i just wanna VISIT! (Anchorage, Juneau and: rental car, rental, houses)

[lizzy_f]

ha! it would seem there is a glut of people who want to pick up, pack their car and live on the land. I am not one of those people. Granted I'm tough and love to discover new things and learn about the world, but the Alaskan bush is too much for me...however, I would love to visit the beautiful lands and meet the amazing people that are tough enough to live that life.

SO!! To the point!

I am merely in the research part of this process but I would love a little insight. I don't know when the best time to visit is or how the best way to get the best experience.

[AKStafford]

Trip Advisor is another good planning tool for a visit: Alaska Forum, Travel Discussion for Alaska, United States
Buy a plane ticket to Anchorage. Rent a car. Come between June and early September.

[akck]

Seeing Alaska probably requires 2 trips or one long one. One trip would be SE Alaska, done via cruise ships or the ferry. The other would be from Fairbanks down to Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula (or some combination). I'd extend the time period to include May, as it can be one of the dryer months.

[heathen]

Summer solstice through 4th of July: Peak season for endless days, summer festivities, outdoor sports, and general infectious energy. Summer is basically Memorial Day through Labor Day. Anchorage or Fairbanks with a rental car, or Southeast Alaska by ferry from Juneau.

Last week of August through first week of October: Fall colors, first in the interior tundra, then interior lowlands (Fairbanks), then southcentral lowlands (Anchorage). Rainier and more relaxed than summer, but still no snow, good outdoor opportunities, and a chance to see aurora. Southeast is often very rainy, and the fall colors aren't as nice.

Late February through March: Peak season for winter activities. Fur Rendezvous in Anchorage, dog sled races in the valley and Fairbanks, generally clear and crisp, but not brutally cold weather. Best northern lights viewing outside Fairbanks. Southeast Alaska is mostly dreary and slushy in winter.

Around winter solstice: Want a white Christmas? And to see what Alaska's really like when the sun only comes up for four hours. Yeah, probably not, but some people like extremes. Anchorage or Fairbanks.

[semispherical]

Originally Posted by lizzy_f

ha! it would seem there is a glut of people who want to pick up, pack their car and live on the land. I am not one of those people. Granted I'm tough and love to discover new things and learn about the world, but the Alaskan bush is too much for me...however, I would love to visit the beautiful lands and meet the amazing people that are tough enough to live that life.

SO!! To the point!

I am merely in the research part of this process but I would love a little insight. I don't know when the best time to visit is or how the best way to get the best experience.

I just got back yesterday from a week in/near Fairbanks -- I went because I had seeing the aurora on my bucket list.

It was a GREAT experience. HIGHLY recommend the Alaska Rail from Anchorage to Fairbanks (Alaska Railroad | Alaskan Tours & Vacations | Train Packages). The scenery is gorgeous and the train personnel point out all of the features along the way. There wasn't a whole lot of snow, and it wasn't very cold (about 35-40 deg in the daytime)

I stayed at Chena Hot Springs Resort (HOME -) to check out the aurora. It is a very well run compound, managed on the principles of self-sufficiency and sustainability. All the power and heat used to run the resort are geothermally generated. All of the vegetables served in the restaurant are grown in greenhouses on site, and the vehicles run on used veg oil. There are both indoor and outdoor geothermally heated swimming pools. It's 440 acres, with lots of ski and hiking trails.

If you go in the summertime, you can stop at the University's Large Animal Research Station in Fairbanks.

The only drawbacks: only about 10 hours of daylight in October and very limited selection of TV channels meant not a lot to do in the evening. And no WiFi or cell phone service either. And EVERYTHING in Alaska is really expensive. Bring lots of money.

I did see the aurora, and it was really neat!

[richelles]

My suggestion would be to do your trip in two stages while being comfortable. First decide when you would like to experience Alaska. Most people would choose Summer; so starting your trip then check the Alaska Marine Highway System Schedule for when the different portions will have vessels sailing. Then check the Alaska Railroad schedule from Fairbanks to Seward. This will give you the two best methods to see the most of Alaska while traveling in comfort. On the Marine Highway System you could get a stateroom for the trip and you could eat on the vessels. This would allow you to see the marine portion of Alaska however you wont be able to see the shore areas because of the schedule except for the ends of the different portions of the route.

You could fly into Fairbanks and make a round trip to Seward and back and stop in Seward and Anchorage on your own schedule. When you get back to Fairbanks you could get a flight to Dutch Harbor and catch the ferry from there to Bellingham, Washington on a trip that will show you almost all of marine Alaska while living in a stateroom. Depending on your desires you could terminate the trip in Juneau and fly back from there. I have done all of these routes and can say it shows you much of Alaska. You could spend some time in Fairbanks, Anchorage, Seward, Dutch Harbor, Kodiak, and Juneau and have seen more of Alaska than most tourons do. However the cost will be pretty steep because eating out in Alaska is expensive. Your sleeping quarters are like wise going to be expensive but leaving the driving to others is never really cheap.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by semispherical

I stayed at Chena Hot Springs Resort (HOME -) to check out the aurora. It is a very well run compound, managed on the principles of self-sufficiency and sustainability. All the power and heat used to run the resort are geothermally generated. All of the vegetables served in the restaurant are grown in greenhouses on site, and the vehicles run on used veg oil.

Not gonna get into thing here, but that's kinda bunk ^^^ They grow some vegetables, and use some geothermal power (maybe even a majority, but they've got diesel units hidden behind that geothermal plant they give you a tour of). It's a nice place, and certainly optimal for viewing the N. Lights, but the man behind their curtain exaggerates this sustainability stuff.

[FrogCross]

It's been a long time since I lived there, but I always recommend after Labor Day 'cause the crowds are mostly gone and the weather is about the best you can expect.

Go in the Spring if you love mosquitoes and other flying biting nasties. The roads will be in their worst condition. Don't know if they still use the term up there, but Spring used to be called Break Up. It really refers to the ice breaking up on the rivers, but we always used it as a reference to the roads.

[semispherical]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Not gonna get into thing here, but that's kinda bunk ^^^ They grow some vegetables, and use some geothermal power (maybe even a majority, but they've got diesel units hidden behind that geothermal plant they give you a tour of). It's a nice place, and certainly optimal for viewing the N. Lights, but the man behind their curtain exaggerates this sustainability stuff.

Oh no! You mean that nice tour guide was -- um -- embellishing? Sigh. Can't trust anyone anymore. But they sure did have a lot of vegetable garden space and greenhouses.

[Metlakatla]

Originally Posted by semispherical

Oh no! You mean that nice tour guide was -- um -- embellishing? Sigh. Can't trust anyone anymore. But they sure did have a lot of vegetable garden space and greenhouses.

They do, don't they? And that sure is a nice FSA truck that delivers frozen and canned vegetables on a regular basis. The nice tour guide was following a script, that's all. The guy who owns the place is a gasbag who tries to sell mini-geothermal units, so he amps the sustainability thing every chance he gets.

I know for a fact they buy their salmon from Russia. I've actually heard them tell people their salmon was caught locally and smoked right on sight. He's also been known to claim that he "put Sarah Palin in office."

Still, it's an okay place, and Alaska residents get a special rate.