Caravan's and Tour Groups

An example tour Two Person / RV $8595 59 days includes camp site. our planned trip 140 days $10-12 Thousand includes sites and fuel. Our trip Austin TX, Yellowstone, Glacier, Banff, Jasper, Fairbanks, Anchorage, BC, WA, OR, SF, UT, Grand Canyon, home. Fuel alone $6000 +. These are estimates but fairly accurate as we have done a lot of research and planning. As you can see the tour doesn't give you much bang for the buck. We are traveling with some great friends so we aren't alone.

DutchmenSport wrote:
The one's I've seen are way too expensive. For the cost of a single caravan planned trip, I can do the route 4 times by myself. The few times we've camped with friends, or traveled together, we really did not like it.

Agreed, haven't ever seen the value added. Way to expensive for what you get. We are however going with some great friends.

FWIW, we're going through the same deliberation process. DW wants to go with a caravan for the "security"; I'd be fine going solo. If we do the caravan route, though, we'd probably go with the Adventure Caravans 59-day tour: http://adventurecaravans.com/tour/alaska-the-canadian-rockies/. They offer a fair amount of flexibility on the daily schedules, allow one to join or bail out of the trip at any time (with corresponding adjustments in the price), and have said I can change the duration of the stops to meet our interests (e.g., I think I'd like to spend less time in Fairbanks, get to Denali ahead of the group, and wait for them to join us later). When I roughed out a solo Alaska trip and compared it to the Adventure Caravans version, the two were almost identical.

I'm sure you've seen it, but Joe & Vicki Kieva have a book on RV'ing in Alaska, and the chapter on "Solo or Caravan" is available online: http://rvknowhow.blogspot.com/2011/01/alaska-solo-or-caravan.html.

We haven't made a decision yet--we're going to talk to the Adventure Caravans people at the FMCA rally in Perry in March. I'll be smarter in a couple months.

Keep us posted on what you decide.

sue.t wrote:
If you're experienced RVers, you likely won't have any extra worries travelling here in the North.

There's nothing too foreboding up here. And us locals don't hesitate to stop and help out if there's a problem.

The locals are great! In August 2013, we had two flat rear truck tires at the same time on the Top-of-the-World Highway. It happened shortly after crossing a rough-graded portion (jagged rock being graded by a D-8) on the Alaska end of the road. I had a small 12v compressor, but didn't need it for those two tires due to a wonderful lowboy truck driver who stopped when he saw our flats. He put 5 plugs in one tire and one in the other and pumped up both tires with the compressor on his rig. He did in 15 minutes what would likely have taken me an hour or more to do with my smaller plug tool, skinny plugs, and tiny compressor.

So, even on a relatively lightly traveled road--compared to the Alaska or Cassiar highways--help was nearly instantaneous. And, for us, the months during a LONG winter spent planning the trip were nearly as much fun as the trip itself. It may have helped that I had worked in Alaska many times, beginning in 1972. But neither of us had ever been to northern BC or the Yukon, so that made the planning all the more interesting. And, despite having been in Alaska so many times before and a few problems like the flat tires, our 2013 RV summer in the Pacific NW, Canada, and Alaska was still our dream "trip-of-a-lifetime."

I suggest getting familiar with the options of where you want to go, but leave the when flexible.

That way you can adapt for weather conditions or a temporary road closure without getting too stressed. For instance, when we get to Tok AK, I check the weather in Valdez. If it is a sunny forecast that is the direction we head first. Valdez in the rain isn't all that pleasant, yet in the sun it is lovely.

On occasion the Taylor Highway closes due to washouts. A few summers ago it was closed for a couple of months while repairs took place. Taylor/Top of the World aren't the most pleasant to drive when wet, so try to choose the better weather for it. We like it in September; generally drier and spectacular fall colours.

While you're up here, check the road reports now and then, or ask at the Tourist Info Centres. And adjust to suit. There usually aren't detours if something does go wrong and a road closes.

I'm not trying to scare you ... just want you to be aware of possibilities.

Thanks everyone. We're perfectly comfortable by ourselves. Longest we've gone is 6 weeks, so double that is not a problem. We always give each other a day off every few weeks to spend some "alone time" away from each other.
I'm all for solo but the better half just thought it might be fun to travel with a group. I realy think, in the long run, she'd rather go solo also. We travel with two dogs, and like to take our time, stopping when we feel like it. Obviously, with a group ya can't do that. Don't really like being tied to what "the group" has to do.
Now it's just a matter of planning when n where we're gonna go.
Grumpy

Ken & Barbie wrote:
We've done it both ways - solo and with a group.

The first trip to AK was with a caravan - www.alaskarvtours.com - we met some great people from across the US and have been getting together every year since 2004.

The second and third trips were on our own, having been with Spike on the initial trip gave us the confidence we needed.

But either way go and enjoy.

X2

A question I would ask - are you comfortable making a 2 to 4 month long trip on your own.

Most of the people on this forum do that without a worry. Some folks don't - but you won't hear from them on these forums.

Everyone I've met who took a caravan mentioned the schedule is a bit hectic. There was something else they wanted to see, someplace they wanted to go - that didn't fit.

They have also mentioned it was a good way for the first trip.

One company - Adventure Treks - offers one way tours - to Anchorage with a tour group and back on your own. Adventure Treks

We've done it both ways - solo and with a group.

The first trip to AK was with a caravan - www.alaskarvtours.com - we met some great people from across the US and have been getting together every year since 2004.

The second and third trips were on our own, having been with Spike on the initial trip gave us the confidence we needed.

But either way go and enjoy.

I think that if you have problems (health, mechanical, etc), Most of the caravans will leave you at that point. You are "on your own" and may be able to catch up with them when the problem is fixed.
We have made the trip to Alaska three times, always by ourselves, and have experienced no problems whatsoever. We met many other couples on the trip and have had many great adventures while on these trips. I don't think that the caravans would have allowed us to stay at one spot for as long as we wanted.
Remember, you aren't the only ones making the trip. There are many others that are also out there by themselves, looking for new friends.
Good Luck
Journey Indiana

Why does she want to go with a group? Security? No problem there. People slow down to check on you especially if you have stopped at an unusual spot.

It is not like going to the backside of the moon even if you are way out of cellphone range. People went to Alaska before cellphones.