Alaska With Kids - Road Trip Edition (Part 1)

Planning a road trip to Alaska with kids this summer? Don't miss this episode for the highlights (and lowlights) of visiting The Last Frontier on a family trip.

Find out why Alaska is worth the effort, who it’s best for, and how to book flights using points and miles. Host Melissa outlines top regions and stops along with highlights like dog sledding, a Kenai Fjords boat tour, Lake Clark bear viewing, Byron Glacier, Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, and the Alaska Native Heritage Center in Anchorage.

00:00 Welcome and Alaska Preview

01:16 Why Alaska for Families

02:32 Booking your Alaska family trip

05:56 Road Trip Tips

08:02 Anchorage Essentials

10:09 Girdwood

12:01 Kenai Peninsula Highlights

14:30 Anchorage Day Trips

18:24 Top Experiences to Prioritize

19:54 Final Planning and Packing Tips

21:59 Wrap Up and Next Episode

Links

• 10-day Alaska itinerary
• Alaska with kids
• Anchorage travel guide
• Day trips from Anchorage
• Renting a car in Alaska
• Alaska travel tips

Don't miss this inspiring, practical travel with kids podcast hosted by family travel expert Melissa Conn, founder of The Family Voyage, certified Child Passenger Safety Technician, and mom of two who proves family travel is achievable for everyone.

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Transcript

0:02

Hey there and welcome back to Family Travel Unpacked. I'm your host, Melissa, and in case you're new here, you can always find tons of detailed destination guides, travel tips, hacks, and more on my website, thefamilyvoyage.com. And if you've been enjoying this show, be sure to hit follow wherever you're listening so that you never miss an episode. Today we're talking about my kids' favorite destination, Alaska. And I have to tell you, this is one of those spots that I struggle to do justice to in just a single episode because there's so much to cover. So I'm gonna do two. It's my show, I get to decide. This episode is all about doing a land-based trip to Alaska: what it looks like, where to go, what to do, and what you need to know before you book. And for the next episode, I'm bringing on a special guest and we're gonna talk all about land versus cruise. It's a big decision for your first trip to Alaska, and you'll find out which one makes sense for your family and what the trade-offs really look like. Be sure to hit follow so you'll get notified as soon as that one's available too. Now I've actually been to Alaska twice, once with the family on a big summer road trip and once on my own in the fall, which gave me a really different perspective. So throughout this episode, I'll be pulling from both of those experiences to give you as complete of a picture as I can. All right, let's talk Alaska. First things first. Why should you go to Alaska? Honestly, it's one of those places that almost every family I talk to has on their list, but for a lot of people, for some reason, it just feels like a"someday" destination instead of a"right now" destination. I think it keeps getting pushed back because it feels complicated to plan, and there's always somewhere else that just seems a little bit easier. I get that. I wanna make the case though, that with the right preparation, it's actually very doable for families. And there's no substitute for it. Alaska's the kind of trip where just driving around is an amazing experience. The landscape's incredible and you'll see things that you truly can't see anywhere else in the us. So who's an Alaska road trip right for? I'd say it's a great fit for families with kids who are at least five or six and up, especially if anyone in your family is obsessed with animals, loves the outdoors, or has ever said, I wanna see a glacier. My son Jacob, is my outdoor adventure kid who loves cool weather and he basically lost his mind in the best possible way. He's been obsessed with Huskies for years. He actually has a great collection of stuffed ones, and Alaska is where you can go meet those dogs and snuggle with the puppies. My daughter, Shoshana, usually goes for the more polished vacation experiences, so she was kind of skeptical before we left, but once we got on the ground she was sold. Alaska has a way of doing that. Let's talk about getting there. Alaska is far, no doubt, and sometimes it can be expensive to fly there, but you can actually get some really great deals. This is a destination where points and Miles can do a lot of the work for you in terms of flights and I wanna walk you through how. First off, Anchorage is your gateway for most land trips, it has a solid international airport with lots of nonstop routes from major cities, especially in the West.From a lot of cities, you're gonna connect, no surprise there- your most common hub options are Chicago, Denver, Seattle, and LA. Here's something that surprises a lot of people. Pretty much every major US carrier now flies to Alaska. United, Alaska Airlines, American Delta, and yes, even Southwest is about to start flying to Anchorage from May to September. You have a lot more options than you might think. So how do you figure out what's available from your home airport? My go-to tools are PointsYeah and award tool. You punch in your origin and destination and they'll show you what award availability looks like across most of the major programs. The one important caveat is that Southwest isn't included in those tools. You have to check Southwest's availability separately on their own site, but it's definitely worth doing, especially if you have a companion pass, because flying two people to Alaska on Southwest points with a companion pass could be an amazing deal even for those peak summer dates. One thing that applies across all of those frequent flyer programs is that Alaska's a popular summer destination and award availability follows demand. You're probably not booking this trip Three months out, you're booking the moment award space opens, which for most programs is around that 11 month mark, although Southwest is closer to six months. If you've been following this show for a while, you know that's my standard advice for any award travel. Book early, but for Alaska in summer, it's especially critical. Remember, with most of the US based frequent flyer programs, you can always cancel or change an award booking if something better comes up or you snag a great cash deal. For our family trip to Alaska back in 2021, I actually snagged one of those amazing cash deals. It was just$200 each round trip on United. But it was late summer and travel had just opened back up, so I wouldn't bank on seeing that kind of price again. For my trip on my own I used Turkish miles to fly United on the way there and paid cash on Delta on the way home. The next time we go, I'll probably look at award tickets through Alaska and American now that I have healthy stashes of those points, and of course I'm gonna look at opportunities to use our Southwest companion passes as well. One quick routing note for you though. If Denali National Park is your top priority, think about flying in or out of Fairbanks instead of doing Anchorage for both legs. Fairbanks puts you much closer to the park. The carriers that serve Fairbanks are Alaska Airlines, United and Delta, so you do have a few choices, but not quite as many as with Anchorage. As for when to go to Alaska, summer, meaning June through August, is peak season and for good reason. You'll get long daylight hours, the best wildlife viewing and access to almost everything the state has to offer except snow. We went in August and we had so much daylight to work with, it was really amazing. It was still light out until 10:00 PM most days. We all loved it and we had plenty of opportunity to squeeze in different activities. Just prepare for some sleep disruptions the first couple of nights. If you have any light sleepers in your family, you could consider bringing blackout masks or portable curtains although we didn't end up needing those. Let's talk for a few minutes about getting around Alaska. For a land-based trip personally, I think you really need to rent a car to make the most of your visit. Yes, there's a train, the Alaska Railroad, and it's actually really beautiful and it's worth riding if you have extra time. But as I discovered on my September trip, it runs limited routes and limited schedules. It also won't get you to most of the best places without a car at some point anyway. Here's the important thing I can tell you about renting a car in Alaska: book it the day that you book your flights. I booked our car about eight months in advance and locked in a rate that was under$70 a day, which I think is pretty good. A friend of mine who procrastinated Was looking at rates over$200 a day, and ultimately she canceled her trip because the car just put the whole thing way out of her budget. And I'm not exaggerating. This actually happened to my friend. The good news is that most rental car companies will let you book a refundable rate so you can reserve early and then go back and keep checking prices closer to your trip. Make a cancelable reservation, set a calendar reminder for let's say once a month to recheck and move on. A few other car specific things that I want you to know. First, keep your gas tank at half or above at all times. There are stretches of Alaska where you can go close to a hundred miles without seeing a gas station and an empty tank in the middle of nowhere is not a fun situation, especially with kids in the car. Fill up whenever you have a chance. Also, and I say this as a car seat technician, bring your own seats. Don't rent them. You never know what's gone on with rental car seats. And if you're planning on doing any of the park bus tours in Denali, know that the car seat laws apply on those buses too. You have to bring your own car seat or they're gonna turn you away. Thankfully, there are some places in the park to store car seats while you go hiking. One more thing. Rental car companies restrict certain roads in Alaska. There'll be a sign at the counter when you pick up the car, but typically it's the Dalton Highway, the Denali Highway, and some of the Kenai Peninsula's gravel roads, they're technically off limits. So read your contract, use good judgment, and if you're driving somewhere that feels dicey, and check your policy before you go. You've got your flights booked, you've got your car reserved. Now what? Let me walk you through the main regions that you'll be considering for a land-based trip. Anchorage is your hub, and it's a real city. It's bigger than most people expect. It definitely surprised me. It's also surrounded by incredible scenery in every direction. You can base your entire trip out of Anchorage and just do day trips, which is what I did on my solo fall visit, and it worked beautifully. Alternatively, you could use Anchorage as the starting and ending point for a road trip that takes you much further within the state. If you only have a few hours in Anchorage, my top recommendation is the Alaska Native Heritage Center. I wish we'd been able to visit on our first trip because it gives you so much context for the incredibly diverse people who call Alaska home. There are traditional dwellings from different Alaska native groups, interns from those cultures on hand to share their stories and rotating exhibits and live demonstrations. Alaska Natives have been living on the land for more than 10,000 years, and understanding that history makes the whole experience of being in the state a lot richer. Just be sure to check the days and times that they'll be open for your visit. We ran into that issue on our first trip, which is why I didn't get to go with the kids. If you want a more active morning, the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is 11 miles along the waterfront, and it's one of the prettiest urban trails I've ever been on. You can walk part of it or you could rent bikes and do the whole thing. We took a lovely stroll there after dinner the evening our family arrived in Alaska, just off the plane and totally jet lagged, but it was still magical. This is a great place to catch the sunset in Anchorage. And as a bonus, the southern end of the trail is a great spot to see moose. Just be sure to give them space. In terms of restaurants in Anchorage, the food scene is honestly better than most people expect. Whiskey and ramen is a James Beard nominated spot, and the food is exceptional. I love the cocktails too by the way. Beartooth Theater Pub is where you wanna go for great pizza, but without the two hour wait of the more famous Moose's tooth down the road; same owners, same pizza, much shorter wait. For breakfast, snow City Cafe near downtown is solid. And for coffee and grab and go. I loved Wild Star Creations. It's a cute little local spot that has some really unique souvenirs in addition to great coffee. About 40 minutes south of Anchorage, you'll start driving along the Turnagain Arm, which is one of the most scenic stretches of road in the entire state. You'll probably pull over a few times in just the first 10 minutes. Eventually you'll get to Girdwood, which is a small mountain town at the base of a ski resort, and the Hotel Alyeska is a nice upscale option if you wanna stay there. It wasn't in our budget, but we stayed at a really nice condo nearby. Even if you aren't staying at the hotel, you can take the Alyeska tram up 2000 feet for amazing views. We got to have a snowball fight at the top in August, and we even saw some bears when we looked down from the tram. Girdwood is also a great spot for picking wild blueberries if you're there in the right season. Just past Girdwood, you'll hit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, which is such a perfect stop for families. It's a nonprofit wildlife sanctuary that's got bears, black and grizzly, moose, elk, muskox, and foxes, caribou, wolves and wood bison, which surprisingly are North America's largest land mammals and they were previously thought to be extinct. You'll walk a flat loop road past all of these incredible animals and there are staff on hand to talk about the rescue and rehab work they do. I definitely recommend that you ask questions because those folks have tons of fascinating anecdotes to share. The Center was even featured on a Nat Geo show called Alaska Animal Rescue so it might be fun to watch a few episodes before you go. If you have any concerns about mobility for someone in your group, you could drive the loop instead of walking it. A bit further East is Portage Valley and Byron Glacier, which I specifically wanna call out as one of the most underrated stops in this part of the state. Byron Glacier is a one and a half mile hike each way, and it's mostly flat terrain. Plus at the end you can walk right up to the glacier itself. You can even step onto the ice. Our kids have the best time, and I think it's one of the top big payoff, low effort hikes in all of Alaska, and it's appropriate for almost any age. Now if Anchorage and Girdwood are the warmup, the Kenai Peninsula is where things really get going. You'll check out Seward, Cooper Landing, Homer and Soldotna. Kenai Fjords National Park is the easiest national park in Alaska to visit, and you definitely shouldn't skip it. One thing that's really unique about this park is that it has a unit on land and another on the water. You'll access the park from Seward and what you'll see when you get out on the water is just awesome. Puffins, sea lions, seals, mountain goats, whales, bears, and glaciers all around you. The centerpiece is getting right up close to the face of an active glacier. Close enough that you can hear it calving or splitting apart. It's really cool and definitely a highlight. We cruised with Major Marine and they have a naturalist on board who narrates the whole time and answers lots of questions. For kids who wanna understand what they're looking at. That's a great feature. Now, here's a pro tip for you. If you can swing it, visit the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward before your boat tour rather than after. It's a research aquarium focused on local marine life, and if your kids have some understanding of the different creatures before they see them from the boat, the whole cruise will be more engaging. If you have a membership to an AZA accredited zoo or aquarium, you can get 50% off your admission. So definitely worth checking that before you go. While you're down in Seward, exit Glacier is worth a stop. This is the land part of Kenai Fjords National Park. The short accessible loop takes you around the base of the glacier, and as you walk you'll see markers where the glacier's toe was at different points in history, 1951, 1978, 2000 and so on. You can actually look out for some of the first markers on the road as you drive in, which really tells you how much that glacier has receded. It's a really tangible way to see the glacial recession. If you want more elevation, you can extend your hike to the overlook. It's not hard, but the walk was longer than we expected, and it did involve a little bit of scrambling. Fishing is also a big deal on the Kenai Peninsula, and if your family's into it, you'll definitely wanna book something. The Kenai River is famous for salmon and there are guide services throughout the area. Now this is something important to know: non-resident adults need a fishing license, but kids under 16 don't. Another practical heads up is that I found waders in kids sizes really hard to source locally. So if you're planning on river fishing, bring rain pants and waterproof socks as a substitute for your kids. Homer is at the tip of the Kenai Peninsula. It's a charming town with a great vibe, and from either Soldotna or Homer, you can do a float plane or boat trip to Lake Clark National Park for bear viewing, which I'm gonna talk about a little bit later in this episode. Heading the other direction north of Anchorage is the Matsu Valley- Short for Matanuska-Susitna, and that's home to some of the best day trips that you can take from the city. we went to Alaskan Husky Adventures in Willow for dog sledding, and it was far and away the highlight of the trip for my kids. They offer year-round tours, sleds in winter, or specially designed wheeled carts in summer, and you get to meet the actual Iditarod dogs, hear about the behind the scenes reality of long distance racing and spend time with cute little puppies. Our son had been dreaming about meeting sled dogs basically his whole life, and he was in heaven. The other major attraction in this direction is Matanuska Glacier, which is the largest road accessible glacier in the state. You can only get onto it with a guide, and I think that's the right call, because glaciers are not stable terrain, and you need some specialized gear. The experience involves walking on ice with micro spikes through frozen waves and around turquoise meltwater ponds, all while you're staring at these amazing mountains all around you. If your kids are at least eight, it's a really unique experience. Now, I actually did this without the kids when I went in September last year, but we did some incredible glacier hiking in Iceland with the kids right before that, and they had a great time. I'd say Matuski is probably better if you go in early summer. There's definitely been some recession of the glacier, and it's even more noticeable after the warm summer months. Denali deserves its own mention. It's the tallest peak in North America, and the entire park is breathtaking, at least from what I've seen in photos. I'll honestly say that Denali is really far. It's like five hours from Anchorage and it only shows its summit about one third of the time. We skipped it on our family road trip because everything else that we wanted to see was in the opposite direction, and so the timing just didn't work for us. But if Denali's a priority for you building two or three days specifically for the park, or consider flying in and out of Fairbanks. That puts you much closer to Denali so that you can make the most of your time. Another option is a Denali flight seeing tour from Talkeetna, which is about halfway between Anchorage and the park. You drive up, hop on a small plane, fly around Denali, and even land on a glacier, and you could be back in Anchorage for dinner. It's a really efficient way to experience the mountain if your time is tight. You can sometimes see Denali from Talkeetna itself, but we tried and unfortunately we didn't get so lucky. Inside the park most visitors take bus tours to access the wildlife viewing areas because there are restrictions on how far private cars can drive depending on the time of year. You definitely wanna book that bus tour in advance because they do sell out. And as I mentioned before, car seat laws still apply on those buses, so be sure that you plan accordingly. Okay, so we've talked about all the different regions, but I wanna pause here and address the itinerary question because it's something I get asked a lot. Do you do a big road trip and move around, or do you stay put in Anchorage and do day trips? And The honest answer is that both of them can work really well, but the right one depends on your family. We did the road trip version with the family. We moved around a lot. We saw a ton of the Kenai Peninsula, and we stayed in lots of different towns. It was amazing and it was also a lot of repacking and a lot of driving. For older kids who are up for that, it's a great way to see as much of the state as possible. But on my return trip in fall of 2024, I stayed in Anchorage the entire time, partly because I was there for a conference, and then in my free time, I took day trips. I came away from that experience thinking that it really is an underrated option, especially for families with younger kids or somebody who doesn't wanna live out of a suitcase. You won't see as much for sure, but sometimes it's worth the trade off. Over on my website, I've written some Anchorage articles that'll show you exactly what that might look like. You can hit a ton of our favorite Alaska experiences without repacking your bags, if that's unappealing. And I think for a lot of families at will go check out the links in the show. But if you want that fuller road trip experience that takes you down into the Kenai Peninsula, like to Seward and Homer, I also have a detailed 10 day itinerary for that, and you can find that in the show notes or check out all of my resources at thefamilyvoyage.com/Alaska. Let me pull this together with the experiences that I think are most worth prioritizing, especially for families First Dog sledding. For animal loving kids. This one's really hard to beat. Alaskan Husky Adventures was an intimate experience, a real working kennel, not just a tourist production that takes huge busloads of people coming off of cruise ships every day. Second, the Kenai Fjords Boat Tour. I'd rate this one as a non-negotiable because you'll see amazing scenery and tons of different wildlife. Don't skip this. Third bear viewing, if you can swing it. A flying trip to Lake Clark National Park is something else entirely. You will never forget that we spent hours on the water just watching the bears be bears. They were fishing and playing, interacting with each other. It's also a cheaper and more intimate option than Katmai national park, and the observation is from a boat- up close with the bears rather than from a crowded platform with a strict timetable. If there's one big splurge built into your trip to Alaska, I suggest that this be it. Fourth, don't miss Byron Glacier. It's easy, it's beautiful, it's free. The kids are gonna love it. Five. The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, this is right next to Byron Glacier, so easy to combine them and it's appropriate for all ages. You'll see animals that you actually can't see anywhere else, and you can get much closer to those animals that you might otherwise see in other parts of the state. And finally the Alaska Native Heritage Center. I really don't want you to leave Alaska without learning about the people who have called it home for tens of thousands of years Now, a few more practical tips before I wrap up. Book everything early, and I mean everything, the rental car, the popular hotels, the Dog Sledding tour, the Kenai Fjords Cruise. Alaska's not a destination where last minute works in your favor because it's just super popular. Some tours fill up weeks in advance, especially for July and August. This ties back to what I always say about award travel. Try to book at that 10 to 12 month mark if you can. The same principle applies to tours and accommodations in Alaska. Almost everything is cancelable or has some date flexibility. If you need to shift things around. Plan for road variability. Alaska does not have a lot of highways. If one of them closes, which does happen, there may be no good alternative. We lost many, many, many hours when the parks highway shut down near Talkeetna after a fatal accident, it was the second one. Just that week. The alternate route would've been an 11 hour loop. Thankfully we had snacks, a charging cable, and a good attitude. So we got through it, but it's a real thing to prepare for mentally. Weather layers for everyone. Even in summer Alaska's. Weather changes fast rain gear is a non-negotiable. You'll want waterproof boots, rain pants, a fleece, and a rain jacket for everyone in your family. The good news is that you can actually pack pretty light because you're gonna be wearing the same thing most days. Nothing in Alaska's fancy, so you can just rely on jeans or leggings and then throw some rain pants on top. We brought our family of four in just carry on luggage. Prepare your kids for the midnight sun. It's magical and also kind of disorienting. If your kids are challenging sleepers, bring sleep masks or portable blackout curtains and talk to them beforehand so that they know what's coming. And finally, respect where you are. Alaska is wild in a way that very few places in America still are. Keep at least a half tank of gas. Have snacks in the car always, not just for the kids, but also for you in case you're stuck on the highway or on an extra long hike. Have a paper map in the glove box in case your GPS doesn't work, which it sometimes won't. Alaska rewards preparation and punishes complacency a little more than most places, but that's part of what makes it so special. Okay, we've covered a lot of ground today, and honestly, I feel like I've still only scratched the surface. There are full guides on my website for everything I've talked about. The Anchorage Travel Guide, Day trips, car rental tips, Alaska activities with kids. I'll link to all of those in the show notes. And if you're actively planning and wanna skip the research rabbit hole, I have a detailed 10 day itinerary for Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula with day by day schedules and travel hacks at thefamilyvoyage.com/Alaska. A lot of families have used this to plan their own trips and have come back saying that it was incredibly helpful. For the next episode, I'm bringing on a special guest to chat about the land versus cruise breakdown, what the real differences are, who each option is right for, and how to make the best decision for your family. Be sure to follow wherever you're listening so you don't miss it. Thanks so much for being here, and until next time, safe travels.