You don't need to take a tour. Do some research to find cheapest places to stay. We don't care about

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Debating whether to take a cruise or just fly to alaska and tour: For first time trip, what do you recommend if we want to see the most scenic places? We're not really interested in wildlife, sea life or animals, but rather beautiful budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes lakes, budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes mountains, glaciers, national parks etc
I think your choice also depends on how much you like the idea of being on a ship with hundreds of other people. We "cruised" to AK the first time on the Alaska Marine Ferry departing (with car) in Skagway. Skagway was wonderful until the cruise boats came into town and then it was wall to wall people who all disappeared about 5pm. We passed some beautiful places on our way to Anchorage but I think the most beautiful section is between Anchorage and the turnoff to Seward on the Seward Highway. You can visit Alyeska and ride the tram to the top. We saw snow in early August. We also loved visiting Independence Mine State Park north of Anchorage. In mid-June you will see wonderful wildflowers. We stopped at one stream just because the color was incredibly blue.
You don't need to take a tour. Do some research to find cheapest places to stay. We don't care about a fancy hotel just clean. B B included breakfasts can range from juice and cold bagel to cooked budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes to order gourmet breakfasts.
Know where you are going and what's on the way. The drive between Anchorage and Talkeetna has very little in terms of places to eat and gas stations once you leave Wasilla. Bring picnic budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes supplies with you. Eating out is expensive but you can take care of your own breakfasts. If you are in a large town like Soldotna, the supermarket is huge and you can buy sandwiches and salads less expensively than eating in a restaurant. You might plan on eating in a restaurant only once per day. But in Talkeetna (on the way to Denali) the market is very small. With an insulated cooler budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes you can take some meal fixings with you. We always budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes had a bottles of water in the car.
I would recommend the glacier cruise out of Seward if you aren't nervous about seasickness. It's an amazing trip and quite an experience when they shut the boat engines off and you listen to the ice crunching against the boat as you view a glacier and listen to the eerie groans as it moves toward to sea.
I loved Homer because it seemed artsy (as well as being famous for fishing trips). Just before town there's a pull off where you can see the view of the Homer Spit. If you go in June, you could also walk the beach to watch net fisherman which is something you probably don't do on an organized tour.
I wouldn't call it "hard" to drive in AK. Anchorage budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes has moderate traffic. If you land there, budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes you can rent a vehicle and drive fairly tension-free to spots like Denali, Talkeetna, Seward, Whittier, Alyeska.
A lot depends budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes on how much time you have. The cruises cover Southeast Alaska (the "panhandle") and call at places that are only accessible by air or water, such as Juneau. The SE Alaska environment and "inside budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes passage" are very beautiful but very different from the sorts of scenery and landscapes you'd see if you flew to, say, Anchorage and did a road- or rail-based tour from there.
If you have a minimum of two weeks you could do both - cruise from Vancouver BC to either Seward or Whittier (both connected by road or rail to Anchorage) and then do a "land" portion from there before flying home. (Or you could do the trip in reverse - fly north then cruise south.) That way you'd have the option of seeing places like Denali or the Kenai Peninsula, or even fly (in a regular jet) to a bush village in the arctic, for example; and have the cruise scenery, inside passage, etc.
But much depends on when you come, how long you have, and whether you're comfortable driving yourselves and making your own land arrangements. Or, of course, you could join a tour, of which there are many.
If you want to do this affordably,you budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes may want to plan this visit for the summer of 2015--especially if you plan a driving tour. If you put your 2014 dates in a car rental budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes search engine,like kayak, you will be surprised at what they charge for car rentals in Alaska. The farther out you can book a car,the cheaper the rate.
The Kenai Peninsula includes fabulous scenery and unbelievably beautiful drives. Click on my name above for my trip report from last year. There are other good trip reports here and on Tripadvisor. Reading trip reports is a great way to get ideas for an itinerary. Our trip was wonderful. We didn't get to Valdez, which was on my list, but we hope to return.
What is your vacation "style"? Do you like to go to an all inclusive resort and rest and relax in a lovely setting or do you like to have a new experience budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes every day, hike a bit, see things at your own pace, stay longer or leave sooner budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes as your mood/interests move you?
We did the cruise and DH was ready to fly home from the first stop (I had the credit cards so he couldn't arrange that) He was not happy not being in control of the pace of the trip and also feeling that he was trapped with their schedule. Fortunately we did do the trip up to Denali which he loved, so all was not lost. In retrospect, we should have flown into ANC and rented a car and driven up to Denali and down the Kenai for much less money and we both would have been happy. We were traveling with family and that would not work for them.
You haven't said (a) when this will be or (b) how many people are traveling, or (c) where you're coming from, or (d) what "low prices" means to you. That leaves us groping around in the dark - throwing out ideas, then "no," then "how about this?" then "no" again.
My suggestion. Make it easy. Do a round-trip cruise from Vancouver (not Seattle) and include an itinerary that includes Glacier Bay. Try for a cruise price under $200 pppd, and then make a blood oath NOT to fall prey to overpriced "excursions," gambling in the ship's casino, or overdoing the "specialty" restaurants or alcohol.
Airfare will be cheaper to Vancouver than to Anchorage, you won't have to fuss with an expensive Alaska rental car, or overpriced hotels, or mosquito repellant, and if the trip doesn't meet the "nicer" criteria, at least you'll be well fed. If you haven't seen enough "beautiful lakes, mountains, glaciers, national parks etc" then add a couple of days to the end of the trip and go visit Whistler, 90 min. up the road from Vancouver.
(The reason for sailing from Vancouver rather than Seattle is that the Vancouver boats travel to the east of Vancouver Island through sheltered water, while the Seattle boats travel to the west of the island, on open ocean, with nothing to see and lots more bumpy seas.)
Alaska has soooooooooooo much scenery around almost every corner that you can very easily create your own itinerary with a fly and drive vacation beginning in Anchorage and lasting for a duration of your choosing.
Driving in Alaska during budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes tourist season isn't especially different than in most U.S. states. Once you get away from Anchorage, there just aren't many people budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes anywhere around. Consider that Alaska has but 3 cities with more than 10,000 people and one of those you can't even drive to!
We've done land twice and a cruise once. I just don't think you really see Alaska just from a cruise ship. You stop at a few ports that are set up mostly for tourist with a bunch of jewelry shops and little of real Alaska.
budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes Seward (all day cruise to see wildlife and glaciers), Talkeetna (flightseeing--one of the most awesome budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes things we have ever done) and Denali (full day bus ride in the park) are my top three areas to visit.
from Anchorage drive to seward. take the kenai fjords cruise there. which company cruise tour do you suggest? OR from anchorage just drive to Whittier and take the prince william sound cruise. is the drive from whittier to Seward nice?
My trip report from last summer is below. It is not the perfect itinerary but we had a fabulous time and saw fantastic scenery. You don't have to see everything and go everywhere, even if you think this will be your only visit.
If you are only going for a week, you may just want to concentrate on the Kenai Peninsula. The scenery there is beautiful. I hate to add anything to your itinerary or confuse you any further, but we loved, budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes loved, loved Homer. Seeing the moonrise over Kachemak budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes Bay while we sat around a campfire with soem new friends was a highlight. It is a beautiful city.
People rave about the Matanuska Glacier. If you want to walk on a glacier, this is an easy one to get to. The area is gorgeous. We were there on a beautiful day but it was not my favorite activity. We actually called and booked it that day since the weather was so gorgeous. I think with your schedule, you would go there after Valdez and then head to Denali.
The problem with going to Denali and only spending one day, is that McKinley may be covered in clouds. I would have been so disappointed if that had happened. I debated about going there but then do you go to Alaska and not go to Denali??
Hope these thoughts help you. Have you priced car rentals? Do that first thing. You may decide you want to cruise. If you do cruise, take a cruise that goes from Vancouver to Alaska as recommended budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes above.
wanderlustguru, not everyone enjoys cruise, DH felt trapped with the ship's schedule. He enjoys budget rental cars hawaii promotional codes controlling the pace of the trip and being able to stop for as long or short as he wants and not being tied to the cruise stops. He was ready to jump ship when we got to Ketchican (our first stop), but we had others in our group so that was vetoed. He had no seasickness and has been on the water often.
The very best to see the wildlife in its natural setting is not to have your cameras or smart phones up to your face the entire time. It is ok to take pictures for the first couple of m