Alaska... budget. Do they even belong in the same sentence?

[Mrs. Charming]

OP here. I knew I was in the right place to ask my Alaska question - thank you for the excellent suggestions to put on my to do list.
As much as I agree that a cruise sounds great, I can only go mid-June through the end of July and I'm thinking rates will be high. My daughter is in college, my son in high school, and I want very much to bring them with us. Both my parents and my husbands parents died in their early 60's, and its not so far away from where I am now. I would like this to be a family trip, hopefully the kids will remember it forever.
Does anybody have any guide books they recommend? Websites? Too bad Bob Sehlinger or Rick Steeves don't write about Alaska.

Again, many thanks to your suggestions, and if you thought of more please let me know.

June and July are amazing times to see Alaska, it's beautiful, the day lasts long into the middle of the night, the flowers are overflowing their flowerpots.

I wish I could recommend a few guidebooks, but I lived there and figured it all out on my own.

I just found this website, might be helpful: http://www.anchorage.net/
You should definitely rent a car, and a little gem outside of Anchorage is Flat Top, it's a mountain where you can hike to the top (you park most of the way up, don't worry, people of all ages and stages do it.) On a clear day, you can see Mt. McKinley! Also, Girdwood is cute, there's a little bakery just off the highway-- delicious! You can take the tram up all the way to the mountain at the Alyeska ski resort-- the lodge is a-mazing! The drive to Girdwood is amazing, too. If you stay on the highway past Girdwood, in (IIRC) an hour and a half or so you'll be in Seward. You can catch a glacier cruise there, I'm 99% sure you'll need a reservation, though. The glacier cruises are breathtaking. Very very cool.. but definiteyly bring a sweatshirt. Anchorage has "First Fridays" as they do in many cities where all or most of the art galleries have their openings, a wonderful free event. Same with the Saturday Market where local artists and crafters sell their goods and yummy foods! Don't be afraid to try the Caribou-- yum!

I know very little about Juneau, etc since it's a heck of a drive... all I know is that is where I had to send paperwork every week for my work, lol.

 

[kelly7ak]

I know very little about Juneau, etc since it's a heck of a drive

indeed it is ... especially since there aren't any roads going into Juneau! It's not connected to the "outside" road system.

 

[Mrs. Charming]

indeed it is ... especially since there aren't any roads going into Juneau! It's not connected to the "outside" road system.

LOL... it's been a few years and I hadn't had my coffee yet.. my bad And like I said, I'd never been there