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RSAN05 Marvelous Alaska - Road & Rail Holiday

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  • Code: RSAN05

RSAN05 Marvelous Alaska - Road & Rail Holiday

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This Self Drive and Alaska Railroad Combo Tour offers an in depth view to Alaska's most diverse regions. You start in Anchorage, which is filled with lot of adventures along with metropolitan amenities. Pick up your rental car and travel along Turnagain Arm to the port town of Seward, where you’ll join a spectacular cruise deep into Kenai Fjords National Park with actively "calving" glaciers, abundant wildlife and magnificent scenery. Enjoy the scenic ride on board the Alaska Ferry across Prince William Sound towards Valdez. After the overnight in Copper Center you will travel to Fairbanks, located only 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle and tucked into miles of unexplored wilderness. Board the last full-service railroad in North America and choose between the “Adventure Class” seating in the one-storey railway car or the “Deluxe Dome Railcar” on board the Alaska Railroad or with one of the privately operated trains. All train cars feature large panorama windows ensuring unobstructed views around every bend of the majestic beauty of the glaciers, mountains and Alaskan wildlife. Discover famous Denali National Park - one of Alaska’s most popular attraction and destination in the shadows of towering 20.320 ft. Mt. Denali. Denali National Park is the natural habitat for many types of wildlife including caribou, moose, wolves, Dall sheep, bald eagles, and the mighty grizzly bears. It is most likely you will spot some of them while taking our full day Denali Transit Bus to Eielson Center, Wonder Lake or Kantishna Roadhouse. You may exchange this tour and join the guided Tundra wilderness bus tour. The leisure train ride to Anchorage provides many spectacular vistas of the Alaska Range. Please read our itinerary to have more detailed day-to-day experience. On request, this trip can be customized and can be organized in reverse order.

  • Itinerary

  • Prices & Dates

  • Attractions & Add-ons

  • Accommodation

  • Rental Car

  • Map

  • Information

  • Reviews

Anchorage – Seward | Start Self Drive Tour ( Driving Distance: 130 miles | Overnight: Seward )

Arrive in Anchorage during the day and pick up your rental car. The drive on the scenic Seward Highway offers incomparable vistas of fjords, glaciers and mountains as you follow the Cook Inlet and Turnagain Arm. Arrive in Seward, a small fishing town at the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. Kenai Fjords is named for the numerous fjords carved by glaciers moving down the mountains from the ice field. The field is the source of at least 38 glaciers, the largest of which is Bear Glacier. This afternoon you have time to visit Exit Glacier. Short trails lead to the edge of the glacier where you can get a good photo in front of glacier ice. You may spend some time at the Alaska SeaLife Center – the world’s first cold water marine search institute. Enjoy a delicious seafood dinner at the harbor.

Seward ( Overnight: Seward )

This morning board the stable catamaran for a spectacular cruise deep into Kenai Fjords National Park with actively "calving" glaciers and magnificent scenery. Covering 110-miles, the trip is narrated by a National Park Ranger, who is highly adept at spotting wildlife and pointing out the many sights. Kenai Fjords showcase the best of Alaska’s marine world in a compact package. Kittiwakes, puffins and other seabirds nest along cliff faces just above the swells. Sea otters float belly-up eating mussels while Harbor seals haul out on icebergs. Look out for Steller sea lions on Chiswell Island as well as Humpback and killer whales. After reaching the tidewater glacier, guests witness "glacier calving" a process by which glaciers shed giant slabs of ancient ice. Included: Kenai Fjords Wildlife & Glacier Cruise

Seward - Alaska Ferry Whittier to Valdez ( Driving Distance: 90 miles | Overnight: Valdez )

Depart Seward and drive to Whittier via Portage Glacier. Enjoy the scenic cruise to Valdez onboard the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry. Prince William Sound encompasses 3,800 miles of coastline, bounded to the east and north by the Chugach Mountains and to the west by the Kenai Peninsula. Commercially important for the fishing and oil industries, the sound is also prized for its abundance of marine and coastal life, its rain forest of Sitka spruce and western hemlock, and its glacier-studded landscape. The sound contains 150 glaciers including 17 tidewater glaciers, known for dramatically calving huge ice chunks into the sea. The main attraction of Prince William Sound is Columbia Glacier, one of the largest and most magnificent of the tidewater glaciers along the Alaska coast.

Valdez – Copper Center ( Driving Distance: 110 miles | Overnight: Copper Center )

Valdez is the gateway for salmon fishing trips and narrated cruises to magnificent Columbia Glacier. Join a scenic cruise this morning to Columbia or Meares glacier. Spot the Sound's marine wildlife, including Bull Head Sea Lions, Seals, Otters and Whales. You will learn about the mining, oil spill, earthquake, and fishing history and you will hear stories about the native people exploring Prince William Sound. Leave Valdez and drive through Keystone Canyon, taking pictures at the "Bridal Veil Falls". Stopover at Worthington Glacier and take a short walk along the interpretive boardwalk to the face of the glacier. Copper Center is the gateway to Wrangell - St. Elias National Park. Join a bushplane flight if you want to get a true sense of the 13 million acres of Wrangell - St. Elias National Park.

Copper Center – Fairbanks ( Overnight: Fairbanks )

Leave Copper Center on the Richardson Highway. Known as a paradise for anglers and rafters searching for big fish and whitewater adventure, Gakona, Copper Center and Glenallen are great jump-off points during the famed Copper River Red Salmon runs. Continue to Paxson with it's many sled dog kennels and further on to Delta Junction - a telegraph station established in 1904. The intersection, marked by an oversized white milepost for Mile 1422 of the Alaska Highway, is known as the Triangle. Delta Junction is home to the 90,000-acre Delta Bison Sanctuary, which was created to contain a free-roaming herd of more than 500 animals. The area features spectacular views of the Alaska Range and the Delta River. On clear days the panoramas of Mount Hayes, Mount Moffit and other peaks are stunning.

Fairbanks | End of Self Drive Tour ( Overnight: Fairbanks )

You are invited to explore Fairbanks gold rush history, its vibrant traditional native cultures as well as abundant wildlife and fantastic scenery. This morning you may visit the renown Alaska University Museum featuring Alaska's natural history best collection, Alaskaland or join the authentic sternwheeler "Riverboat Discovery" on a scenic 20-mile roundtrip cruise down the Chena and Tanana Rivers. A guided van tour along the Dalton Highway or a flightseeing tour to the Arctic Circle is a super popular choice for experiencing the Arctic Circle and Yukon River. Enjoy a bush mail plane flight or a flightseeing trip to Fort Yukon to understand as well as experience how the Gwich'in Athabascan Natives live in "Bush" Alaska. Drop off your rental car in Fairbanks.

Fairbanks – Denali National Park | Rail Tour ( Overnight: Denali Village )

Enjoy the scenic ride onboard the Alaska Railroad to Denali National Park. Choose between the standard rail car or the glass-dome compartments with large panorama windows ensuring unobstructed views of snowcapped mountain ranges, pristine scenery and abundant wildlife. The train passes through the small community of Nenana, known for the Nenana Ice Classic Lottery. Just north of the Denali park, the train winds along Healy Canyon, following the curves of the Nenana River below. Arrive at Denali Village at noon. Transfer to your hotel and check into your room. Once you settled take a stroll through Denali Village, join a flightseeing tour, wildwater rafting trip or visit Jeff King’s Husky Homestead Kennel for a personal tour with four-time Iditarod champion Jeff King and his sled dogs.

Denali National Park ( Overnight: Denali Village )

Denali National Park offers excellent wildlife viewing and spectacular sceneries. Pick up your tickets, board the bus and watch out for grizzly bears, moose, caribou, wolf and fox moving along the ridges and river beds. Your driver informs about the history of Denali National Park, its diverse wildlife and flora. Once an animal has been spotted the bus will stop that everyone can watch and take pictures. The bus turns around at Eielson Visitor Center - 66 miles one way/8 hours round trip. You can get off the bus anytime to go for a hike. Return to the Denali Park entrance anytime during the day. Optional: We can extend the transit bus tour to Wonder Lake or exchange to the Tundra Wilderness Tour, Kantishna Wilderness Trails or Backcountry Lodge Tour. Included: Denali Transit Bus to Eielson Center

Denali National Park – Anchorage | Rail Tour ( Overnight: Anchorage )

Board the Alaska Railroad and relax in your comfortable reclining seats, have a delicious lunch onboard or listen to the commentaries from an onboard interpreter. Just south of Denali you'll enter Broad Pass, offering majestic views of the Alaska Range in all directions. Your rail tour continues via Wasilla and crosses the Knik River with the Chugach Mountains as a backdrop before arriving in Anchorage, Alaska's largest city. Nestled along the Chugach Mountains, the coastal city is brimming with activities for the outdoorsy and adventurous, as well as the more relaxed. Visit the Log Cabin Visitor Center and its Crossroad, Ship Creek Viewpoint overlooking Cook Inlet and the Resolution Park with its Captain Cook Monument. Try out one of the popular seafood restaurants this evening.

Anchorage

Spend some time at the Alaska Native Heritage Center: the Gathering Place is center stage for Alaska Native dancing, compelling Native Games demonstrations and intriguing storytelling. The Hall of Cultures features exhibits and demonstrating Alaska Native artists. Visitors discover more about each of the five major culture groups through engaging exhibits. The Theatre hosts a variety of movies all day, including the Heritage Center produced film, "Stories Given, Stories Shared". Guests stroll through six authentic life-sized Native dwellings around beautiful Lake Tiulana and are introduced to the traditional life ways of the native people. Check out of your hotel and transfer to the airport.

Rates in US $ / per Person
Comfort Hotel Category Single Double Triple Quad Child
May 14 - May 31 $4653 $2682 $2077 $1775 $460
June 1 - August 31 $5359 $3067 $2356 $2000 $479
September 1 - September 12 $4653 $2682 $2077 $1775 $460
First Class Hotel Category Single Double Triple Quad Child
May 14 - May 31 $5642 $3312 $2594 $2231 $616
June 1 - August 31 $6506 $3790 $2943 $2516 $635
September 1 - September 12 $5642 $3312 $2594 $2231 $616

What’s included

9 Nights Comfort OR First-Class Accommodation

Hotel and State Taxes

6 Days Midsize Rental Car (For additional Upgrades and Extras Click Here)

Unlimited Free Mileage

Rental Car Licensing Fees

CFC, State & City Rental Car Sales Taxes

One Way Car Rental Fee

Alaska Ferry Transfer from Whittier - Valdez / Car

Alaska Ferry Transfer from Whittier - Valdez / Passengers

6 hr Kenai Fjords Glacier & Wildlife Cruise including lunch

Seward Port Fee

Denali Transit Bus Ticket to Eielson Visitor Center

Denali & Fairbanks Railroad Station and Airport Transfers

Tour Documentation

Sightseeing Information

Railroad Transportation Fairbanks - Denali National Park

Railroad Transportation Denali National Park – Anchorage

Comfort Hotel Category includes Reserved Seats in Standard Adventure Class Train
( upgrade to Dome Car Train is available for $280.00 per person )

First Class Hotel Category includes Reserved Seats in Upper Level Panorama Dome Car Train,
Priority Check-in & Boarding, Use of Private Outdoor Viewing Platform,
Priority Dining Room Seating, Enhanced Reclining Seats

Tour Departures

Daily  from  May  14th  –  September 

Valdez: Columbia Glacier Cruise

Join our scenic 7-hour Columbia Glacier Cruise. The journey throughout Prince William Sound will feature a visit at the Columbia Glacier area where you have a chance to view history in the making as Columbia Glacier retreats back into the Chugach Mountains. In addition to the amazing ancient ice pack of the Columbia Bay you have the opportunity for wildlife along the way that calls the Sound home and to learn about the mining, oil shipping, earthquake, and fishing history of the area.

More Details & Pricing

Copper Center: Wrangell - St. Elias National Park Flightseeing Tour

This flightseeing tour takes in some of the unique features found in the Wrangell Mountains. Listen as your pilot explains the geology of a rock glacier, the Mile High Cliffs and the iceberg filled lake found at the toe of the Nizina Glacier. As you round Chimney Mountain look up the massive Rohn Glacier and see the beautiful medial moraines winding their way down the valley. Mt. Regal soars above on the right and the 16,000’ peaks of the University Range are in view on the left. As we cross the ridges each successive valley is filled with a glacier, each with its own unique features. See the Stairway Icefall, Kennicott, Gates and Root Glacier as well as Erie mine and the towns of Kennicott and McCarthy.

More Details & Pricing

Denali: Exchange Transit Bus Tour to Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour

The fully narrated 62-mile Tundra Wilderness Tour into Denali National Park is led by a certified naturalist driver/guide who will also provide historical and geographical background of the area. The tour will last approximately eight to nine hours and includes ample photo and rest stops. When your tour driver is able, he/she will take video footage of animals along Park Road and project these images onto drop-down video screens, featured only our specially designed tour buses. This way you can get a close-up look at the roadside action. At the end of the tour, you’ll have the opportunity to purchase a “Tundra Wilderness Tour” DVD, which will feature some of the video footage shot from your tour! Guests cannot switch buses throughout the day (only the Denali Transit Bus allows this).

More Details & Pricing

Denali: Exchange Transit Bus Tour to Kantishna Wilderness Trails Tour

The Kantishna Wilderness Trails tour is the premier Denali Park wilderness bus excursion. Spend the entire day in Denali National Park and discover a piece of Alaska's gold rush history and warm hospitality at the historic Kantishna Roadhouse, located just past Wonder Lake on the banks of Moose Creek. Your 12 to 13-hour fully-narrated excursion to Kantishna travels via a custom motorcoach through 95 miles of Denali National Park's prime wildlife habitat. The last 30 miles allow for full viewing of Mt. Denali, weather permitting. The wilderness backcountry of Denali Park provides diverse habitats which support big-game species such as black bear, grizzly, moose, caribou, Dall sheep, wolf, and wolverine. Hot beverages and refreshments are included en route to the Kantishna Roadhouse. After a hearty deli style lunch in the dining room at the Roadhouse, relax and visit the Historical Recorder's Cabin and enjoy a dog sled demonstration or gold panning. Guests cannot switch buses throughout the day (only the Denali Transit Bus allows this).

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Denali: Exchange Transit Bus Tour to Denali Backcountry Adventure Bus Tour

The Denali Backcountry Adventure Tour is another premier Denali Park Wildlife bus excursion. This full-day, 13-hour tour travels 95 miles in each direction to the Denali Backcountry Lodge in Kantishna. You'll travel by private bus with a trained naturalist driver/guide giving interpretation along the way helping you search for bear, moose, caribou and other wildlife while pointing out the biology and geology of the region. Several photo and rest stops will be made. Snacks, drinks and lunch are provided. Lunch is served at the exclusive Denali Backcountry Lodge in Kantishna. Lunch consists of a sandwich bar, soups, fruits, snacks, fresh baked goods and non-alcoholic drinks. After lunch try your luck at gold panning near the lodge or take a guided nature walk before returning to the Park entrance.

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Fairbanks: Arctic Circle Flightseeing Tour to Fort Yukon & the Yukon River

Experience a breathtaking tour of Fort Yukon by plane. Enjoy the 50 minute flight to For Yukon. Fly north over the Yukon River, across the Arctic Circle, thru the Brooks Mountain Range, and over the Gates of the Arctic National Park. Upon landing you will meet a local host who will take you around Fort Yukon by bus and share their home with you enlighten with facts about the area. The tour does make a stop at the Yukon River for a chance to get out and take pictures. Once the tour is over, you will have a return flight to Fairbanks where you'll receive an official certificate for crossing the Arctic Circle!

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Martha, FL: I’ve just come back to work after my Alaska trip, and I confirm everything was great ! Picking up the rental car was easy and Seward already provided the first highlight. The Kenai Fjords crew was great and very attentive. The Captain was very knowledgeable about the seas and nature alike. He made a point of finding wildlife for all to enjoy and manoeuvred the boat so as to get the best photos. We sailed along side a pod of Orcas and spent extra time at the one glacier where the seals were resting on the ice. We had a great time. The railroad trip from Fairbanks was a fun experience. We had a guide to point out local and historical attractions as we traveled towards Denali National Park and Anchorage. The scenery was magnificent. We got to see Denali from a distance. Also, we were served breakfast and lunch in the lower compartment of the panoramic double decker car we were in.