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Planning the Perfect Alaska Trip:

A Step-by-Step Guide of How I Planned the Family Trip of a Lifetime

By Lora Sapp

My daughter graduated high school in 2022, and for her senior trip, she wanted to go to Alaska with the family. And I can honestly say it was one of the best, most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Here’s how we did it!

Before I get started, I wanted to make a couple points. First off, my husband and I are in our 50s and our kids are 16 and 18. Our trip might have looked a lot different if our kids were a lot younger or older, so that might be something to keep in mind. Another thing that should be noted is that we are a very privileged family and so this was not a budget trip. We tried to save money where we could, but overall, the whole vacation was expensive. So, if you want to be more money-conscious, I would really look into the links I’ve provided and decide what is worth doing and what is not. The main expense is probably lodging, so if you can find a hostel or something similar, that could be a huge help, depending on the kind of trip you’re looking for.

Booking and Research

We started booking for our trip at the end of March, to leave in June. Many of the hotels/houses were already booked by then, so I would suggest giving yourself even more time to figure all that out. Now, our family was not interested in taking a cruise (which is the most popular option), so I looked into tour groups because I thought planning it all by myself would be too overwhelming. Unfortunately, tour group packages are pretty expensive and you are on their schedule and stuck with a group of other travelers so I sucked it up and started planning on my own.

First, I researched the Alaska.org website, Tripadvisor, and read a lot of blogs online. Alaska is HUGE. I decided that since we were only planning on being there for about 10 days, and I did not want to spend a lot of time traveling from city to city taking up precious time, that we would concentrate on one area to maximize time. After A LOT of research and talking to a friend who vacationed there a few years ago I decided not to do Denali and to do the Kenai Peninsula, instead basing ourselves out of Seward. Seward is relatively close (just under 2 hour drive) to the airport in Anchorage and pretty much has every type of excursion you can think of since it is where the cruise ships dock.

Since our dates were flexible I first booked our lodging in Seward and went from there. I ran into trouble waiting so long that I had to book 4 nights at a log cabin through VRBO and then the next three nights in a different house in a different town through AirBNB. This is why I would suggest starting bookings at least 3-4 months in advance. Once I had those booked I booked our flights through Bank of America using points. By doing so, our flight selection and airlines were limited. We ended up flying United. Once the flights were booked, I reserved a hotel for two nights in Anchorage. (I booked two nights because the train ride we wanted to Seward left at 6:45am so I wanted to make sure we weren’t screwed if the flights were canceled or delayed, so I gave us an extra day just in case). I booked 4 Points by Sheraton (Marriott) downtown, close to the airport and train station.

I read that taking the Alaska Railroad coastal route to Seward was well worth the money so I booked us train tickets, deciding to get a rental car in Seward instead of driving. But, if you are looking to save a little money then rent the car in Anchorage and drive. It is pretty much the same view the whole time, but I think you miss a lot when driving. NOTE: there is only one car rental in Seward: Hertz. I had trouble booking online, so I called them directly to make sure we would have a car and that it would be a small SUV since we had a lot of luggage. The lady was so nice! She took my reservation and promised me there would be no problems. We had to have a rental since our cabin wasn’t in Seward but I think we would have rented one anyway based on what I read. They do have a town shuttle and some car services but not a lot, and I didn’t want to have to worry about trying to arrange all the rides to and from our excursions.

Day 1

On our first day of travel, we flew United through Denver to Alaska. We left Orlando, where we live, at around 3:00pm and landed in Anchorage at around 11:15pm, AK time. It was very easy to get a taxi at that hour. The cab ride was about 10 min and cost $20. Our hotel was okay, nothing fancy and not much of a view, but relatively cheap and I knew we weren’t staying there long. It was comfortable and had a separate living room with couch, TV and mini fridge, and room darkening shades which was helpful since this time of year it is daylight for about 20 hours a day!

Day 2

As I mentioned before, I scheduled in a sort of cushion day in case flights were messed up and to give us time to sleep and adjust to the time change.

In the morning, we walked downtown (just a few blocks away) and the kids bought some souvenirs and we walked the Coastal Trail for a while. The weather was 63-65. I wore leggings and a light sweatshirt and was fine… got a little hot at times but not bad.

We found a rooftop restaurant while on our walk: 49th State Brewing. HIGHLY recommend it! Sat outside overlooking the water. Food was great! My husband and the kids had their speciality: lightly beer battered halibut fish & chips. I had the king salmon BLT and it was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had (but I love salmon and could eat it everyday so I am a little biased). They also had great beer brewed right there and a whisky list a mile long! I stuck with a light ale and my husband had a specialty margarita.

After lunch, we walked to the bridge famous for salmon sightings but didn’t see any.Then, we walked to a restaurant I found on Tripadvisor called Glacier Brewhouse and made reservations for that evening since I heard it filled up fast. Lastly, we headed back to the hotel to rest and shower.

Dinner at the restaurant was very good. My husband and I had the halibut, my son had the salmon and said it was the best he has had, and my daughter had the smoked salmon appetizer for her dinner and liked it. (Since the sun never goes down neither does the temperature much, so I wore jeans and a light sweater to dinner and was fine… no jacket needed.)

Day 3

Day 3 started with a 5:00am wake up call. We were told we needed to be at the train station by 5:45 because they were expecting 400 passengers that day. We checked out of the hotel and decided to walk the 8 blocks to the train station since it was a downhill easy walk instead of trying to arrange a ride at that time.

We arrived at the train station at 5:50, checked our bags and got in line. It is a very small train depot but very efficiently run. Boarding was efficient and easy. The train was clean and spacious! The seats were very roomy and reclined. I did not spend the extra money on the Gold Star package where all seats are upstairs in a dome car… It was double the price. I am glad I didn’t because the views from the first floor were spectacular, and there was a dome car that anyone could go up into… They just asked you to limit your seating time up there to 20 minutes if people were waiting. It was never full so we popped up there a couple times, but honestly the seats below were perfect! I couldn’t take my eyes off the scenery.

We arrived in Seward at 11:15am. Hertz (the rental car company) was about a block away and we could have walked but they had a passenger van waiting so we took that. We rented the car for 7 days and were going to drive back to Anchorage… One, to save money on a train ride and two, because the train from Seward to Anchorage wouldn’t get us to the airport in time for our flight. Because we were not returning the car in Seward and had to time things right so we wouldn’t be charged another day, we actually stored our luggage at Hertz and walked around the Seward Harbor and had lunch and didn’t pick the car up until 2pm. We got a brand new Toyota Rav 4 with only 3 miles on it. Then, we drove about a mile to downtown Seward and walked around since we couldn’t check into our rental cabin until 5pm. Weather was 63… I wore leggings and a light shirt with a vest. It was chilly by the water at the harbor but warm downtown.

Safeway is the only grocery store in Seward and surrounding towns, so we shopped there for some food and liquor/wine for the cabin. NOTE: Nothing is cheap when eating out. Even lunch with no alcohol was a minimum $75-80 and dinner with alcohol was $200+. Really good food, just not cheap. So we planned on trying to eat only one meal a day out and eat at the cabin the other meals and it worked out perfectly. That is a huge plus staying in a cabin/house rather than a hotel.

When it was time to check into our rental, we drove about 20 miles north, close to a town called Moose Pass where our VRBO cabin was. The cabin was called the Kenai Cove Cabin, and WOW! I highly recommend staying there if it is available. (Seward has some small hotels but I heard they get crowded with cruise ship guests and aren’t the best). Staying at a house/cabin also saves you money in the long run because you can cook some meals there and also do laundry so you can pack less. The cabin was awesome outside and inside. It had 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths… Sleeps 9. It was well stocked with dishes, linens, and appliances. It had a beautiful back porch looking into a woody area and then, about 100 yards down, was a small path with a gorgeous panoramic view of the Kenai River with a bench to sit on and a fire pit. The owners left a binder with recommendations of things to do along with the story behind the cabin… So interesting.

That night, we cooked dinner and enjoyed the views. There is no air conditioning in the cabin, but it is so beautiful with the windows open. NOTE: bring eye masks to wear at night if you are a light sleeper because it never truly gets dark. There are room darkening curtains, but if you want the fresh air blowing in, you have to keep those open which obviously lets the sunlight in. Summer Solstice was that day and it didn’t get dark at all!

Day 4

The next day, we cooked breakfast and left at 9:30am for our helicopter ride/dog sled ride.

At 10:00, we checked into the Seward Helicopter Tours and Heads Kennel located in Seward. They provided nice covers that go over your shoes so no need to wear boots, but since it is snowy on top of the glacier, dress warmly in layers because you just don’t know.

The helicopters only held the pilot plus 3 passengers so I rode with another couple… It isn’t up to you who rides where. It is decided by weight distribution, and YES they do weigh you right in the office so you cannot lie! The helicopter ride was very pretty but only about 10 minutes. Then, we were dropped off on the top of a glacier to go on a 2 mile Iditarod dog sled ride. AMAZING! The sleds have three seats so we kept alternating who stood on the back of the sled with the guide. Our guide, Brandon, was awesome! He stopped a couple times to give the dogs rest and to let us pet them, and he took some great pictures of us on the sled with my camera. After the ride was over and we were waiting for the helicopter, we got to hold and play with 6 week old puppies. They were so cute! And the kids and guide were having a snowball throwing contest. Needless to say, we all loved it!

Afterwards, we ate lunch at Rays Waterfront in the harbor and it was very good. We were able to sit by the window overlooking the harbor so we had a beautiful view. NOTE: places fill up fast there since the cruise ships all dock there and people are constantly coming and going, but the restaurants all seem to shuffle people through efficiently without making you feel rushed.

To end the day, we drove back to the cabin and my husband, daughter, and I took a mile hike down by the lake off the backyard… Such beautiful views! And at 6:50pm the passenger train that we rode up on passed through right behind the cabin heading to Anchorage. This is the only time we heard the train passing… I think it must only happen twice a day, once around 11am when the train from Anchorage passes and then again at 6:50 one its way back to Anchorage… But I could be wrong it may pass more often and we just weren't there to hear it. We grilled out steaks and potatoes on the gas grill and enjoyed the view before turning in for the night.

Day 5

Day 5 was another early day for us. We had a 5:45am wake up call…Ate breakfast, packed a bag, and headed to Kayak Adventures Worldwide in downtown Seward to meet up for our daylong boat/kayak trip.

At 7:15, we boarded a water taxi and took a 2.5 hour boat ride, seeing sea otters, orcas, and bald eagles! NOTE: boat ride is cold! The boat goes 25-30 MPH so dress in warm layers with gloves and hats. The tour company will provide rain pants and extra layers if you need them. There is a cabin on the boat to go into to stay warm but you miss some of the views. They provided a light snack (½ muffin) and water, coffee, tea, and hot chocolate.

After about 2.5 hours, we were dropped off at a beach to get into kayaks. Each kayak holds two people and they provide kayak skirts and paddle gloves. Your body stays pretty dry except your arms get wet from paddling– I don't think you can avoid water sliding down your sleeves. The tour company provided a small “dry bag” for each person to put cameras, cell phones, etc. that you want on the kayak. I brought my own larger dry bag because I packed snacks and water and my camera is bigger. We kayaked 3 miles to the Aialik glacier… Absolutely beautiful! So peaceful! We saw seals swimming, and tasted the ice floating around from the glacier. We ate lunch in our kayaks in front of the glacier. The tour company provided a turkey or ham wrap. Our guide, Erin, was great! Very friendly and knowledgeable, and she made sure she took our camera and got some fun pictures of us all in front of the glacier.

After lunch we kayaked 3 miles back to the beach to board the water taxi for the 2.5 hour ride home. On the way back we saw sea lions and a bunch of humpback whales! We got back to the docks at 5:30pm. I would definitely recommend this tour. However, the 6 mile kayak ride hurt all of our backs… It is hard to sit in one position for so long without being able to get out and stretch. There are tours where you stay in the boat the whole time and boat up to the glacier but if your back can handle it, I would recommend kayaking.

NOTE: Pack extra snacks since it is an all day tour and they only provide minimal lunch/snacks. Pack your own water for the kayak rides since they don’t provide extras. Pack an extra shirt/sweatshirt because your upper body will get wet from paddling the kayaks and it would make the boat ride back more comfortable to get out of the wet shirts. You can leave your belongings on the water taxi while you kayak so bring whatever you think you may need and that way you are prepared even if you end up not using it all… We didn’t have spare clothing so we were pretty uncomfortable on the way home.

On our way back to the cabin a moose ran across the road right in front of us! I knew we would be wet and tired and want to get back to the cabin, so we previously bought frozen Digiorno pizza to have once we go back to the cabin… Nice and easy. Worked out perfectly.

Day 6

The next morning, we woke up at 7:30am, ate breakfast, and headed to the harbor in Seward. We went to Stony Creek Canopy Tours for my husband and the kids to zipline. It was a three hour activity with 8 ziplines, 2 suspension bridges and 2 rapplings. They had a great time!

Since I don’t do heights, I chose to stay back in town and walked around the harbor, then walked the mile to downtown Seward and back. It was actually the original first mile of the Iditarod race! I just took my time and sat on a bench by the water and read… Very peaceful. NOTE: it was 62… cold/windy by the water…I was in light pants, long sleeve light shirt and rain jacket and was cold when by the water, but ziplining they were comfortable in light pants and light sweatshirts.

We went back to the cabin for lunch and walked on the beach behind the cabin and then just relaxed on the back porch until getting ready for dinner. For dinner, we went to Seward to eat at Chinooks Restaurant. It was very good. The kids had the crab cakes for an appetizer and really liked them… My husband had the clam chowder and liked it. For entrees, my daughter and I had the king salmon with pesto and basil, and my husband and son had the halibut with pesto and basil. It was all very delicious.

After dinner, we went back to the cabin and I was the only brave one to go into the water and jump (but didn’t get all the way in or too wet… I am not that brave!). It was 54 degrees out and the water was not much warmer, but so fun!

Day 7

On our 7th day, we ate breakfast, packed up, and checked out of the beautiful cabin, since we were moving somewhere else for the remainder of our trip.

Since we couldn’t check in to our next place right away, we drove to Seward to hike at the Exit Glacier. We stopped at the bike shop in town because we were told that they “rented” bear spray for $20/can. Apparently, you DO NOT go on a hike without at least one person carrying a can of bear spray. The bike shop sold it for $45 but if you brought it back unused they would give you $25 back. We got one.

We drove to the Exit Glacier to start our hike. We dressed in layers, packed three backpacks with light snacks, and brought two 1 liter inflatable water bottles. The ranger told us it is recommended to have 2L per person. We didn’t have any other water bottles with us, so we purchased a 2L water bottle from the shop for $26! But, we figured we would need it and we did!! They have a water filling station at the bottom but nowhere along the trail.

For bear safety we were told to walk as a group and talk/make noise because there are a lot of blind switchbacks and you don’t want to startle any bears. My daughter played music on her phone. Most people we passed along the way were wearing bells.

We took the Harding Icefield trail, which if you go all the way up is about 4-4.5 miles one way. We hiked about 2 miles up to the first lookout called Marmont Meadow and had fantastic views! We decided to go another mile up to the next lookout called Top Cliff and WOW! It had amazing views overlooking the Harding Icefield. Well worth it! We could not go up the trail any further because the ranger said they have had recent avalanche activity. It was only open to experienced hikers with the right gear and a guide. To be honest though, we would not have made it… We were tired and out of water. So we took some more amazing pics and headed back down. The total hike took 4.5 hours and we were exhausted but we all loved it! Luckily, the only bear we saw was far away and not a threat so we didn’t need to use the bear spray.

NOTES: Dress in light layers. It was chilly when we started but got warm pretty quickly. By the first mile up I was in a tank and shorts. (FYI: I purchased lightweight water resistant cargo pants off Amazon where the legs zipped off making them shorts and they were great! I wore them most days. I bought three different colors and Taylor and I switched off wearing them. The only time I needed to make them shorts was on the hike. I bought my husband’s from Academy Sports, and he too unzipped the legs on the hike. My son, ever the teenager, would not be caught dead in zip off pants, so he had to suffer with long pants the whole hike, but didn't complain.)
The hike is uphill the whole time with narrow, steep, rocky parts a lot of the way up. I am deathly afraid of heights, so I was very worried but I actually did okay. My friend recommended getting walking sticks to help so I bought us each a pair off Amazon. I am glad I did. My daughter and I used them and loved them. My son used only one of his but really didn’t need it, he just didn’t feel like carrying them. My husband didn’t use his because he didn't want to have to deal with them, so he carried them in his backpack. I thought they were very helpful… Helped make things more stable on the steep parts and really helped in the climb down.
Pack plenty of water!! We ran out before we made it to the second lookout. If you have a portable water bottle filter, bring it that way you can fill up your water from the streams. Make sure you eat a good meal beforehand and bring snacks. Lastly, bring a lot of bug spray.

We went back into town and ate at Rays again for dinner… It was just okay, our lunch the other day there was better. We stopped at Safeway and bought food/drinks and headed 55 min to our new AirBNB in a town called Cooper Landing. Keep in mind, if staying in Cooper Landing this Safeway is the closest grocery store. There are a couple places in Cooper Landing that have very minimal groceries. There is a liquor store though.

We arrived at the house at 7:45pm. It was very easy to get to and easy to access. The house was nice, but nothing compared to the first place. It was tucked back into the woods, so no view. About a 6 min walk there is a “beach” that has panoramic views of the Kenai River. The house was 3 bedrooms, 2 baths… Slept 9. It was well stocked with dishes, linens, and appliances. Very spacious living room. No air, but again, very nice with the windows open.

Day 8

We finally slept in! I purposely didn’t plan anything this day, expecting that we all may need a day to relax. I read on Tripadvisor that the Russian River Falls was a great thing to do in Cooper Landing. The kids wanted to rest but Steve and I didn’t want to just sit around…The house had a can of bear spray, so we grabbed it and headed to the Russian River to hike to the falls.

It was $11 cash only to get into the park. The hike was a very easy, well carved out wide path. It was a 2.5 mile relatively flat hike to the falls. It was very peaceful, but there was not much scenery along the hike… But once at the falls it was really pretty. There is an overlook where you stop and can see all the salmon trying to swim upstream and they were jumping high into the air… Very cool. I was hoping to see a bear in the river catching salmon but no such luck.

It was a beautiful day… 64 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. I had a light long sleeve shirt and pants on and got a little warm… We both wish we wore short sleeves. We went back to the cabin to rest and get ready for dinner. I read on Tripadvisor that Gwins Lodge was a good place to eat. It was a dive inside… Very small and warm and had a small menu but the food was surprisingly good! (Mostly served burgers.)

Day 9

The next day we woke up, ate breakfast, then headed out. At 8:45am, we met at Alaska River Adventures for our raft/float tour. They provided rain overalls and rain boots and life vests. The weather was 63 and sunny… we dressed in layers but found that being on the water was very cold. We wish we had hats and gloves.

Our guide was Abigail and she was great! We took a very peaceful 3 hour rafting ride down the Kenai River. We didn’t see much wildlife but saw a tone of bald eagles which was cool. We also saw a ton of salmon fishermen. The scenery was beautiful!

After, we drove part way up a mountain to Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge for lunch. (Our guide Abigail recommended it.) So glad we took her recommendation! The outdoor seating had amazing views overlooking the river and the food was great! I had the blackened halibut tacos and my husband and kids had the pulled chicken quesadilla, and we all loved our meals.

We went back to the house to relax, and then headed to Two Brother’s Roadhouse for dinner. (Another place Abigail recommended). It is a small place but has really good food. They are known for their brisket nachos so we had to get them… They were $25 but so good and HUGE. Definitely fed all of us no problem. My daughter and I shared a pizza and my husband got a BBQ combo.

Day 10

On our last day, we ate breakfast, packed up, and checked out of the house at 10. NOTE: if it weren’t for the first cabin being booked we would have stayed there the whole time and did a rafting/floating trip out of Seward and maybe would have just taken a day trip to Cooper Landing to see the salmon jumping etc. It really wasn’t worth staying in Cooper Landing, but we had a great time no matter what.

On our drive to Anchorage we made a pit stop halfway and went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation center We were glad we did. It was a 1.5 mile loop that you could drive or walk (we walked, as did most) and we pretty much saw every wildlife life animal in Alaska… Great experience!

Lastly, we headed the rest of the way to Anchorage to catch our flight home. Awesome trip!!!

Packing

Packing: This was probably the task I struggled most with… very stressful going from 98 degree weather to high 50-low 60’s and rainy. I was expecting misty rainy weather most of the time and it didn’t rain once! And it was only misty the day of our long boat ride… so you just never know. Here is what I recommend if traveling in mid to late june: