GS Motorcycle Tours Worldwide | Alaska Adventure Tour

Alaska Adventure Tour

Experience the great wilderness of Alaska!
Alaska is larger than France, Spain, Germany and Italy combined, but has fewer inhabitants than Frankfurt. There are over 50,000 km of coastline, more than three million lakes, active volcanoes and countless glaciers. So, it should be obvious what to expect on this tour: solitude and magnificent nature at the edge of civilization.

A little thrill-seeking spirit is required when you travel to the “Last Frontier“; there’s a reason why we call this an Adventure Tour. The roads may not captivate with their many curves, but instead with the landscapes they transport us through. And be sure to watch out for the moose and bears that cross them occasionally; big animals you should steer well clear of.

There are huge glaciers and mountains to be seen - including Denali, the highest in North America - endless forests, thousands of lakes, thriving wildlife, and by contrast the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Art and culture are scarce, but the Native Americans are happy to share their traditions with visitors. The tour leads from Anchorage down to the Kenai Fjords, then north to the Denali National Park where we spend our first rest day. Continuing to Fairbanks and beyond, we turn south-east, past the town of North Pole and through the beautiful Tanana Valley all the way to Tok. We then cross the notorious Thompson Pass to reach Valdez. Here we take time during our second rest day to experience the marine wildlife of Prince William Sound. Two more riding days and we’re back in Anchorage.

DAY 1. Welcome to Anchorage, Alaska

Upon arrival in Anchorage, meet at the designated hotel for check-in. Spend your free time relaxing or exploring the City before our safety briefing.

DAY 2. Anchorage - Girdwood

As soon as the city limits of Anchorage are behind us, the "real" Alaska unfolds in front of our eyes. We follow Highway 1 along the shore of Turnagain Arm, a deep inlet that is home to a Beluga whale colony. At the far eastern end of the inlet, in Portage, we visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Centre in order to get up close
and personal with the locals. Bears, moose, bison, wolves, and many more find shelter here and/or are part of breeding programs.
Then we ride across the Turnagain Pass, turn right, and follow Hope Highway to the little town of Hope, a gold mining town during the Klondike rush. There is a small museum and a wild-west style restaurant for us to have lunch in. Can you imagine that this town used to have a tram railway back in 1897? Crazy times back then.
From Hope we return to Girdwood, just an hour away, to spend the long evening watching the sun as it slowly sets behind the mountains.

DAY 3. Girdwood - Talkeetna

In the morning we have to pass Anchorage one more time, then we follow Knik Arm, the northern extension of Cook Inlet, towards the north-east. There are some beautiful photo opportunities at two crystal-clear lakes before we enter the town of Palmer. After lunch, you can (and should) visit a musk ox farm, something you cannot see every day. The wool of the musk ox is called "qiviut" and ranks among the finest of all animals. After all, it helped the musk oxen to survive the ice age!
From here, it's basically a straight shot to Talkeetna, but not on the main highway. Instead, we follow the small road across Hatcher Pass, which is still unpaved in parts. Talkeetna, an old but restored frontier town, is our home for the night. The Wild, Wild West is right here!

DAY 4. Talkeetna

Talkeetna is a picture-perfect Wild West and gold rush town, where you can stroll through the shops and relax in the saloons. But there is a lot to do and experience here. A sightseeing flight around Denali, the highest mountain in North America, is a must. You can also go fishing, raft down the Susitna River, zipline, pan for gold, take a guided salmon or kayak tour or visit a dog sledge farm. ATV tours are also very popular and there is plenty of terrain around Talkeetna to suit all abilities!

DAY 5. Talkeetna - Fairbanks

Welcome to a very long riding day! Alaska is a very large state after all! Talkeetna lies at the end of a cul-de-sac, so we have to ride south first in order to catch Highway 3, also known as Parks Highway. It will take us all the way to Fairbanks.
After a while, Denali appears in the distance. Unless it's a cloudy day, then it doesn't. We stop at a viewpoint to marvel at North America's highest mountain, then continue to Denali National Park's visitor centre. The (only) road into the park is beautiful, paved and open to private vehicles all the way to Savage River.
On a clear day it's really worth going! 140 miles later we arrive in Fairbanks, the coldest large city in the U.S. Over
30,000 people live in the only major city in Alaska's interior and everything here cries out "Wild West", "Frontier", and "Gold Rush". Highlights here include the Golden Heart Plaza, the Ice Museum and the Moose Antler Arch.

DAY 6. Fairbanks - Tok

We leave Fairbanks, the northernmost point of our tour and shortly afterward reach the North Pole. In the small town of North Pole lives Santa Claus and of course, we have a look at his house and buy some Christmas presents.
Afterwards, we follow the Tanana River to the southeast. Again and again, beautiful views of the river, the mountains and all the untouched nature open up.
Almost untouched, as we will see in Big Delta because here you can get very close to the famous Trans Alaska Pipeline. It crosses the whole of Alaska from north to south and has made the exploitation of the huge oil deposits in Prudhoe Bay possible.
Shortly afterward we reach Delta Junction, the biggest town for miles around.
Here is the endpoint of the famous Alaska Highway, which begins in Dawson City, 1,387 miles (2,232 km) away. We will follow it for a good 100 miles until we reach Tok, our overnight stop.

DAY 7: Tok - Valdez

We leave Tok on Route 1, the Glenn Highway. Soon a high mountain appears in the distance, to our left, which stands out prominently from its flat surroundings.
It is the almost 5,000 m high Mount Sanford, over and over glaciated. It is located on the other side of the Copper River, which we follow for a while and admire its wide, untouched river bed.
After lunch in Glennallen we change to the Richardson Highway, which will take us over the often foggy and windy Thomson Pass to Valdez.
Valdez is only a small town with less than 4,000 inhabitants, but has a large port that is ice-free all year round. This is where the Alaska pipeline ends and the oil from the Arctic is transported off in tankers. One of them was the Exxon Valdez, which ran onto a reef in Prince William Sound on 24 March 1989 and caused a huge oil spill.

DAY 7: Valdez

People who like to be outside will not get bored in Valdez. Hiking, climbing, kayaking, angling and fishing, animal watching... yes, there is a lot to do. What you shouldn't miss is a boat trip to the Columbia Glacier, which has lost about half of its ice volume in the last 40 years, but is still very impressive. The calving front is still in the water and up to over 50 m high, accordingly it looks spectacular when big ice chunks crash thunderously into the water. Something that unfortunately happens more and more often.
By the way, in the winter, Valdez is a starting point for fantastic heliskiing tours, as in the surrounding mountains about 25 metres of wet snow fall per year, which even sticks to slopes that are 60° steep.

DAY 7: Valdez - Glacier View

We ride back over Thomson Pass, past the Worthington Glacier and along the Copper River again before turning left onto the Glenn Highway. It feels infinitely lonely around here, but the landscape becomes more and more interesting. The mountains to our left are towering higher and higher, scratching at the 4,000 metre mark and are among the snowiest areas on earth.
A quick side-trip to Lake Louise, which is not as famous and not as spectacular as its namesake in Canada, but it is certainly pretty and the small lodge on the shore is very inviting. Our destination for the day is the small town of Glacier View, which, as the name suggests is not far from the numerous glaciers of this mountain range.

DAY 7: Glacier View - Anchorage

Today we ride back to Anchorage, actually a short distance, but there are still a few things to see and discover.
The famous Iditarod dog sledge race takes place in winter, but even during summer you can experience the spirit of this event at the Iditarod centre in Wasilla.
Back in Anchorage, the hustle and bustle of traffic and civilization awaits us and feels somewhat unusual after a week full of open spaces, silence and remoteness.
Downtown Anchorage isn't exactly pretty, but it is very interesting and worth a stop before we head to our hotel.

DAY 8. Airport transfer and check-out

After breakfast, transfer to Anchorage airport. Goodbye, and safe travels home!

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

MINIMUM NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS: 8

If the minimum number of participants isn’t reached, the tour may be cancelled or run with a different format.

WHAT IS INCLUDED:

All overnights (comfortable middle-class hotels and motels) during entire tour
breakfast every day
8 dinners
motorcycle rental with unlimited mileage
third party liability insurance for motorcycles
comprehensive vehicle insurance for motorcycles with deductible according to the booked motorcycle model
tour information package in English or German including safety tips, details about the hotels, the route and the sights
English and German speaking tour guide on motorcycle
back-up van for luggage transportation (max. 60 litres per person in a waterproof bag) and space for passengers (limited) on entire tour
Edelweiss Riding Tips

IS NOT INCLUDED:

All services not mentioned as included and all items of a personal nature

OPTIONAL SERVICES:

optional deductible reduction on included motorcycle insurance (Cover All / Cover Plus)

TERMS OF PAYMENT:

With the registration, at the earliest, however, eleven months before the agreed end of the tour a down payment of EUR 500.00 shall be made.
The remaining payment shall be paid without any further request 42 days before the journey starts concurrently against delivery of the travel documents.
In case of procured journeys, the payment conditions of the respective organiser or, respectively, service provider shall apply.
We expressly reserves the right to cancel the booking for the traveller at his/her own expense if payment deadlines are not complied with.

CANCELLATION POLICY:
In the event of cancellation by the traveller, the following compensation lump sums shall be laid down:

until 60 days before the beginning of the journey EUR 200,00
until 42 days before the beginning of the journey EUR 350,00
until 31 days before the beginning of the journey 30 %
from 30 days before the beginning of the journey 100 %
No-show 100 % from the respective travel price. It is recommended taking out a travel cancellation insurance.
A one-time rebooking at the latest 60 days before the start of the tour shall be possible free of charge.
After having realized a rebooking, the cancellation charge amounts to at least EUR 350,00 per person.