Comparing Two Alaska Road Trip Itineraries

Road tripping through Alaska provides thrilling adventures among awe-inspiring scenery, but planning your Alaska road trip itinerary can be overwhelming.

For one, Alaska is a huge state with incredible, diverse landscape throughout. (It’s 580,000 square miles and one-fifth of the total land mass of the entire country!) Plus, Alaska’s out-of-the-way location makes it a costly destination. This means many people are preparing for a once in a lifetime trip, so careful planning is crucial.

My sister used to live in Alaska and I’ve traveled there many times. In this article, I detail and compare two of my firsthand Alaska road trip itineraries – one trip included just adults and one trip was with our kids. I describe the pros and cons of each – giving you intimate insight so you can come up with the best plan to meet your travel needs.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Planning an Alaska road trip itinerary is complex. Before I detail my two itineraries, let me shed light on some common questions:

• What time of year should I go?
• How many days should my Alaska road trip itinerary include?
• What part of the state should I spend more of my time?
• What are some can’t-miss Alaska experiences?

BEST TIME OF YEAR TO VISIT ALASKA

Summer is peak tourist season in Alaska. Even though this is when the crowds make their way to the Last Frontier, summer is still the best time to explore Alaska. The roads and parks are most accessible, and stores and lodging are open and catering to visitors. Plus, Alaska is the Land of the Midnight Sun. You’ll have 19+ hours of sunlight in Anchorage in mid-summer – and trust me, you’ll want to take full advantage of the daylight to see and experience as much as you can in this spectacularly scenic state. Since this is Alaska’s busiest season, you’ll want to book airfare, rental car, lodging and activities well in advance.

HOW MANY DAYS TO INCLUDE IN YOUR ALASKA ROAD TRIP ITINERARY

Some people take weeks or a month to explore this vast state (and still don’t see everything!) but the majority of people I know can’t take off work that long. I couldn’t either, so my itineraries are roughly a week and a half. If you have a full two weeks to explore, you can easily add more days to these itineraries.

WHAT REGION(S) TO VISIT

Just to familiarize yourself with how vast this state is, here is a map and a few facts:

Alaska has five regions: Arctic, Interior, Southwest, Southcentral and Southeast.

If you fly into Anchorage (the Southcentral region) and begin your road trip from there, you most likely will not be hitting the Arctic or Southeast region (also known as the Inside Passage) since the distance is too great and the Inside Passage requires a flight or car ferry to access the towns.

Kodiak Island, located in the Southwest Region, would be an amazing adventure to experience, but again you can only access the island via a very expensive plane ride or long distance car ferry.

All of my Alaskan adventures have taken place in the Southcentral and Interior regions (as is usually the case with most first-timers to Alaska.)

PRIORITIZE YOUR CAN’T-MISS ALASKA EXPERIENCES

As you plan your Alaska road trip, prioritize what types of activities you want to experience. Do you want to fish? If so, salmon, halibut or something else? Do you want to hike to a glacier or up Flattop Mountain? Interested in a seaplane or kayaking adventure? Do you want to camp in a national park? Are you looking forward to seeing the highest mountain peak in North America?

My priorities included hiking, salmon fishing, seeing wildlife like moose and bears, experiencing glaciers and exploring a variety of scenic areas – not just staying in one or two places during my trip.

Read on to hear about some awesome adventures I recommend for your Alaska road trip.

To help with your trip planning, we created an Alaska Summertime Packing List. Sign up below to receive the download and make sure you bring along all the necessities.

TWO ALASKA ROAD TRIP ITINERARIES

BACKGROUND INFO

I live in the Midwest, USA, so a flight to Alaska takes around 6 hours. Flying into Anchorage’s Ted Stevens International Airport, I rent a car and start my journey from there. I don’t do any off-roading, so for these itineraries a car or SUV works fine.

The first itinerary was a trip I took with my husband, sister and brother-in-law. Just us four adults.

The second trip included all four of us, plus our 5 children (ages 16, 15, 14, 14 and 11.)

Below I list our stops and excursions for each itinerary. Be sure to read the overview after the itinerary where I dive deeper into our schedule and compare the pros and cons of each. We definitely learned some things along the way that you should know when planning your Alaska road trip itinerary.

(Note: The drive south to Seward is designated as a National Forest Scenic Byway. You’ll want to take your time on that route to take in all the surrounding beauty. Learn more here: 7 Scenic Stops on the Drive from Anchorage to Seward)

ITINERARY #1:

(9 nights/10 days – Mid-to-late June – 4 Adults)

Day One:         Fly into Anchorage and spend night in hotel in the city

Day Two:         Anchorage – Experience the solstice in the city

Day Three:       Drive 4 hours to Denali National Park, spend night in Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge  

Day Four:        Take 8-hour roundtrip bus ride into Denali National Park, spend 2^nd night in Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge

Day Five:         Drive 6.5 hours from Denali to Seward, spend night at Salmon Creek Cabins

Day Six:           Visit Exit Glacier, then 6-hour Kenai Fjords Boat Cruise, drive 3.25 hours to Homer, spend night in B&B

Day Seven:      Explore Homer Spit and hike around Katchemak Bay, spend 2^nd night in B&B

Day Eight:        Fishing for King Salmon in the Ninilchik River, 3^rd night in Homer B&B

Day Nine:        Drive 4.5 hours back to Anchorage, spend night in hotel by airport

Day Ten:          Fly home

ITINERARY #2:

(8 nights/9 days – Late July/Early August – 4 Adults, 5 Children)

Day One:         Fly into Anchorage, Hike Flattop Mt., drive north 2 hours to Talkeetna, spend night at Meandering Moose Lodge

Day Two:         Take Mahay’s jet boat tour, Explore Talkeetna, Hike Thunderbird Falls on drive south to Girdwood, spend night in a rental house

Day Three:       Drive half-hour to Whittier and hike Portage Pass, take 26 Glaciers Cruise, drive back to Girdwood, spend 2^nd night in rental house

Day Four:        Take Alyeska tram to top of Mt. Alyeska, Visit Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Drive 1.5 hours to Seward, spend night in Salmon Creek Cabins

Day Five:         Hike Exit Glacier, explore Seward, spend 2^nd night in Salmon Creek Cabins

Day Six:           Hike Two Lakes Trail, Drive 1 hour to Cooper Landing, Drive Skilak Lake Rd for wildlife viewing, spend night in rental house

Day Seven:      Fish for Sockeye salmon in Cooper Landing, spend 2^nd night in rental house

Day Eight:        Hike Russian River Falls in Cooper Landing, spend 3^rd night in rental house

Day Nine:        Drive back to Anchorage and fly home

COMPARISON OF TWO ITINERARIES

Driving vs. Hiking

As you can probably tell, we did a LOT more driving during trip #1. The main reason being we wanted to make it to Denali National Park which is 4 hours north of Anchorage, but then also wanted to experience the beautiful Kenai Peninsula 3 hours south of Anchorage.

If you’re considering fitting in a trip to Denali National Park, please read our article: Denali National Park: Trip It or Skip It? It has important insight into what this means for your itinerary. Besides the long drive to the park, the only way to travel inside Denali National Park is by an all-day bus tour in a traditional school bus. This is a lot of time spent in a vehicle.

In Itinerary #2 we had less driving and spent more time hiking. For detailed information about five fun Alaskan hiking trails, click here: 5 of the Best Hikes in Alaska: Unique, Scenic, and 3 Hours or Less.

We also opted not to go to Homer on trip #2 to reduce our driving time with kids. Plus, we had been there before. But if you are planning your first visit to Alaska, Homer is worth a visit.

Kenai Fjords Cruise (Seward) vs. 26 Glaciers Cruise (Whittier)

Interested in taking a boat tour while in Alaska? There are some important differences regarding the two boat cruises we did on trip #1 and #2. Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons of each:

KENAI FJORDS CRUISE (Seward)

PROS

• There is great opportunity to see a lot of wildlife, like whales, orcas, otters, puffins, and sea lions.
• Depending on which specific tour you choose, you can sail to a glacier and hopefully hear it calving.

CONS

• It’s very easy to get seasick on this cruise. The boat sails through the rougher open waters of the Gulf of Alaska from Resurrection Bay to the fjords. On our tour, many people fell ill, including 3 out of the 4 of us.

26 GLACIERS CRUISE (Whittier)

PROS

• Prince William Sound is geographically protected which means calm waters and no seasickness. (They even have a ‘no seasickness’ guarantee.)
• Glacier viewing is better here than out of Seward. Like the name suggests, you get to see 26 glaciers and hear some calving.
• Opportunity to see wildlife, like otters, seals, sea lions and eagles.

CONS

• While you see some wildlife, you’re less likely to see whales on this tour.

Fishing Adventure

I highly recommend fitting in a fishing adventure to your Alaska road trip itinerary, even if you’re a fishing novice. There are a variety of ways to fish in Alaska – hire a fishing guide, charter a boat, bring your own equipment, freshwater fishing, saltwater fishing, overnight fishing excursions and more. During both of our itineraries we included time to fish for salmon with a hired fishing guide.

While staying in Homer we hired Silverfin Guide Service who provided the equipment and expertise for us to fish in the Ninilchik River for King Salmon. With waders and boots on, we stood in the river fishing for hours.

We began in the early morning and when our scheduled time was up, we paid for an additional hour because none of us wanted to leave. It’s hard to even describe the peaceful feeling of being so close with nature standing among the water and wilderness of Alaska’s rugged landscape.

During trip #2, we hired 5 Dogs Fishing guides in Cooper Landing. This adventure included part boat fishing and part wading/fishing in the Kenai River for sockeye salmon. Our group of 9 fit into two boats (each with a guide) and we all had a fantastic time. Sailing on the brilliantly turquoise Kenai River was surreal. This ranks as one of our top Alaskan experiences!

Both of these fishing adventures allowed us to keep our catches. One time we had our salmon fileted, frozen and shipped home. The other time we had our salmon fileted and grilled it for supper that evening.

Final Comments to Consider

Alaska is a thrilling vacation destination and you can’t go wrong with an Alaska road trip. While we enjoyed both trips, Itinerary #2 gave us more time to hike and experience an impressive amount of awe-inspiring Alaskan landscapes.

The Kenai Peninsula is the premier place to road trip in Alaska. The driving distances aren’t too long and the variety of natural beauty is astounding. You can spend less time in your car and more time exploring the wild and rugged natural beauty of Alaska’s glaciers, fjords, mountains, rivers, lakes, wilderness and wildlife.

Have you road-tripped in Alaska? What recommendations do you have? Let us know in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!