Ferry: quick tour of Ketchikan and back on? (Anchorage, Fairbanks: rental car, rentals)

[travel light]

Hi,

My family is taking the Alaska Marine Highway from Bellingham to Skagway this summer. Along the way, the ferry makes a two-hour stop in Ketchikan. I'd love to look around the town during that stop, although of course we wouldn't have much time. It looks like the ferry dock is a bit outside town. Would it be realistic to grab a taxi or bus and get a quick tour of Ketchikan, then zip back to the ferry?

[Wrennie]

You'll be five minutes from downtown by cab. It will be a short tour into town, given your timeframe, but it can be done.

[stiffnecked]

The ferry dock is in town. Call a cab and you can get a nice tour in less than an hour. A&P Grocery is across the street and to the left. About 2 blocks away. Safeway is a right turn and about 1/4 mile.

[Xa'at]

I've done it. What I did last time I floated through was took a cab down to Creek Street, then walked to downtown from there, had breakfast at a cute little diner, then took a short walk along the docks. I was intending to then cab back, but I had some extra time so I just walked all the way back to the ferry. Of course, this was like seven in the morning at the beginning of January and nothing but that diner and Safeway was open, but it was still a nice walk, and the guy who drove my taxi was like a third generation Ketchikaner, so he told me lots of stories about the history and stuff. All in all definitely a nice little diversion from the ferry.

[eineye]

A lifelong dream of mine is to live in Alaska. Never did it! Now I'm 65 and retired. I would really like to take the ferry up from Bellingham or Seattle, one way, to "somewhere", rent a car and drive to Anchorage. Then fly back to Albuquerque. Could any of you good folks give me an idea of what might be the best way to accomplish this?? Thanks for any input.

[akck]

Originally Posted by eineye

A lifelong dream of mine is to live in Alaska. Never did it! Now I'm 65 and retired. I would really like to take the ferry up from Bellingham or Seattle, one way, to "somewhere", rent a car and drive to Anchorage. Then fly back to Albuquerque. Could any of you good folks give me an idea of what might be the best way to accomplish this?? Thanks for any input.

First place I'd look is here, the Alaska Marine Highway page:

Alaska Marine Highway System :: Alaska DOT&PF (http://www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs/index.html - broken link)

You can schedule stops in various cities by buying port to port fares, but you are subject to the ferry schedule and can spend several days at each city. If you can get to Prince Rupert, they had a See Alaska fare, that allowed three stops on your route, for a cheaper price. There's no guatantee they'll offer it again though. They also offer a senior fare discount, so let them know you qualify.

For car rentals, I don't believe you can do what you want. I think most rentals in Haines or Shagway are local area rentals only. Your best bet would be to fly from Juneau to Anchorage or take the monthly ferry Juneau to Whittier and rent a car in Anchorage. You can then drive to other locations in Alaska and return the car in Anchorage and fly out.

Depending on how much time you have, it might be better to do it in two trips, one in southeast and then central Alaska.

[Captain Crunch]

Originally Posted by eineye

A lifelong dream of mine is to live in Alaska. Never did it! Now I'm 65 and retired. I would really like to take the ferry up from Bellingham or Seattle, one way, to "somewhere", rent a car and drive to Anchorage. Then fly back to Albuquerque. Could any of you good folks give me an idea of what might be the best way to accomplish this?? Thanks for any input.

Fly into Sea-Tac. Catch the "Airport Shuttle" to Bellingham, they will drop you right off at the Alaska Ferry Terminal in the Fairhaven district of Bellingham...an alternative is to catch Amtrak from Seattle to Bellingham and the train station is directly across the street from the Alaska Ferry Terminal

With a bit of advanced planning for the ferry ride north can could do stop-overs at Ketchikan, Sitka, and Juneau....your final destination would be upper Lynn Canal at both Haines and Skagway....from either you can bus to Anchorage, from Haines is the easiest, from Skagway you would travel to Whitehorse in the Yukon and then on to Anchorage

There you'd want to get a rental car or better yet a van....south to the Kenai Peninsula, Homer & Seward and then back through Anchorage and up Denali to Fairbanks

Budget plenty of time...maybe double what you were thinking, Fall would be a great time to do this trip....

[Metlakatla]

Oh, I see that Captain Crunch has moved to Alaska from DC...

[Captain Crunch]

you noticed...lost my job with Uncle Ted

I'll have to spare ya all the details due to the FBI gag-order.....rather not have to spend any jail time with Ted

[Metlakatla]

It's good to know you're finally off the government dole, Captain. So are you looking for work? I know where they need a fish cutter....