There are adventurous travelers and there are travelers who really enjoy being pampered more than a great adventure. I have vacationed the complete spectrum, I have pinched pennies while vacationing in Gatlinburg Tennessee and stayed in a very expensive vacation home with a private maid in Saint Jean de Luz, France. I will admit that the vacation home with a private maid was a nice way to experience France.
But, I am an adventurer at heart probably born from my days as a kid where I grabbed a fishing pole or net and waded creeks and ponds to see what was there. My favorite type of travel is where you see things up close and personal with exposure to the people, culture and wildlife. This might require you to hop on a rubber landing raft and land on a beach where no one lives or it might require you to reach down and pet a whale. Adventurers run between 8 and 98 years old generally.
Today's adventure takes you to the interior of Alaska. There are three ways to explore the Alaskan interior. You can do it on your own with a tent, rent an RV and do your own thing. Or, you can take a tour which is more organized and pampered. Both of these are adventures because you will be seeing things seldom seen by anyone else on either option.
If you are seriously interested in renting an RV you should do this well in advance. RVs are already available for rental in 2008 and 2009!. Go Here. If someone has taken an RV trip we would love to get some details of your trip and include it in our adventure blog. We really don't have any details to describe an RV trip so we are going to focus on the tours available after taking a cruise.
There are three ways to experience Alaska after a cruise other than buying a tent and hitting the road on your own.
1) You can be part of a complete and experienced Tour Package which will handle all of your arrangements and take you to the most common destinations such as Denali National Park, Dawson City, Copper River before or after your cruise. These are usually part of your cruise package so we will discuss tours done by several cruise companies this week.
2) The more adventurous tours which include white water rafting, camping and more will be discussed next week. Make no mistake though, seeing wild Alaska is an adventure no matter how you do it.
3) You can stay at a hotel in Anchorage and take day trips. Most of these available options will be discussed next week also.
If you are taking the northbound cruise these tours would occur after your cruise. If you are taking a southbound cruise these tours would occur before your cruise. There are too many tours to list them all so I will list the ones that should appeal more to the adventurous travelers. If you want more information on all of the tours available go here. For simpler comparison all of the tours listed are for a southbound cruise, you would take your tour first and then take your cruise.
Princess Cruises Great Land History & Wilderness
This description is for a southbound cruise. You would start your trip with the tour and then take a ship going south to Vancouver.
Day 1 - Anchorage Meet your fellow travelers and tour guide to begin your trip
Day 2 - Anchorage/Denali Travel by rail from Anchorage to Denali National Park's Princess Wilderness Lodge and enjoy a music show in the evening.
Day 3 - Enjoy a morning trip deep into Denali National Park. The rest of the day is free to spend however you like, relaxing or taking an optional excursion
Day 4 - Relax or take an optional excursion in the morning. Take the train back to the Fairbanks Princess Riverside Lodge.
Day 5 - Take a riverboat cruise from Fairbanks and enjoy a trip to the El Dorado Gold Mine. Spend the evening in Fairbanks exploring on your own.
Day 6 - Travel from Fairbanks to Dawson city and relive the Klondike Gold Rush. Enjoy Diamond Tooth Gerties in the evening.
Day 7 - Enjoy the history tour of Dawson City and the Gold Rush. In the evening you are free to enjoy anything you desire.
Day 8 - Enjoy a beautiful train ride to the Copper River Princess Wilderness Lodge
Day 9 - Copper River. Enjoy a full day to choose from optional excursions to enjoy the Wrangell-St. Elias National park, America's largest national park.
Day 10 - Take a motorcoach sightseeing trip to Valdez. Then enjoy a catamaran crossing of Prince William Sound. Arrive in Whittier where you will board your ship and set sail.
Holland America
Day 1 - Arrive in Anchorage and check into your downtown hotel
Day 2 - Take a scenic luxury rail ride to Denali National Park and stay at a Denali lodge.
Day 3 - Enjoy a long Denali Tundra Wilderness Tour and luxury rail ride to Fairbanks
Day 4 - Tour the Dalton Highway and cross the Arctic Circle. Stay overnight at Coldfoot.
Day 5 - Pass through the Arctic National Park as you entire the land of the midnight sun. Stay overnight at Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Circle.
Day 6 - Enjoy an Arctic Circle/Prudhoe Bay tour while looking for king eiders and phalaropes. Fly to Anchorage after your tour and spend the night at a fine hotel.
Day 7 - Enjoy a scenic motorcoach ride from Anchorage to Seward and board the ship.
Cruise West
Day 1 - Arrive in Fairbanks and enjoy a wine and cheese reception at Pike's Waterfront Lodge
Day 2 - Enjoy breakfast and a riverboat cruise on Chena and Tanana Rivers, a tour of Fairbanks and admission to Alaska's Museum of the North. You can also take an optional flight above the Arctic Circle which is about 100 miles away.
Day 3 - Enjoy your breakfast in a domed railcar on your way to Denali National Park. After you reach Denali you will take a bus to North Face Lodge for lunch and enjoy dinner and an overnight stay. You will have leisure time to view wildlife and the incredible scenery.
Day 4 & 5 - Spend two more nights exploring Denali and staying at the North Face Lodge. More time to enjoy optional activities at Denali than most tours. This is your chance to explore on your own or with a guide.
Day 6 - Enjoy dinner on board the domed railcar as you leave Denali and travel to Anchorage.
Day 7 - Enjoy a city tour of downtown Anchorage and a lunch tour of the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. In the afternoon you have the choice of visiting the Alaska Native Heritage Center and dancing to a native drum presentation or see life-size replica village sites including the Aleut, Alutiq and Yup'ik/Cup'ik cultures. You have a choice of seven restaurants for dinner with the Anchorage dine around program.
Day 8 - Fly from Anchorage to Juneau where you will stay at the Goldbelt Hotel with time for exploring on your own.
Day 9 - Board the ship for your cruise.
Brian@freecruisebook.com For more info click here
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