While planning a trip to Alaska, probably the most common question that everyone has is, whether to do a cruise or whether to drive around and visit the inland National Parks. In my opinion, there is no right answer, and it really depends on personal preferences, priorities and budget. 

The cruises are generally 7-10 days long and start from Seattle or Vancouver. The ships usually go through the ‘Inside Passage’ offering spectacular views of the islands and marine life in the Gulf of Alaska, and allowing access to the remote towns of Ketchikan, Skagway and Juneau. (Though, Juneau is the capital of Alaska, it is not connected by road to most of the other major cities). The cruises allow you to avoid the hassles of detailed planning while enjoying the trip from the comforts from your stateroom.

On the other hand, a road trip allows you to get up and close to the majestic mountains, lakes, glaciers and wildlife. Driving through the Alaskan state highways, visiting the National parks, and hiking on glaciers will provide equally cherished memories. The big difference though, is a road trip through Alaska allows you the flexibility of deciding what you want to see and do, at your convenience and pace. And well, if you have more time there is also a cruise + land tour that offers the best of both worlds.

For our maiden trip to Alaska, we decided to do a road trip in early July, with a promise to save the cruise for another day. We had exactly 8 days to spare and spread it almost evenly across the three inland National Parks (Denali, Wrangell St. Elias and Kenai Fjords).

Our high-level itinerary was as follows:

Day 1: Drive from Anchorage to Denali NP (including sightseeing along the way, and a small hike inside Denali NP) – 240 miles
Day 2: Spend all day inside Denali NP (including an 8-hour return trip on the shuttle bus to and from Wonder Lake)
Day 3: Spend morning in Denali NP and do a couple of small hikes. Drive from Denali NP to Fairbanks (120 miles – 2 hours)
Day 4: Drive from Fairbanks to Copper Center along the very scenic Richardson Highway (260 miles – 4.5 hours)
Day 5: Spend all day in Wrangell St. Elias NP (included a 6-hour guided hike on the Root Glacier)
Day 6: Drive from Copper Center to Seaward along the very scenic Glenn Highway (370 miles – 6.5 hours)
Day 7: Spend all day in Kenai Fjords NP (included a 6-hour cruise to view the Alaskan marine life)
Day 8: Morning in Seaward. Drive back to Anchorage (127 miles – 2.5 hours)

We began planning this trip about 6-8 months prior and had booked all our hotels, the Denali shuttle, Wrangell St. Elias glacier hike and the Kenai Fjords cruise  well in advance, as we were planning to be in Alaska over the first week of July (one of their busiest weeks of the year). For the most past we were able to follow through on our plans, however in some instances we had to make minor adjustments that I have called out in the detailed itineraries for each day.