Must Buy: Book Milepost by Kris Valencia And Alaska Tour saver book which has 2-for-1 coupons for hotel stays, adventures, cruises and places to visit coupons like museums, zoos, sea life center etc.
Day 1:
- Land in Anchorage,
- stay at Best Western golden lion hotel and
- eat dinner at Moses tooth pizza (great variety of awesomest pizza's open till 11pm)
Day 2:
- Leave after an early morning breakfast via train to Denali (booking at alaskarailroad.com) or rent car or RV Stopover in town of Talkeetna for lunch at Denali Brewing company, wildflower cafe, or West Rib pub and grill (all are no less than the best, all the food there was super delicious and gourmet and prices)
- Take a flightseeing tour of Mt. McKinley glacier landing if the weather permits. Have some freshly brewed coffee from several decorated cute little mom and pop shops there and head out towards Denali.
- Arrive by 9-10PM to either Grand Denali Lodge(got a one night free stay discount coupon - awesome place and view) or Princess Lodge (book early otherwise princess lodge is usually full). Eat dinner at hotel or grab something on your way to Denali because places close by 10-11 though its still very bright.
- At dinner, preorder next day lunch, if you plan to do Denali bus tour, because you have to carry your own lunch, there are no places to eat inside the national park except at entrance.
Day 3:
- Book a 6am Denali tour (http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/bus-fees-reservations.htm) for Eilson center or wonderlake. Plan to take the earliest bus trip so you can be in time for a rangers hike at Eielson center(awesome step hike with great experience) and go to wonder lake on any bus after the hike. You need not be on same bus for the whole day. Get down hike a bit, get onto another bus. Just keep in mind the return time of last few buses. There is only one road, and you can see miles from one spot, so no chances of getting lost in Denali.
- Get up really early and catch the grant hotel buffet breakfast, best for all day trip. Pick up the pre-ordered lunch. Since we din't know about this we just ordered fruits, muffins and cold sandwiches from the bar.
- Enjoy the breathtaking morning view of Denali and the whole day bus tour and hike. If you are lucky you might get to see Mt mckinley.
- Bus returns by 6PM. Have dinner on one of the various restaurants outside the park. One we tried was a Thai to go from the Thai Chinese trailer (find it on tripadvisor) which served insanely tasty and hot Thai food much needed for the cold Denali weather. Or Prospectors pizza or salmon bake restaurant or the good old subway if you are craving sub. Head back to hotel and enjoy some views atop, spend time in bar before you hit the bed.
Day 4:
- Plan another hike in Denali, do the sledge dog tour (http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/sled-dog-demonstrations.htm), or some adventure like rafting, fishing, ATV, biking etc. By evening head out back to Anchorage.
- Lunch at one of the restaurants mentioned above and don't forget to indulge yourself in some great ice cream in cold weather!
- Reach Anchorage by 10PM and try some other late night restaurant or Moose's tooth.
Day 5:
- After a heavy breakfast and togo sandwich. Head out to another beautiful terrain of the land accesible glacier Matanuska glacier and do a glacier hike or the strenuous but most adventurous glacier climb.
- Head back to Anchorage and have dinner anywhere in city. We treated ourselves to an awesome India restaurant Bombay Deluxe for some amazing comfort food after a day of hard work :P.
- Visit any local artist fair that might be going on in the city and check out the local artifacts and enjoy the Atabaskan culture.
Day 6:
- Head out to the most beautiful highway in Alaska, the road from Anchorage to Seward. Check out Alyeska resort skylift and Alyeska town, the animal conservatory and whittier and other glaciers and turnagain arm along the way. Book "Milepost by Kris Valencia" conservatory gives a great milepost by milepost information on what to check out on the way. It is the bible for Alaska travel.
- Check in at Hotel Seward. If time permits take bus trip to exit glacier. If not check out the quaint town and have a filling dinner.
Day 7:
- Take a light breakfast with some sea sickness pills ( a must) and head out to Major Marine 8 hours Kenai Fjords day cruise from Seward or whittier. Enjoy the sea and the largest glaciers and glacier carving up close with hearty lunch and coffee and desserts!! Back by 5pm, if time permits check out the sealife center or do some shopping.
Day 8:
- Get up early, After a breakfast check out, go to exit glacier and do the most beautiful glacier 8 mile hike or take a bus tour.
- And by afternoon head out to Anchorage for a late night flight back home. If you are early in Anchorage check out one of the several museums or zoo or just hike around in some park.
Don't miss: Glacier climb of matanuska glacier
Exit glacier hike of 8 miles most amazing view at top
Major marine cruise
Grand Denali tour and hike
Land and one-day cruise (self-planned itinerary in excel to download)
Alaska Itenary 1 -Anc-Denali-Anc-Seward-Anc (itenary in excel with lodging boarding and places to eat etc)
Alaska Itenary 2 with GlacierBay
Cruise only (tour company)
www.royalcaribbean.com
www.princess.com
Cruise and Land -TourCruises
Holland America (also has cruises leaving from SFO, Seattle and back)
www.royalcaribbean.com
www.princess.com
Excellent Information. Very useful. Thanks a ton!!!
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