Alaskan Adventure: A 12-Day Itinerary

While John and I have been to a lot of fun and interesting places together, Alaska offered some of the most unique and exciting opportunities we’ve yet to experience. The places we stayed ranged from a comfy room by the seaside with a fire pit and hot tub, to a cabin halfway up a mountain without plumbing or electricity, to a historic hotel with shared bathrooms along a dirt road. We ate salmon, oysters, halibut, scallops, and elk. And we met some of the nicest people we have ever come across while traveling. 

This was also one of the most complicated trips we’ve had to plan, and John did a fabulous job since it was definitely all him doing the itinerary planning. We rented a car and drove ourselves around this incredible state, sometimes forgoing the car for planes and boats. Renting a car added to the complications of the trip given the current shortage of rental cars available. Finding one that wasn’t going to cost more than our airfare was hard. 

Ideally we would have spent 3 weeks traveling Alaska, but work schedules just didn’t allow for that. There were a few things we knew we wanted to hit, and others John stumbled upon while doing research (and a lot of research went into this trip). 

Before I dive into our itinerary, I should say that we did not go to Denali National Park. It’s the most well known park in Alaska and when telling people about our travel plans, we almost always were asked whether we were going to see the tallest peak in North America. There was a landslide in 2021, which accelerated in the winter of 2022, that required the 92-mile road, the only road in and out of the park, to be closed at mile 43. The closure will last until at least summer 2023 while a bridge is constructed.  

So the majority of the park is closed. We decided that if we were going to go to Denali, we wanted to do it right. And since we couldn’t have made it very far into the park, we made the decision to focus our time on other stops in the state. And let me tell you – there are some stunning sights to see elsewhere. 

Below is our 12 day Alaska itinerary that included 2 days of travel and 10 full days of touring. We note the places we would have done something different and what worked really well. 

What to Expect in this Post

The following post provides a Trip at a Glance chart that walks through the outline for each day and includes highlights from various places we visited and ate as well as travel distances. We then go through the trip day-by-day providing details about what we did, what we ate, tips we picked up, and what we might do differently.

Trip at a Glance

If you’re interested in details about our itinerary, jump to the 12 Day Alaskan Itinerary. If you just want the quick and dirty itinerary so you can go out and start planning your own, here was our trip in a nutshell:

Day	Place	Activity	Travel Distance
1	New Jersey to Anchorage Stay: Airbnb	Land in Anchorage in the evening. Dinner at Humpy's	-
2	Anchorage Stay: Airbnb	Kincaid Park to walk the Coastal Trail Explore downtown. Lunch at Ray's Place Dinner at Crush Bistro	-
3	Homer Stay: Ocean House Inn	Roadside sightseeing. Lunch at St. Elias Brewing Company Explore the Homer Spit. Dinner at Fresh Catch	4.25-hour drive (6.5 with stops & lunch)
4	Homer Stay: Ocean House Inn	Plane to Katmai National Park to see the grizzly bears. Dinner on the Spit at Swell Taco	1.25-hour plane ride each way
5	Seward Stay: Granite Point Mountain Lodge	Exit Glacier short hike. Lunch at Chattermark Water taxi to our cabin. Dinner at the cabin.	3.5-hour drive to Seward. Half hour water taxi to our cabin across Resurrection Bay
6	Seward Stay: Granite Point Mountain Lodge	Hike the Alpine Trail. Kayak in Resurrection Bay. Dinner at cabin.	-
7	Seward / Alpine Sutton Stay: Airbnb	Boat tour to Fjords National Park. Dinner at Chair 5	5-hour boat tour 3.5 hour drive including 1 hour stop for dinner in Girdwood
8	McCarthy (Wrangell St Elias) Stay: Ma Johnson's Historical Hotel	Roadside sightseeing. Explore McCarthy. Dinner at the Golden Saloon	5.75-hour drive. 45-min stop for lunch
9	McCarthy (Wrangell St Elias) Stay: Ma Johnson's Historical Hotel	Flightseeing tour. Hang at the swimming hole. Dinner at Salmon & Bear	2-hour flightseeing tour
10	McCarthy (Wrangell St Elias) Stay: Ma Johnson's Historical Hotel	Root Glacier hike. Lunch at Meatza Wagon Tour of Kennicott Mine. Dinner at Potato	-
11	Anchorage Stay: Westmark Anchorage	Roadside sightseeing. Lunch at Grand View Café Stop at Anchorage Brewing Company Dinner at Marx Bros. Cafe	7-hour drive back to Anchorage
12	Anchorage to New Jersey	Anchorage Museum. Lunch at Spenard Roadhouse Afternoon flight out.	-

12-Day Alaskan Itinerary

Day 1 – Arrive

• Fly into Anchorage and land in the evening time
• Dinner at Humpy’s Great Alaskan Ale House
• To bed – time change messing with us for sure
• Stay: Airbnb

Day 1 was mostly a travel day. We landed in Anchorage around 7:00 pm, checked into our AirBnb, then headed downtown to a restaurant called Humpy’s Great Alaskan Alehouse for dinner. The guy we sat next to on the airplane recommended it to us, and this bar was just what we needed after an exhausting trip out where we almost missed our flight connection. Beer, seafood, and a comfy spot at the bar provided the perfect first night meal and atmosphere. The hotels downtown are a little expensive for what they are, so we chose to do an Airbnb. We would not recommend the Airbnb we stayed in so we aren’t going to direct you there. 

Day 2 – Anchorage

• Exploring Kincaid Park and the Coastal Trail
• Lunch at Ray’s Place
• Exploring downtown Anchorage
• Dinner at Crush Bistro
• Stay: Airbnb

Day 2 we woke up somewhat refreshed, and ready to explore the city a bit. We grabbed some coffee and a bite at Black Cup, then headed to Kincaid Park, a 1,516.8-acre municipal park that extends across a large portion of Anchorage’s waterfront. From the parking area, we walked down the Coastal Trail, which is a paved path that runs for 11 miles. We passed lots of cyclists (well, they passed us) as well as joggers, families, and other walkers like us. It’s a popular trail to ride along, and you can rent bikes at several different places in downtown Anchorage. 

After the park, we stopped for some excellent lunch at a great little Vietnamese place called Ray’s Place (excellent bahn mi sandwiches) then went downtown to explore a bit. 

Anchorage is a small downtown and very manageable in an afternoon. There are touristy shops with trinkets, but there is also a considerable number of local vendors selling artwork from Alaskan artists. We really enjoyed those shops and purchased a few prints to bring home with us. 

There is also a beautiful museum, but we chose to hold off on until the end of the trip (see Day 12).

Places we stopped in downtown Anchorage:

• Ulu Factory
• Tiny Gallery
• Sevigny Studios Art Gallery
• Big Rays – hat for John
• 49th State Brewing
• Darwin’s Theory

We went home to change before finishing our day at Crush Bistro for dinner, which we definitely recommend. One of two places we went to on this trip with great wine. The food was so good that I ate too much and had to walk it off a bit afterwards. 

We also made the decision to stop at Wild Scoops to get some ice cream – as apparently I hadn’t eaten enough at dinner.

Day 3 – Homer

• Roadside sightseeing between Anchorage and Homer
• Lunch in Soldotna at St. Elias Brewing Company
• Exploring the Homer Spit
• Drinks at the Salty Dawg Saloon
• Dinner at Fresh Catch Café
• Stay: Ocean House Inn

Day 3 we were up and out of there, leaving the “big city” for the smaller fishing town of Homer. We stopped at Dinos’s Donuts to grab a donut and some coffee (yummy donut, less than stellar coffee) and headed south on the Seward Highway. There are so many places along the highway to pull over to take photos – we definitely took advantage of that. 

The drive from Anchorage to Homer without stopping is about 4 hours and 15 minutes. Between stops to take photos and lunch it took us about 6 hours.

We took a little detour to Hope “just to see,” and would not recommend a stop here unless you have something booked out here. While it’s great if you have planned to camp or partake in one of the many outdoor activities, there isn’t much to do in terms of stopping by. But it was of course still absolutely beautiful. 

We stopped at St. Elias Brewing Company in Soldotna for lunch, about 2 hours and 45 minutes from Anchorage and an hour and 20 minutes from Homer. 

We loved Homer and were very happy with the place where we stayed – the Ocean House Inn. The late afternoon and evening of Day 3 was spent on the Homer Spit, eating the best oysters we’ve ever had (Broken Oar Oyster Bar) and exploring the Spit, which is complete with beaches and local stores and restaurants. 

Lots of locals told us to stop at the Salty Dawg Saloon while in Homer, and this little dive bar did not disappoint. Not only is it a great local stop, but it is now the second dive bar we have stopped at that encourages patrons to pin dollar bills to the walls, ceilings, whatever. Our stop in Bombay Beach, California in December 2021 touted the Ski Inn, where we pinned a dollar bill with our names and hometown on one of their epic walls cluttered with dollar bills.

So we now have our dollar bills pinned to the wall of two fabulous dive bars in two different US States.

Dinner was at Fresh Catch Café and it was amazing – fresh seafood and pasta. Ooo ooo so good.

Day 4 – Katmai National Park and Preserve

• Flight to Katmai to see the grizzly bears
• More oysters at Broken Oar Oyster Bar
• Dinner back on the Homer Spit at Swell Taco
• Relaxing by the fire
• Stay: Ocean House Inn

Today was one of the days we were most looking forward to. We had booked a trip through Emerald Air Service to fly us out to see the grizzly bears out in Katmai National Park. We would 110% recommend booking with Emerald Air. 

John got a call around 7:30 am saying that the original flight we booked was canceled because of weather. We were supposed to fly out to the bush, hike in and out (about 5 miles) and see the bears grazing in the meadows. 

Instead they booked us to go to Brooks Camp to see the bears finishing at the iconic waterfall where salmon attempt to jump upstream while bears attempt to catch them for lunch. While it was an initial disappointment, we were still going to see the bears, and they did not disappoint.  

The falls were incredible and we saw about 20 different bears over the course of the day. The raised platforms they built allow you to get close to the bears without disrupting or disturbing them.

Flight out was about 1 hour and 15 minutes. We then had about 4 hours to check out some seriously awesome grizzly bears.

After getting back to Homer, around 5:30, we went back to our new favorite oyster place, Broken Oar Oyster Bar, then grabbed dinner back on the Spit at one of the huts called Swell Taco. 

We had our own personal fire pit at the Ocean House Inn so we ended the day vegging by the fire.

Day 5 – Seward

• Drive to Seward
• Exit Glacier Hike 
• Lunch in Seward at Chattermark
• Water Taxi to cabin
• Fire pit and dinner 
• Stay: Granite Point Mountain Lodge

Day 5 began with a complete repacking. Our next stop would require us to hike everything in, so we repacked everything to fit in John’s backpacking pack and a day pack that I should carry. We also had a portable cooler we would use to hike in ice and food. 

Grabbed some coffee and began our 3.5-hour drive to Seward. 

Just outside Seward is Exit Glacier, part of the Kenai Fjords National Park. They have a quick 1.5-mile loop hike to go check out the glacier. A good portion of the trail is completely wheelchair accessible.

Lunch was in downtown Seward at Chattermark. We next made a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up provisions for the next two days – ice, steak, sausage, veggies, coffee, water, pb&j fixings, and a lighter. We needed to bring in all the food we would be eating over the next couple days. John moved things forward by pre-making some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ahead of time.

Then we headed over to the marina to catch our water taxi, which we had booked through Alaska Coastal Safari. The day earlier we checked in with them and had an estimated time to meet them at the dock (about 4:30). 

A half hour boat ride later and we were standing on a beach, looking up at an incredibly steep set of stairs going up the cliff side. Of course the stairs were only just the beginning as we had another half hour of climbing up the mountain using the ropes that had been tied to trees for support. 

We booked our little cabin through Granite Point Mountain Lodge (although John originally found it on VRBO), and it was definitely worth the hike. We loved our stay here. You are completely off the grid – not even an option to walk to cell phone service. Water is through rain collection, and there’s an outhouse a little ways off.

We spent the night trying to make the fire (thank you fire starters) then grilling our sausages, onions, and peppers. We finished the night relaxing by the fire playing card games, and sipping the gin and tonics and whiskey we had hiked in.

Day 6 – Seward

• Hike the Alpine Trail
• Kayaking in Resurrection Bay
• Steak, fire, cocktails 
• Stay: Granit Point Mountain Lodge

We had some left over sausages for breakfast. A previous cabin dweller also left some instant oatmeal, which I indulged in.  

We set out behind the cabin where the Apline Trail started. While this trail did have a few steep inclines (especially at the beginning), it wasn’t too difficult a hike. 

We made it to the Alpine Bowl at the top where we had our previously prepared pb &j sandwiches. From here you should be able to reach the ridge and other trails, but there was still lots of snow up here and we lost the trail. We still very much enjoyed exploring the bowl, and this left us time for other afternoon activities. 

We were back at the cabin by 3 and decided to head down to the beach to try some kayaking. There are four other cabins in this area managed by the same owner, and the beach comes equipped with kayaks and life vests for anyone to take out. 

We set out in a 2-person kayak. To anyone interested in this activity – this was hard. Resurrection Bay is a bay, but it’s huge and it sometimes felt like we were in the ocean. I was happy to be back on land.

We climbed back up the steepness to our cabin for an evening of steak, fire pit, and some gin and tonics and whiskey.

Day 7 – Seward

• Back to Seward
• Boat tour to Kenai Fjords National Park
• Chair 5 in Girdwood for dinner
• Stay: Airbnb in Alpine Sutton

We packed up our little cabin and made the hike back down the mountain side. It was much lighter/easier without the food, ice, and alcohol. 

The same water taxi that dropped us off picked us up at 9:15 and we made our way back into Seward. 

We grabbed some breakfast at one of the many places near the marina before boarding another boat to head out on a boat tour to Kenai Fjords National Park. 

We booked with Kenai Fjords Tours and had a fabulous experience with them. The ticket came with a lunch, so we didn’t have to bring any additional food.

This was a 5-ish hour trip, taking about 1.5 hours to get out to the park, then boating around looking at glaciers and wildlife. We really enjoyed this and even though there was seating inside, which was much warmer, we sat on the deck the whole time, taking in the very chilly breeze and beautiful views. 

We saw an incredible glacier and tons of wildlife: orcas, porpoises, otters, sea lions, humpback whales, bald eagles, and puffins.

We got back to Seward and our car and were on our way to our next Airbnb – and a shower. We stopped in a town called Girdwood for dinner at a place called Chair 5. The food was good, just ridiculous portions. We did not need that much food. Girdwood is a small skiing community technically within the boundaries of Anchorage but way outside the downtown. 

Our Airbnb was in Alpine Sutton, outside of a town called Palmer. This was a 3.5-hour drive from Seward (took 4.5 with our stop for dinner) and was just a stopover on our way to Wrangell St. Elias.

This Airbnb was totally adorable and cozy – the owners even left us freshly baked cookies. We were so happy to have a shower and a real bed. We slept so well here. 

Day 8 – Wrangell St. Elias and McCarthy

• Head out to Wrangell St. Elias / McCarthy
• Stop in Glennallen for gas and lunch
• Settle into McCarthy
• Dinner at the Golden Saloon
• Stay: Ma Johnson’s Historical Hotel

If only we could have slept a little longer in this Airbnb and checked out the little lakefront, but we were up moving early to continue onto our final destination – a small town called McCarthy, within Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve. 

We had a roughly 6 hour drive ahead of us and needed to stop for gas and lunch, which we did in a town called Glennallen. A man we had met on the plane told us that this rest stop had some great Mexican food (like, what lol). But he was not wrong. It was a great Mexican lunch at this Alaskan gas station rest spot. 

45 minutes for gas, bathroom, and lunch and we were back on the road. 

The drive out to McCarthy involves a 60-mile stretch on a gravel/dirt road. Gotta take this one slow. But we did see some cool wildlife – hello moose. 

Cars are not allowed into McCarthy. So at the end of the 60-mile dirt road is a parking area. Grab your stuff and leave your car behind to walk across the pedestrian bridge. 

We learned later that at the other end of the pedestrian bridge are little vans to shuttle you into town, but we chose to walk it, which would have been fine except it was unusually hot at 85*. 

Much of Alaska was in a drought while there and it was DUSTY in McCarthy. 

We checked into Ma Johnson’s Historic Hotel then walked across the “street” to the saloon for dinner and drinks at the Golden Saloon. This little town in the middle of nowhere, which thrived in the early 20th century, has been rehabbed and rebuilt to hearken back to its heyday.

Day 9 – Wrangell St. Elias and McCarthy

• Flightseeing with Wrangell Mountain Air
• Relax at the swimming hold
• Dinner at Salmon and Bear
• Stay: Ma Johnson’s Historical Hotel

Day 9 was our flightseeing tour! In terms of experiences on this trip, it was up there with the Katmai bears. We flew with Wrangell Mountain Air and had a great experience. We chose to do the 120-minute flight, although they do offer 50-minute, 70-minute, and 90-minute flight tours.

The flight took us down over the Bagley Ice Field to Icy Bay, then up past Mt. Elias (18,000 feet tall) and over the Logan Glacier before heading back to McCarthy. The sites were truly spectacular. Our pilot was also incredibly knowledgeable about what we were seeing and was pointing out sites to us as well as teaching us about the geology and glacial history of what we were seeing. 

We didn’t plan anything for the afternoon, so we put our swimsuits on and walked down to the swimming hole, which was near the pedestrian bridge we crossed to get to McCarthy. The water was *crisp* but not freezing – definitely swimmable. And since it was 80 degrees and sunny out, the refreshing swim was welcomed. 

Dinner was at the Salmon and Bear. We had no idea we would be eating so well out in the middle of nowhere. This was really a fine dining experience with a wine list so big and special, it earned them a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. We decided to indulge and get something fancy – because you know us and wine.

Both the Golden Saloon and the Salmon and Bear are run by the same proprietors of Ma Johnson’s Hotel. Like I’ve said, this town is small and you will continue to run into the same people over and over throughout your stay. Our breakfast each morning was at the Salmon and Bear and was included in our stay at Ma Johnson’s.

Day 10 – Wrangell St. Elias and McCarthy

• Guided glacier tour of Root Glacier with St. Elias Alpine Guides
• Lunch at Meatza Wagon
• Kennecott Mill tour with St. Elias Alpine Guides
• Dinner at Potato
• Stay: Ma Johnson’s Historical Hotel

We caught a previously-booked shuttle up to Kennicott – the mining town that is about 5 miles away from McCarthy. We booked a glacier hike with St. Elias Alpine Guides to hike out to Root Glacier along the aptly named Root Glacier Trail. The trail to the glacier is about 2.5 miles, then there is not a set trail as you wander around the glacier in your spikes.

You do not have to book through a company to go to the glacier (you can absolutely do the hike yourself), but we got a lot out of having a guide. Just like with our flightseeing tour, our glacier guide knew so much about the area and was able to provide an incredible amount of information as to where we were and what we were seeing. 

Gloves and sunglasses are a must for this hike. The ice is sharp if you fall and the sun is crazy bright as it reflects off the ice. Don’t forget to put sunscreen on your chin.

We had about 40 minutes to grab some lunch at the excellent Meatza Wagon food truck before starting our tour of the Kennecott Mill. Once again, you could definitely do this as a self-guided tour, but we really enjoyed having a tour guide. And going with a group gave us access to the inside of the mill, which you cannot do on your own. 

The guided tour takes about 2 hours and is well worth it. 

Dinner on Day 10 was at Potato. Once again we were totally surprised by the awesome food we found out here in the middle of nowhere in copper country.

And as had been the tradition the last two nights, we ended the evening back at the Golden Saloon. 

Day 11 – Anchorage

• Drive back to Anchorage
• Lunch at Grandview Café 
• Anchorage Brewing Company
• Dinner at Marx Bros. Café
• Stay: Westmark Anchorage

Day 11 began with one last breakfast at Ma Johnson’s, then the hike back to the car. We drove back down the McCarthy Highway (still beautiful) and on to Anchorage. We stopped for lunch at a totally random roadside restaurant called Grandview Café and RV Park. It was unexpectedly delightful, and the proprietor couldn’t have been more friendly and welcoming.

We went straight to Anchorage Brewing Company when we got back into the city limits. This was the best beer we had had all trip, and John bought a few bottles to take back with us. 

We stayed at the Westmark Anchorage for our last night, which was a perfectly fine hotel and is right within the downtown. 

When we were in Anchorage on the front end of the trip, we walked by a restaurant called the Marx Bros. Café. John had noted it when doing his original research for the trip, so we decided to make reservations for our last night in town. We had a great time here – wonderful food, drinks, and atmosphere. 

Day 12 – Anchorage and Travel Home

• Coffee at Moose A’La Mode
• Anchorage Museum
• Lunch at Spendard Roadhouse
• Airport and home to New Jersey

After checking out of our hotel, we went searching for some coffee, which we found at Moose A’La Mode.

We only had a few hours to kill so we decided to go to the Anchorage Museum. It’s a beautiful museum with dozens of exhibits focused on Alaska and its heritage. We spent a lot of time in an exhibit that focuses on the Native people and tribes of Alaska, with hundreds of cultural pieces from the various tribes and regions. 

We went off to lunch at the Spendard Roadhouse, and enjoyed some great salmon burgers before heading onto the airport to catch our 4:00 flight.

Trip Summary

Alaska is a truly special place. We would go back in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself. The sites and experiences were unique and unlike anything we could see anywhere in the lower 48. We aim to write many more posts on the specific experiences since each day and excursion are worthy of their own story. If you have any specific questions or have experiences of your own, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Again, all the trip planning credit goes to John. While the initial idea to go to Alaska was mine, we never would have made it if I had been in charge of planning. We hope this post has provided the inspiration and information to help you plan your Alaskan Adventure!

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