a lot about the Grand Denali Lodge as well, but have only seen it from far – its atop a hill and looked pretty good. The good thing about these hotels are that they are all very close to the park.

You cannot drive your own car into the main park, so you need to take a bus tour of the park. There are shuttles from these various hotels that take you to the main entrance of the park. When you check in to the hotels – tell the concierge that you need such a service. If you want you can also book the tickets for the bus tour through the hotel – that way you don’t need to pick up your tickets from another place.

If you are going to Denali – I would recommend spending at least 2 nights there. There are a lot of things you can do around here and you should do them.

There is an 8-hour and a 12-hour bus tour that takes you into the heart of Denali National Park. We went for the 8-hour bus tour. The 8-hour bus tour is called the “Tundra Wilderness Tour”. You can make reservations here. This tour is really nice – it takes you into Denali and shows you a lot of wildnerness, animals and are well equipped with good video cameras to show you the action that might be happening in the distance. The drivers are very good and they keep talking about the park in general – its animal life, what is tundra etc. etc. They also talk about how life is in Alaska, giving you tid-bits of here and there and the various stories that happened in Denali. We saw a lot of animals – Dall Sheep are the most common. We also saw Grizzly Bears and Moose – which was very exciting !

TIP from my wife: Take a pair of good binoculars to this place – you will enjoy seeing the animals through them !

There are a lot more activities you can do in Denali – which we didnt do. Like I said – this trip was not planned perfect to the ‘t’. You can take a flight around Mt. McKinley which is really pretty. You can also land on a glacier called McKinley Glacier, though this is an expensive affair. There is Denali Dinner Theatre that is supposed to be good, however we missed this because we did the afternoon trip into the park and came back very late – at 11:00 at night, though night is relative there. There was plenty of light there and a Subway that is open till midnight ;)

There are ATV trips, Jeep trips and even some rafting on the Nenana river.

Seward and Kenai Fjords National Park:

After I came back from Denali, I spent an afternoon in Anchorage and then took off for Seward. The drive to Seward is Amazing. The Road is along the coast for a long time and even though there are only 2 lanes for the most part, I enjoyed the drive. There is a rail road also from Anchorage to Seward and if you want, you can take that too but if pressed for time (like we were) then you can drive. The other thing is that the train goes to Seward in the morning and comes back in the evening so check for availability, make bookings in advance if you plan to take the train.

Do stop along the way and enjoy the scenic view if you are driving. Here is a picture of that drive

Seward is a small town by the sea where fishing is the major occupation. Many cruises choose Seward as the end point of their cruise. There are a few hotels in Seward, though I would recommend the Holiday Inn at Seward, as it is close to all the shops and everything else that is interesting there. This hotel sits right on the harbor and has a decent view of the place.

Walk around the downtown area (walkable distance from Holiday Inn) and do visit the shops there. They have some interesting stuff, like this stuffed Dall Sheep. There is a stuffed Grizzly Bear as well in one of the stores. There are some Totem Poles around here too – not the real ones but the “touristy” – yes thats a new word I am introducing – ones ! Its interesting to see how each totem pole really has its own story to tell and all are related in some way or other to the balance of nature in Alaska.

You can cover the entire downtown in about 2 hours or so – even if you visit each and every shop !

N ow – why would you want to go to a small town like Seward that likes at the base of a mountain and the sea? Well, Seward is a harbour in the Kenai Peninsula giving you access to the Kenai Fjords National Park. This park is very nice and worth visiting. You will see Glaciers, whales, dolphins various birds and mammals. We even saw an amazing Bald eagle nesting there !

The Kenai Fjords National Park tour is a 6-hour cruise that leaves Seward and takes you around and shows you the various glaciers and animal life. The best part of this tour is when it takes you close to the North-Western Glacier where you are close to the glacier and see parts of the glacier melting away. I would suggest that you take the morning tour for this. It is amazing !! The person who commandeers the boat is an old-timer and has been doing this tour since the 1970s !! He knows his ways around and tells you a lot – talk to him and you will enjoy. I personally like him a lot ’cause he did one thing that made me really happy !! He rotated the boat 360 degrees so that people would get a panorama – I don’t know about others but I surely did !! I’ll leave the – “why he does that” question to be answered by him when you go there !!

Here is a panorama of the North Western Glacier that I took while on the tour :

There is another very good place to go to in Seward – Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier is a glacier that you can reach by taking an exit (3.7 miles before Seward) just off the highway on the way to Seward. You need to walk a little (half a mile or so) to reach the Glacier but you can actually walk up to the Glacier !! Its a shame that I did not have enough time to go there, but keep time and do go there – it is really a site to see ! If you are into hiking and want to do a day hike then there is a trail called the “The Harding Icefield Trail”. It is a 7 mile trail that winds up the north edge of Exit Glacier, offering spectacular views of the glacier and surrounding mountains along the way.

TIP: Take warm clothes for the cruise. It gets very cold and windy when you are reaching the glacier. A down is ideal for this cruise. Take sunglasses and something to cover your ear and head.

Whittier:

Whittier is is a small hamlet nestled among the mountains. It is the smallest town I have ever seen in my whole life. It takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to the other ! Getting to Whittier is interesting as well. To get to Whittier from Anchorage you take the same coastal highway that you take for Seward and branch off at a certain point. There is a one-way tunnel into Seward with certain timings for which way it opens up. If you miss one, don’t worry as it opens up every half an hour – not that bad. The tunnel cuts through a big mountain and it is amazing. There is a toll to go through this tunnel.

Whittier doesn’t have much to see. It is a port and mainly industrial – you will not see another place like this. It is very nice. If you do have time then I would suggest another cruise that leaves from Whittier to Prince William Sound. The cruise is called the Wilderness Explorere Cruise run by Alaska Native-owned Prince William Sound Glacier Cruises . The 110-mile Wilderness Explorer Cruise (6 hours) visits a lot of glaciers and wildlife, including bald eagles and black bears. The tour shows you Surprise glacier which is supposed to be very majestic.

TIP: Take warm clothes for the cruise. It gets very cold and windy when you are reaching the glacier. A down is ideal for this cruise. Take sunglasses and something to cover your ear and head.

Girdwood:

Girdwood is 40 miles south of Anchorage and you need to take the same coastal highway. Mt. Alyeska in Girdwood used to be a gold-mining facility but now is converted to a very nice resort called Alyeska Resort. This resort has an aeriel tramway that takes you to the top of Mt. Alyeska from where you get an excellent view. This is also a ski resort, so if you are going in winter then this is probably the closest ski resort to Anchorage. The cable cars run in summer as well. You can go up to the mountain and have a nice meal and come back. They have 1-2 restaurants there. If you are more adventurous and have the time/money then you can also do para-gliding in this resort. You and an instructor will go paragliding together from the top of Alyeska’s Areial Tramway.

Here is an HDR panorama atop Mt. Alyeska

WHERE TO EAT

Anchorage:

  • Seafood is the most famous option in Anchorage, however, if you don’t like that are are a vegetarian like me then there are couple of Thai restaurants in Anchorage that are really good. One the restaurants that I really like is Thai Kitchen.

Denali:

  • Salmon Bake :You get really good salmon here as you can tell ;)
  • Subway : open till midnight (when all else fails)

Seward:

  • Peking : A Chinese restaurant whose owner lives in Seward 365 days a year ! Apparently the Kung-Pao Halibut is supposed to be a star of that place
  • Apollo Restaurant : Greek/Italian cuisine

WHAT GIFTS TO BUY

  • T-shirts with Alaskan art / print: Alaskan art is detailed and very pretty. You will see whales, polar bears, salmon and other animals in the art but with a lot of detail inside them. These look really good on a t-shirt or even on blankets, throws, scarves etc.
  • Ulu: Ulu is a local carving knife which was used by the Eskimos(and other Alaskan) to carve meat. The Ulu has become a “touristy” gift. Ulus have exquisitely hand carved handles and can be very expensive. You do get some Ulus that are made in Alaska and not too expensive and you should buy these. You do get Ulus made in China but I am not too fond of them ;) . There is an Ulu factory in Anchorage as well.
  • Totem Poles: Like Ulus you will also get totem poles and they look very nice. You get the “Made in China” ones but don’t look good. Spend a little money (if you really want one) and buy a totem pole that is actually made in Alaska – It comes with the story about the totem pole and is very nice
  • Small polar bears and other animals native to alaska that are carved out of Jade or marble – These look really nice and are carved well. Most of these are made in Alaska

WHERE TO BUY GIFTS FROM

  • Anchorage downtown
  • Girdwood
    • On the way to Girdwood there is a store where an old person makes candles. These candles are seen in gift stores all over but I would recommend going straight to the source. This person is very kind and you can talk to him also about Alaska and other things

CRUISES TO ALASKA

Every time I tell someone that I have been to Alaska, I get the same question – “Which cruise did you go on?”. Arrgh !! I did NOT go on a cruise to Alaska, however, I do know of several people who did and did enjoy their trip, and thats probably why this section is here. Well – maybe I won’t mind going on a cruise to Alaska !

There are several cruises to Alaska and most of them leave from Seattle. Some of the companies that have cruises to Alaska :

  • Princess Cruises : My friend and her family went on this one and they were lucky to have an Indian chef who cooked according to their requests – they were a big group. She did like the other features of the cruise though
  • Royal Caribbean
  • Holland America

OTHER RESOURCES