where is the most beautiful place to summer in alaska? (Fairbanks: hotel, cities)

[iamhadley]

Whar about haines or cordova any thoughts?

[stiffnecked]

Haines is nice, it's road accessible and a very small town feeling.

[seastar311]

Haines is stunning! Also has a good health food store, and the SEAK State Fair.

[karibear]

Originally Posted by iamhadley

We want to spend august 09 in alaska with our three kids. We are interested in renting a house or cabin. Can anyone give us their opinion on where the most beautiful town or place would be. We would like a small town with a store and some ammenities. We would like our children to experience something different from Las Vegas. My husband loves to fish! I love to can food and sew. We would like to get back to nature. We kind of have our hearts set on a mountain town. The ones where the mountains meet the lakes and waters. Thanx in advance.

There isn't any part of Alaska that isn't beautiful. Another option might be to rent an RV for the month and just drive around on the road system, and look at as much as you can. Then, if you find a place that you do like best, you'll have your own place to stay. There are some places around Anch/MatSu that rent/lease RVs, but the reservations fill up pretty fast, so you'd need to make arrangements asap.

[akbound08]

Valdez is beutiful, i just moved here 2 weeks ago, surrounded by mountains. it rains a lot but the fishing and mountain view are totaly worth it.

[starlite9]

Well did you make it up here in August and if so, where did you end up at?

[iamhadley]

We are planning for Aug 09.....Keep the good info coming!

[rotorhead]

Yeah, Haines doesn't suck.

Here's the view out one of my bedroom windows


And here's a shot of the old fort as seen from Portage Cove on the ferry


And here's the Chilkoot river, looking back from the lake, about ten miles out of town


We do get these in town from time to time, about twice a week in the summer. I wouldn't say that it gets crowded, but you find yourself cooking at home on cruise ship days. The population in town about doubles when a big one docks. On the other hand, there's rafting trips, glacier tours, and other adventure-type excursions that'd be pretty thin on the ground if not for the criuseshippers.


There IS a lot to be said for the RV/motorhome approach, provided you can stand being that close with the kiddos for that long. There's a lot to be seen by road, even though the road doesn't reach to most of the really interesting part of Alaska. There's four or five RV places in and around Haines, as well. One thing to consider is that it rains a lot in Alaska, even in the summer, and especially in SE. If either you or the kiddos can't be pried outside when it gets damp, that's really gonna limit your activities.

[Woof]

Haines looks stunning .... but are there stunning vistas in a drier part of Alaska that one could drive a van to from Seattle, without using a ferry?

[starlite9]

Originally Posted by iamhadley

Whar about haines or cordova any thoughts?

Cordova is a great town, Homer is good too or even Seldovia accross the bay from Homer.

Karibear had a very good point too, rent a motorhome and drive to all of them.... There is a good way to pack in a lot of places in a short time.

Good luck!