(OT - not Dis related) - Any good messageboards on Alaska travel?

[polkadotladybug]

My sister and I are going to Alaska for a week in July. We are taking my girls with us - they will be 9 and 6 at the time. I'd love to find a messageboard similar to this one (fat chance, right?!) - where I can find out about what to do.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!
Carol

 

[AlaskaMOM]

I really don't know about any Alaska message boards, but I do know a little about Alaska, mostly South Central (Anchorage area). It's a great place, especially in the summer.....bring lots of "off" Mosquitos can get rather large! Any specific questions go ahead and ask.

 

[NancyIL]

I sure do! http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=55

 

[polkadotladybug]

Thank you! That board is perfect! We aren't going on a cruise (at least not a long one - maybe a same day sort of tour thing, but nothing like a *real* cruise) - but there's a good amount of info about Alaska travel in general.

I thought I'd get my head bitten off because I read the griping about non-Disney posts after I had posted this.......thank you for your kindness!

 

[stitchmom]

I'm so glad you asked about this!! We are planning a trip to Alaska next July and it's great to have some places to search for information.

 

[NancyIL]

Thank you! That board is perfect! We aren't going on a cruise (at least not a long one - maybe a same day sort of tour thing, but nothing like a *real* cruise) - but there's a good amount of info about Alaska travel in general.

I thought I'd get my head bitten off because I read the griping about non-Disney posts after I had posted this.......thank you for your kindness!

One book that I've found to be very helpful is Frommer's Alaska by Charles Wohlforth. There's a chapter on cruising that's taken from another Frommer's book on Alaska cruises, but the vast majority of the book is about touring by land, sea, or air. My copy is well highlighted! http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...6686-2640108?_encoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=551440

Since you mentioned one-day cruises, the Kenai Fjords National Park cruises out of Seward and Prince William Sound cruises out of Whittier consistently get rave reviews.

Kenai Fjords:
http://www.alaskaheritagetours.com/543.cfm

Prince Willliam Sound:
http://www.26glaciers.com/
http://www.princewilliamsound.com/736.cfm

If you're going to be doing a lot of sightseeing, the coupons in the Toursaver book might be helpful: http://www.toursaver.com/

Also consider getting The Milepost if you'll be doing much driving: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/18...f=pd_bbs_1/102-6566686-2640108?_encoding=UTF8

 

[alaskantwinks]

Hi there~I am a born and raised Alaskan, but we lived in a different part of Alaska until about a year and a half ago, now we live in the Mat Su (Matanuska Susitna) valley area near Palmer. Here's a website from the Chamber of Commerce in our area: http://www.palmerchamber.org/
It's very beautiful and picturesque here, we are surrounded by mountains and glaciers. I live about 45 minutes from Anchorage, which is where you will be flying into. It's a very quaint and cute little town! Things to do: You can visit our musk ox farm, drive to Hatcher's Pass/Independence Mine, check out our local "Friday Flings" market, stop by the visitor's center in downtown Palmer! If you were coming in August, I'd definately recommend our State Fair, which is a really fun annual event!! Also in June is the Colony Days celebration and parade!

It's a nice drive, and if you would like, we also lived in North Pole/Fairbanks in the mid 90's, it's a really neat place with a lot of history, with lots of things to do, it has a great museum at the University of AK, very tourist friendly place with nice accommodations, great places to eat and friendly people! It's another 7-8 hour drive from here. North Pole has the Santa Claus house, we used to live 5 minutes from it! http://www.explorefairbanks.com/

Just as Jill mentioned, the Kenai Peninsula is another wonderful place to visit, it's close to Anchorage, and you can visit Seward, Homer, Kenai, Soldotna! There is a lot of tourist oriented things to do there, the Kenai Fjords tour with a trip to fox island might be good, I work at a travel agency, and I just booked a guy on a 8.5 cruise, but they have shorter ones such as 3-4 hours. You get to see all kinds of animals on the tour. There is a really cool aquarium in Seward that your girls would probably really enjoy too. Here's the link: http://www.alaskasealife.org/
If you do decide to drive to the Peninsula, stop at this bakery! It's very yummy!! http://www.thebakeshop.com/

Have a great trip! Our state is so large, you will have to make another trip next year! Kelly

 

[nbodyhome]

Whenever we go someplace new where I need local information, I head to TripAdvisor.com. We went to Paris, London, etc. last year, and each area has a form (if you are looking for Juneau, go to Juneau, etc. and click on "forum")

Denise

 

[polkadotladybug]

Thank you again for all the information! Such a nice, helpful group - your mothers should be proud......