Planning Alaska Trip

[1oldtruck]

I would like to make a trip to Alaska with the family before the kids are too old to go with us. How much time is reasonable to spend in Alaska? Two weeks?

Keep in mind this would have to be done on vacation time from work. Travel time from Florida would also have to be taken into consideration. I am thinking a minimum of a month for the trip.

Has anyone out there done this?

I have considered flying the family out and driving the truck and camper to push the trip through the U.S. This would save time on the trip out and back. We could travel the lower 48 later on.

Thoughts or suggestions?

[fanrgs]

I personally would not recommend taking a rental RV on the Denali Highway and it may be restricted from the Chitina-McCarthy road. Probably the only AMHS ferry that you will have time for on a trip that short would be the Whittier-Valdez route. But that ferry would save you a day or more of driving time, so may well be worth it on your schedule.

If you really want to add Glacier Bay, Skagway, or Juneau to your limited schedule, you can fly Alaska Airlines from Anchorage to Juneau and take the AMHS ferry to Skagway or a small boat tour to Glacier Bay. We did that on one trip to Alaska and also added an overnight ferry trip from Skagway to Sitka.

I agree with others that the southern Anchorage-Seward-Kenai-Homer loop and the northern Anchorage-Denali NP-Fairbanks-Delta Junction-Valdez loop are about all you will have time for if you are flying up and renting an RV for a month. But that will give you an overview of the most populous part of the state and you can plan another, future trip to visit the Alaska Panhandle, Kodiak, Haines, Whitehorse, Dawson, etc.

After all, does anyone ever go to Alaska just once?

[AKsilvereagle]

In my opinion, the only way to see portions of Alaska upon time constraints is to fly to Anchorage and rent an RV, period...

As noted, Anchorage is the largest city and has the most resources for RV rentals and everything else barnone...

Also, Anchorage is centrally located close enough to the more scenic places accessible by road such as the Kenai Peninsula area and many other places in the Susitna or Matanuska Valleys...

Also in my opinion weighing the options between renting an RV versus renting a car and staying in lodging rooms is like comparing apples and oranges that are no comparison :

Renting an RV gives you that unlimited flexibility in which you have lodging on wheels 24 hours a day and not a worry in the world of where exactly you have to be present at in order to spend a night under shelter...

As comparing to renting a car and relying on lodging rooms during the summer months means reservations are highly recommended for most places which translates to pretty much you have to plan on being present at that specific location on that specific day and so forth as you are now stuck on a schedule (you cannot always count on vacancy in some parts as if you do happen to find something available with no reservations, prepare to pay a lot more money like my brother in law did by changing plans he thought he could get around when I advised against it but then did it anyway as it cost an extra day and hurting the wallet even more)...For a first time Alaska visitor not knowing the areas, underestimating the greater vast distances between towns (thinking mentality of the same 400 mile distance in Alaska are like interstate road travel), while facing the potential road construction delays, plus dealing with the when not to travel on the roads when the sun is staring at you in the face while you travel, and any other possible potential delays or potential hazards that could happen in between you would end up losing more time when you are on a schedule versus the flexibility you have in an RV as you can spend the night in comfort wherever you are at with no reservations to worry about.

Once someone has visited Alaska for the first time, they would have a much better idea planning upon a day by day agenda when renting a car and making lodging reservations if that is the desire - which I would be ok with provided a person stays in a same proximity area over a length of time to explore, or knowing for sure other places you plan on being on the exact days specified (like I had carefully planned in great detail on my 1994 Southeast Alaska vacation with lodging and ferry reservations before I obtained my first RV in 1996).

These two options between renting an RV or renting a car with lodging aren't going to be a whole lot of savings between the two should you find any deal, as the advantage of having the flexibility in an RV would be worth the extra few bucks anyway (if so happens to be) in my opinion...

I don't know about now but in the past the packaged airfare bus transport and lodging tours were the more economical way to go, however you have no control and are subjected to their tight schedule to tag along upon when to wake up and board the bus, when to eat, where to eat, when the bus departs, where the bus only stops at upon specific locations to sightsee or stretchbreak reststops, for how long it stops before back on the road, etc (as sitting in a nice charter bus you do get to see either the left or right roadside view unless you got the very front seat near the bus driver)....the good thing was you didn't have to worry about driving around or making lodging reservations as it was all taken care of, however should their own schedule go wrong or a mishap occurs such as a road closure or breakdown or what have ya, they have a plan B that might work or might not work that could inconvienience the customer.

As also noted, whether in an RV or a car rental there are certain contract restrictions that do apply for remote or unpaved surfaced roads that are prohibited to drive on and worth checking into should you plan on driving the main four routes of the Dalton Highway, McCarthy Road, Denali Highway, or Taylor Highway if permitted upon the form of transportation used.

[Tee_Jay]

If you rent an RV, check for their restrictions on unpaved roads and the penalties. Some companies specifically prohibit travel on certain roads.

[DesertHawk]

1oldtruck wrote:
Flying out and renting an RV looks good. Cost of renting the RV is $2800 or roughly the cost of fuel to drive to AK. Early bird rental is saving quite a bit of money.

Where would you recommend flying to? Assuming I fly out of Tampa where would be the nearest large airport? Any recommended carriers for this trip?

Anchorage would have more choices in rental places I would believe. Should be less expensive to fly to Anchorage as well.

When my son's in-laws rented one it was in Anchorage. Sleeping supplies (sleeping bags or sheets & blankets) come with an extra cost, if you can bring your own, might same some $....cooking supplies ??? maybe also.

Rent in Anchorage, tour the Kenai Peninsula (kind of South), perhaps check out Whittier (also south), take a jaunt up to Denali (north), maybe continue to Fairbanks & check out the Alaska Pipeline up to the Dalton Hwy (much more north). If in Fairbanks, drive to Delta Junction (east), then to Valdez (south). Valdez back up to Glennallen A-1 to Palmer (west), then back to Anchorage.

Might want to take a detour between Glennallen & Valdez A-10 to Chitina.

If wanting to skip Fairbanks area, take the Denali Hwy A-8 to Paxson & on to A-4 the Valdez Hwy, then South to Valdez & Chitina & Gleenallen & A-10 back to Palmer & Anchorage. Much of the Denali Hwy is gravel, not paved, however.

The Hwy to the start of the Dalton Hwy is paved, the Dalton is not.

As for Airlines, we have used Alaska Air in our flights & have one reserved to go in July now. My son & his family flew down to Orange County (near Los Angles) in March. Seems they used Delta. Back up as well. United seems to have flights between Anchorage & Orlando. American Airlines have flights from Tampa to Anchorage.

Seems the Salmon do a run around the 10th of July (give or take) down in the Kenai Peninsula.

Just saw this a while ago: Homer Road Construction.

Since we will be staying a lot of time with our Alaska Family, I have also been checking on prices for renting a car & staying in hotel, cabins & B&Bs. Without RV

Not sure which world be easiest on the old budget, cost of rent an RV (fuel & bedding) or rent a car & finding lodging & fuel). Might be about even.

Our daughter-in-law's mom & dad rented an RV. She provided the bedding & cooking supplies for them.

Never have, but have thought of trying the inside passage route on a Alaska Ferry from The Alaska Marine Highway System.

With a small car perhaps or maybe just walk on. If Fly to Seattle, do a walk on; Fly back home.

[joe_b_]

I suspect that Orlando has as many flights as any in Florida, from folks flying in to visit the Mouse.

Alaska Airlines did have a few flights out of Florida but some were on a seasonal basis. I have to promote Alaska Airlines, since my cousin drives one of the kerosene queens for them, normally on the Seattle to Anchorage/Fairbnks run or to Mexio and back to Seattle.

[PA12DRVR]

I would second the "fly & rent" option. I would assume that Tampa has as good a connection as any city in Florida? Otherwise, maybe JAX?

Going into Alaska, Anchorage is your arrival airport.

I'd like to recommend Continental, but they ain't around anymore. The substitute, United, leaves a bit to be desired but may be the best option. From FL, you may be able to get a good deal on Delta flights.

[1oldtruck]

Flying out and renting an RV looks good. Cost of renting the RV is $2800 or roughly the cost of fuel to drive to AK. Early bird rental is saving quite a bit of money.

Where would you recommend flying to? Assuming I fly out of Tampa where would be the nearest large airport? Any recommended carriers for this trip?

[Dick_B]

Another option is to take a land-sea tour; ours was 10 days. Lots of $$ and we really just scratched the surface of all that Alaska (Seward's Folly) has to offer.

[2gypsies1]

We would also recommend that you fly and rent a Class C out of Alaska because of your distance and time constraints. It would be a much more relaxing trip for all of you. You will also be spending a lot of money from Florida to Alaska on fuel, food, campgrounds so apply that money to the fly/rental and you'll get to spend more time actually seeing Alaska. Definitely, for your first time, there is much to see just on your way in the lower 48, then through Canada and the Yukon but if you don't have the time to stop and explore and putting in long driving days that would be boring to us and I can't imagine the kids would enjoy the long driving days and passing up things along the way.

As mentioned, driving, the trip would cost you $10,000+ from Florida so compare flying and renting.

[Tee_Jay]

Fly to Anchorage and rent an RV. Plan a circle route that takes in Fairbanks, Valdez, Seward and Homer. Consider the ferry between Whittier and Valdez. Two to three weeks would allow time for driving the circle and time to stay and do something in a number of places.

Just fuel to make the trip from FL to AK and return will run in the range of $5,000. An RV rents for around $125/day plus fuel and such.

Check with a cruise line. Take a cruise to or from AK one way, do your own tour of AK or use the cruise line's tour, fly back to FL.

A drive tour would need more in the range of 2 to 3 months, unless you plan to drive 12 hours a day with minimal stops. If you travel 6 to 8 hours a day and cover 350 miles and stop once a week for laundry and such, and don't do any sightseeing enroute, you will need 2 weeks+ each way just to drive.

Best wishes for a good trip.

[sdianel_-acct_c]

I would fly up and rent an RV in Anchorage. Check out Great Alaskan Holidays RV Rental company. http://www.greatalaskanholidays.com/
They are an awesome company with great customer service! Not cheap but if time is a problem, that's what I'd do. We rented the RV for 12 days and took in lots of the cities. Remember it takes 3x as long to get from place to place in Alaska due to the mountains and cities being land locked, as well as the road construction in the summer months.

[joe_b_]

From this part of south Florida, Stuart, it is about 4,500 miles to Fairbanks. So I figure on 10 driving days to get there. South of the Canadian border, I make more miles per day and then slow down a bit once I cross the border.

Not too often do I go straight through but will stop in Whitehorse for a few days etc. So the average trip for us is between 15 and 20 days. Driving solo I have made the trip from Anchorage to Port Lavaca Texas, just out of Houston a ways in 6 days, running about 800 miles a day. Don't recommend it though. I didn't have a choice but to make it there in that time frame.

Once we get to Alaska, we can have a nice tour around the "tourist circle", Tok, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Homer, back to Anchorage, to Valdez and to the border to head south, in a month.

So I roughly figure two weeks of driving each way, then a month in state and can have a good trip. Northern Canada is every bit as spectacular as is Alaska so the entire trip pleasures me greatly. Often we will take one day a week off, to take care of business, do laundry, maintenance on the vehicle, do any shopping, just set around the campfire so to speak.

Now I could compress it to about 6 or 7 weeks and enjoy myself. I have always said I would fly to Alaska just to spend a weekend if I could afford it, which I can't. We are still trying to decide whether to go back this summer or wait till next summer after my wife retires from her job. Then we wouldn't have any time restraints to have to be back home. Some trips she has flown home and I have stayed in the north for another month or so to fish and soak in the northern ambiance, which I do love.

For a month, I would look at a fly and rent program. Fly to Anchorage or Whitehorse, rent a Class C motorhome for a few weeks and then fly home. Many good companies that rent RVs in the north country.

We made several round trips when our daughters were young, both were born in Fairbanks, and they still remember the trips. I am an early riser, 5 AM normally, and like to be on the road by 7 AM if my wife is with me. Solo I will have the wheels rolling by 6 AM. I go to spend my time in the north country, not to sit around campgrounds watching the grass grow. On other trips we will go see the places we spot that we want to spend more time. Often on our trips to Colorado, will find us in North Dakota or Montana or Oregon, etc before we get to Colorado.

I have been running back and forth to Alaska for the last 51 years, and never seem to tire of the trip. My current plan is to make two more trips to/from Alaska to round off my RV totals to 15 round trips. At 13 RV round trips now. Will see how my health holds up.

For general budgeting of time and money, I figure I need at least a month to drive to and from Alaska, then add whatever amount of time I want to spend in Alaska and northern Canada and see if we have that much time available, if not then change the plans. For money I find it costs us a total of about $10,000 per trip for everything. Food expenses we have anyways to the actual trip is about $7,000 above staying home costs.

[sljohnson1938]

1oldtruck wrote:
I would like to make a trip to Alaska with the family before the kids are too old to go with us. How much time is reasonable to spend in Alaska? Two weeks?

Keep in mind this would have to be done on vacation time from work. Travel time from Florida would also have to be taken into consideration. I am thinking a minimum of a month for the trip.

Has anyone out there done this?

I have considered flying the family out and driving the truck and camper to push the trip through the U.S. This would save time on the trip out and back. We could travel the lower 48 later on.

Thoughts or suggestions?

I ran this thru my Trailer Life 'mapping' program.
Since I do not know where in FL you are, I used Ocala as a starting point. Driving from Ocala, FL to Fairbanks, AK via the Alcan hwy, driving 12 hours a day at 65 mph, it showed it would take 13 days round trip. 9400 miles. Of course this does not include any stops for sight seeing, etc. etc.

Costs - fuel at $4.50 per gallon and 20 MPG = $2100 for fuel.

So you might have 2 weeks actually there. That is really pushing it.

[sue_t]

Joe, who now lives in Florida, will provide wise RV-words here, no doubt. He makes the trip to Alaska every couple of years to re-visit his old stomping grounds around Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula.

Joe is an early riser and doesn't mind long days on the road, I guess he's done the trip enough times that sightseeing and tourist attractions aren't the priority! Even so, it takes him 10 or more days to drive from Florida to Alaska, if I recall correctly.