This review will give you an idea of what you can expect on an escorted Alaska land tour with Gray Line of Alaska, whether you're traveling for 3 days or a week. My particular tour was the 2010 8-day, 7-night Escorted Great Land Explorer package. As you'll see, a guided tour frees you from worry over most of the logistical challenges and decisions associated with travel, allowing you to relax and enjoy the experience to the fullest. You'll spend time at some of Alaska's very best sights and attractions and go home with memories to cherish for a lifetime.
Transportation with Gray Line of Alaska
An escorted land tour of Alaska includes travel by both luxury motor coach and by Alaska Railroad. Your tour group of around 30 travelers (plus an expert tour director) remains together throughout the trip. Some open time is available in the schedule for members of the group to go separate ways; this time can be used to enjoy optional tours, to explore on your own, or to just relax.
The motor coaches offer comfortable seats, lots of leg room, and ample storage space for your day bag or backpack. Large windows give you a wide view of the passing Alaska scenery. Drop-down video screens were used to show videos on occasion. The luxurious buses have bathrooms and are climate controlled.
The Alaska Railroad is used for transportation to Denali National Park. The McKinley Explorer railcars used by GLA/Holland America offer two levels of comfort. The domed windows and wide seats in the upper level allow you to savor the amazing Alaska landscape in comfort. Cocktails and beverages are available for purchase. The lower dining area can accommodate the entire railcar in two sittings. If you're a history buff, I recommend purchasing one of the little guide books they offer that provide mile-by-mile information about your route.
During your land tour, you may also spend time on a variety of other trains, boats, buses, or other modes of transportation, where used as part of a tour, attraction, or activity.
Attractions on a Gray Line of Alaska Land Tour
Museum of the North at University of Alaska Fairbanks
© Angela M. Brown (2010)A land tour of Alaska allows you to see many of the state's highlight attractions. Depending on the itinerary you book, a land package tour may include:
- Fairbanks - Discovery Riverboat Cruise, Museum of the North, Gold Mine Tour with Gold Panning
- Denali National Park (photos)
- Anchorage - Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage Museum (photos)
- Aerial Tramway at Alyeska Resort in Girdwood (photos)
- Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center (photos)
- Kenai Fjords National Park Day Cruise
All of the above attractions are of high quality and authenticity. Other stops on the potential itinerary range from interesting (sled dog kennels) to touristy (Alaska Wildberry Park).
Lodging on a Gray Line of Alaska Land Tour
Traveling from attraction to attraction in the huge state of Alaska requires you to change hotel rooms most nights. While this can be a drag, the luggage handling service provided along with an escorted tour does keep the fuss to a minimum. On my Gray Line of Alaska tour, we were handed an envelope with keys to our rooms as we got off the bus each evening, allowing us to bypass check-in and head straight to our rooms.
The quality of the hotel rooms on the tour ranged from good to great. The hotel s in the larger cities of Fairbanks and Anchorage tend to be modern high-rise facilities with standard rooms configured for business travelers. In the wilderness areas, the accommodations were resort complexes with a central lodge building surrounded by smaller buildings housing the guest rooms. On my GLA tour, the main lodge at each of the hotels was a spacious, rustically-elegant structure with large fireplaces, grand porches, dining rooms, and other guest services. The rooms, while less grand, were comfortable and offered all the comforts and conveniences you might require. Televisions and telephones were in all rooms. Outside the cities, Internet access was spotty and confined to small areas at the main lodge.
The hotels and lodging on my Gray Line of Alaska package tours included:
- Westmark Fairbanks Hotel
- McKinley Chalet Resort
- McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
- Westmark Anchorage Hotel
- Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge
Food on a Gray Line of Alaska Land Tour
Mt. McKinley Princess Wilderness Lodge
©Angela M. Brown (2010)My Gray Line tour package included breakfasts, some lunches, and a couple dinners. Typically, breakfast vouchers for the next day were handed out each evening with the room keys. Lunches and dinners were covered as a part of the tour package only when included with a particular attraction or activity. We were individually responsible for picking up the tab for the rest of the lunches and dinners.
While most people will be satisfied with the quality and selection of food available throughout the trip, serious foodies will probably be disappointed. The food quality and selection did vary significantly throughout the trip. While in Anchorage and Fairbanks, you have access to a variety of choices and are free to make your own restaurant selections. The restaurant options are limited (often to one) at the wilderness lodges, but the food quality is typically above average, with menu items focusing on such regional foods as salmon, crab, and halibut as well as steaks and chicken. The choice and quality of food included as part of certain tours and attractions ranged from good to adequate. The "hearty miner's stew" served family style as part of the Gold Dredge #8 tour was quite tasty. The chicken wrap offered on my Kenai Fjords park cruise was merely edible.
Free snacks such as cookies and donuts were available at some attractions. The key during the day was to take advantage of food when it was offered and to carry a granola bar or other snack along with you. My tour director did an awesome job of informing us about each day's food availability so that there were no surprises.
