Pre-Nights Alaska?

[Marthasor]

Hi! We are considering booking the Alaska ABD in early August and will be traveling from the US east coast. I think we would fly in about 2 or 3 days early just to adapt to the time change and I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations of hotels or resorts to stay in for pre-nights? I looked at the ABD starting point - Marriott in Anchorage - and I would rather go someplace close to Anchorage (maybe no more than an hour away) that might offer us an opportunity to experience something that won't be included in the tour. Or is there enough to do in downtown Anchorage to fill the time? The Marriott doesn't look very scenic, LOL!

 

[TravelJunkieHubby]

We did the ABD Alaska in 2016 and did prenight at the Marriott... we did a bus tour and walked a bit around the downtown area, none of which was covered on the ABD.

The flowers all around are quite impressive (because of how much sunlight they get in summer) and the indigenous art work around town is worth checking out as well. Lots of tourist shops, watch out for moose “nuggets”.

Admittedly it is a fairly quiet area and the downtown isn’t very big... you could easily cover downtown Anchorage in half a day if you wanted.

 

[Marthasor]

We did the ABD Alaska in 2016 and did prenight at the Marriott... we did a bus tour and walked a bit around the downtown area, none of which was covered on the ABD.

The flowers all around are quite impressive (because of how much sunlight they get in summer) and the indigenous art work around town is worth checking out as well. Lots of tourist shops, watch out for moose “nuggets”.

Admittedly it is a fairly quiet area and the downtown isn’t very big... you could easily cover downtown Anchorage in half a day if you wanted.

Thank you so much!

 

[Mathmagicland]

I’ve not been here, but you might want to check out the Kenai Peninsula if you’re looking for a couple of days close to Anchorage as an area that the AbD does not visit.

https://kenaipeninsula.org/

 

[sayhello]

I was going to suggest the same as @Mathmagicland. Seward is over 2 hours away from Anchorage, but it would be a great base for a couple of days. One of the things dropped from the Alaska itinerary was the cruise of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula. It was amazing, and one of the highlights of the trip for me. The whole Kenai Peninsula is gorgeous; it would be a wonderful place to start.

Sayhello

 

[jiffypop]

Seward is amazing, and the drive from Anchorage is spectacular. Looks like the ABD itinerary includes time in Girdwood, which is on the way to Seward...so you would even get to make that drive more than once! Another alternative is to head out to Matanuska Glacier, about 100 miles from Anchorage. You could arrange a hike on the glacier, which is incredible. We stayed at Sheep Mountain Lodge, a collection of cabins nearby with a great restaurant.

 

[Marthasor]

These are great suggestions - thank you!!!

 

[Eastridge]

Another way to get from Anchorage to Seward is the Alaska Railroad. If you wanted to see Kenai Fjords but still stay in Anchorage, it is possible to do that as a long (15.5 hour) day trip, using the Alaska Railroad. Pick the GoldStar service for nicer seats and upper deck views.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/day-trips/kenai-fjords-national-park-cruise-buffet
https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/day-trips

 

[Marthasor]

Another way to get from Anchorage to Seward is the Alaska Railroad. If you wanted to see Kenai Fjords but still stay in Anchorage, it is possible to do that as a long (15.5 hour) day trip, using the Alaska Railroad. Pick the GoldStar service for nicer seats and upper deck views.

https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/day-trips/kenai-fjords-national-park-cruise-buffet
https://www.alaskarailroad.com/travel-planning/day-trips

Holy moly! That looks AMAZING!!! Thank you!!!!

 

[hilarys]

Holy moly! That looks AMAZING!!! Thank you!!!!

I was coming here to suggest this. We did this trip in early June 2019 and I had originally hoped to come in two days early and do this long train/sea excursion on one of the days. Kids activities got in the way and we were only able to come in one night early which did not allow for this trip. After having done this amazing ABD, I still really wish we had been able to do the Kenai land/sea day from Anchorage the day before. The "sea" was part of the Alaska experience that was missing from the ABD and this would have been a nice complement. Since we only came in one night early we just stayed around Anchorage and I felt we saw everything we needed to there.

We did the following:
afternoon of arrival - craft/food market within walking distance to the Marriott - this was a surprise highlight and I nice way to start off the trip
morning/afternoon before the welcome dinner:
walk along city running trail
hop on tour
walk downtown and look at buildings/museums shops and hit up a few stores for last minute "gear"

Alaska was our fourth ABD and we all loved it. The trains in Alaska are great and I would not hesitate to do that land/sea trip. Another thing that I looked into for a full pre-day out of Anchorage was a float plane trip to see bears.

 

[Marthasor]

I was coming here to suggest this. We did this trip in early June 2019 and I had originally hoped to come in two days early and do this long train/sea excursion on one of the days. Kids activities got in the way and we were only able to come in one night early which did not allow for this trip. After having done this amazing ABD, I still really wish we had been able to do the Kenai land/sea day from Anchorage the day before. The "sea" was part of the Alaska experience that was missing from the ABD and this would have been a nice complement. Since we only came in one night early we just stayed around Anchorage and I felt we saw everything we needed to there.

We did the following:
afternoon of arrival - craft/food market within walking distance to the Marriott - this was a surprise highlight and I nice way to start off the trip
morning/afternoon before the welcome dinner:
walk along city running trail
hop on tour
walk downtown and look at buildings/museums shops and hit up a few stores for last minute "gear"

Alaska was our fourth ABD and we all loved it. The trains in Alaska are great and I would not hesitate to do that land/sea trip. Another thing that I looked into for a full pre-day out of Anchorage was a float plane trip to see bears.

Thank you so much for the info! This is very helpful!

 

[TXTransplant]

We are going to Alaska in early June. I wound up cancelling our group trip and booking through a company called Pursuits that operates a lot of the hotels.

Our first couple of days/nights after landing in ANC will be in Seward. We are taking the train down and staying at the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge on Fox Island. There are only 8 cabins, so we will basically have the entire island to ourselves. You have to take a ferry to get to the lodge, and we are also booked on the Resurrection Bay tour. It's all inclusive, including activities like kayaking and guided hikes.

This is one part of our trip that I am super excited about!

https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/kenai-fjords-wilderness-lodge/

 

[Marthasor]

We are going to Alaska in early June. I would up cancelling our group trip and booking through a company called Pursuits that operates a lot of the hotels.

Our first couple of days/nights after landing in ANC will be in Seward. We are taking the train down and staying at the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge on Fox Island. There are only 8 cabins, so we will basically have the entire island to ourselves. You have to take a ferry to get to the lodge, and we are also booked on the Resurrection Bay tour. It's all inclusive, including activities like kayaking and guided hikes.

This is one part of our trip that I am super excited about!

https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/kenai-fjords-wilderness-lodge/

Wow! I will check that out! I just looked at some hotels and B&B's for some pre-nights for the August ABD and a lot of them are sold out!! Looks like travel is picking back up in Alaska!

Edited to add: It looks like Pursuits offers a 4 day tour from Anchorage to Seward that includes transportation, hotel and a cruise! That might make a great pre-ABD trip if they have our dates available. Thank you for the tip! That lodge looks AMAZING btw!

 

[TXTransplant]

Wow! I will check that out! I just looked at some hotels and B&B's for some pre-nights for the August ABD and a lot of them are sold out!! Looks like travel is picking back up in Alaska!

Edited to add: It looks like Pursuits offers a 4 day tour from Anchorage to Seward that includes transportation, hotel and a cruise! That might make a great pre-ABD trip if they have our dates available. Thank you for the tip! That lodge looks AMAZING btw!

Alaska really wants US travelers to come by air this summer and have been targeting this ever since Canada cancelled the summer cruise season. I've seen numerous posts and stories about "This is the summer to come because cruise ship crowds won't be here." And I read an article this weekend that some of the big cruise lines are now offering land-only travel packages.

From what I understand, they've done a great job getting their residents vaccinated and want to get back to business as usual.

I hope you can find something that fits your dates! I was very happy with the level of service and itinerary that Pursuits provided...and I feel like the cost was very reasonable, too.

 

[flipflop]

I'm another vote for alaskan railroad to seward. Spend a night or two in seward and then take it back to anchorage. You can do a national parks tour of Kenai. It is possible to do round trip but that is a LONG day. You could also take a car service from anchorage to seward (shorter) -- stay -- take rail road back. The stretch of railroad from anchorage to seward is the most scenic (per a conductor on it - we have also taken the railroad up to denali).

Edited to add: super easy to book the train yourself, same with car service, same w lodging. in seward look at the harbor 360 - if you are more adventurous look at the kenai wilderness lodge where you actually stay in the national park (it is luxury cabins - running water heat restaurant). I now see someone recommended the wilderness lodge --- I booked it directly - very easy.

 

[TXTransplant]

I'm another vote for alaskan railroad to seward. Spend a night or two in seward and then take it back to anchorage. You can do a national parks tour of Kenai. It is possible to do round trip but that is a LONG day. You could also take a car service from anchorage to seward (shorter) -- stay -- take rail road back. The stretch of railroad from anchorage to seward is the most scenic (per a conductor on it - we have also taken the railroad up to denali).

Edited to add: super easy to book the train yourself, same with car service, same w lodging. in seward look at the harbor 360 - if you are more adventurous look at the kenai wilderness lodge where you actually stay in the national park (it is luxury cabins - running water heat restaurant). I now see someone recommended the wilderness lodge --- I booked it directly - very easy.

The agent I'm working with at Pursuits said the exact same thing about the train ride from Anchorage to Seward. We were also booked on the train from Denali to Anchorage, but because of a schedule change with the trains, we had to switch to a bus. I was disappointed, but our agent reassured me my saying that the train ride to Seward is much more scenic, and we won't really be missing anything by taking a bus rather than train from Denali to Anchorage.

 

[flipflop]

The agent I'm working with at Pursuits said the exact same thing about the train ride from Anchorage to Seward. We were also booked on the train from Denali to Anchorage, but because of a schedule change with the trains, we had to switch to a bus. I was disappointed, but our agent reassured me my saying that the train ride to Seward is much more scenic, and we won't really be missing anything by taking a bus rather than train from Denali to Anchorage.

Completely agree - the train ride to/from denali is beautiful but if a change is to be made -- better on that leg. Alaska is so beautiful -we love it there. Headed back with our kids in June.

 

[Marthasor]

We are going to Alaska in early June. I wound up cancelling our group trip and booking through a company called Pursuits that operates a lot of the hotels.

Our first couple of days/nights after landing in ANC will be in Seward. We are taking the train down and staying at the Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge on Fox Island. There are only 8 cabins, so we will basically have the entire island to ourselves. You have to take a ferry to get to the lodge, and we are also booked on the Resurrection Bay tour. It's all inclusive, including activities like kayaking and guided hikes.

This is one part of our trip that I am super excited about!

https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/kenai-fjords-wilderness-lodge/

Would you mind sharing your Alaska itinerary with me? I got in touch with Pursuits and they said they aren't doing their packages this year due to major changes with non-Pursuit owned vendors and sites, however they offered to check availability at their lodges (Denali, Kenai, Talkeetna). I think I'm going to see if I can book Seward Windsong Lodge and the fjords tour after the ABD (if there is availability), but the Denali Lodge and the cabins sound VERY interesting! Just curious what you have put together!

 

[flipflop]

Would you mind sharing your Alaska itinerary with me? I got in touch with Pursuits and they said they aren't doing their packages this year due to major changes with non-Pursuit owned vendors and sites, however they offered to check availability at their lodges (Denali, Kenai, Talkeetna). I think I'm going to see if I can book Seward Windsong Lodge and the fjords tour after the ABD (if there is availability), but the Denali Lodge and the cabins sound VERY interesting! Just curious what you have put together!

Just chiming in to say that my DH and I stayed at the Denali Backcountry Lodge cabins (same owner as kenai wilderness) and it was one of the highlights of our trip. Less than 5% of Denali visitors go all the way to the back of the park. It’s incredible back there. Wonder lake in particular is just gorgeous. We bused in and flew out. Highly recommend.

We are staying at kenai wilderness for the first time in late June.

You can book directly: https://www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/denali-backcountry-lodge/

 

[Mathmagicland]

Be aware that many of the Denali busses are not running this season -

https://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm