Tour
Alaska Essential

Alaska Essential

10 DAYS – 9 NIGHTS / MAX 8 PEOPLE

Departure Dates 2021

July  17
August 24

SGB DBL TPL CHD
$4820 $3940 $3679 $1250

Description

Enjoy a 10 day fully guided escorted tour on a comfortable van. A max of 8 people will share this tour, making it perfect for a whole family willing to discover the beauty of this state.

Tour Includes:

  • Arrival and departure transfer in Anchorage
  • Bed and Breakfast for the entire tour
  • All taxes
  • Dedicated driver/escort for the entire period aboard a 15 passenger van
  • Matanuska Glacier Sightseeing at viewpoint
  • Columbia Glacier Cruise in Valdez – light lunch included
  • Rika’s House Historical site entrance
  • Fairbanks visits: Museum of the north , Fountainhead Antique auto museum and Gold daughters tours
  • Tundra Wilderness tour inside Denali N.P. – snack box included (possibility to purchase a lunch box)
  • Alaska Railroad goldstar service from Denali to Wasilla – lunch included
  • 26 Glacier Cruise in Whittier – lunch included

Primary Hotels by Destination:

  • Anchorage: Voyager Inn
  • Fairbanks: River’s Edge
  • Denali: Crows Nest
  • Valdez: Totem Inn
  • Girdwood: Alyeska Resort

Itineraries

Day 1 Arrival in Anchorage
Arrival in Anchorage and transfer to your hotel.
Overnight at Voyager Inn

Day 2 Anchorage – Valdez
Breakfast at the hotel
We leave Anchorage hitting the Glenn highway. Along the route we stop at the Matanuska Glacier viewpoint. The Matanuska Glacier is a valley glacier, consisting of streams of flowing ice that create the headwaters of the Matanuska River. Now 60 miles south of Palmer, the position of the terminus has changed relatively little in the past 30 years. The glacier functions as a weather hole that naturally propels warm valley air upward. Due to this phenomenon, visitors will experience sunnier skies and a warmer environment compared to the rest of the Mat-Su Valley, making this a premier destination for those seeking glacial adventures
Upon arriving in Glennallen we will turn right on the Richardson hwy towards Valdez. We will go thru Thompson Pass, immersed in a luxurious vegetation surrounded by rivers, glaciers and waterfalls. Before arriving in Valdez stop to admire bride vail and pony tail waterfalls inside Keystone Canyon.
Overnight at Totem Inn

Day 3 Valdez
Breakfast at the hotel
10.30 – Departure of the Columbia Glacier Cruise.This 6-hour journey through Prince William Sound will feature a visit to 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 ice in Columbia Bay, you will see wildlife along the way that calls the Sound home and have the opportunity to learn about the mining, oil shipping, earthquake, and fishing history of the area. On board a light meal is served.
Overnight

Day 4 Valdez – Fairbanks
Breakfast at the hotel.
Early departure to drive north towards Fairbanks. We will frive past Glennallen on the Richardson hwy. Early morning departure along the Old Richardson Trail South – that originally was just a sleddog trail – towards Delta Junction, where we will travel south to reach Valdez. A brief stop at Rika’s Roadhouse an historic roadhouse built early 900’. Home of the Delta Historical Society Museum, Rika’s Roadhouse at Big Delta State Historical Park is in a ten-acre state park on the shores of the Tanana River. The Valdez-to-Fairbanks Trail ran through here and continued across the river, aided by a ferry. The roadhouse was built to accommodate the travelers and is a National Historic Site. The museum is a separate building behind the roadhouse and has displays of artifacts from the Alaskan life. There is a beautiful barn and two other historic display cabins set up to show how the military lived as they put in a telegraph line through here which opened up communication to Washington for the first time. There is also a gift shop, restaurant, and animals and birds to help create the right ambiance for this beautiful setting
Arrival in Fairbanks and time permitting we’ll do a quick city tour
Overnight at River’s Edge
Day 5 Fairbanks – Denali
Prima colazione in hotel
This morning we’ll visit the Fountainhead Antique auto museum. Walk into the Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum and step back into an amazing time in history. Discover a rich, vibrant and immersive celebration of our love of the road and the magnificent machines that once transported us there. With a world-class collection of vintage automobiles and period fashions complemented by fascinating exhibits, accessories, photographs and archival videos, we welcome you on a vivid journey through the automotive age, from Victorian times through the Art Deco era.

We will also visit the Museum of the North, located inside the Fairbanks University. See Alaska Native cultures, natural wonders, and diverse wildlife. Explore 2,000 years of Alaska art. The museum’s exhibits are the best introduction to Alaska’s diverse wildlife, people, and lands. View original installations about Alaska’s dinosaurs and the research made possible by our collections. Experience breathtaking architecture and views of the Alaska Range. Our museum is as unique as the Arctic cultures we celebrate
We can’t leave Fairbanks without digging a little bit of gold. Your day starts with a bag of paydirt from Fairbanks Gold Co. You can then pan all day from piles of paydirt that we’ve hauled in from a local operating gold mine.There’s more than guaranteed gold… you also have the chance to uncover ice age fossils and cool minerals. It is not uncommon to find pyrite, quartz crystals and garnets.
We continue onto the Parks highway for a 2 hour drive south, towards Denali National Park
Overnight at Crows Nest Cabins

Day 6 Denali
Breakfast at the hotel
Today we will visit Denali National Park. Traveling 62 miles into Denali National Park to Stony Hill Overlook, the Tundra Wilderness Tour (TWT) offers a wonderful and diverse experience for park visitors. Incredible scenery, a narrated history of Park Road, and some of the best opportunities to view the park’s wildlife inhabitants await you on this tour.While we can’t promise or predict when wildlife will show, the Tundra Wilderness Tour allows plenty of opportunity to look for Dall sheep, moose, caribou, wolves and grizzly bears. On days when Denali (meaning “the high one” or “the great one”) is visible, the tour bus travels to Stony Hill Overlook for an amazing view of Denali from base to summit.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
Overnight

Day 7 Denali – Girdwood
Breakfast at the hotel
We will have the chance to visit the Denali National Park visitor center to learn more about this wonderful ecosystem and national treasure.
12:30PM You will board the Alaska railroad train to travel till Wasilla where you will meet your escort again.
A short drive passing Anchorage will take you to the little town of Girdwood where you will overnight
Overnight at Alyeska Resort

Day 8 Girdwood – Whittier – Anchorage
Breakfast at the hotel
A short drive will take us thru the Anton Andersen tunnel to reach Whittier.
12:50PM The 26 Glacier Cruise departs from Whittier and travels through the pristine passageways and fjords found in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Upon leaving Whittier, the vessel heads east out Passage Canal and north up Port Wells on the way to College Fjord. Along the way, enjoy a delicious hot lunch served at your table. College Fjord offers a panoramic view of the glaciers named during the Harriman Expedition after the Ivy League Colleges on the East Coast. On the way to Harvard Glacier, the Captain will plot a path through the ice-filled waters up to the front of the glacier to get an up close view while watching for massive chunks of ice calve into the sea.From College Fjord we continue to a very scenic area called Esther Passage where only small ships can navigate this hidden waterway. High mountains protect this narrow channel from rough seas and winds. Many different animals call this area home; bald eagles are commonly seen fishing in the area along with occasional black bear sightings. It is not uncommon to see orca whales, humpback whales, sea lions, harbor seals, sea otters and a variety of birds in this narrow passage.Leaving Esther Passage, we head toward Egg Rocks or Perry Island in search of migratory Steller sea lions on the way to Blackstone Bay for more glacier viewing and Yosemite-scale waterways. On the return trip to Whittier, the vessel will stop one more time at a kittiwake bird rookery that is located just across the bay from Whittier. Over 10,000 birds inhabit these rocky cliffs each summer laying eggs. They fish constantly in front of the rookery and then train the young hatchlings all the survival tips they will need before returning to fly south for the winter. The rookery is our last stop before returning to Whittier.
We hit the tunnel again and onto the Seward highway for a 1 hour drive back to Anchorage
Overnight at Voyager Inn

Day 9 Anchorage
Breakfast at the hotel
Full day to explore Anchorage on your own or participate to one of the optional excursions.

Overnight

Day 10 Anchorage
Breakfast at the hotel. Depending on your flight schedule transfer to the airport

Hotel List:
Anchorage: Voyager Inn***
Valdez: Totem Inn ***
Fairbanks: River’s Edge
Denali: Crows Nest***
Girdwood: Alyeska Resort****

Optional Excursion from Anchorage. Price per person

Anchorage trolley tour city seightseeing € 20
Chinitna bay bear watching € 920
Anchorage museum and Alakska Native Heritage Center € 45
Prince William Sound Glacier flight Tour – 3 hours € 458
Biking € 90
Discover Denali flight – 3 hours € 458
Glacier and Wildlife flight Tour with lake stop 2 1/4 h € 355

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