Has anyone been to Alaska?

[FuckYouLeslie]

I would absolutely love to go, but would appreciate some views and also whether it's a big deal to not drive because I hate driving?

Ideally I'd love to do a cruise but it's hugely expensive so probably not doable to blow £6k... plus flights.

Solo female traveller aged 40. Absolutely love the outdoors. Would also like to hear about safety recommendations as when I googled this a while back it told me Alaska is the US state with the highest crime rate. I was very surprised at this.

Interests are walking, hiking, kayaking and pretty much anything to do with nature. The colder the better. I don't like hot weather.

Many thanks

I went 25 years ago and it was absolutely amazing, but I hired a car and camped, and was with my boyfriend at the time.

Personally I think you would see more on an overland trip than a cruise, but definitely add in some sightseeing boat or kayaking trips.

There must be organisations out there offering these kinds of trips with other travellers?

Other travellers?! Noooo. I'm a loner 😉

In that case, unless you're prepared to drive, you may struggle. Also if you're into wilderness walking you need to be bear aware and fully prepared.

Yes but on a cruise

I flew over on my own and I don’t drive. However I stayed with a friend who lived in Juneau and we definitely needed the car to get to some of the nice places. If you went to a city like Juneau and stayed in the downtown area there are some nice wee things there and you could have a nice break for a few days but all the really lovely things I saw definitely involved a drive out of the city.

I've got the Northern Exposure theme in my head now.

A cruise will be the cheapest way. And inside cabin on Holland America, even for a solo traveller is well below £6k- we are paying around that amount for a couple in a balcony cabin with a 1 week land tour included also!!!

I’ve done the cruise before and have just booked to go back- we’re doing 1 week cruise from Vancouver to Whittier and then a 1 week over land tour to the Kenai Fjords and Denali. I believe we’re paying £6.5k for that. Then sorting flights ourselves because we have airmiles. If you just do the cruise, the 7 day version should be less than £2k in an inside cabin.

We did the cruise from Vancouver in 2019. It was bloody fantastic. I beautiful place and well worth going.
We also did a couple of weeks in Canada and went on the Rocky Mountaineer train before the cruise.
I’d recommend Canadian Affair they got us a really great price - a lot less than you’d think for everything we did.

Also driving is fairly pointless in Alaska because a lot of places aren’t actually connected by road!!!

We have the cruise, coach to take us to Kenai Fjords and then the Alaska Railroad to Denali, in “Gold” class.

7 days on Holland America to the classic Juneau/Skagway/Ketchikan/Glacier Bay (absolute must do!) is definitely coming it at under £1.5k if you go in shoulder season.

The stuff with cruise + land tour is still available for more like £4.5k for 10/11 days.

Have you looked into cruises from Seattle? I did this (albeit 20 years ago) and arranged hiking/biking tours for the days we were docked. It was a great way to see parts of Alaska at a reasonable cost, but if you want to get away from the touristy parts you would definitely need a car. It may be cheaper to fly into LA and then take an internal flight to Seattle.

Yes, with Intrepid travel. You will need to drive and the distances are long.

Yes, we cruised from Seattle to Vancouver, was fab. Many parts of Alaska are not accessible by road so cruising works well.
I just looked up prices for Celebrity Summit next year (May/June) ish and they start around £700pp for the 7 night trip. Might be double for a single room but still likely to be within budget when you add on tips, drinks, flights and tours.

Have you looked at Passion for Cruises?
They cater for solo travelers without the solo supplement.

Ive just looked and they have an Alaska cruise in September for <£2k inside or <£3k balcony and that includes flights from London.

I went in 2017 with an adventure holiday company. Most of the people in the small group were solo female travellers. I'd hold off from writing this off as an option. I have travelled alone a lot, but having a guide and driver in Alaska was massively helpful. The driving distances are big, was glad not to be doing the driving!

Alaska is huge, you will need to drive or your options are very limited. I probably wouldn't recommend a cruise as the inland sights are such a long drive from the coast, you'll spend too much of your day on a bus and get so little time to see things.

If you can find a way to get to Denali national park without a car, there are several hikes and things you can do from there, including getting their bus into the park. But I dont recommend hiking alone (even as a solo hiker myself) because bears are everywhere. We saw loads in Denali, just in the parts you see from the bus. Most had cubs, so added danger for humans.

I felt quite safe there from a crime POV. Wildlife is another matter, and a good reason not to be alone, especially if you aren't used to 'thinking bear'. Much of Alaska is true wilderness, not to be taken lightly.

oooooo you might see a Bigfoot, in fact there is a Bigfoot cruise, would love to go on that😁

Ooo thanks for this! I'll look into it. This will be a big trip and if I'm cruising I want a balcony. After all nobody goes to McDonald's for a salad. If I'm doing this I want bells and whistles!