Alaska by Train: Denali, Seward and the Kenai Fjords

Arrive in Anchorage

Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to your hotel downtown

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Anchorage
• Environ 18 min de route

Matin

Fly into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), where a driver meets you for the fifteen-minute ride to a central hotel downtown; we choose one close to the Alaska Railroad depot you leave from in the morning.

Après-midi

If you land early, the afternoon is yours: the Anchorage Museum covers Alaska Native cultures, art and the state's history, and the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail starts at the edge of downtown and runs along Cook Inlet, with the Chugach Mountains behind the city and, on a clear day, Denali far to the north.

Soir

In the evening your See Sight Tours guide meets the group for a short briefing: how the trains work, what goes in the day bag, how the bags travel, and what the week's weather looks like. Then we walk to a welcome dinner at a local restaurant, with Alaskan salmon or halibut on the menu in season.

Compris

• Pick-up at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC)
• Welcome briefing with your guide
• Welcome dinner in Anchorage

Activités en option

• Anchorage Museum
• A walk or bike ride on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail

The Denali Star to Denali

Anchorage depot by train via Wasilla, Talkeetna, Hurricane Gulch and Broad Pass to Denali Park

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Denali Park
• En train

Matin

We leave the hotel after an early breakfast for the Denali Star, which pulls out of Anchorage at about 8:20 am. Your bags go in the baggage car, so the day is just you and a window. The line runs north through the Mat-Su valley and past Wasilla, then along the Susitna River to Talkeetna, where climbers start for Denali; the train stops there in late morning, from about 11:05 to 11:20 am. On a clear day the mountain stands up over the river flats; often it is in cloud, and your guide will tell you where to look.

Après-midi

After Talkeetna, lunch comes from the train's cafe, included, eaten at your seat or at the cafe tables. In the afternoon the train climbs into the Alaska Range, crosses the high bridge over Hurricane Gulch and runs through Broad Pass, the high point of the line, with open tundra on both sides. We reach the Denali Park depot at about 3:40 pm, and a short transfer takes us to our hotel near the park entrance for two nights.

Soir

The evening is free.

Compris

• The Alaska Railroad Denali Star from Anchorage to Denali, Adventure Class
• Lunch from the train's cafe, included
• Transfer from the Denali depot to the hotel

Activités en option

• GoldStar dome seating with its dining room, priced at booking
• Flightseeing over Denali from the park area, weather permitting

Deep into Denali National Park

The Denali park road to the Eielson Visitor Center and back

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Denali Park

Après-midi

No food is sold beyond the entrance, so we carry a packed lunch and eat it at Eielson.

Soir

The round trip takes about eight hours, so we are back near the entrance by mid-afternoon, with time to rest before dinner together near the hotel.

Compris

• Denali National Park entrance fee
• Park transit bus to the Eielson Visitor Center (Mile 66) and back, with your guide
• Packed lunch for the bus
• Dinner with the group

Activités en option

• Flightseeing over Denali, weather permitting
• Rafting on the Nenana River

Horseshoe Lake, the sled dogs, then the train south

Horseshoe Lake and the park kennels, then Denali Park by train to Anchorage

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Anchorage
• En train

Matin

A slower morning near the park entrance. After breakfast your guide walks the group down to Horseshoe Lake, an oxbow lake below the bluffs where beavers have built a dam and lodge; the loop is about 4 km with one steady descent and climb. Then the free park bus takes us to the kennels at park headquarters for the rangers' sled dog demonstration: the dogs still haul supplies and patrol the park in winter, and you can walk along the kennels to meet them. We check out, the bags go ahead to the depot, and the Denali Star southbound leaves at about 12:30 pm.

Après-midi

This time you see the line in afternoon light and from the other direction: Broad Pass, Hurricane Gulch, then the long run down the Susitna valley, with another chance at Denali if the cloud has lifted.

Soir

Lunch and an early dinner come from the train's cafe, included, so there is nothing to organise on arrival. We reach Anchorage at about 8 pm and transfer a few minutes to a central hotel, chosen close to the depot. The Seward train leaves early tomorrow.

Compris

• Guided walk to Horseshoe Lake
• Sled dog kennel demonstration at park headquarters
• The Alaska Railroad Denali Star from Denali to Anchorage, Adventure Class
• Lunch and dinner from the train's cafe, included
• Transfers to the Denali depot and to the hotel in Anchorage

Activités en option

• GoldStar dome seating with its dining room, priced at booking

The Coastal Classic to Seward and Exit Glacier

Anchorage by train along Turnagain Arm, via Girdwood and the Kenai Mountains to Seward, then Exit Glacier

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Seward
• Environ 45 min de route

Matin

The Coastal Classic leaves Anchorage at about 6:45 am, so breakfast comes from the train's cafe as the line runs south beside Turnagain Arm, where the tide moves fast over the mudflats and Dall sheep graze on the cliffs above. The highway shares this shore, but after Girdwood and Portage the track turns away from it into the Placer River valley, past Spencer Glacier and Bartlett Glacier to Grandview, a stretch with no road at all, before rejoining the highway near the Trail Lakes.

Après-midi

We reach Seward at about 11:20 am, drop bags at the hotel and have lunch in town. In the afternoon a 20-minute drive takes us to Exit Glacier, the part of Kenai Fjords National Park you can reach by road. Your guide walks the trail to the glacier viewpoint, past signs that mark where the ice stood in past years, and explains why it has retreated so fast.

Soir

The evening in Seward is free.

Compris

• The Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic from Anchorage to Seward, Adventure Class
• Breakfast from the train's cafe, included
• Lunch in Seward
• Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, with your guide

Activités en option

• GoldStar dome seating with its dining room, priced at booking

Kenai Fjords National Park by boat

Seward Small Boat Harbor through Resurrection Bay into the Kenai Fjords and back

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Seward
• En bateau

Matin

After breakfast we walk to the Small Boat Harbor for a six-hour cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park, where glaciers from the Harding Icefield run down to the sea. The boat follows Resurrection Bay south past cliffs and small islands, then out into more open water and into one of the fjords to sit in front of a tidewater glacier, engines off, listening for ice to crack and fall. The captain and crew call out wildlife as it appears: sea otters, Steller sea lions on the rocks, puffins and other seabirds, often humpback whales and sometimes orcas.

Après-midi

Lunch is served on board. We are back in Seward by mid-afternoon with time to rest or walk the waterfront.

Soir

In the evening we meet for a seafood dinner in town, the last dinner together off the train.

Compris

• Six-hour Kenai Fjords National Park cruise from Seward, with a tidewater glacier
• Lunch on board
• Seafood dinner with the group in Seward

Activités en option

• Sea kayaking in Resurrection Bay

Seward, then the evening train to Anchorage

Seward, then the Coastal Classic to Anchorage and the airport

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Environ 18 min de route

Matin

The morning starts at the Alaska SeaLife Center on the waterfront, a public aquarium and marine research centre where you can watch Steller sea lions, harbor seals and puffins from above and below the water and learn how the centre rescues stranded animals.

Après-midi

Lunch is in town, then the afternoon is yours: walk the waterfront path along Resurrection Bay, look for sea otters in the harbor, or walk the Tonsina Point trail with your guide.

Soir

The Coastal Classic leaves Seward at about 6 pm, so you ride the Placer River valley and Turnagain Arm again, this time northbound in the long evening light, with dinner from the train's cafe, included. We reach Anchorage at about 10:15 pm. A transfer takes you to the airport for an overnight flight, or to a hotel if you are staying on. Book a flight leaving after about midnight, or add a night in Anchorage, which we can book at cost.

Compris

• Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward
• Lunch in Seward
• The Alaska Railroad Coastal Classic from Seward to Anchorage, Adventure Class
• Dinner from the train's cafe, included
• Drop-off at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) or a hotel in Anchorage

Activités en option

• An extra night in Anchorage, booked at cost