Given the criteria, if you want to head to Alaska, based only on my experience, it would work to
- fly in to Anchorage and drive towards Glennallen on the Glenn highway: I've seen quite a bit of aurora activity from the Eureka area; or
- fly in to Anchorage and drive to Fairbanks on the Parks highway; the Cantwell/Healy/Glitter Gulch area has also had some good aurora viewing in December;
- Fly to Fairbanks and go from there: Chena Hot Springs, Clear, etc are all near to Fairbanks and offer some reasonable infrastructure (B&B's, on the road system, etc) while being removed from most of the light pollution of Fairbanks.
I would think that Anchorage - Glenallen - Delta - Fairbanks would be the better driving route if you wanted to take a day or two on the way to Fairbanks to try and catch the aurora. If you're just driving directly to Fairbanks, the Parks is the faster route.
Whether in and around Fairbanks or a driving trip from Anchorage to Fairbanks, if it's in December, you'll be experiencing some winter. Best to be prepared. I drove to Valdez two winters ago and thought I would spend the night in Glenallen.....when it was -35 at 3:00 in the afternoon, I figured I'd just keep rolling to Valdez. It was -5 at Valdez, but that just felt a lot warmer.
