Alaska Road Trip

[Bogart]

Here's what I'm planning: fly into Prince George, British Columbia. Rent a car in Prince George. Drive to Dawson Creek where I'll take the Alaska Highway all the way to its terminus. Then down to Anchorage, then back east, then south on Highway 37 and the Trans-Canada Highway back to Prince George, from whence I will fly home. The length of this route is approximately 3800 miles. I will have thirteen days of driving time. I will be leaving in the last week of June.

Thoughts? Opinions? Advice? 300 miles per day isn't too much to ask, is it?

[Robert Schaller]

Kevin,

I only WISH I was an expert on that area! Under normal circumstances in the continental 48, 300 miles per day is an easy project. However, I don't know about the Alaskan Highway or the other roads you mention -- and there is the possibility that they could be slower going for a variety of reasons.

MS Streets and Trips shows that your route can be done in 73 hours at 52 mph average. I think this might be optimistic. But even if you can only average 35 miles per hour, the time is 108 hours -- meaning you could still get it done in 13 days. But I've never done it. Perhaps someone with actual experience will see your request and post a good answer for you -- thousands of people see this forum every day so you've got a good chance! Come on, all you bashful lurkers! Help us out! :) Bob

[Bogart]

Made some inquiries at a travel agency today, and I'm not sure I can afford it. Car rentals from Prince George are very expensive when you pay by the kilometer. I could afford it from Seattle, though...would 4,953 miles be asking too much?

[Bogart]

I think the best option for me in 2005 is to buy a cheap car, drive it to Anchorage, and sell it or give it away. I could spend $1800 on a car and still save money when you factor in the cost of the rental, the increased amount of money spent on gas (one-way from Sacramento is still 400 miles shorter than round-trip from Prince George) and the air fare from Anchorage, which also looks to be cheaper than a round-trip ticket from Sacto to P.G. I will do further research and, if it looks like I can pull this trip off this summer, will post further in this thread.

[Bogart]

For whom it may concern (c'mon, people, post in this thread)--

I think I might have found a deal for a one-way car rental going SOUTHBOUND, from Anchorage to Seattle. It will cost me about a grand, I think. I will be investigating this and if there are no hidden catches like mileage charges, I could be making arrangements as soon as today. One way from Anchorage to Seattle is 2,648 miles per MS Streets and Trips, factoring in a detour north to Fairbanks so I can drive the entirety of the Alaska Highway. I think nine driving days should be sufficient.

[Robert Schaller]

I've been reluctant to mention it, because it sounds like you really want to DRIVE, but have you thought about including a segment of your trip on the Alaska State Ferry system? When I get up there, one way will probably be done via the ferries -- it's the "poor person's" way to cruise the Inside Passage!

[Bogart]

Indeed I have given thought to the Marine Highway. But it seems very chancy to do within the two-week window I usually have for my vacations. That might be for another time, when I don't have any other plans but am content to simply fly up there and take the Marine Highway back.

But anyway, it's official: I have made arrangements to drive an Avis rental car from Anchorage to Seattle, departing 27 July and returning 7 August. With the drop-off fee waived the car will only cost me a grand. I am VERY excited.

[Robert Schaller]

That's a dream trip for sure! I'm glad you were able to get something arranged on it -- but I'm a little "green" about it right now! :) My guess is that 300 miles a day is probably a reasonable plan, so you should be OK on that aspect of it.

[Rian]

Hello, My name is Rian and I'm from the Netherlands.
My boyfriend and I want to do a roadtrip through the west of America. The following route: San Francisco; Reno; Twin Falls; Yellowstone NP; Salt lake City; Bryce Canyon; Grand Canyon; Las Vegas; LA.

We only have 10 days, because we want to visit family in Minnesota. (we want to start our trip on august 29th and want to arrive in MN on September 9th). Who can help find out, what best we can do? Book a trip in the Netherlands or in the states? Go by bus or by car? What does a ticket cost from LA to Minneapolis? And from Minneapolis to Amsterdam?

[Robert Schaller]

Rian,

If you saw my original post in response to your questions, please ignore it -- I misunderstood your plan so I have re-written my answer accordingly.

If you try to do this by bus, it will make it impossible because of the lack of direct routes in some cases, and scheduling difficulties. Your only option, in my opinion is a car rental. Because your start and stop points are Los Angeles and San Francisco, I think you might be able to get a car with no one-way drop charge (maybe!). This would save you some money. IF the car agency quotes a drop charge, you might consider starting AND ending in San Francisco (or LA) instead, if the driving costs to take the car back to the renting location would be less than the rental drop charge. Shop different companies though, because there will be large differences between them.

I don't have much experience with travel agencies for booking, so I cannot say whether you should book here or there. But a European agent who is experienced in travel in North America would be able to pull all the details together for you, if you are uncertain about doing it yourself, and maybe find ways to save you money that are not available to US citizens. That's certainly not a bad way to do it, and you will be less likely to make mistakes that could cost you time and money. Just my opinion!

Right now, a ticket from LA to Minneapolis is about $150 per person. Travelocity also reports the cheapest fare available TODAY for Septemeber 2005 is $1200 for Minneapolis to Amsterdam, but that is too far in advance for them to be reporting any discounted prices, so it may not be a realistic idea of what you'll actually pay. Usually, only a last minute traveler would pay that high a price. If you watch for fare sales, you should be able to get seats in the $600-$700 USD range, maybe less. You might also check fares for London, and then get something local from London to Amsterdam -- you can sometimes save money that way as well.

To cover your planned stops, you must drive about 4.3 hours each day. That's seemingly not much, but when you figure all the time you'll want to spend stopped at these places, it will work out to be pretty tight -- you will have to keep moving in order to get to it all. That's not the best way to do it -- you can spend many days at Yellowstone and still not see everything, same with Grand Canyon -- but if it is all you have, then I think you could do it. The total miles for the route are about 2382, driving time 43 hours.

Bob