bflood Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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I have to agree with RansomRR - renting a place would tie you down and Alaska is a huge place. Staying in the same place like that would hamper your visit, not help it.
I spent a few weeks in Alaska 8 years ago, and I planned the travel carefully enough to find places to stay using the internet and made reservations (we rented a car). If I had a month up there, I'd want to see the aurora, Denali, Wrangell-St Elias, and the Kenai Peninsula, and maybe the Misty Fjords. Renting an RV of adequate size is a strong alternative to finding lodging and making reservations.If you have enthusiasm for the planning process, you should be able to make a good estimate of which approach - rented car plus motel/hotel rooms or RV - might be cheaper. I suspect that the variety of RVs available would be larger in Anchorage than Fairbanks, but that's just my guess.
Timing: later in the year is better for aurora, of course, but later in the year also makes for difficulty travelling the state. Autumn starts in Denali in August, and most of the park turns red - the fall foliage on the tundra is shrubbery - it's so cold and dry that the tree line is only about 3,000 ft, so few to no trees. But that shrubbery is beautiful. Denali closes for the year about mid-September - check for the specific date in 2017. Trying to travel the distances involved to see aurora, Denali, the Kenai and Wrangell-St Elias could get to be difficult to impossible after mid-September - snow will be a significant factor.
Milepost is an amazing publication. It describes everything along every road in the state. That might sound like a monumental task until you find out there are very few roads in Alaska. The book is a wonderful resource for driving around the state.
I also agree with the suggestion about the Alaska Highway ferry system. Some family members travelled that way a few years ago and had a terrific time. I suggest that a ferry from Anchorage to Ketchikan would let you see (and photograph) much of the state's amazing coast, and from Ketchikan you could tour the Misty Fjords by boat or by air (or both, budget permitting). There are other destinations on the ferry system - the internet can get you complete information on it.
I haven't ridden the AK railroad, but friends have. They enjoyed it but they were cruise ship travellers who liked the easy ride and weren't pursuing photography.
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