Alaska Tours. Advice for a Newbie, Please.

[Chops]

Alaska on my bucket list. Always wanted to go, not just for the extraordinary mineral history, but something about the place just stirs me like nothing else. It's like a hunger.

I thought about striking out on my own and hitting Ketchikan and then flying up to Nome and seeing what the bear can see (why Nome? Why not?), but I think better that as a newbie to Alaska that I might do better to sign up on a guided tour. Not a cruise, I am not interested in people who drink to oblivion or riding a go cart track at sea, but either by rail or by bus. I'd be open to a small sail boat, even, even bicycle, but definitely not a Carnival Cruise kind of guy. I could care less about eating 8 times a day.

I find what is on the Forum to be absolutely fascinating, but I am not interested in spending days panning (maybe a few hours, just for kicks), but mostly in seeing the most of this extraordinary land. Everytime I see some video about it, it takes my breath away.

Not much for cities either. We have Chili's and McDonald's here in El Paso, too. I yearn to go in-country, yearn to see wild rivers, would love to see an old mining town, or two, or three. Yearn to breathe wild air and see birches and wilderness.

Any suggestions?

 

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[1637]

i flew in anchorage,rented a car and checked out everything along the trails hwy to fairbanks.get a note book and write down all the cities you are thinking about, google what to see near and what to do near.so you dont miss something,also i found a really cool coupon book that give discounts for allot of things,you would walk in places and they would see the book and say ours is on page.at the end of the trip i give it to a really nice waitress.this was 10 years ago,but i found some on ebay with a few coupons missing. just plan ahead so you dont waste time or miss something after you get there. there are places that you can go and rent pans and stuff,and you can pan on there land . the book is called alaska toursaver book. good luck brad

 

[1637]

also some places give a large discount if you book before you go,like 2 for 1

 

[DWerk]

Go to a Bookstore and buy a book called "Milepost" put out by Northwest Publishing, comes out with a new book every year. Gives info on all routes in and around AK. Travel the trails of the Iditarod, see some of the native villages on the coast, try late Jun/Jul and do some fishing. Tale a whitewater trip thru Denali Park and a bus tour back into the back areas of the park.... Have fun and see the real state before it is totally ruined now that the complete AK Highway has been paved...