Alaska Vacation Ideas

7mmMag

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Next summer my wife and I are planning on going to Alaska for a vacation/honeymoon. Im just looking for ideas on things to do/places to go. We basically want to do a "typical" Alaska vacation (site seeing, beautiful drives, hiking..etc) We also want to do some salmon and halibut fishing. Im sure a lot of people on here have done something like this so we are just looking for some ideas.
 


NJL

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I enjoyed taking the ferry from Valdez to Whittier, then taking the train from there to Seward; lots of great views along there. We also took a bus tour of Denali park. For fishing, i most enjoyed catching sockeye & king salmon in the Kenai river at Soldotna. For halibut we took a charter out of Ninilchik, though Homer is fairly close also. We went in mid July and our timing was fairly good for the pink and sockeye runs.
 

eseamands

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Both of the times that I've been to Alaska, we've made our home base at Wasilla, which is where our friends live. For a nice drive and hike, The Matinuska Glacier is something I would strongly recommend. http://www.matanuska-glacier.com/ It's not too far of a drive from Palmer/Wasilla.

I second the halibut charter out of Ninilchik. We used Reel Em Inn and had a great time and caught some nice fish as well. http://www.cookinletcharters.com/

If you're looking into doing more of a salmon/trout fishing, I would recommend Kenai River Fly Fishing, out of Cooper Landing. We went on a full day expedition through the Canyon Section of the Kenai with Mr Mike Pence. It was gorgeous, we caught a ton of fish, and saw some of the most beautiful area of the Kenai River. https://krff.com/

As far as traveling goes, I know a lot of people rent an RV. We did that when we went last summer. It was a bit expensive going through a large commercial outfit, but the pro was that we got a brand-new Minnie Winnie with all the amenities (https://www.greatalaskanholidays.com/).

If you're okay with not having something super fancy, a cheaper option may be to go through an RV Rental by owner website. I know of three families that were up there the same time as us, that had great luck doing that. (like RVshare.com)

You can camp almost anywhere, but I really enjoyed the night we spent in Seward at Miller's Landing. They have plenty of touristy stuff to do right out of the landing itself, or you can treck into Seward for the Sealife and Aquatic Center or for a bite to eat. Miller's Landing has good fishing charters as well. (https://www.millerslandingak.com/index.php)

Hope that helps! Hope you have fun! We can't wait to go back!

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3Roosters

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If you are anywhere near Homer, you need to visit the infamous Salty Dawg Saloon. Plus that area is neat. Homer spit area.Thumbs Up
We did a charter out of Seward in July a number of years back. We used https://www.thefishhouse.net/ although our boat didn't catch any monster Halibut we did catch our boat limit. We also caught Rock fish and a few salmon and the wife caught an octopus which was cool. The sights were awesome going out to our fishing grounds.
 

Taylorman55

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We rented an RV out of Anchorage for around $1500 for nearly 2 full weeks. Just had to fill fuel. Was like new and in great shape. Slept 6 people comfortably. Drove down to Seward and had a one day charter. Caught a ton of fish. Spent the night there and then drove to Homer the next day, slept, charter next day. ROUGH fricken water but caught some awesome fish. If I were to do it again I'd rent the RV in a heartbeat. We bought a cheap grill and made most of our own meals right in the parking lots most days. We were fortunate enough to fish the Kenai River a few days on a some family friends private property. Fish weren't running too hard but still managed a lot of nice salmon. Absolutely awesome experience and we are planning on heading back next summer.
 


DerHornen

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The Juneau area is pretty cool, although you can only drive about 30 miles out of town before you run out of road. There are plenty of hiking and fishing opportunities and ferries that go to some of the other small towns and islands in the region.
 

snow

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Honey moon eh? spent 5 years knockin around alaska,workin,fishing and of course hunting ,so maybe think about getting away from the masses,lake hood right in anchorge has the largest sea plane base in the world,alot of folks have planes for they're 2nd car...any many outfitters book from there,I flew out with alaskan bush air not to be confused with the great alaskan "bush" company which is one of the best strip joints in the country,new wife might frown on that journey...lol.

American plan book with one of the few outpost camps on lake "illiamna" would be a great,scenic and peaceful honey moon with over 11 species of fish if you time the run right,the lake also has giant pike which the state stocked back in the 1950's today they are viewed as rough fish no season or limits when I was there and you could use any means to catch them,
 

PrairieGhost

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All good advise, but I will mention a couple of things. When you take the buss trip in Denali go in the morning not the afternoon. People in the afternoon are always complaining because they didn't see bears etc. We took the morning buss tour and seen 11 grizzlies counting two that got in a fight right outside the buss behind us.
We took the inside passage cruise and the stops were ok, but then we took a big boat into the Kenai Fjord. That was just as good as the Denali tour.
We bought a small 19 ft travel trailer to head to Alaska two years ago. Then illness in the family put the brakes on that and we have not made it there again. The wife and I would both like to catch a pile of halibut for the freezer. I would like some salmon too.
If you have a choice to take buss or train from Anchorage to Denali I would suggest the train. It's away from the road and everything looks wilderness. The whole top of the train is glass or acrylic and the view is good from any seat. The legroom is exceptional.
 

aron

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I've been to Alaska a few times. For fishing, I recommend fishing with J-Dock out of Seward for halibut, rock, and ling cod. We didn't get any huge halibut but the boat limited out on all three species and they busted ass to get us our fish. Seward also has tours to get you back in towards glaciers and whales. I also recommend fresh water fishing near Coppers Landing on the Kenai. Homer is a cool tourist place but I prefer fishing out of Seward. Whittier is also supposed to be a good halibut spot and less touristy (less cost) but have never been there.

Taking the train can get you awesome views where vehicles can't get you and is reasonably priced. Hatcher Pass/Archangel Valley has got some good hiking trails. Crow Pass Trail is supposed to be great that I planned on doing last trip but the snow was still too high.
 

7mmMag

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Thank you for all the suggestions so far. I really like the idea of renting an RV. I've never thought about that but I think I'll do it for sure now. Im assuming there is nice camping in/around Denali??

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Also any suggestions on when to go? Plan on June, July time frame.
 


guywhofishes

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It gets tiresome being jealous of Taylorman’s vacations. He always seems to pull off top notch getaways. Grrrr.
 

KDM

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Keep insects in mind when booking a vacation with hike trips or all day outside stuff. Spring is Black Fly bonanza, summer is skeeters, but around the August time frame they all go bye bye. Silver salmon run peaks in August and the trees are starting to turn. Temps are very moderate and the summer rush of vacationers has waned. Been up there 5 times, all in August, and every trip was a blast. Have fun!!!
 

huffranger

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All good coments, I would suggest a flying tour of Denali. Also any Kenai Fjords boat tour out of Whittier or Seward.

My favorite time is end of June begining of July.

Usually less rain and BIG halibut and silvers, Dirty Mike caught the weather perfect last year at this time.

I will be fishing out of Seward here in 5 days, forcast is for rain with low winds. I'll take that over sun and wind.
 

Bowhunter_24

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I've been to homer fishing and also to Sitka

Homer is awesome. Sitka we caught a shit ton of silver and king salmon but the atmosphere is nothing like homer and it rained/fog the whole time

Ocean fishing is 20 times better than river. I would rather fish the ocean for 1 day than the river for 3 for the same price

Alaskan bush company in anchorage is good
 

LBrandt

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If I went to Alaska on vacation it would be a life long one cause I would never come back.
 


Taylorman55

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It gets tiresome being jealous of Taylorman’s vacations. He always seems to pull off top notch getaways. Grrrr.


I've got a good woman by my side that seems to love the adventures just as much as I do. If it wasn't for her on a lot of things, I'd be a pretty lame dude. She is now interested in getting her pilot's license also, so life is even better!

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Oh, also, our airplane tickets round trip were $450 out of Billings. If you book 6 months in advance like we did you can damn near cut your vacation trip $$ in half. There was a group of 6 of us that went up together. Myself, wife, inlaws and wife's aunt and uncle. Wife's uncle did alot of the planning. After we were done fishing we each bought a cheap cooler and packed a few ounces under the 50 lb limit. All the fish were froze, so we all checked an extra cooler or two. Literally saved a grand by having fish froze for a few days and then doing a "check" cooler at the airport. Worked out slick. Even with the cheap cooler, 95% of the fish were froze rock solid when we got back home, and anything that wasn't froze was still cold as could be. Just an option if you want to bring back some fish and not pay an outrageous amount to ship it back.
 

eseamands

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Oh, also, our airplane tickets round trip were $450 out of Billings. If you book 6 months in advance like we did you can damn near cut your vacation trip $$ in half. There was a group of 6 of us that went up together. Myself, wife, inlaws and wife's aunt and uncle. Wife's uncle did alot of the planning. After we were done fishing we each bought a cheap cooler and packed a few ounces under the 50 lb limit. All the fish were froze, so we all checked an extra cooler or two. Literally saved a grand by having fish froze for a few days and then doing a "check" cooler at the airport. Worked out slick. Even with the cheap cooler, 95% of the fish were froze rock solid when we got back home, and anything that wasn't froze was still cold as could be. Just an option if you want to bring back some fish and not pay an outrageous amount to ship it back.

THIS!!!!! Also, if you're thinking of doing the RV route, I would pack light. You can get a drive to the RV that you pick up, take said RV to the nearest Walmart/Grocery store/Outdoor Rec place and get your food, fishing license, outdoor gear, etc.
 

Bowhunter_24

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IMG_9547.jpg
We checked all these "bags". It was all still froze solid when we got home.
 

measure-it

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Our Alaska hunting trip had a 1 day layover in Anchorage. Looking forward to fresh seafood (king crab & halibut), my son chose Taco Johns (I like TJ's, but not in Alaska for God's sake)!
 

nybs

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I agree w 3 Rooaters - I’ve been to Homer twice and it’s great! We flew to Anchorage stayed there a night, slowly drove up to Homer fishing a few spots and stopping in small local establishments. The Homer spit area is neat and some other local places off the water were good eats...have fun!
 


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