Alaska Uncovered Podcast

Day trips from Anchorage on the Alaska Railroad

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Jay Flaming • Episode 109

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Jennie Flaming:

Jennie, welcome to the Alaska uncovered podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co host and full time husband, Jay and I bring you accurate, helpful and entertaining information about Alaska, travel and life in Alaska, before we start the episode, we would like to thank our Patreon members for making this podcast possible. You can join them at the link in the show notes. We are so grateful for your support of independent podcasts. Enjoy the show Hi everyone. Before we start today's show, I wanted to let you know that this episode is sponsored by the Alaska tour saver and the Alaska summer showcase. We'll tell you more about that in a little bit. But if you are in the anchorage area next Saturday, March, 22 2025 don't miss out on the Alaska summer showcase. We'll tell you more about it soon. My guest today is Robin Moore. Robin is a born and raised Alaskan. She ventured outside for a couple years, but was drawn back over 12 years ago, Robin has been working in the Alaska travel industry for almost 10 years and a year and a half at the Alaska Railroad, which is what we're talking about today in this episode. When she's not working, you'll find her on the trails with her dogs, fishing and enjoying Alaska outdoors in general, with her family. Robin, welcome to Alaska, uncovered.

Robin Moore:

Thank you. Jennie, very excited to be here.

Jennie Flaming:

I am excited to have you. This is so fun. So to start off with, I know you're a born and raised Alaskan, but I would still love to hear a little more about your origin story in Alaska. So can you tell us a little bit about that before we get into the train?

Robin Moore:

Absolutely. So I can have a funny one. My parents came up in the 80s, and it was that typical. It's only for a couple years, honey, and it turned into longer than that. Yes, that happens. It does. It. Does, and then it's been here ever since. And my dad was in the kind of construction and engineering realm, and really dived into that world. And I left to go down to the lower 48 and experience kind of bigger cities and venture on. And then I was drawn back here roughly 12 years ago, and I settled down. We've got my husband and I met, and then we've got two beautiful boys, and we just, we are very in love with the state and enjoy everything it has to offer. Oh, that's so awesome. I love it. I that story of like, Oh yeah, it's just going to be for a summer, or it's just going to be for whatever. It's an old one. It is, and it gets thrown around a lot. It's amazing. How many people you run to are like, I've been here for 30 years, and it was only supposed to be for four months, right? I know. Yep, that's how I ended up back here. Yes.

Jennie Flaming:

Well, um, Robin, it's really wonderful to have you today. And listeners, this is the second episode of the podcast that focuses on the Alaska railroad. Now, of course, it gets touched on in many other episodes, but the previous one was in July of 2023 and that was episode 23 and it was about kind of the different trips you can take around the state on the Alaska railroad, because that was the 100th anniversary of the railroad that year. So today we are going to focus on day trips you can take from Anchorage on the Alaska railroad. But I think it would still be helpful Robin, for people who haven't listened to this podcast since almost the beginning, could you just share a little bit about the Alaska railroad in general before we get into the details?

Robin Moore:

Absolutely, the Alaska railroad is a train or transportation service that operates about 500 miles of track throughout the state of Alaska, specifically south central and interior of the state and our southern terminus. We start in Seward, and we go all the way up to Fairbanks, with several stops along the way that include guard wood, Anchorage, Talkeetna, Denali National Park, and then Fairbanks. So we operate year round. We have three lovely and fun summer trains that operate, that include the Denali star, coastal classic and Glacier discovery train. And then we have the Aurora winter train that runs in the winter and running right now, getting people from Anchorage to Fairbanks. So we're really excited. We've been here for 100 years, over 100 years now, and we are really excited to be a part of the state and continue on for the next 100 plus years. Yeah, love it. Yeah.

Jennie Flaming:

I, as you know Robin, as part of my work, as a tour director, I get to ride the train quite often in the summer, and I've also ridden it, of course, when I'm not working. Yeah, it's just such a fun and really unique thing about Alaska, and just a really wonderful way to see the state. So absolutely, yeah, so getting into these day trips, and you started touching on them a little bit. Of course, there are many people who come to Alaska and make the Alaska railroad, like part of their main transportation, like how they're getting between these different places, and that is awesome. But I have definitely had lots of clients who were like, I'm renting a car and, you know, doing and driving around, but I would love to experience the railroad also. And, you know, that's kind of what gave me the idea for this episode is like, because I am always telling them, Hey, you can do a day trip on the train. Um, so I would love to to dive into that. Could you start by just talking a little bit about, kind of what the options are, and I'm going to just say these all start and end in Anchorage. That's not that you can't, like, go and stay for a while, but, like, if you do this as a day trip, you're going to be starting and ending in Anchorage.

Robin Moore:

So absolutely. Yeah. So one of the things that I love to tell people is that we are very versatile with your trip and playing to Alaska. If you do rent a car, if you have another stretch of your trip plan by motor coach or some other form of transportation, we can still fit right into it with day trips, and they're a great way to experience our vast state and really enjoy the journey of getting there, looking out the window, enjoying the scenery, watching for wildlife. So I'm going to start probably on the southern end. That'll work north, just for flow and ease. Sounds good. I like that way of thinking about it. Yeah. And if you think there's anything along the way that I need to emphasize, please let me know. Yeah, I will. I'll jump in with anything perfect as you go. Yep. So one of the I guess, favorite trains that we do have to operate in the summer is called our coastal classic train. And it does run Anchorage to Seward, and then Seward back to Anchorage, and it is a great day trip experience. As you can get on in Anchorage, you have this beautiful journey on the train through just vast back country, glaciers, forest, you know, over bridges, over valleys and rivers. It's just stunning. And then you get into Seward, and you have the opportunity to go zip lining, go kayaking, take a glacier and wildlife cruise, or maybe just want to go experience the culture and city life of Seward. And you walk around, you enjoy some great food. You maybe go to the Alaska sea life center, and then you can do all that in a day. And then the train will pick you up back in Seward and take you back into Anchorage. So you're back in Anchorage at your destination, and can, you know, get some food, go back to your hotel room and plan for the next day of adventures that you have, or maybe it's a day of resting. So it's a really great all around trip. You really get to experience multi tours and attractions along the way on that destination. Yes, just you get to also enjoy some food and beverages if you're enticed to do so. It's just a great way to see the state. Yeah, it really is. That is totally a classic, a classic trip, for sure. And how can you just share with everybody roughly what the timing is for that? Like, roughly what time do you leave Anchorage? Roughly how much time do you have unsured, and then absolutely what what time you return? Yep. So it leaves anchorage depot at 645 in the morning, which is a little early. We do ask people be there an hour to 45 minutes before the train depart, so we have plenty of time to get everyone on board. Yep, the train ride itself is anywhere from four to four and a half hours, give or take. So you arrive in Seward between 11 and 1130 cool. So then you have a great chunk of the day. You have lunch, and all afternoon into even early evening to get back and explore Seward, then to get back on the train. And then our train departs out of Seward at 6pm you arrive back in Anchorage at 10pm So it is a pretty long day. Yeah, however, you can fit a lot into that day and get to really experience some of the great things that we love about the state. Yes, and you're on a train, which is awesome. I mean, a little biased here, but choo choo, yeah, I know. I know.

Jennie Flaming:

I'm a little biased too. Like, who doesn't love a train trip? I mean, it's so fun. One other thing, while we're talking about Seward before we move on to the others, I have definitely had clients who, like, they wanted to do that, and then, like, Red Eye fly out that night. And how do you feel about that, Robin? That makes me a little nervous, because, like, there are things that can delay the train, but also it can work fine. I don't know. What do you think about that as a strategy?

Robin Moore:

I tend to err more on the side of caution. And, yeah, really recommend we, overall, just our recommendation when booking air travel following a train ride, we recommend at least a minimum of four to six hours lead time in between. Yeah, however, I personally, I'm that person that would just have a flight booked the next day and yeah, it just and you know you're going to be on the train, which is a wonderful ride, but it really that's a long day. Yeah, take, take that extra time decompress, yeah, reminisce of your journey the next morning. You know, coffee and breakfast like, yes, really enjoy what you've just done. So that would be my recommendation. Again. I know people who have done that, and you are more than welcome to that, but our recommendation is a minimum of four hours between arriving at the depot and your flight out. I highly recommend at least that, but also would just recommend maybe the next day. Yeah, yeah, I'm with you on that. Okay, cool, so that's the coastal classic, going down to Seward. What's next? Alright, now I'm going to talk about the glacier discovery. So this one is a really fun train, and again, it's kind of a multi layered train. It's a little funky. I call this my funky train, and it's called it is? It is kind of funky, yeah, uh, we've actually have kind of nicknamed it the disco train, and I feel like it just really sums it up. Yes, so this train operates and leaves out of Anchorage, and the final destination is grand view before turning back around and heading back into Anchorage, this train has several stops along the way that I think you can make, just depending on what your interests are, can make into any kind of day trip. So I'm going to go, I'm going to mention a few that really stand out in my mind. So you can go Anchorage to Girdwood. There's great food, hiking activities in Girdwood. They have the now, the veil breaker, Sky Ridge at alieska resort, so it's very easy to enjoy some meals there. Spend some time out in the outdoors. Really get into the vibe of Girdwood and the culture there, plus that you're traveling in the summer, there's some fantastic festivals that are super fun to participate in.

Jennie Flaming:

Robin I gotta stop you. When you talked about Girdwood I think you said sky bridge, which I feel like is super generous for what it is. Have you done it? It looks terrifying to me. I'm just curious. It's new for those of you listening, it's like a new thing, yeah. And I guess the is the actual term. I think it's called the veil, breaker, sky bridge. Isn't that correct? I think so, yeah. And I feel like, when you look at pictures of it, I'm like, Yeah, so I guess maybe more like a rope, but it is very high off the ground elevation, but it is, yeah, it is technically a bridge. You do, okay?

Robin Moore:

Well, if you are harnessed in, you're supposed to wear a helmet. You have a guide. So there is. It's very safety oriented, yes, yes. I should emphasize that it is very high off the ground. Yes, are not into heights men, I actually would love to do it. Think it would be super fun. It's on my list.

Jennie Flaming:

Okay, well, you have to tell me how it goes when you go. so back to Girdwood and the train, and also, yes, so back to Girdwood.

Robin Moore:

So that really just makes for a fun day in and around a little funky town just south of Anchorage. You're really not that far, and the ride itself is about an hour and a half. So if you kind of, you know, get a Little antsy or you want to do a little bit more, maybe hiking or walking around, I really recommend this stop for you. I think it's it's just a fun way to experience a little part of Alaska culture with our quaint and funky towns. Yep, totally agree with that. And then another big stop for us that people really enjoy, and a lot of it is tied to boat and wildlife cruises, is Whittier. So you can go Anchorage and into Whittier, and that does stop and girded before, but anchorage into Whittier and back is a great experience. So you're getting on the train, you have that awesome experience, views mountains, hopefully, wildlife along the arm, a turning an arm along the way. Then you get into Whittier, and you get off the depot, and then you get to go on a boat and have a glacier and a wildlife boat cruise like, what an epic day. How cool. Yes, yes. Cool. So highly recommend. I think the boat captains out in Whittier are fantastic. Yeah, you know their stuff. They're trying to give you the best experience with glaciers and wildlife. And then after a day on the boat, you come back on the train and you head back into Anchorage. What, I mean, an epic day. It's pretty awesome.

Jennie Flaming:

Yes, and listeners, we do have an episode about the 26 glaciers cruise, which is the one that Robin one of the cruises that's available in Whittier that Robin was referring to, and that was back in November episode 92 so go back and listen to that one if you want to learn more. Okay, as you were, Robin, yes.

Robin Moore:

And then the one I am also going to highlight is our Anchorage to Spencer day trip. And I will say I just did this trip and experience last year, and it was phenomenal. It blew my mind. So I recommend it to anyone that I absolutely can. I agree. So for people who are not familiar with our area, Spencer, or what we refer to as Spencer is actually Spencer glacier, and it is very back country, remote wilderness, stunning glacier views. There is a river or that comes up through into, or, sorry, comes down to the turning an arm from there where you started a lake. It is just stunning. So what you do on this one is you get on the train and you meet your guide in Portage. They actually hop on the train with you, and you arrive at Spencer glacier whistle stop, which is pretty fantastic. Yes, they offload all the guides. Get off your whole raft, or whoever you're traveling with gets off. They unload the rafts, and then you get to you do a little safety briefing. But then you strap up, and you get it in your gear, and you put on a life jacket, and you get on a raft to go paddle around a glacial lake up very close to a glacier and see this just majestic piece of ice. It is phenomenal, yeah? And then you have a few, I think it's about 20 to 30 minutes at the lake and the glacier, and then you get to raft down the river to meet the train. It's just stunning views. Really cool. Yeah, so cool. Yeah. You see all these bridges overhead. The guides are amazing. They have so much knowledge and history of the area. They really know what they're talking about. They I mean, you I don't think you can stump them. You know, the lot of them have been doing it for 15 plus years, if not more, and know the area inside out. And then at the Whistle Stop, the train picks you back up, you get on the train, and you get to head back into Anchorage. It is just a spectacular time. I mean, the experience you get in that area is one of the times So highly recommend. I don't think I can raise that one enough, yeah, you know, I I got to do that trip last summer, also when I was with some guests. And I totally agree. It's just such a unique thing, especially there at the end, when you come out and you just kind of pull over next to the train tracks, and the train comes and you like, right? It's so random. It's very cool. Yeah, and no big deal. The guests I was with loved it, and I gotta say, Robin. The day that I did it, the weather was absolutely apocalyptic. It was like boring rain. And so I'm sure the views are amazing. I did not see the views because you barely see across the river, but it was we you could still see the glacier just fine. It was still, it was such a fun day. Yeah, absolutely, yes. It is probably by far one of my best experiences so far on the train. It has been just phenomenal. And I want to throw out to the guiding company that you do out there with or meet out there with, is two Dutch adventures. Yes, they are very safety oriented. To know their stuff. They're great to work with. They're very accommodating, yeah, and I think I also want to throw in this, because I I honestly just learned this, so I like to share it. They're also very accommodating to if you know you have some form of, like, disability or needs that you need help with, like, they're very common. They can get you in a raft in a wheelchair, yeah, get you on the train in the wheelchair. So I think that's great that you know anyone can experience this, and they're willing to make that extra effort, yes, to do that. So very cool.

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, totally agree. Yeah. Love it. Okay, so on. So if you're listening and you're like, wait a minute, Glacier, Discovery train, we talked about all these different places. Podcasts are an audio format, and it's very difficult to describe. Like, go, go to the link in the show notes, and like, look at the map, and it'll make a little more sense about how all this works, because I, I feel like it's very hard to explain, but yeah, yes, agreed.

Robin Moore:

I think that's one of the things that the map definitely does show a good, a good perspective of that. Yeah. And then I guess just tacking on with this, this train, because it is really a, it is a day trip train that we have, besides, even if you are just like I want to see glaciers and be on the train and have this experience riding Anchorage to Grand View. Grand View is our final stop on this train. It's of a glacier. You about have about 10 to 15 minutes at the stop, so you're more than welcome to stay on the train and just admire the views from the beautiful windows that we do have. Or you can get off the train and get some photos, and, you know, walk around a little bit, and then you get back on the train, and then head back into Anchorage, making those stops along the way. So yeah, either whatever your taste for adventure and what you want to see and do this train really can accommodate what what you're looking for totally. And then can you run over the timing of it quick? Like, what time does it leave Anchorage and what time does it return to Anchorage? Sure, yeah. So roughly, yeah. So this train doesn't depart a little bit later in the day. It leaves anchorage at 945 in the morning. Dreamy, yes, yes. With our major stops being Girdwood. Stops at 11am you get to

Whittier about 12:

45pm, Spencer glacier about 2pm and then we do a vice versa, and then you're getting back into anchorage at

9:

15pm,cool, so it's roughly 12 hour day, give or take.

Jennie Flaming:

Yes, before we go to the next one, we're gonna take a short break. So we will be right back. Today's episode is sponsored by the Alaska summer showcase, which is a fantastic event to jump start your summer. It's next Saturday, March 22 at the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage. If you are going to be in the anchorage area, you don't want to miss this opportunity to learn about all things related to Alaska travel. This event is brought to you by Scott McMurren, who also has been on the podcast a couple times and has shared with you about the Alaska tour saver, which is an amazing way to save money on your trip. You've heard me talk about that before. So if you're going to be around anchorage next Saturday, March 22 you don't want to miss out on this wonderful event. There's live music, there's Alaska Native dancers, there are amazing prizes related to Alaska travel, and tickets are just $10 kids are free, and you can get your ticket alaskasummersshowcase.com I'll put the link in the show notes along with the link for the Alaska tour saver. All right, let's get back to the show. Thanks so much Alaska summer showcase for sponsoring this week's episode. All right, we are back with Robin Moore from the Alaska railroad, and we're talking about day trips that you can do from Anchorage on the Alaska railroad. So we've already talked about Seward on the coastal classic. We've talked about a few different options, from the glacier discovery train and what's next, Robin?

Robin Moore:

I'm going to round it out with our Denali star train. So the last two trains I've talked about, we've kind of headed south from Anchorage, so heading into, really, the Seward Kenai Peninsula. Kenai mountains, two hatch Mountains area. So this way, I'm actually going to talk about our northern end, which is the Denali star. It's our longest route. It travels from Anchorage all the way to Fairbanks. You can do it in a day. I don't recommend to.I mean, it's cool, but it is a long day, for sure. I have done it too. It's a very long day, yes, and it, I mean, it, you get a Blue Bird Day, whoo, it can't be beat. But yeah, definitely, very long. Yeah. So this train is really unique. It's really fun. It's one of our more well known trains because of the name and rhyming with the not rhyming being with the Denali National Park and Denali peak. Yep. So this train, I think a few of the ones I'm going to highlight that are really fun to do in a day. It does start in Anchorage. You leave roughly at 815, in the morning. And if you wanted to go all the way to Fairbanks, you'd get in roughly about 8pm Yeah, it's a good 12 hour day, again. Amazing views along the way. But I'm going to highlight one of the ones that is really top of mind for everyone. Is Anchorage to tell kitna, yes, yeah. So super fun adventure day. There's so many things that you can tack on. So you get on the train in Anchorage. You're departing. It's early in the morning. You see just beautiful, stunning views. You go through kind of this back country. You see some funky Alaska houses, and get to experience different valleys and dips and also different mountain ranges along the way. And was it roughly, I'm trying to remember the mile marker off my head and not recalling it. But before talking to you, do get some little picture view of Denali National Park if you get a beautiful day, and you can see Denali. Yeah. There's also times after talking as well. So then you get into talking about

11:

20am and Talkeetna is a really fun town. It's very it's called, we call it our funky, quaint town. It's got a very strong Alaska vibe to it. There's some spectacular food. There's a great brewery. It's great to tack on to some other adventures. So we always recommend flight scene. You can do helicopter or plane if you're more on the ground type of person. There's a really fun jet boat tour up the river that I highly recommend as well along the way. Very fun. And then there's also just walking around town and exploring what there is to see and do. In the winter, there's also, like snowshoeing and cross country skiing, if you're into that as well. But this summer, there's plenty of walking. There's some hiking trails. If you want to go check out some lakes or even down to the river, you're just going to get some stunning views doing that. And then the pickup for to Talkeetna is at roughly 5pm so you get about a six, six and a half hours there to really venture out, get on a tour, explore, maybe eat a lunch, eat early dinner, and then you head back. You head back south, and you're back in Anchorage at 8pm they've really gotten the most out of all the daylight that we have in this yes, yeah, yeah. I think the other thing that's kind of cool about talquitna is, like, the whole town is kind of oriented around the train schedule a bit. There's so many people coming and going on the train that, like, you know, the tour times will line up really nicely with the train schedule, like for the jet boat tour, or for flight scene, or something like that. Absolutely, yes. One other thing to listeners is that if you do want to do flight scene in Talkeetna, we have a code I'll put it's in the show notes for k2 aviation for their Denali flight scene trips. So you can save like, 10% from listening to the podcast. So that's pretty fun. Yay. Okay, cool.

Jennie Flaming:

I also think, like, I know you talked about the views of Denali Robin, but I one thing I often tell people about this Talkeetna day trip is, like, if someone is wanting to go to Denali, but they don't have time, right? Like, maybe it's a day or two before after a cruise, like Denali National Park does not work as a day trip, but Talkeenta totally does, absolutely, and the views of the mountain Talkeetna is where those are at, not the park entrance area doesn't have views of the mountain, so that kind of throws people to you. So I just wanted to mention, if you're like, Oh, I'm get, I'm gonna say getting off a cruise or getting on a cruise, and I have a day or two in Anchorage, do this instead of trying to do a super rush trip into the park, absolutely. And that's one of the recommendations I have when I'm helping talk to people and we're helping itinerary planning, yup.

Robin Moore:

And of course, everyone number one is Denali National Park but maybe they don't necessarily have the time. So I'm like, Okay, go to Talkeetna, you can still see Denali. Yes, this is great. And you're going to get those beautiful views. You're going to get the pictures that you want. You're going to, you know, see it from all these beautiful different angles, but then you don't have to necessarily burn two or three days getting into Denali National Park. So I highly recommend that as well. And you do, you get some stunning views. And one of the great things about the Alaska railroad and our trains and our emphasis on we want you to enjoy the journey and not just the destination. So we will actually slow, what we call slow roll. So if Denali is out in all of her splendor, the conductor actually slow rolls our train. So we actually our pace. So people are able to get in the views and take those pictures like we want you to have that experience. And I think that is just a phenomenal way to experience Alaska. We want you to enjoy it, and you're here enjoy every piece that you can get. So we're really excited that we offer that, and we're just very proud of of all of our team that we are able to do that. Yes, I'm

Jennie Flaming:

just thinking about, like, being on the train with those, like, giant picture windows, and like, when you do that slow roll and and the mountain is out and, like, the entire train is like, there's occasionally someone who's like, Can this tip over? And I'm like, no, no, no, it's No, everyone can still be fine.

Robin Moore:

Yeah, there's a lot of weight and power to back up the train. Yes, yes. It's not just where the I feel like that happens, you know, like, especially not like on a flight scene plane, but like, if you're on Alaska Airlines, like going between Fairbanks and Anchorage, and like, you see a Denali and like, everyone's on one side, and they're like, it's cool. Just go over there. Yeah, yeah. Oh, cool.

Jennie Flaming:

Okay, um, so you talked a little bit about accessibility, you know, with rafting, and I just want to emphasize that the train is wheelchair accessible. There's lifts and everything to to navigate. I know you said that, but I just wanted to mention that again, because I think that's really important.

Robin Moore:

Yes, absolutely. And I would love to to emphasize that we are more than happy to accommodate. But if, if we have, you know, a heads up, or even further out communication few days or that's even better, and we're able to accommodate them even more. Yes, yes, fabulous. Okay, can we talk a little more? Okay, so first of all, anything else you want to say about any of the day trips that before we move on a little bit? I could we could talk about the Anchorage, Fairbanks, one if you want me to do it's a long day, I don't know.

Jennie Flaming:

Yeah, and I think that's a little hard, because then you're in fair you know, you still have to get back right, or unless you're actually, maybe mention a little bit about that, because, in my opinion, that's the best way to do a one way trip between Anchorage and Fairbanks, if you rent a car, unless you're cool, paying Like the enormous premium to do a one way car rental like this is kind of the way to do it, I think. Mm, hmm, um, so, yeah, let's talk about that a little bit, even though it's a long day, and then you'd have to do something from there. You wouldn't be back in Anchorage. But yes, right, let's talk about that. Go for it.

Robin Moore:

Okay. So another thing that you can do on the Denali star, and which is very cool to do, is you can go Anchorage to Fairbanks all the way in one day. You're not able to get back into anchorage in the same period of time. However, you can make a day trip going from either Anchorage to Fairbanks or vice versa, Fairbanks to Anchorage. Either route you take is about a 12 hour a day, like we have been talking about, and I'm going to keep bragging about all the views that you can have on the train, but, yeah, I'm going to brag about that one. Especially the views that you have on the train through this route are absolutely one of a kind. You're going over some of the coolest bridges over the rivers that are just, I mean, they take your breath away. Denali National Park. I mean, you are getting to experience some of the best view scenery insights in Alaska on this train all the way. And I think it is a very cool opportunity. So what I recommend for this one, if you're traveling either Anchorage to Fairbanks, one way, vice versa on the 12 hour day is then spending the night at either of those destinations. And then you can, you know, take a flight the next day out to meet kind of your destination or wherever you're going. So yeah, really, that would be my emphasis on that. Again, you cannot do it in a full 24 hours. That would be a lot.

Jennie Flaming:

Yes, it is a lot. You need to really like riding trains and looking at scenery. Yes, I do, but at the back to back days, that might be a little much for me. Yeah. So I would highly recommend, depending on the destination, going, for example, Anchorage to Fairbanks. You get in Fairbanks roughly about 8pm Yep, go to your hotel, spend the night, get some dinner, grab a drink, and then, you know, wake up the next morning for your flight, or, yeah, your tour, however you're getting from point A to point B. So yes, that is my recommendation. That way. Yes, totally agree with that, right on. Okay, so Robin, I know we've talked about a lot of logistics already, but it'd be great and timing, which is wonderful. And I just want to emphasize that something that you said, which is that the Denali star and the Aurora winter train. You know, they follow the same route, but the schedule the Aurora winter train is in every day, or at least it isn't every day for the whole winter. So you got to think about that before you, like, lock in your itinerary and you're like, Oh, I could go wherever any day. And then these other trains are the coastal Classic and the glacier discovery are seasonal. So, you know, check the website for the exact dates that they're available.

Robin Moore:

Yes, absolutely, yeah. So how far ahead of time? So we're talking again about a day trip now, um, for these different like, if you want to go to Talkeetna or on the glacier discovery train or the coastal classic. How far ahead of time would you recommend people book their tickets for those days? I recommend booking as far out as possible as you can just to get that ticket on the book. Absolutely. Yeah, there's always, there's a little kind of Alaska, you know, fun ticket game that I will kind of slide under the radar here or insider. Our weekends are always busier, yeah. So if you have the flexibility and you're traveling, you know, maybe Saturday through Saturday, take the train on, you know, Tuesday. Yes, highly recommend doing that. We have a lot more flexibility availability during the week than we do on those weekends. Yeah, so I, if you have any form of flexibility in your travel, I highly recommend, you know, booking those train tickets or day trip tickets during the week gives you a little bit more fluidy to, you know, pick and choose what you want to do and get those seats that you want. Yep, yep, good. Good tip. And also, like, it's more, I would also add that, like, the more, if your dates are flexible, there's going to be more options. Like you were just saying, Robin, if you're in Anchorage for a week, and you can do it any day, that's quite different from if you're like, I'm going to be there July 9, and I have to do it July 9. You know, the more locked in you are to one date, the more I think it's important to plan ahead as well. Absolutely, absolutely another, I guess Insider. I guess we'll call it an insider. Tip that I will share too is a lot of people do visit the state around our festivals, which I think is fantastic. But looking at ahead of for just our 2025, summer season, anything around July 4 is pretty full at this point already. Yeah, so I think, you know, again, if you're here for a longer period of time, and you have the flexibility to, you know, travel on a Monday or Tuesday. I highly recommend that. Yup, and same with just some of the festivals that are happening in Seward, like Mount marathon, July 4 weekend, yeah, the third wood forest fair. So there's definitely those time frames around traveling that fill up a lot faster. So yep, recommend either maybe traveling after that or before that on the train, just so you have that flexibility to experience those Yeah, yeah. I totally agree. How far ahead of time do you accept? Like, when can people start booking? How far out? Oh, we're Russell, I would say we're roughly on like a six to nine months. Okay, period out, yeah. So we had opened up our little bit. We haven't opened up our winter tickets yet, but all summers all up and ready to book. And it started in, I think it was October. We had it opened. Okay, so we have a pretty good, good leeway on that, yeah, and we're hoping by probably, I'd say, March, ish, we'll hopefully have the upcoming then winter 2026 season open for booking. Yes, yeah, cool.

Jennie Flaming:

And I will also say that, like the folks that you have on your team that answer the phone are awesome. So. So if you're, like, trying to figure something out, or, like, When can I book this? Just call them and say, like, Hey, this is what I'm trying to do. Can you help me figure this out? Like, I feel like the agents that work on your team there are amazing. Yes, completely agree. And I will also, I'm going to talk on to that as well.

Robin Moore:

We do have reservation agents that are more than happy and are willing to work with you on things or trips or tours that you're planning to do if you do come to Alaska and you want a day trip on the train, and let's say you want to go Anchorage to tell keep it and you want to do a flight scene tour, we can help you book all that one stop shop. We'll plan all that for you get your tour booked as well, so it's really easy and convenient, and then you're not having to call, you know, several different places or book online several different times. So yep, really a one stop shop for getting your day trips and your overall itinerary. Yeah, I think you know one thing I often tell folks who contact me, Robin, which gets away from the day trips a little bit, but I still think it's important to mention here is, like, there, um, another benefit is if you're doing a trip around Alaska on the train, so, like, not even just a like, including a day trip, but also, like, you're going to do a week long trip and Go to Denali in Fairbanks and Anchorage and talkeetna, um, there's a big benefit to booking one of your packages, because like that make the hotels, especially in Denali, is kind of a headache otherwise, and that kind of gets around that, plus make sure you're going to be at a hotel that has A huddle to the train depot, for example, yes, big critical mistake that someone can make is to not catch the locations of things and, like, how you're going to get around. So that's a good way to navigate that, in my opinion, absolutely, and I think that's one of the, really the one of the great things that we do, like, we can help you book your you know, your accommodations, your tumors and your train like, once that's happened, yes, got everything booked and ready to go for your Yeah, trip to Alaska. Sweet and really delightful, live, human, non robots to help you. Yes, who live there?

Jennie Flaming:

Yes, great. I know they're great. Yeah, cool. Okay, so, Robin, what is your personal I feel like you maybe slightly gave this away already, but I'll give you a chance to change your answer. What's your personal favorite day trip to take on the train? Well, I did

Robin Moore:

the Spencer glacier was, yeah, my highlight absolutely going Anchorage to Spencer glacier, taking a rafting tour, by, by the glacier, down the river, and getting the train. I mean, it was, it was an epic day. It's, yeah, I will definitely remember it was great. So I think, yep, that's definitely my top there. Yeah, yeah, cool. Okay, well, Robin, I'd love to know, since you live in Anchorage, I would love to ask you what I ask all of my guests, which is, what's your favorite restaurant? In your case, in Anchorage, Ooh, what's my favorite restaurant? My favorite? I guess more so family wise. Yep, we really liked Bernard, Roadhouse. Yes. Great vibe, great people, just awesome waiters, like, best personalities, good family. Like all around the experience is just top notch. Yeah? That is definitely our favorite for, I think, a mom and dad date or fancier, like girls night out, yeah, I love ginger. Love ginger. Yeah, yeah, great. Have you eaten there? I have, yeah, those are, those are both really great suggestions, yeah. So love it, yeah. Spenard, Roadhouse is also great for breakfast. It is, yeah, yeah. It every, I feel like every meal, you've got something to look for there. And yeah, yeah, they've got some new menu items that have come around the last few years. And, yeah, it's a fun place. Yeah, it really is okay.

Jennie Flaming:

Finally, Robin, before I let you go, what is one piece of advice you have for visitors coming to Alaska for the first time?

Robin Moore:

Oh, that's a good one, I would say the best piece of advice, well, it's kind of two pronged I guess, is know where you're traveling within the state. Our state is massive. It's very big, and it's not necessarily easy to get from, say, the interior.The state to South Central, to the panhandle, to the Aleutian Islands. So I think, yeah, knowing where you're going in the state is very beneficial. Highly recommend that. And layers. I cannot emphasize that enough, knowing layers of even if you're traveling in the summer, you need to have those layers. You need to be prepared just for the different elements and different weather, and people are used to different temperatures. So I think just yeah, what you feel comfortable in, what you're know you're going to be warm in, is the best thing to do. Yeah. Yeah. Great advice.

Jennie Flaming:

Well, Robin, thank you so much for joining me today and coming on the podcast.

Robin Moore:

Thank you so much for having me. Jennie, this was so much fun, good. I really enjoyed it, too. You.

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Jennie Thwing Flaming

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Jay Flaming

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