Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

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Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

Post by skark.. » Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:16:03


We will be going on a cruise to Alaska and we have almost a day in
Skagway. This is our first time and our party has two children (10 and
6 years of age).

We are contemplating whether to just take Packer Expedition Tour
(Train + Hike) costing about $110 per person or to rent a car (about
$100 total) and explore by ourselves.

If we rent a car, would we be able to do some hiking on our own? How
about navigating around Skagway?

If you have any suggestions or recommendations (with pros and cons),
please let us know.

Thank you very much for your time,
__
Sudarshan.

 
 
 

Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

Post by Jim » Sun, 07 Jun 2009 12:40:32


We found the train up to the Canada border to be spectacular,  The White
Pass and Yukon RR, the scenery and the story are "must do's" when I make
recommendations to my friends.

Skagway (the town) is small and can be explored on foot - not sure what it
takes to get to a hiking trailhead.

Enjoy whatever you decide.

Jim


Quote:> We will be going on a cruise to Alaska and we have almost a day in
> Skagway. This is our first time and our party has two children (10 and
> 6 years of age).

> We are contemplating whether to just take Packer Expedition Tour
> (Train + Hike) costing about $110 per person or to rent a car (about
> $100 total) and explore by ourselves.

> If we rent a car, would we be able to do some hiking on our own? How
> about navigating around Skagway?

> If you have any suggestions or recommendations (with pros and cons),
> please let us know.

> Thank you very much for your time,
> __
> Sudarshan.

 
 
 

Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

Post by Becc » Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:56:42



> We will be going on a cruise to Alaska and we have almost a day in
> Skagway. This is our first time and our party has two children (10 and
> 6 years of age).

> We are contemplating whether to just take Packer Expedition Tour
> (Train + Hike) costing about $110 per person or to rent a car (about
> $100 total) and explore by ourselves.

> If we rent a car, would we be able to do some hiking on our own? How
> about navigating around Skagway?

> If you have any suggestions or recommendations (with pros and cons),
> please let us know.

> Thank you very much for your time,
> __
> Sudarshan.

Skagway is a small village, it is only several blocks wide and several
blocks long.  They have Regional Transit SMART buses that travel up and
down each street, it is $2 one way, or $5 for all day.  We walked it and
we are not young.

BTW, there is some hiking you can do that is near the port.

http://www.trails.com/city-trails.aspx?keyword=Skagway&state=AK

We came home from our cruise on May 18th and I would love to go back.  
Have a great time on your cruise, we had wonderful weather and I hope
you do too.

Becca

 
 
 

Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

Post by pete » Mon, 08 Jun 2009 06:19:57


On 6/6/09 5:40 AM, in article


> We found the train up to the Canada border to be spectacular,  The White
> Pass and Yukon RR, the scenery and the story are "must do's" when I make
> recommendations to my friends.

> Skagway (the town) is small and can be explored on foot - not sure what it
> takes to get to a hiking trailhead.

> Enjoy whatever you decide.

> Jim



>> We will be going on a cruise to Alaska and we have almost a day in
>> Skagway. This is our first time and our party has two children (10 and
>> 6 years of age).

>> We are contemplating whether to just take Packer Expedition Tour
>> (Train + Hike) costing about $110 per person or to rent a car (about
>> $100 total) and explore by ourselves.

>> If we rent a car, would we be able to do some hiking on our own? How
>> about navigating around Skagway?

>> If you have any suggestions or recommendations (with pros and cons),
>> please let us know.

>> Thank you very much for your time,
>> __
>> Sudarshan.

Sudar, I agree with Jim. Take the train at least once. Your kids will love
it. We took the ship's excursion (one way bus; return by train; saw bears,
moose and eagle); it was not much more expensive than tours offered locally.
 
 
 

Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

Post by PDDee » Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:46:14



> On 6/6/09 5:40 AM, in article


> > We found the train up to the Canada border to be spectacular, ?The White
> > Pass and Yukon RR, the scenery and the story are "must do's" when I make
> > recommendations to my friends.

> > Skagway (the town) is small and can be explored on foot - not sure what it
> > takes to get to a hiking trailhead.

> > Enjoy whatever you decide.

> > Jim



> >> We will be going on a cruise to Alaska and we have almost a day in
> >> Skagway. This is our first time and our party has two children (10 and
> >> 6 years of age).

> >> We are contemplating whether to just take Packer Expedition Tour
> >> (Train + Hike) costing about $110 per person or to rent a car (about
> >> $100 total) and explore by ourselves.

> >> If we rent a car, would we be able to do some hiking on our own? How
> >> about navigating around Skagway?

> >> If you have any suggestions or recommendations (with pros and cons),
> >> please let us know.

> >> Thank you very much for your time,
> >> __
> >> Sudarshan.

> Sudar, I agree with Jim. Take the train at least once. Your kids will love
> it. We took the ship's excursion (one way bus; return by train; saw bears,
> moose and eagle); it was not much more expensive than tours offered locally.

On our last trip we took a van tour and the kids took the train. We
saw more, interesting scenery according to their account, stopped and
the van driver took photos of all who wanted them in front of the
beautiful sign at the border coming back to Alaska, and heard the same
basic stories, met a couple of the "***s" in town and just
generally had a better day trip in the van than the train trip
offered. We also saw, up close, Salmon at spawn in a small creek.
Pitchfork Falls was beautiful and one of the sights unviewable from
the train as was a cantilevered highway bridge built to be safe in an
earthquake. Again, try one of the van trips, you might like it.

PDDeen

 
 
 

Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

Post by skark.. » Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:44:17


We thank you all for your suggestions. We appreciate all the input.

Regards,
__
Sudarshan.

 
 
 

Alaska Cruise - Skagway - Rent a car Vs Excursion tour?

Post by Peter » Wed, 10 Jun 2009 00:59:21



Quote:> We will be going on a cruise to Alaska and we have almost a day in
> Skagway. This is our first time and our party has two children (10 and
> 6 years of age).

> We are contemplating whether to just take Packer Expedition Tour
> (Train + Hike) costing about $110 per person or to rent a car (about
> $100 total) and explore by ourselves.

> If we rent a car, would we be able to do some hiking on our own? How
> about navigating around Skagway?

> If you have any suggestions or recommendations (with pros and cons),
> please let us know.

> Thank you very much for your time,
> __
> Sudarshan.

We just got back from Princess Inside Passage cruise.  Get your tours
as you get into town.  No need to book ahead.  It's a 10 min walk into
town and there'll be plenty of tour offices offering all kinds of
tours.  Or go to the local tourism office to check out some self
guided tours.