I've wanted to go to Alaska for a long time. And after a couple of months of exceptionally hard work I finally decided it was time to treat myself with a trip that's been on my bucket list for so long. Planning a trip to Alaska can be chalennging, since you want to make sure you end up with the perfect itinerary. I also read up on any information I could find, since there were many things about the US state, I didn't know. Frankly, there are many itineraries out there for several lengths of trips and quite a few options to get help for coming up with the one that is the perfect fit for you.
In this blog post, I share my Alaska travel diary. Hopefully some of you will find this useful when planning your own trip. I went to Alaska in August, which might be helpful to know, since some of the activities you want to do (e.g. see Northern Lights) will depend on the season.
Day 1 - First Day in Anchorage
I booked a flight from Dublin via Seattle to Anchorage, from where me and my friend started the trip. We booked an AirBnB in Anchorage for the first couple of days to explore the city before starting our road trip. We started the day with breakfast at Cafe Amsterdam before exploring Downtown Anchorage. We only booked the rental car with the start of our road trip and going back this is something I would definitely change, since Ahchorage is not a very walkable city. We found an amazing spot Downtown called Williwaw Social, where we had a few cocktails and went for dinner to Moose's Tooth. Even though we had to wait quite a long time to get seated, the pizzas were good and massive enough for two dinners.
Day 2 - Tony Knowles Coastal Walk in Anchorage
After breakfast at Snow City in Downtown Anchorage, we hiked the Tony Knowles Coastal Walk - a 20 km (12.5 miles) hike along Anchorage's coast. Sadly enough we didn't see much wildlife except for a couple of birds - but as two German girls traveling Alaska for the first time, we were pretty afraid of possible spontaneous bear encounters. We headed for some cocktails after our long walk and had dinner at the AirBnB.
Day 3 - Flattop Mountain Hike In Anchorage
On our third day we had breakfast at the AirBnB and then booked a shuttle, which brought us to Flattop Mountain just outside Anchorage. The shuttle service was great, but if I could do it again I would book the rental car a little earlier to be more independent when it comes to organizing the timing. The hike was only a 5 km (3 miles) trip but much harder than expected, since the trail was really steep at times. We only had a small time window because of the shuttle but were determined to do the full trail all the way to the top. Even though the last part consistent more of crawling and climbing, it is worth the effort when you get to enjoy the views at the top!
Day 4 - Drive from Anchorage to Kenai Peninsula
On day four we finally got our rental car - which turned out to be slightly more stressful than I thought, because we did not book the rental car in advance and it took us a while until we figured out our best option without paying a fortune for insurance (Germans - book via a German thrid party website, such as mietwagen-billiger.de). We then drove South towards the Kenai Peninsula, where we booked an Airbnb in Soldotna. This AirBnB was hands down the coolest one we stayed at during our trip, our hosts were super nice and left us with tons of tips for hikes. We stopped a couple of times during the trip to enjoy the views of Kenai lake.
Day 5 - Kenai Peninsula
Day 5 was our first full day on the Kenai Peninsula and we started with driving to Kenai Beach. We then drove along the west coast to Homer where we had a nice stroll and a coffee break on Homer Spit. Even though Homer Spit is very touristy, it was also artsy and I enjoyed our strop there. When we drove back from Homer towards Seward we spotted some mose along the street! Check for our first proper wildlife encounter! We went to Louie's steak and seafod for dinner, were we had king salmon for dinner.
Day 6 - Hiking On The Kenai Peninsula
After breakfast in our cabin, we drove to Skilak Lake, where we hiked the Skilak Lookout trail. The hike was recommended by our host, who seemed to be a local hiking expert, so the benefits of our AirBnB definitely paid off. The hike wasn't too long with only 6 km (4 miles), but had some good elevation gain (750 ft). We were rewarded with amazing views at the top and I can definitely see this hike being really beautiful during the winter as well! After the hike, we drove further east to get to the Kenai river, where we strolled along the beginning of the Kenai River trail.
Day 7 - Kenai Fjords
On day 7 we left our AirBnB and drove South to Seward where we booked a Kenai Fjords Glacier & Wildlife Tour on a boat. Even though it wasn't the cheapest acvitivty, it was definitely worth it! The duration of the tour was 6 hours and included lunch as well. Although the boat was quite full, we were really lucky with the weather and stayed outside for most of the time. The glacier the boat took us tour was definitely more impressive than I thought it would be and we also got to see really cool wild life such as otters, sea lions, birds and jelly fish. Even though I didn't have high hopes to see a whale (it wasn't a whale watching tour after all), we actually got lucky and spotted a grey fin whale and three orcas. I have deep regrets about not bringing a good quality SLR camera with me on the trip - if photography is your thing, don't just rely on your iPhone. After the cruise we drove all the way up to Palmer where we booked another AirBnB.
Day 8 - Palmer
We had breakfast at the Noisy Goose before exploring Palmer, which had a nice street market and book store. We then drove to the Matanuska Glacier an hour outside of Palmer, which also offered some nice views along the way. After our trip, we spend the rest of the afternoon in the sunny backyard of our AirBnB to be all relaxed to make our way up North!
Day 9 - Talkeetna
The first stop on our way North was the Hatcher Pass with the Summit Lake and the historic Independence Mine. The pass was actually fairly difficult to drive, because road conditions were quite bad. We didn't book a guided tour at the mines, but for $8 entrance fee were allowed to walk around the site ourselves. It's a nice to do when you are on the way, although I find that as a European I have a slightly different understanding of a historic site. After our stop we drove further up to Talkeetna. Even though the village itself is fairly touristy, we got a good glimpse of Denali in the distance! Our AirBnB was a small cabin just ouside of Talkeetna.
Day 10 - DENALI
We woke up early the next day as we booked a bus tour at Denali National Park & Preserve that day. We had breakfast on the way to Denali at McKinley Creekside Cafe. Once we arrived at the park we first wen to the visitor center and then made our way to the bus terminal. The bus tour ended up being a good deal with $60 per person for a 6 hour tour. The weather wasn't great but the landscape was really impressive. I found it quite hard to spot wildlife from the bus (again, a good camera and maybe even some binoculars would have been nice) but I quite like the park's approach to wildlife. You are not allowed to leave the bus if you see bears beside the road so animals don't get used to humans. After a while I was afraid we wouldn't see any wildlife at all but we actually did end up seeing bears, quite a few moose, sheep and rabbits. After our Denali tour, we drove all the way up to Fairbanks, which was the northernmost point of our tour. Our AirBnB was quite alright, but didn't live up to our expectations, so I won't link it here.
Day 11 - Exploring Fairbanks
I found Fairbanks to be a quite underwhelming city to be honest. We started our day at the northernmost Denny's in the world and explored the downtown area after. We also went to the Museum of the North at the University of Fairbanks, which was really interesting and taught us a lot about Alaska and its history. After our stop at the museum, we went for a walk along the river and walked under the Antler Arch.
Day 12 - Stampede Trail
After getting up at 5 am in the morning, I drove my friend to the airport in Fairbanks, where she took a flight back to Anchorage before flying back home. I was gonna staw for a few more days and drove back South to Healy, where I was gonna hike the Stampede Trail to see the Magic Bus. Even though I was worried about a lot of things (getting lost or eaten by a bear), I found the bus alright and am proud to say that I can finally check this of my bucket list.
Day 13 - Stampede Trail pt. 2
After spending the night in the magic bus I started hiking back early the next day (after let's be honest, not more than a couple of hours sleep) and was quite glad to be back at the car and start my drive to Anchorage. The drive was quite exhausting, not only because I just hiked quite a distance over the past couple of days wihtout much sleep, but also because there were a lot of wildfires just North of Anchorage and the drive was really slow and smoky.
Day 14 - Bye bye Alaska
After staying the night at a hotel in Anchorage (so much better than the magic bus) and a last meal in downtown Anchorage as well as some shopping, I made my way back to the airport to drop off the rental car and fly back to Ireland. I took the same route back as before, with a layover in Seattle before flying to Dublin. Unfortunately my flight to Dublin was cancelled, so I had to stay in Seattle before being able to get on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany and from there to Dublin. It wasn't the end I had hoped for but I made it back safe and sound and am glad to have gone on this trip!
Kate recommends: Bonnie Sue-Hitchkock is an Alaskan author and her book Everybody Dies Famous In A Small Townis a coming of age book in the American west. It is a collection of several stories which capture the weird and wonderful lives of small-town kids from Alaska to California.