Alaska

diddleei

Hi, my brother is turning 30 next year and myself and my family would like to give him something he would always remember and always wanted - which would possibly be a trip to Alaska. Any tips on which area is the best to go to or must-sees?

silja

Alaska is a huge place. What does he like? Ie hunting, camping, snow/ skiing, whale watching...?
How much are you willing to spend and how long do you think he would want to go for?

I can highly recommend Quark expeditions if for a specialised travel agent who does great, small-numbers tours: http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/search/content/alaska I went to Antarctica with them but they also do Alaska/ Arctic travel.

JohnMearsheimer

I was in Alaska for 6 days in November 2011, based myself in Anchorage. A lot of activities and excursions there are expensive, especially in the winter after the place nearly shuts down after a busy summer. In winter you'll have to keep daylight in mind as well as the days will be quite short and can limit what you can do. It wouldn't start getting bright until 9 am and it was getting dark again at 3 pm. It was cold too, between -20 and 30c, with lots of snow. having said all that winter in Alaska can bring its own fun too.

When I was there I took a flight up to Knik glacier, it was spectacular. We started off out over the sea off Anchorage which was starting to completely freeze up, flew over the mountains around Anchorage and then around the glacier and Lake George. It was 250 dollars for a 1 hour flight but well worth it. I was meant to fly up to Mount McKinley but it was too windy for the plane. If you do organise a flight keep in mind the weather. I was lucky the morning I booked my flight that the skies were clear so you could actually see something from the plane.

I also spent a day dog sledding on part of the route used in the Iditarod dog sled ace. I spent a day at Aleyska resort in Girdwood, did some skiiing and snow showing. I did a city tour as well in Anchorage and a trip to a wildlife park. I saw bears, lynxes, porcupines, other animals typical to Alaska.

Anchorage is quite near Denali national park as well so in the summer you can hike. Denali is where Mount McKinley is too. Unfortunately I only got to see it from Earthquake Park in Anchorage. You'll be able to do whale watching in the summer too.

A lot of cruises leave from Vancouver and go up the BC and Alaska coast, they could be worth checking out as well.

athtrasna

So much to see and do in Alaska - Anchorage is a strange city but worth a day or two. Then we headed down to Seward..a lot of the Wildlife cruises go from there..we did two days, one day cruise and the other day driving around the neighbouring towns. After that we headed up into the mountains to the Aleyska resort in Girdwood. Lots to see and do around there.

We did about a week in total, hired an SUV and drove. Both destinations are under two hours from Anchorage so no major driving and a very easy way to see so many aspects of Alaska (city, sea and mountains).