Question: Canada and Alaska Vacation?

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Answer #1:

Depending on where in Canada you want to see, one consideration may be the transportation between Alaska and Canada. Air North has routes between Dawson City, Yukon Territory and Fairbanks during the summer. I think the summer schedule begins June 1.
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It's possible to arrive in Dawson City (via Whitehorse) earlier than that. Air North has service within Canada all year long, although not all routes are covered every day during the winter schedule.
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Air Canada begins summer non-stops from Vancouver to Anchorage May 14.
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Of course Alaska Airlines always has flights to Alaska from Seattle.
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With any of the above airlines you can buy one way tickets without any irrational penalties, so it is not hard to assemble a multicity trip with separate tickets.

Answer #2:

Canada is an immense country--second-largest in the world--so you won't be able to see the whole thing. Here's a suggested itinerary for you:

Day 1-3:
Land in Vancouver and spend a day or two exploring the city, seeing museums, etc.

Day 4:
Take the VIA Rail train to Jasper, AB. You'll pass through the famous Rocky Mountains, and see some of the most beautiful sights in Canada.

Day 5:
Take the train from Jasper to Prince George. Spend the night in Prince George.

Day 6:
Take the train to Prince Rupert. Spend the night in Prince Rupert.

*You might want to save some time by taking a bus all or part of the way from Jasper to Prince Rupert. There beautiful scenery to see from the train, but it takes a long time with the mandatory overnight stop in Prince George.

Day 7-10:
Take the Alaskan Ferry from Prince Rupert up the coast. Get off wherever you want in some of the larger towns. Plan to end up in a town with an airport so you can fly home from there.


VIA Rail (train): Click Here
Alaskan Ferries: Click Here
Alaska Air: Click Here
Greyhound Canada (bus): Click Here

Answer #3:

I live near Dawson City, Yukon. Many people make the loop - from/to Whitehorse, through Dawson City, to/from Alaska on the Top of the World Highway to Tok (and maybe a side trip to Fairbanks), and then back along the Alaska Highway to Whitehorse. There is mostly outdoors: Whitehorse to Dawson is 540km, and you pass through 1 village (pop 400), and 2 hamlets (pop 150, and 40) - that's pretty much it. The rest is just forest and mountains, with loads of wildlife.

Vancouver is a long way from there though. Something like 3000 km by road. To get from Vancouver to even Whitehorse would take a minimum of 3 days - if you rushed. Likely closer to 4 or 5. The way maps are drawn simply do not show the immense size of the place - Yukon alone is almost as big as Texas, and BC is 1/2 again bigger than Texas. Alaska is 3x bigger than Texas.

So, bearing in mind the immensity of the place, it is absolutely a spectacular place to visit. Wild country, empty roads, scenery galore, and interesting places to visit. Dawson is where the Klondike Gold Rush happened in 1898, and the town still looks much as it did back then. You can even pan for gold at the Free Claim, right near where the original strike was - and keep whatever you find.

So, I would highly recommend a visit, but be really, really aware of how far apart things are up here!





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