Itinerary
DAY1 - Fairbanks Arrival (FAI)
Arrive in Fairbanks, the Golden Heart City of Alaska, just 120 miles south of the Arctic Circle! Transfer to your hotel via hotel shuttle. Enjoy dinner on your own. Greet your guide at 10 PM for your first visit to our Aurora Viewing Lodge. Hot drinks are always on hand and snacks are available for purchase. Your guide can provide tips for capturing images of the Northern Lights. Tour returns to the hotel between 2 & 3 AM. The lore of the native Athabascan people of Interior Alaska tells that the Aurora Borealis is torches carried by spirits to light the way to the afterworld paradise for those who have recently passed. You will undoubtedly wish to weave your own legend after viewing the magical Northern Lights. (Hotel: Springhill Suites by Marriott or similar)
DAY 2 - Fairbanks – Denali National Park
Enjoy spectacular views of the Alaska Range as you head south to Denali National Park. Explore the Denali Winter Visitor Center to learn about the magnificent wilderness surrounding North America’s highest peak and the park’s preservation of this sensitive ecosystem. Enjoy a winter walk (complimentary snowshoes are available) through the frosted forest. Look for moose, snowshoe hare, ermine, raven and willow ptarmigan, Alaska’s state bird. Travel into the park to take in views of Denali (“The Great One” in the native Athabascan language), weather and road conditions permitting. Pack your own lunch to enjoy in the park while taking a break from snowshoeing. When the Alaska Railroad’s Aurora Winter Train has departures during your date of selection, you will be able to upgrade to ride the train back to Fairbanks. Due to the northern latitude, the amount of daylight is greatly decreased in winter, especially around the winter solstice in late December. It might be dark when you depart for your tour in the morning and the sun will set as you return to Fairbanks. We plan this day’s tour departure time accordingly, to ensure that you will have daylight while in Denali National Park. Upon your return to Fairbanks, you will have time to enjoy dinner on your own before another nighttime quest for the magical Lights at our Aurora Viewing Lodge. Tour returns to the hotel between 2 & 3 AM. (B) (Hotel: Springhill Suites by Marriott or similar)
DAY 3 - Chena Hot Springs Resort
Bring your swimwear! We will drive through the boreal forest to Chena Hot Springs Resort, where you can soak in the indoor or outdoor hot pools* and tour the world’s only year-round ice museum and hotel. Enjoy a refreshing “appletini” in a glass carved from crystalline ice (at your own expense). You may enjoy the fine cuisine in the resort dining room (at your own expense), before returning to Fairbanks for your third night of scanning the skies for the mystical Northern Lights at our Aurora Viewing Lodge. Indoor pool – all ages welcome. Outdoor pool – 18 years of age and older only. (B) (Hotel: Springhill Suites by Marriott or similar)
DAY 4 - Fairbanks – Home City
You may choose to purchase an optional activity, including dogsledding, ice fishing or snowmachining. These can be arranged through your guide. Later in the day, explore fascinating local culture with a visit to Fairbanks Morris Thompson Cultural Center. Learn about the history of Interior Alaska and its first people, the Koyukon Athabascans, who have lived in the region for thousands of years. Find out more about the modern economic forces that have shaped the city, the discovery of gold in 1898, the ongoing growth of the military in the region from WWII to today, the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in the 1970’s and forward to today’s diversified economy. Visit the Cultural Center gift shop to don traditional Athabascan clothing for photographs. Exquisitely hand-crafted parkas, coats and mittens made of animal skins and furs are available for you to wear while a photographer snaps pictures for you, a wonderful keepsake from your visit to Alaska! (B)
