Alaska Adventure

Trip Overview

Preparing for an unforgettable winter adventure in Alaska. This itinerary covers all the essentials for a 7-day trip, including travel plans, accommodation, activities, packing tips, and cost breakdowns. Our trip was from November 20 till November 26, 2025.

Note

This itinerary is tailored for people travelling from San Jose and for travelers seeking to explore Alaska's winter wonders, including the Northern Lights, glaciers, hot springs, and dog sledding. It assumes a moderate level of physical fitness and comfort with cold weather conditions.

Our Plan

• Northern Lights are not guaranteed, plan multiple viewing opportunities.
• Book all the flights, hotels, tours and gear in advance.
• Offset the costs with points from credit cards.
• Budget for internal travel, food and gratuities.
• Carry ready-to-eat meals and snacks for most days. Also during air travel, we plan to use airport lounges to have meals. On other days, we will eat at local diners and restaurants.
• Pack couple of inner, mid, and outer layers for extreme cold weather.

Air Travel 1

We reached San Jose Mineta International Airport early morning around 5AM and our flight was at 8AM. We planned to eat a heavy breakfast at priority pass lounge and post that our journey started to Seattle Tacoma International Airport

Layover

From Seattle, we had a layover of 3 hours, so we had a nice meal at priority pass lounge and then boarded our flight to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. We reached Anchorage around 4PM local time.

Accommodation 1

We had booked our stay at The Wildbirch hotel for 2 nights in Anchorage. This hotel is located close to the airport and downtown Anchorage. We reached the hotel by cab and checked in. If you are Hyatt member, you can get microwave in your room for free and this comes handy for ready to eat meals.

Matanuska Glacier

Explore one of Alaska's most accessible glaciers. Walk on ancient ice and marvel at the blue crevasses. We had booked a guided tour with Greatland Adventures and we were picked up at 8AM from our hotel and it was a 2-hour drive to the glacier and we stopped mid at a frozen long lake to take some pictures. The tour was great and the guide was very knowledgeable about the glacier and its formation. The tour also had lunch included and we had nice burger with fries and hot chocolate at long rifle lodge near the glacier. We were dropped back at 4PM at our hotel and after freshening up, we walked around in downtown Anchorage.

Air Travel 2

We started our day early and had a nice free breakfast at Crimson restaurant inside the hotel took a cab to Anchorage airport for our flight to Fairbanks. The flight duration is around 1 hour and we reached Fairbanks by 12PM local time.

Accommodation 2

We had booked our accommodation at Pike's Waterfront Lodge which is located close to the river and downtown Fairbanks. We reached the hotel by free shuttle from hotel and checked in.

Reindeer

Next to Pike's Lodge, there is Reindeer Ranger Station where we saw reindeer up close.

Rental Gear Pickup

We had booked for rental outer wear and went in cab to pick up our rental gear from Alaska outdoor gear outfitters. They have a wide range of extreme cold weather gear for rent and we had booked our gear in advance online. After picking up the gear, we went back to hotel and relaxed for the evening. The rooms have microwave and we had our ready to eat meals and relaxed for the night.

Full Day Tour

Cross the Arctic Circle at 66°33' North. Journey along the Dalton Highway with stunning views of the Brooks Range. After the free breakfast at hotel, our hotel provided free drop off to Northern Alaska Tour Company for our full day Arctic Circle tour. The tour started at 8AM and we were driven in a comfortable van with heated seats. We stopped at Arctic circle trading post and then at dalton highway and alaskan pipeline. Post that we reached the Yukon river camp cafe around 3PM had our packed meals. We reached the Arctic circle sign around 5PM. Post that we started our return and stopped again at Yukon river camp cafe for dinner. We reached back to Arctic Circle Trading post around 12AM and there we witnessed magical Aurora Borealis display. It was a surreal experience to see the green and pink lights dancing in the sky. We were dropped back at our hotel around 4AM.

Chena Hot Springs Resort

We had booked a shuttle to pick us up from Pike's to Chena Hot Springs Resort. We started around 11AM and reached the resort at 1PM.

Ice Museum

We visited the Aurora Ice Museum which is a fantastic display of ice sculptures and art. The ice bar serves drinks in ice glasses, although the museum experience was average, we enjoyed appletini.

Geothermal and Greenhouse Tour

We took the guided tour of the geothermal plant and greenhouse. It was fascinating to see how they use geothermal energy to grow vegetables in the middle of winter in Alaska.

Hot Springs Soak

Relax in the natural hot springs surrounded by snowy landscapes. We spent the evening soaking in the hot springs and enjoying the serene environment. We had our packed dinner and departed back via shuttle to Pike's Lodge at around 10PM and reached back at 12PM. On the way back, we saw beautiful aurora display again.

Santa Claus House

Visit the famous Santa Claus House in North Pole, Alaska. Explore holiday-themed shops and meet Santa himself. Also saw reindeer up close at the reindeer ranch next to Santa Claus house.

Dog Sledding

Experience authentic Alaskan dog sledding at Rod's Alaskan Guide Service. We had an amazing time mushing the dogs through the snowy trails. The experience was exhilarating and we learned a lot about the history and culture of dog sledding in Alaska.

Return Travel

Fairbanks to San Jose via connecting flights from seattle. We had midnight 12AM flight from Fairbanks to Seattle and then from Seattle to San Jose. We reached back home safely with wonderful memories of our Alaskan winter adventure.

Flight Bookings

Book your flights to and within Alaska:

• Alaska airlines

Accommodation

Reserve your stays at these hotels:

• The Wildbirch Hotel, Anchorage
• Pike's Waterfront Lodge, Fairbanks

Tour Bookings

Reserve these activities in advance:

• Greatland Adventures - Matanuska Glacier Tour
• Northern Alaska Tour Company - Arctic Circle Tour
• Chena Hot Springs Resort
• Rod's Alaskan Guide Service - Dog Sledding

Gear Rental

Rent extreme cold weather gear here:

• Alaska Outdoor Gear Outfitters

Cab hire

Use local cab services for airport transfers and local travel:

• Polargleam Cab, Fairbanks

Outro

It wouldn't be great if I don't highlight what went well and what to look out for. Overall, the trip was fantastic and well planned (pat my back :)). The lone tour in Anchorage went really well although I regret adding $30 per head outer layer add-ons and I didn't find it worth it and the best part of hotel where we stayed was breakfast and it felt like a 5-star service. In Fairbanks, Arctic Circle and Aurora tour was great but was hectic. Chena Hot Springs I felt only the spring and appletini was worth it. Dog sledding was fun and the musher was very knowledgeable. The rental gear was great, but I would suggest to check and buy when you visit rather than book everything online. Pike's Lodge was ok and the only selling point was free pick up and drop to airport and other points, I would not go for it again. Driving rental cars in winter is sort of dangerous and cabs are expensive, good thing was we found an alternate option to hire a local cab service for entire day and we negotiated a fair price and was worth it. The flights were on time and overall the trip was memorable. Key things to look out for are to book everything well in advance, carry snacks and ready to eat meals, check aurora and weather forecasts daily and have multiple nights planned for aurora viewing. Dress in layers and be prepared for extreme cold weather. Enjoy the magical experience of Alaska in winter!