tips needed - Travel to Alaska in May (Anchorage, Fairbanks: house, condo)

[doshi70]

Hello,

I just needed some information for our travel to Alaska. We are planning to travel to Alaska in 1st week of May. I had following questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

First of all, is the season reasonable enough to visit Alaska? It may not be the best.

We would fly to and fro between Anchorage and Seattle.

Help me in planning our itinerary. We could spend at the most 6 days.
Which places should we visit? Must see places? Could you please list them in priority: 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. We LOVE nature.

Should we rent a car or what is the other option? We are 2 of us.

Thank you.

Cheers,
Doshi

[Barkingowl]

What plans have you already made?

[Floyd_Davidson]

Originally Posted by doshi70

Hello,

I just needed some information for our travel to Alaska. We are planning to travel to Alaska in 1st week of May. I had following questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

First of all, is the season reasonable enough to visit Alaska? It may not be the best.

I'd say May is a good time, but perhaps for reasons you might not find significant! :-)

That's right after "break-up" for most of the State. The Interior will already be warm and will be turning green, and that is probably true in Southeastern too. I'm not sure when Anchorage turns green, but western Alaska coastal areas will be rather drab looking because it just doesn't warm up fast enough to turn everything green overnight the way it does in the Interior. And up here in God's country, we might still be catching whales out on the ice, and while it will be "warm", it won't be warm enough to have melted any snow! (Which is to say, May is a great time to visit Barrow!)

One problem, and I'm not able to give you dates, is that many of the tourist attractions might not be open yet. I'm sure others here will be able to say if that is true or not.

Originally Posted by doshi70

We would fly to and fro between Anchorage and Seattle.

Help me in planning our itinerary. We could spend at the most 6 days.
Which places should we visit? Must see places? Could you please list them in priority: 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc. We LOVE nature.

I'll tell you what I think... Get on another plane and visit Alaska!

You can rent a car and drive to Fairbanks, or to the Kenai, or to Valdez, etc. etc..., but you could probably rent a car at home and drive the same distance and see the same number of miles of pavement. Why go to Alaska to look at the part of it that is no different that what you have right there???

Go to Bethel, Barrow, Nome, or Kotzebue. Or if you are really adventurous, figure out a way to spend 6 days in a small village! Try Aniak, McGrath, Point Lay, Kaktovik, Kipnuk, Ruby... some place that isn't anything like home!

If you've got the brass, and if you're willing to tell me that you're sort of "laid back" and enjoy talking to people as much as seeing geography... spend your 6 days in Barrow! I'll personally see to it that you are exposed to more "culture" than you can imagine, meet local folks and see everything in town of significance during your stay. (I do this for someone two/three times a year, but most of them are people who've scheduled 1 or 2 days, which unfortunately makes everything into a big rush. 4-6 days would be real fun.)

Originally Posted by doshi70

Should we rent a car or what is the other option? We are 2 of us.

Thank you.

Cheers,
Doshi

[Glitch]

If the first week of May is when you intend to visit Alaska, then you can forget about fishing for salmon, unless you get a deep sea charter. The salmon don't start returning to Alaskan rivers and streams until late May.

Expect the temperatures to be cool. Mostly in the upper-40°Fs and lower-50°Fs. The roads will be muddy, covered with dirt and gravel from the previous winter. Spring is without a doubt both the ugliest and most welcome of the seasons in Alaska.

If I only had a week in Alaska, and couldn't fish, I would definitely spend one day on a nice leisurely drive down to Whittier Alaska, stopping at various places along the way. Such places as:

• Beluga Point to watch for Eagles and Dall Sheep on the steep cliffs (it will be too soon for the Beluga Whales in Turnagain Arm, they follow the salmon);
• Indian Valley Meats in Indian Valley to sample some Reindeer sausage and smoked salmon;
• The Big Game Animal Park in Portage; and
• Portage Glacier and visitors center.

After getting to Whittier by noon (it is only 60 miles from Anchorage) take the Klondike Express catamaran for a nice 4.5 hour cruise through Prince William Sound. It is faster, and more comfortable than all the other cruise lines in Whittier. Which means that you will get to the glaciers faster, and stay longer, than any other glacier cruise.

Upon returning from the cruise by 5:30 PM, I would drive to Alyeska Princess Lodge in Girdwood and take the tram to the top of Mount Alyeska for fantastic views and a wonderful gormet dinner at the Seven Glacier's restaurant on top of Mount Alyeska. The tram ride to the top of Mount Alyeska is free if you have dinner reservations at the Seven Glacier's restaurant. Sunset will be around 10:00 PM the first week of May.

[Sunset_Va]

Doshi

Good for you getting to go! I am not sure about the seasonal issue, but perhaps you may want to at least look at the option of using the Alaskan Railroad for that period of time. Look at their website:Welcome to the Official Homepage of the Alaska Railroad, they offer this day trip in your span of time, it goes from Anchorage at 8:30 am to Fairbanks 7:30 pm. You may consider this on your last day? It is priced at $139 per person and is quite a scenic trip.

Here is AKRR winter fare and schedule link:
The Alaska Railroad - Fares/Schedules

I just wish you had more than 6 days. There is no way to see many of places so unique to Alaska in those short days , but it can be done I suppose.

My short list of places that are a MUST:
Anchorage -Native Heritage Center/
Denali National Park - Spend 2 Days there ,minimum.
Homer, and Kenai Peninsula- It will take a minimum of 3 days unless you fly from location to location. Thats traveling by rented car.Perhaps some forum members can give better time frame for driving from Anchorage to Homer.
Fairbanks- Historical area, UAF Museum.
Any other places such as Nome,Barrow, if your plans are just to stay in one place a couple of hours ,or half day.

My suggestion would simply be to pick one place that interest you the most...and go there and spend at least 5 of your 6 days there . YOu would be quite surprised to learn how much about Alaska you will see just being one place. If I ever return as a tourist, I want to go to a fishing lodge at Lake Clark and spend 2 weeks minimum just at that one place...

Perhaps you should consider that...but May will be here before you know it. One good thing is you are going in the "shoulder"season.

Hope this has helped a little...keep us posted on your plans and good luck"

Oh, the view of the snow covered mountains coming into Anchorage on your flight is awesome....

[zedzul]

Hello Doshi

My first trip to Alaska was in the middle to late May.

The Cons:

The weather is still a little cool, It was around 50-60 during the day with cold nights. i was camping at the time but was packed for it so I was fine. to me 50-60 was great weather but I know a lot of people would put that in the cold range

allot of the stuff had not opened yet, only a few places for fishing (I don't fish so no biggie for me) and a few roads had not opened yet. The Denali shuttle bus only went about half the way in as they where still clearing the road so no trip to kantishna (sp?) for me

The Pros:

Allot, Allot less people around, the tours I did go on where great and half empty meaning we could spend more time where we wanted and got to actually talk to the instructor

Cheaper Allot of the hotels where still on off season rates meaning instead of $120 -$150 a night it was something like $80-$100

Also if you are there long enough or at the right time watching spring come in is great

Things I would highly recommend:

A glacier tour out of Seward or even just the town of Seward though it will be colder on the coast

Denali - Lots of great hiking, lots of moose, doll sheep. you cant drive in past the 15 mile mark so you should make sure the shuttles are running before you go

[allforcats]

The best informational resource to plan travel -- TripAdvisor.com where real travelers record their real experiences and real opinions about cities, attractions, hotels, restaurants, transportation, etc. for everywhere in the world.
This link will open on the general ALASKA page:
Alaska Tourism - Alaska Vacation Reviews - Alaska Vacations - TripAdvisor

[Dusty Rhodes]

It's hard to disagree with Glitch, rental car is the way to go. We were there in mid May, before the real skeeters came out of hibernation, we heard about the ones the size of condors but never saw any. Hmmmmmm, six days you say?, Hummmmmmm, six days to cover a land mass half the size of the lower 48. Yeah, Seward and the Kenai Fjords tour will drop your jaw, bouncing it off your toes. The Alaska Sealife Center is fun as well, it is also in Seward. While on the Pennisula, slide to the other side, (you have to drive all the way back around because the road does not encircle the tip of the Kenai Pennisula, and visit scenic Homer, walk the spit, if you fish, charter a boat (tis best to go with someone who knows the waters), lets see,.... that's at least three days if you do it right, then, back to Anchorage and take the train as far as a day and a half will get ya, then, turn around and come back. Actually several months are not enough time, the area is huge. It may be best to do as Glitch suggests, he's a local and knows the area well, wow, the same can be said for most of the locals who post here regularly, some, I suspect, just like yankin' chains.

[johnrex62]

I have done the rental car tourist routine a couple times now, but always in June to catch the summer solstice celebrations.

Great drives along the Turnigan. Not sure what they look like in May, but loved the trip up Flattop and toward Eagle River to the public trails there. Whittier is great, so is Seward. I never miss Denali, even if you only go halfway it is a great trip. Even better if you take some time to hike around instead of just sitting on the bus. Head toward Fairbanks to North Pole Alaska for a great christmas experience year round.

I skipped Fairbanks my last trip in favor of a drive to Homer and enjoyed the spit a great deal. The overlook just outside of Homer is fantastic.

We have a lot of Alaskan dwellers who are regulars here at CD and if you plan far enough in advance, you can probabaly get a lot of "extra" experiences along the way as they show you their slice of Alaska as you go through their neighborhood. That bit of local life will make a hugh difference in your experience.

[warptman]

Santa's House in Northpole


Some pullout on the Richardson Highway


The pipeline on the Richardson.


Turnagain Arm area.


Driving north from Seward


Heading to Seward


leaving Denali


Denali Park


Moose in Anchorage


Anchorage International


Turnagain Pass


Saint Elias National Park outside of Glennallen