If you want to independently explore Alaska via rental car, Gray Line will set up the car, nightly lodging, admissions and an itinerary. An eight-day package out of Anchorage allows you to visit Seward, including a cruise to Kenai Fjords National Park, followed by a drive to Talkeetna, a recommended lunch stop in Nenana and Fairbanks. The return to Anchorage is by Alaska Railroad with a stop at Denali National Park. A seven-day, car-only tour follows a similar itinerary but without Fairbanks, and a seven-day jaunt to Seward and Homer gives the flavor of the Kenai Peninsula, with its glaciers, ice field and fishing towns. To explore terrain a bit farther west, try the nine-day circuit of Valdez and Glenallen, with visits to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve and the Columbia Glacier.
Gray Line of Alaska
Holland America Line Inc.
300 Elliott Ave. West
Seattle, WA 98119
888-452-1737
graylinealaska.com
You can pick up either a rental car and stay at hotels, lodges or B&Bs or an RV or motorhome to camp out on All Alaska Tours' itineraries. The company offers 15 driving tours, including an eight-day winter driving adventure out of Anchorage to Healy, Chena Hot Springs resort and Fairbanks, with an optional excursion for dog-sledding or cross-country skiing to Caribou Lodge, accessible by bush plane from Talkeetna. Family packages include the Alaska Family Adventure, with ferry and rail components as well as self-driving, and the Alaska Family Adventure Driving Tour, where children can meet sled dog puppies outside Seward and an octopus at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward proper.
All Alaska Tours
413 G St.
Anchorage, AK 99501
907-277-3000
alaskatours.com
This Alaska-run company offered five semi-inclusive self-drive tours, all built around the Parks Highway drive between Anchorage and Fairbanks. The company includes the obvious stops at Talkeetna and Denali National Park but adds intriguing add-ons such as a visit to the Iditarod Headquarters, the Palmer musk ox farm and the Independence Mine at Hatcher Pass. On top of this basic framework, four of the trips offer additional circuits, with some ferry and flight connections: to Wrangell-St. Elias, Chitina, the Kennicott ghost town and Whittier; on the Alaska Marine Highway ferry between Valdez and Whittier; to Dawson City, Whitehorse, Skagway, Juneau, Gustavus and Glacier Bay; and to Seward and Kenai Fjords.
Alaska.org
507 E St., Suite 206
Anchorage, AK 99501
888-Alaska-8 (888-252-7528)
Alaska.org
