NLRF02 Magic Alaska in Winter - Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks

Each winter, the skies above Alaska light up with psychedelic colours that shimmer and dance. Any nature lover who has experienced it once will be able to confirm: The Dance of the Northern Lights is one of the most breathtaking natural spectacles ever. Alaska has the best box seats to witness this sky spectacle. Ribbons in all colours perform a wondrous dance in the night sky. Visitors from all over the world come to Alaska especially because of the northern lights and combine their journey with snowmobiling, dog sledding or skiing. Overnight in Fairbanks and enjoy the aurora tour to Chena Hot Springs Resort the following day. Relax in natural hot springs and go hunting for the Aurora Borealis. This package also includes a visit to the year-round Ice Museum, which houses the Ice Bar. The following day, experience the legendary Aurora Borealis while crossing the Arctic Circle. From Fairbanks follow the Dalton Highway, which has also become known to us through the "Ice Road Trucker" series, in the direction of the Arctic Circle. During the trip your guide will introduce you to the history of Alaska and the peculiarities of life in Alaska. Enjoy the impressive landscape of Central Alaska, such as the Yukon River, Finger Mountain or the Trans Alaska Pipeline and look out for moose, lynx and foxes that are at home here. Then it is time for “All aboard the Alaska Railroad” - board in the morning the Aurora Winter Train in Fairbanks, setting off south towards Anchorage. Starting in late summer, the spectacular natural landscape is bathed in colourful autumn colours before the first snowfalls turn the country white for the coming months. Passengers may enjoy the winter wonderland of Alaska’s backcountry from the comfort of a warm railcar, complete with comfortable seats, large picture windows and onboard dining. And anywhere along the tracks, a watchful eye may be rewarded with the sight of a moose in the wild. During winter month Anchorage hosts the annual Fur Rendezvous, Ice Carving Festivals, the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and other super natural winter events.

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Itinerary

Fairbanks ( Overnight: Fairbanks )

Arrive in Fairbanks. Complimentary transfer to your first class hotel near the banks of the beautiful Chena River in downtown Fairbanks. Known as the Golden Heart City of Alaska, Fairbanks is tucked into miles of unexplored wilderness only 120 miles from the Arctic Circle. Fairbanks offers many winter activities; from the Open North Sled Dog Race Championship to the World Ice Art Championship - Ice Alaska. Relax during your first evening in Fairbanks and get ready for a few days of winter fun and adventure within the Last Frontier. You may watch the Aurora Borealis at night dancing on the northern sky and/or enjoy a dinner at the popular Pump House fine dining restaurant.

Fairbanks (Chena Resort Northern Lights Viewing) ( Overnight: Fairbanks )

Sleep in late this morning. During the day you have time to join a sled dog tour, go ice fishing or explore the Alaska University Museum. At 5 PM you'll be picked up from your hotel for your visit to Chena Hot Springs Resort, 60 miles northeast of Fairbanks. The large heated mineral indoor pool, the outdoor rock lake and numerous hot tubs are providing a great opportunity to soak, swim or rejuvenate until the Northern Lights appear in the evening. Included is the visit to the famous Aurora Ice Museum and Stoli Ice Bar. Dine at the restaurant serving everything from hamburgers to Alaskan King crab, or choose to join the free geothermal tour. Enjoy Northern Lights viewing opportunities after darkness at Chena Hot Springs Resort. Return to Fairbanks between 3 and 4 AM.

Fairbanks (Arctic Circle Northern Lights Viewing) ( Overnight: Fairbanks )

Morning at leisure. Your tour to the Arctic Circle departs today at 1:30 PM. Your guide will engage in informative conversation about the Northern Lights as you travel north on the famous Dalton Highway. Departure in daylight allows for the opportunity to enjoy the stunning winter landscape and wildlife of interior Alaska. Moose, lynx and fox are often sighted as we move through their natural habitat. Informative stops at the Trans Alaska Pipeline and the mighty Yukon River Bridge offer perfect opportunities for photographs. When we cross the Arctic Circle your guide will award you a personalized Arctic Circle Certificate. After photographs at the Arctic Circle sign, we begin the return journey and take time to view the amazing Northern Lights! We return to the hotel in Fairbanks at around 4 AM.

Fairbanks ( Overnight: Fairbanks )

Spend you day in Fairbanks and join today a sled dog tour (optional). Dog Sledding is Alaska's official sport - have you ever seen a state with a more original sport? It is the only means of transportation through the snow lands of old time Alaska. Dog Mushing is an activity nobody should miss on an Alaska winter vacation. All our Dog Sledding Tours are designed into a spacious time frame. We do not hurry you in and out of the sled or run circles on a field but give you a real Dog Mushing experience on trails used by Alaskan mushers. There is plenty of time to make your favorite Dog Mushing pictures and play with our Alaska huskies. Arctic gear (parka, pants, boots, mittens) is provided for all our Dog Mushing adventures. Break away, and mush with us into the twilight of the Alaskan wilderness.

Fairbanks - Anchorage | By Alaska Railroad ( Overnight: Anchorage )

Transfer to the Fairbanks rail station and departure at 8:30 AM for a very scenic full-day rail tour to Anchorage. All seats within the comfortable train compartments are pre-reserved and the staff takes care of your entire luggage. Enjoy the ride ! You'll get fantastic and breathtaking views of the snow covered Alaska Mountain Range with its towering 20.320 feet high Mt. Denali. Short stopovers are at Denali National Park and Talkeetna before arriving in Anchorage in the evening at 8:00 PM. Transfer to your downtown hotel.

Anchorage

Remaining day in Anchorage on your own. Explore Alaska's largest city by yourself and visit the many points of interests. Take a walk on the Coastal Trail along Cook Inlet to Earthquake Park with a magnificent view of the snow capped Alaska Mountain Range in the distance. Don't miss a delicious lunch at one of Anchorage's top seafood restaurants. During February and March Anchorage hosts the annual Fur Rendezvous, Ice Carving Festivals, the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and other super natural winter events. The transfer to the airport is included.

Prices & Dates

Rates in US $ / per Person

Comfort Hotel Category	Single	Double	Triple	Quad	Child
September 1 - September 15	$1601	$1118	$974	$902	$0
September 16 - April 15	$1206	$920	$847	$811	$0

First Class Hotel Category	Single	Double	Triple	Quad	Child
September 1 - September 15	$1732	$1161	$999	$917	$0
September 16 - April 15	$1236	$943	$868	$831	$0

What’s included

5 Nights Superior or First-Class Hotel Accommodation

Hotel and State Taxes

Reservation Fee

Chena Hot Springs Resort Aurora Tour including Ice Museum Tour, Hot Springs Pool Pass, Geothermal Tour

Arctic Circle Northern Lights Viewing Tour

Deluxe Continental Breakfast in Fairbanks

Alaska Railroad Transportation from Fairbanks – Anchorage

Reserved Seating

Railroad Station & Airport Transfers

Tour Documentation

Sightseeing Information

Tour Departures

From August 21 – September 16 | Tour Start : Daily

From September 17 – April 21 | Tour Start : Every Wednesday

Attractions & Optional

Fairbanks: Northern Lights Viewing Tour

You will be picked up at 10 PM for your northern lights viewing tour. Enjoy the transfer to a prime aurora viewing lodge, located in the hills about 20 miles north of Fairbanks – far away from any city lights. Enjoy spectacular 270-degree aurora displays through large picture windows from the comfort of the lodge or outside. Once the lights are out, you want to step outside onto the large deck to soak in the view. And if you get cold, just go back in and help yourself to a cup of hot coffee, tea, or cocoa, available self-serve. Return to your hotel at 2:30 AM.

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Fairbanks: Dog Mushing - Sled Dog Tour (1 hr)

Dog Sledding is Alaska's official sport - have you ever seen a state with a more original sport? It is the only means of transportation through the snow lands of old time Alaska. Dog Mushing / Sledding is an activity nobody should miss on an Alaska winter vacation. All our Dog Mushing / Sledding Tours are designed into a spacious time frame. We do not hurry you in and out of the sled or run circles on a field but give you a real Dog Mushing experience on trails used by Alaskan mushers. There is plenty of time to make your favorite Dog Mushing pictures and play with our Alaska huskies. Arctic gear (parka, pants, boots, mittens) is provided for all our Dog Mushing / Sledding adventures. Break away, and mush with us into the twilight of the Alaskan wilderness

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Fairbanks: Snowmobile Tour (1 hr)

Guided Snow Machine Tour around the Chena Lakes Recreational area only accessed by snowmachine. On this snowmobile tour, your guide will lead you through a true winter wonderland you haven't seen before. Explore Fairbanks’ breathtaking surroundings by snowmobile through a beautiful winter wonderland, crossing frozen lakes and rivers, scenic mountains, endless remote trails and hopefully wildlife such as moose, fox or snowshoe hare. The Chena Lakes Recreation area offers a variety of beautiful and well-maintained trails, lakes and rivers ensuring an adventure of a lifetime. No experience is necessary.

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Fairbanks: Ice Fishing

Your Ice Fishing day trip begins with the pick up from your hotel. While catching fish in a warm hut on a beautiful lake you can still safely enjoy the brisk, clear air and peaceful environment of Interior Alaska, the home to some of the best ice fishing this state has to offer. Learn the old native skill of ice fishing from our experienced ice fishing guides. Hot drinks and grilled fish for a late lunch are served while fishing. Warm arctic gear is available and our heated van is always close by. Please provide each participant’s height, weight, and shoe size for the arctic gear. The tour price includes: hotel transfer, arctic gear, fishing license, tackle, hot beverages and lunch.

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Accommodation

First Class Hotel Category (**** Hotels & Lodges)

First Class Hotels tend to provide additional amenities such as on-site restaurant, Lounge, Bar, Fireplace Seating, Fitness Facility, Swimming Pool / Hot Tub etc. All First Class Hotel Rooms are of higher category and are always equipped with a private bathroom. Most of these Category Hotels are normally located in prime downtown locations or within national parks. These include larger hotel chains are for example: Marriott Hotels, Sheraton, Westmark Hotels, Princess Hotels and Lodges, Clarion Suites, Comfort Inn & Suite. The larger hotel chains are only available in Anchorage and Fairbanks. In case of non-availability of a larger hotel chain, we prefer to book locally owned Premium Hotels / Deluxe Cabins or Cottage for our clients. Please note that First class accommodation may not be available in small locations and in such cases we will then book the best available accommodation.

Comfort Hotel Category (*** Hotels, Motels & Lodges) Title

Comfort Hotels offer a good amount of essential guest services and are located in downtown locations and/or in/near national park areas. All Comfort Hotel Rooms are provided with private bathroom facilities. Example larger hotel chains for Comfort Hotel Category are: Holiday Inn, Howard Johnson, Guesthouse Inn, Ramada Inn, High Country Inn. As you might be aware, that these hotel chains are not available throughout Alaska. In such cases or/and when we feel that Alaskan owned hotels & lodges offer a better experience, we go with that choice. Cabins and Cottages also considered in this category to make your experience even more ‘Alaskan’. We ensure that all the Cabins & Cottages have a private bath to make your stay comfortable.

Information

Customizing Tours

All of our tours are flexible and you can add, modify or exchange nights in destinations to suit your timetable and preferred routing. Thus, sometimes it will be necessary to observe ferry schedules, national park opening/closing dates etc. to match certain dates and/or departures. Please check also each itinerary online.

Included Services

Please refer to the appropriate tour page for a listing of included services. Our service generally includes the rental car, accommodation, applicable local taxes, ferry trips as scheduled, sightseeing as per itinerary, a detailed tour description, highway or road logs. Not included are: Meals, tunnel tolls, gasoline, entrance fees, additional sightseeing tours. The rental of a compact car (automatic) is always included in our flexible self drive tour packages. Additional rental days or upgrade to a Mid and Full Size Car, Mini Van or Sport Utility Vehicles (4x4) are available. The displayed upgrade rental rates are always per car (not per person) - and of course for the total length of the tour package. Our advertised rates include all local taxes, licensing fee, airport fee, road tax and unlimited mileage. Rental Car insurance is not included as most US guests can use their own private insurance. A valid driver license and a valid major credit card are mandatory for all individual vehicle rentals and/or tour packages including vehicle rentals. Driving on gravel roads/highways is at own risk. The rental car insurance is void on the following highways Denali Highway, Dalton Highway, Top of the World Highway, Taylor Highway, McCarthy Road, Dempster Highway and all other gravel roads. You will be responsible for any damages. Drivers have to be more than 25 years of age. Contact us if you are below 25 years of age.

Advance Reservation

If you travel during the high season from the middle/end of June until the end of August we recommend booking as early as possible to avoid disappointments with sold out situations in highly frequented national parks and gateways - because the northern tour season is very short. The same applies in/around national holidays. Any hotel accommodation, rentals cars and ferry space must be definitely booked well in advance. Thus, tour operator such as our company may still have space on a short notice. Accordingly it is well worth to contact us.

Travel Month

The last two weeks of May, June and September are perfect months for a vacation in the Land of the Midnight Sun. The weather is usually stable and sunny with almost 24 hours of daylight. July and August are prime travel months and are obviously very busy.

Emergency Assistance

You can contact us in case of an emergency. We have a dedicated 24/7 helpline available for our guests.

Available Room Occupancy / Bed Configuration

Single: A room assigned to one person. Room with one bed (double, queen, king size)

Double: A room assigned to two people. Room with two double/queen beds or a king size bed.

Triple:A room assigned to three people. Room with two double/queen beds

Quad: A room assigned to four people. Room with two double/queen beds The maximum occupancy per room is four. Please request if you require a roll-a-way bed.

We can arrange our self drive tours including 2 rooms and 1 rental car if your group is larger than 4.

Bed and Breakfast (B&B) Option

We can substitute the overnight in a hotel with the overnight in a Bed and Breakfast. In this case breakfast is included. The rate of the first class / comfort hotel class will remain the same. We can only exchange some of the hotels since B&B’s are not available in all locations.

Northern Lights Observation

Because of the long daylight hours it is uncommon to see the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) displays from mid May until mid August. The Aurora occurs mainly during the fall / winter months from September – April. Please refer also to our winter touring program.

VISA / Identification

The Visa/entry requirements do change frequently. Please check requirements on the appropriate government pages. We are unable to take any responsibility for such information however you will definitely need your passport to cross the US/Canadian Border. Please ask us if your self drive tour enters Canada.

Travel Insurance

We strongly encourage you to purchase travel insurance to cover: cancellation fees associated with an outing as well as airfare or other nonrefundable expense in the event you need to cancel a trip; medical expenses incurred on a trip; and the cost of a possible medical evacuation from a trip, canceled flights due to weather. We have made arrangements with our trusted travel insurance provider for you to purchase a comprehensive travel insurance plan. Please contact us for details

Reviews

Noah, IA: Highly recommend this tour!!! Our Alaska winter vacation was amazing - the scenery, our driver/guide and of course the Northern Lights, which we were lucky enough to see on our very first evening. Great drive to Chena Hot Springs Resort. Saw a moose eating in a lake. Great dinner at the resort, fab time in the hot springs and saw the northern lights! On our drive to the Arctic Circle, we didn’t see any wildlife this time around, but were absolutely delighted and totally satisfied with the drive and the northern lights display. We got lucky and chose a perfect clear, high index night. The train ride to Anchorage was a perfect finale to our tour.