Travel advice needed.

[Mordokai]

So, first thing first. Cristo, if you want to be surprised in September, stay out of this thread You'll get that postcard no matter what, so I don't know how much surprise means to you. Just a friendly warning.

With that out of the way...

I'm going to Alaska. If KLM is worth their money, I'll be in Anchorage on September 5th at 1030 PM and leaving on September 26th at 0600 AM. Which gives me approximately three weeks to see something, have fun and in generally just... live, I guess.

In general, any advice appreciated. Has anybody been there? Does anybody live there? Don't be afraid to load it on me. What's to watch out for? What to wear? What is good/nice/necessary to have with me?

I want to see Denali national park. Thinking of spending some time there. Taking a ride on Denali Star sounds like fun, then staying at Fairbanks for a couple of days, maybe even catch the northern lights. And Juneau looks lovely, but it's... all the way down there from Fairbanks. Do I have time to see both? Also, spending some time in Anchorage would probably be nice, since I hear it has quite a busy night life.

Public transportation. Good or am I better of with going rent-a-car? It would probably be quite costly over extended periods of time, but money is not really a problem. That said, I wouldn't mind saving what I can

Last but not least, if anybody is prepared to host a reasonably clean, almost sane mofo like myself, let me know. I don't take much space and I don't bite... much I'll take pretty much everything you can offer, as long as there's no torture room/snuff movie making room attached

[Havelocke]

Mordokai, enjoy Alaska! I lived there for 5 years and it is beautiful. I was stationed in Anchorage with the Army. I lived both on base and off base during my time there. Public transportation is limited and VERY expensive, renting a car is the way to go but can be pricey. There are tour buses that go up into Denali, but your best bet is to take the train from Anchorage then hopping on a tour bus in Talkeetna. The train also goes south to Seward on the Kenai peninsula where you can go on a Fjord boat trip, see some glaciers, puffins, sea lions, sea otters, and maybe a whale or three. While in Seward you can go on a dog sled ride from one of the pro's. He has a training camp down there. They have sleds for both snow and dirt and I seeing puppies is always cute. I never made it up to Fairbanks but I have a cousin who is going to school up there. Being a smaller city it has less to offer but your chances of seeing the northern lights does increase. Anchorage has too much light pollution to see them clearly even on a cloudless night.

Word of warning, September (especially late September) brings on some colder temps and chance of snow, dress appropriately. If you enjoy fishing you are missing prime Salmon fishing in the rivers, also a simple walk on a trail in the woods is not so simple, be aware of your surroundings. Bears, wolves, and moose are common even in downtown Anchorage (maybe not the wolves but two active packs were on base when I was stationed there and they did attack dogs and people...)

As to what to wear, comfortable boots, and clothing to match the conditions. Layers are helpful, you can always remove or add a layer if you bring enough. Mosquitoes are still an issue in September, as well as ticks if you go too deeply into the woods. Cell phone reception is spotty the further north (or south) of Anchorage you go until you are closer to Fairbanks. Juneau is not a realistic destination unless you are part of a specific tour group. Those tours include a train ride to Denali and Fairbanks, a flight back to Anchorage or possible Seward, then a boat trip to Juneau and then back to the lower 48 or Vancouver BC usually. A decent coat, hat, possibly gloves if necessary. You can always buy appropriate clothing if necessary, it is plentiful in Anchorage (touristy stuff).

Lots of excellent places to go to eat in Anchorage, seafood is still pricey but abundant. Some things like fruit and milk are VERY expensive (no local dairy farms in Alaska anymore). Also some chains of restaurants have no presence in Alaska at all. Coffee shops are abundant and small coffee huts are on almost every street corner. I recommend Kaladi Coffee at the New Sagaya Market. Do not be surprised to see Salmon or Reindeer sausage as toppings on pizza.

Unfortunately I am no longer living up there and all of the people I know who are still up there either live on base (they are pretty picky as to who they let in) or are struggling college students living at the University who do not have the nicest of roommates...sorry. I hope this helps in your adventure in the frontier!

[Crow]

I recently flew with KLM and had an issue getting re-booked after they canceled my flight 3 days out. Good luck.

[lovablepal]

I flew via KLM with my Hamburg flight and seems everything went well fortunately. My friend who flew with KLM to Amsterdam had a major headache because of the rebooking issues as well.

[RedCloakLives!]

I have some familiarity with Alaska. Each season has its own attractions; and each region as well, the state being as vast as it is. I'll comment on a few things.

Northern Lights -- it is possible that you will see them. It will be dark enough at night. The main obstacles are (1) cloudy weather, and (2) they don't happen to be active when you go to look. There are forecasts for them, but I have not found the forecasts to be that accurate for the casual viewer. They are guesswork based on solar activity. When they are active, they are not necessarily on all the time. More commonly, they are visible for a while, then go away, then maybe come back later. If they are active but not bright, then city lights and moonlight can make them harder to see.

Denali -- visit the NPS website for it and read up. Sometime in September, it partially shuts down, and access to the park changes. Denali is good for seeing a variety of animals in the wild. For the typical visitor, the best way to do that is to take one of the NPS park buses. It may seem counterintuitive, but this is because on the bus, you have many more people looking (so at least one person will make their spot check and tell the rest of the party). You can get off the bus, too, and walk around as you feel the inclination, and take a different bus back. Follow all the modern best practices for observing animals, i.e., watch from a distance, let them do their thing, don't approach them, if they are reacting to you, then you are too close.

[Public Safety Announcement:
A caution on the great outdoors -- it is in fact more wild and dangerous than many other places. For example, a lot of the rivers and streams are Faster, Deeper, and Colder than what people from most other places are used to, even if they spend a lot time outdoors. Or even especially if they spend a lot of time outdoors. The F-D-C combination is lethal and gets a few people every year, unfortunately. And not just outsiders, but locals too.

There are other hazards, but H2O is probably the biggest one where one small misstep or mistake can very quickly end up in a non-recoverable situation.

end PSA]

I generally agree with what Havelock says (but local dairy still exists, and the number of farms has been increasing). Fairbanks actually has quite a few interesting things in and around it, though some are seasonal, and others are a matter of taste, and the community as a whole probably does not market itself that well for visitors. A low cost b&b or airbnb with active, friendly hosts could do well for you there if you visit.

[Algeh]

My family used to live in Anchorage, but I haven't been up there in about 15 years now. The one thing that I haven't heard mentioned yet but I would expect to still be fairly true is that the dress is pretty casual up there, so you can generally get seated at even the nicest restaurants in casual clothes and it won't be a big deal. This is mostly true anywhere in the PNW (I live in Oregon, and I haven't dressed up for dinner in many years, probably since I went someplace before some dance or other back in school, but I also don't go to trendy places) but my folks remembered it being even more the case in Anchorage than down here. You're probably not going up there primarily with the intent to go to fancy restaurants anyway, but I wouldn't suggest packing much in the way of "nice dinner" clothes unless you have something specific you're planning on doing that you're sure requires them.