Alaska: Denali and the Kenai Fjords for three generations

1. Day 1: Arrive in Anchorage

   Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to your hotel in central Anchorage

   • Drive about 18 min
   • Welcome dinner at about 5:30 pm
   • Stay in Anchorage
   Day 1 details

   Fly into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC), about 10 km from downtown, and a driver meets your family for the short ride to a central hotel. Plan to land by about 3 pm; the exact time is confirmed with your final itinerary. Anchorage sits between two arms of Cook Inlet with the Chugach Mountains straight behind it, and in summer it stays light until close to midnight, so the first job is blackout curtains or eye masks for the children. If you arrive early, the Anchorage Museum downtown has a hands-on science gallery for children alongside its Alaska Native collections, or walk a flat stretch of the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail along the shore, where moose sometimes graze in the birch woods. At about 5 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the whole group for a short briefing: how the train day works, what to wear on the boat and how luggage travels. Then we sit down to an early welcome dinner together, so younger travellers are in bed on time before tomorrow's 7:30 am start for the train.

   Included

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

   Optional experiences

   • Anchorage Museum

   Free time: Free until the 5 pm briefing

   

2. Day 2: The Alaska Railroad to Denali

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

   • By train
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Denali Park
   Day 2 details

   This is the trip's one early start: our transfer leaves the hotel at about 7:30 am, and the Denali Star leaves the Anchorage depot at about 8:20 am in recent summers. We ride in GoldStar Service, the glass-domed double-deck cars with an outdoor viewing platform, while our driver takes the luggage north by road. A train suits three generations better than a five-hour drive: grandparents sit back under the dome, and children can walk between cars, stand on the platform and watch for moose in the ponds beside the track. Your guide hands each child a Junior Ranger activity book for Denali to work on during the ride. The line runs about 380 km and seven and a half hours, across the lakes of the Mat-Su valley, past Talkeetna and up the Susitna River where no road follows. On clear days Denali shows to the west. Lunch is in the dining car. We cross Hurricane Gulch on a high steel bridge and reach Denali Park in mid-afternoon (about 3:40 pm). Our vehicle meets us for the short ride to the hotel near the park entrance, and the evening is free.

   Included

   • The Alaska Railroad Denali Star from Anchorage to Denali in GoldStar Service
   • Lunch in the dining car
   • A Junior Ranger activity book for each child
   • Transfers to the Anchorage depot and from Denali station to the hotel

   Free time: Evening free near the park entrance

   Activity: About 7.5 hours on the train, with room to walk between cars and stand on the outdoor platform. Toilets on board.

3. Day 3: Into Denali National Park, and the sled dogs

   The Denali park road by bus, then the park kennels

   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Denali Park
   Day 3 details

   Private cars may drive only the first 15 miles of the park road, so the park's own buses are the way in. We take a morning Tundra Wilderness Tour, not the first bus of the dawn, so nobody is woken at 5 am; the departure time is confirmed with your final itinerary. A naturalist drives and stops for whatever shows: grizzly bears, moose, caribou, Dall sheep on the slopes and now and then a wolf. Children are given the window seats when animals appear, and the bus stops for toilet breaks at rest areas along the way. Past Savage River the road turns to gravel over open tundra with the Alaska Range to the south. In 2026 the buses turn at East Fork, about mile 43; how far they go in later summers depends on that season's park road status, which we confirm for your dates. A packed lunch rides with us. Back by early afternoon, we visit the park's sled dog kennels, where rangers show the working dogs that patrol Denali in winter and children can meet them. Then rest at the hotel before an early dinner together.

   Included

   • Denali National Park entrance fee
   • Tundra Wilderness Tour on the park road with a naturalist driver
   • Packed lunch on the bus
   • Sled dog kennels demonstration with a park ranger
   • Early dinner together

   Optional experiences

   • A scenic float on the Nenana River, with age limits set by the rafting company

   Easier option: The sled dog kennels, then a quiet afternoon at the hotel, or the pool if the hotel has one.

   More active option: Walk the Horseshoe Lake Trail with your guide to look for beaver lodges: about 3 km round trip, with a steep stretch down to the lake and back up.

   Free time: Late afternoon free before dinner

   Activity: About 5 hours on the bus on a gravel road, with stops. Bring binoculars, snacks and a warm layer.

4. Day 4: Down the Parks Highway to Talkeetna

   Denali Park to Talkeetna on the Parks Highway, through Broad Pass and Denali State Park

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Talkeetna
   Day 4 details

   A slow breakfast, then we drive south on the Parks Highway, the road side of the corridor the train followed. The day's 245 km and about three hours are cut into two legs: about two hours through Broad Pass, where the country opens into tundra and small lakes, to the Denali Viewpoint South pull-out, which faces the mountain and its glaciers across the Chulitna valley. There are toilets, a paved path and picnic tables, and if Denali is out this is our best look at it. Then about an hour on to Talkeetna, at the end of a short spur road where three rivers meet. Lunch is in town. Afterwards your guide walks the family through the old centre of log cabins and false-front stores, down a short path to the river viewpoint and past the ranger station where Denali climbers register. The town is small and flat, so children can explore with a parent and grandparents can sit by the river. If the weather is clear, the afternoon suits an optional flightseeing trip over the mountain. The evening is free.

   Included

   • Drive from Denali Park to Talkeetna with your guide
   • Denali Viewpoint South
   • Lunch in Talkeetna
   • Talkeetna town walk with your guide

   Optional experiences

   • Flightseeing over Denali from Talkeetna, weather permitting, with age and weight rules set by the air operator

   Easier option: Stay on the paved path at the viewpoint and sit by the river in Talkeetna after lunch.

   More active option: A longer walk with your guide on the riverbank trails beyond the viewpoint.

   Free time: Afternoon and evening free after the town walk

   

5. Day 5: Alaska Native cultures and the Alyeska tram

   Talkeetna to the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage, then along Turnagain Arm to Girdwood

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Girdwood
   Day 5 details

   We leave Talkeetna after breakfast and drive about two and a quarter hours south, with a stop on the way, to the Alaska Native Heritage Center on Anchorage's eastern edge. Inside, Alaska Native hosts share dance, song, games and stories; children are often invited to try a traditional game. Outside, a level path around a small lake leads to full-size village sites, each built by a different group of Alaska's Indigenous cultures, with benches along the way. We spend about two hours here and then have lunch together in the city. In the afternoon the Seward Highway follows Turnagain Arm for about 45 minutes. We stop at Beluga Point to scan the water for white whales that sometimes follow the tide in and the cliffs for Dall sheep. In Girdwood, a small mountain town in a side valley, we ride the Alyeska Aerial Tram to its upper station at about 700 m for the view over hanging glaciers and the arm. Dinner together at about 5:30 pm, then the evening is free.

   Included

   • Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage
   • Lunch in Anchorage
   • Beluga Point on Turnagain Arm
   • Alyeska Aerial Tram, Girdwood
   • Early dinner together

   Easier option: Ride the tram up and back, and stay on the viewing deck at the top.

   More active option: Walk the short trails around the tram's upper station with your guide, snow and conditions allowing.

   Free time: Evening free in Girdwood

   Activity: The tram cabin is enclosed and the ride takes a few minutes. Paths at the Heritage Center are level, about 1 km in all.

6. Day 6: Rescued wildlife, Exit Glacier and Seward

   Girdwood to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center at Portage, Exit Glacier and Seward

   • Drive about 2.5 h
   • Breakfast, lunch and dinner
   • Stay in Seward
   Day 6 details

   From Girdwood, a short drive of about 20 minutes takes us to the head of Turnagain Arm and the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, a sanctuary for orphaned and injured animals that cannot return to the wild. We are there near opening time for a quieter visit. A loop road and short paths lead past brown and black bears, moose, musk oxen, caribou and wood bison, so the children who missed a bear in the park get their close look. We stay about an hour and a half, then drive about one and three quarter hours south through Turnagain Pass and Moose Pass, with a picnic lunch stop on the way. Just before Seward we turn up the valley to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. Signs along the approach mark where the ice stood in past years, so children can count how far it has pulled back. Your guide leads the walk on a short accessible trail toward the glacier. We reach Seward, on Resurrection Bay, in the late afternoon. Dinner together at a local seafood restaurant at about 5:30 pm.

   Included

   • Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, Portage
   • Picnic lunch on the way
   • Exit Glacier walk with your guide, Kenai Fjords National Park
   • Early dinner together in Seward

   Easier option: The Glacier View Loop, a short accessible trail to a view of the glacier.

   More active option: For adults and older children, the first section of the Harding Icefield Trail, steep and rocky, with the turnaround set by your guide.

   Free time: Evening free in Seward

   Activity: Under a kilometre on the accessible loop at Exit Glacier; the loop road at the wildlife center can be walked or driven.

   

7. Day 7: Kenai Fjords National Park by boat

   Seward and Resurrection Bay to a Kenai Fjords tidewater glacier

   • By boat
   • Breakfast and lunch
   • Stay in Seward
   Day 7 details

   The morning is free, so nobody is rushed before a long day on the water: sleep in, walk the flat waterfront path along Resurrection Bay, or let the children run on the shore by the harbour while grandparents have a coffee. Late in the morning we walk to the boat for a six-hour cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park. The boat runs the length of Resurrection Bay, past sea stacks and seabird cliffs, then out past Aialik Cape to the face of one of the tidewater glaciers (Aialik or Holgate, depending on the day), where the captain idles the engines so you can hear the ice crack and fall into the water. Watch for humpback whales, orcas, porpoises, sea otters, sea lions on the rocks and puffins on the cliffs. The boat has a heated indoor cabin with seats for everyone, toilets and open decks for the wildlife moments. Lunch is served on board. If the sea outside the bay is rough, the captain keeps to sheltered water and the route changes on the day. We are back in Seward in the early evening, which is yours.

   Included

   • Six-hour Kenai Fjords National Park cruise to one of the park's tidewater glaciers
   • Lunch on board

   Easier option: Stay in the heated cabin and come out on deck when the crew calls wildlife.

   More active option: A morning walk with your guide along the Seward waterfront path to the edge of town.

   Free time: Morning and evening free in Seward

   Activity: About 6 hours on the boat. Bring warm hats, gloves, snacks for children and seasickness tablets if you need them.

8. Day 8: The SeaLife Center and home

   Seward to the Alaska SeaLife Center, then along Turnagain Arm to Anchorage airport

   • Drive about 3 h
   • Breakfast
   Day 8 details

   We walk to the Alaska SeaLife Center on the Seward waterfront for its opening in the morning: an aquarium and research centre where children watch Steller sea lions, harbour seals and puffins above and below the water, touch tide-pool animals and hear about the centre's work rescuing stranded marine mammals. We stay about an hour and a half, so it suits a nine-year-old's attention and a grandparent's feet, with benches throughout. Then we drive north on the Seward Highway, about 205 km and two and three quarter hours, broken with a stop at Turnagain Pass or beside the arm for a last look for belugas. We reach Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport at about 2 pm. Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm; if your family is staying on, we drop you downtown instead. Your guide sees you to the airport and checks your flights before saying goodbye.

   Included

   • Alaska SeaLife Center, Seward
   • Drop-off at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport (ANC) or downtown Anchorage

   Activity: Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm.

Wildlife and weather: Summer days are usually about 10 to 20 °C with rain possible any day, and it is colder on the water by the glaciers. June has the longest light and the most mosquitoes; salmon run in July and August, the warmest weeks. The mountain is often hidden in cloud, and wildlife on the park road and from the boat is likely but never certain, which is why the Wildlife Conservation Center is in the plan.

• Anchorage1 night
• Denali Park2 nights
• Talkeetna1 night
• Girdwood1 night
• Seward2 nights