Mt. Mckinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

In the middle of nowhere!

by bumpychick about Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge

We stayed at this lodge for one night during our organised Alaskan landtour. As the name suggests, it is part of the Princess Cruises company. The accommodation was of a very good standard, as were the public areas. Everything was designed as you would expect from a lodge. The key reason for staying here was to enjoy the great views of Mount McKinley, unfortunatly we didn't get a glimpse all day! This hotel is great if you're happy to do very little all day. They offer a guided nature walk but there's only really plants to see, The river view is interesting, but once you've looked, that's it. We took a walk around the whole complex ( the rooms are in blocks, at varying distances from the main lodge) and then found nothing else to entertain us as we didn't fancy a trip out to do white water rafting.
Don't take the kids! Take a book and lots of patience to wait to see the mountain.

Nice & relaxing ...but very remote

by oRi_5 about McKinley Princess Lodge

My husband and I stayed here as part of our Princess cruise tour for our honeymoon. It was our last stop before heading back home - which for us worked out well as we stayed relaxing. There is not much to do here other than sit down on the deck looking out at Mt McKinley (if you're lucky enough to see it), go for a walk on one of the nature trails, shop in the souvenir shop, eat at one of the restaurants, work out abit on the few exercise machines available or enjoy the views from the outdoor hot tubs. Other than that.... you're isolated. If you don't have a car, they do offer a bus service that takes you into town (I believe it takes about 45 mins). However, again....not much to do in town unless you're booking some excursion such as flightseeing or some boat trip. Other than that its just souvenir shops and restaurants again.

We enjoyed our stay at Talkeetna simply because as previously mentioned, it was our last stop after a 2 week cruise tour around Alaska. So for us, we made the most of it and just stayed in the resort. We were lucky enough to have nice, warm sunshine and excellent views of the Great One when we were there. So we just spent our time sipping cocktails on the terrace, enjoying walks on some of the trails and relaxing in the hot tubs (great for romance!!! ;) ).

Overall, we had no complaints. The rooms are cabins - so there's a bit of a walk to get to your room from reception - and if its raining you'll get wet as there's no shelter. We ate both breakfast and dinner at the 20,320 Alaskan Grill which had very good food and kind service. You might have to wait a bit for a table in the morning, but they have quite a fast service.

I would recommend this place for a romantic getaway. However, I must say I would have probably been a bit disappointed if we stayed here at the start of our holiday due to the lack of things to do. It's a good place to wind down before going back home. Fantastic views, great hot tubs. Good for anyone who likes hiking and the outdoors.

svillegirl's new Alaska Page (under construction)

by svillegirl

Since I love adventure travel, this one was a natural! I took a train tour from Fairbanks to Anchorage with Princess. The Midnight Sun Express is a "ulta dome" train, with great views, service and food.

Our first stop was in Fairbanks where I panned for gold at the El Dorado Gold Mine. You even get to keep what you find! We then took a cruise on the sternwheeler "Riverboat Discovery". The scenery was beautiful! In September, all along the river valley the Aspen trees were shining gold in the sun. We stoped by an Athabascan Indian village, where you can watch a dog sled demonstration and you learn about the native people and how they lived in the past.

We stayed at the Princess Lodge here and were lucky enough to get to see a display of "northern lights".

Our nest day took us to Denali National Park. One of the best things about the train was the large observation platforms so thee is nothing between you and the amazing landscape. At times, it appears the train hugs the side of these majestic mountains.

We took a bus tour into the park, and I would recommend the 6 hour trip because it takes you deeper into the park. The deeper you go, the better chance you have of seeing wildlife. It can be hit or miss, but it was still lovely. I saw Moose and Dall Sheep mostly.

While in Denali we stayed at the Mt. Mckinley Winderness Lodge. This lodge is located closer to the mountain than any other and offers the best views when the mountain isn't hiding behind the clouds.

The last segment took us from the small village of Talkeetna to Anchorage. Along this secnic route we were able to see how the land has recovered from the 1964 earthquake.
We stopped at Mt. McKinley for two days at the Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge.

In Anchorage I discovered the legendary "Chilkoot Charlies" A dandy place to have an adult beverage or two...or three....

Alaskan Adventures

by bumpychick

"Tour and Cruise"

Our Alaskan adventure was arranged by Princess cruises. We decided to see some of the interior of Alaska as well as to cruise down the 'pan handle' to Vancouver. We went in search of wildlife and glaciers. Well, we certainly saw lots of glaciers!
I have decided to include most of my tips under the general title of "Alaska", as this type of trip doesn't allow for a deep insight in to individual locations.
The itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Anchorage
Day 2: Coach from Anchorage to Mount McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
Day 3: Coach from Mount McKinley to Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. Bus tour in Denali National Park.
Day 4: Denali express (train) to Whittier. Embark on ship - The Island Princess.
Day 5: Cruise College Fjord
Day 6: Cruise Glacier Bay
Day 7: Skagway
Day 8: Juneau
Day 9: Ketchikan
Day 10: Cruise Inside passage
Day 11: Arrive in Vancouver

The hyperlinks will take you to a couple of short pages about these specific places.

"What it's like to cruise"

A cruise is something very different for us, but the best way to see the Alaskan glaciers. We thought it would be very restricitive, and weren't sure we wanted to disembark in a town at the same time as 1500 other people, and feel like part of an invasion. It didn't actually feel that bad when we were actually doing it, I suppose because their are very few other people in the towns when the ships aren't in port.
We really enjoyed the facilities on the boat, and it was nice to take posh clothes on holiday for a change!

"Anchorage"

We didn't know what to expect of Anchorage. We found it smaller than we'd imagined, but quite a busy city. The most amazing thing is the fact it is still light (in August) until 11pm. We don't travel north too often so this was an unusual experience for us.