Do Canadians like my Canada trip Itinerary?
Also any tips to keep the cost down? Here is what the plan is so far. Saturday, June 27th - Arrive in Anchorage, Alaska. Why Alaska? 1) Cheapest flight in proxomity to the Yukon. 2) American rental cars have unlimited mileage/kilometres. Flying into Whitehorse is more expensive and the car as a 1,400km limit of free usage. After that, you pay .16 per kilometre. Dempster Highway exceeds the threshold. Sunday, June 28th - Drive 11 hours from Anchorage, AK into Dawson City, Yukon, crossing into Canada at Beaver Creek. Start drive at 6AM to account for any hold-ups at the border. Buy 2 spare tyres at first opportunity. Monday, June 29th - Drive 12-hour drive on Dempster Highway from Dawson City, Yukon Territory to Inuvik, Northwest Territory (North of the Arctic Circle). Stay at Arctic Chalet. Tuesday, June 30th - Consider in advance if 3 other visitors want to take AKLAK airlines so I can join in (4-person minimum requirement) to fly roundtrip into Toktuvik which lies on the arctic ocean. If this comes out too expensive, instead Kayak in what becomes an ice road in winter. (24-hour sunshine is gonna feel amazing!) Wednesday - July 1st, Canada DAY! Drive back to Dawson City. Experience Canada Day in the Yukon. I have no other option as far as that goes. Thursday - July 2nd, take Top of the World Highway crossing back into Alaska and end in Fairbanks, Alaska. Friday - July 3rd - Tour Museums in Fairbanks and then at the end of the day, drive back to Anchorage. Saturday July 4th (USA Independence Day)- Drive down to Seward if there's time, then prepare to return car. Late Saturday night and return home. Is this a good itinerary? Can I make it better? Cheaper? More active? Add a day? Is this reasonable? In an earlier question I listed this as trip #1, trip #2 was the maritimes, trip #3 was to James Bay. I have decided on trip #1. And now this is the next step. Deciding how to go about trip #1, if I pursue trip #1. Well I've been to Calgary, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Kamloops, Whistler, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Prince Albert, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Windsor, Dresden, London, Stratford, Brantford, and Guelph on different little trips that build up. (I'm not super rich by any means, I just built up a history of Canadian travel over time). I can always do a Maritimes trip, but my determination to go north of the arctic circle and be the first person in my family to cross the arctic circle, has won me over doing the maritimes, which I WILL do inevitably. You can also more safely go north of the arctic circle in Finland driving to Lapland. But the key of this Canada trip is ADVENTURE! It's the journey and the THRILL and the un-paved endless road to paradise. one of my lifetime goals is to step foot in all provinces and territories. But ironically, this goal is more American than Canadian. Canadians don't brag about this kind of stuff. This trip would fall into a book called "The SPOILED American's guide to Canadian travel for spoiled braggy Americans." Sadly I don't like that image, but what other image am I portraying here. Shame on me Edit: Karen L, the Bradt Travel Guide to North Canada used the "Tyre" spelling. I thought Canadians use that, but maybe Bradt is a British guide? That I didn't know. I guess so because Frommer is the American travel guide writer. Anchorage to Dawson city is 11 hours according to Mapquest, which involves "Top of the World Highway." And it's not 1600 km, it's 900 kilometers. Obviously I won't be able to see much history. I can't get more weeks off work. It's an impossibility. I just want to reach the northermost road in North America. http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=Anchorage&1s=AK&2c=Dawson+City&2s=YT See? It's 533 MILES, which is about 900 km. It takes 12 hours assuming a speed below 80km/h. I kind of have to do it in one day because there's no place to stop in between, EDIT: Badger, I'm gonna take some advice from your commentary actually. I will see if I can add on 3 extra days, AND I will fly into Fairbanks instead of Anchorage. Now I start off the trip with the Top of the World Highway to Dawson City. That will take 1 day and is strenuous but not insanity. Then the Inuvik trip I'll give myself 2 days to get up there. Then 2 days back. So that puts me at Dawson City again on Tuesday night. Wednesday I will only go as far as Whitehorse and I'll spend time IN Whitehorse. Thursday I will only drive as much as Beaver Creek. Friday I will spend the morning (just the morning driving) back to Fairbanks till 11AM-ish. Spend afternoon visiting one of the historic museums in Fairbanks in depth, Saturday I will get up VERY early and get a glimpse of Denali National Park. It's a bit better. Edit: I know, badger. Your advice is very good and I realize even adding 3, 4, 5 more days on still makes this a HASTY trip. It would be do-able as a 10-day trip, but still too much time in the car. Though the scenery can be enjoyed from the drive itself. But you are correct, the more time...the better
Other - Canada - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
why are you so obsessed with the Yukon territory??
2 :
You could save some money by hitchhiking, which can give you even more adventure. Did you mis-spell 'tyre' or do you follow British spelling for some obscure reason? Edit: We Canadians spell it 'tire'. Some of our spellings are British and some American, don't have any idea who decided what was to be which.
3 :
Tofino is a neat place (for future reference).
4 :
I think that sounds wonderful. Im jealous of how much you've travelled in Canada. Hope you enjoy yourself!
5 :
I think your timeframes are incredibly unrealistic. Anchorage to Dawson City - 1677 kilometres. That's going to take a lot more than 11 hours. The section of road from Beaver Creek to Haines Junction has some pretty bad frost heaves in places that will slow you down. You'll lose time when you hit roadworks on the highway. Anchorage to Dawson is a two to three day drive. Dawson to Fairbanks in one day? Don't forget that much of the Top of the World highway is unpaved and you're not going to be making very good time there. I don't see anything wrong with your route that you plan on following, but you'd be doing nothing but driving your entire time in the North - rather a pointless trip I would think. This trip as you outline it is not an "adventure", it's an exhausting week-long drive all over the place for no purpose at all, other than maybe to say you've "been there". You haven't been there if all you do is drive endlessly and don't take the time to meet the locals, enjoy the spectacular scenery, and just take some time to relax. You'd be passing through a part of the country rich in history that you'll completely miss using your proposed itinerary. Add another couple weeks at least onto your trip if you want it to be worthwhile. If you're going to go to Alaska and the Yukon, take the time to make the trip properly not rushing from one point to another. And forget your fancy travel guides for the North - stick to The Milepost. EDIT: You specified crossing into Canada at Beaver Creek -that won't get you onto the Top of the World Highway. If you cross at Beaver Creek, you'll have to go all the way to Whitehorse to get onto the highway north to Dawson. Check your map.
