07-Days | Iditarod - Start Package
Iditarod Race Tour Package I: Anchorage Race Start
The "Race Start" Tour
and Sightseeing Package from/to Anchorage
Our "Race Start" tour features the Iditarod Race Start on Anchorage's
4th Avenue, the Iditarod Race Restart in Willow, a city sightseeing
tour of Anchorage and the Musher's Banquet. The banquet is taking
place in the evening where you can meet the Iditarod Mushers
personally and get some pictures taken. Customize your preferred
Iditarod program around the flexible tour package with many options:
join a guided tour to a sled dog kennel of a famous Iditarod musher.
Listen to the Iditarod presentation, take pictures and enjoy the
exhilarating sled dog ride. Maybe you even want to try mushing the dog
team! Join us on a cruise tour of Prince William Sound (Whittier), ski
for a day at the Alyeska Resort - Alaska's largest ski area, or
choose from various fly-out options to remote Iditarod race
checkpoints around famous Rainy Pass, Finger Lakes, the Yentna River
or Nikolai with overnights in wilderness lodges within the Alaska
Range foothills. Alternatively take a trip to Nome on the shores of
the Bering Sea to observe the action when the first Iditarod Musher
arrives after an exhilarating trip of 1100 Miles. This is the ideal
itinerary for the independent traveler.
Day 1: Anchorage
(Tuesday)
Upon arrival in Anchorage transfer to your hotel.
Remaining day at leisure and time to enjoy the many winter festival
activities during the ongoing annual Winter Fur Rendezvous with: Native
Arts Market, Theater Show, Winter Carnival Activities, Snow Sculpturing
Competition, Snowshoe Softball Matches and Firework Displays - while the
cities gears up for the Iditarod Race Start over the weekend. Don't miss
a early evening gourmet dinner with a breathtaking view across Cook
Inlet.
Day 2: Anchorage -
Dog Mushing (Wednesday)
Today visit the sled dog kennel of a famous Iditarod
musher and get to know all about the Iditarod Race and mushing basics
combined with the exhilaration of a sled dog ride and driving a team
(included). This tour is an exciting introduction to the traditional
Alaska winter transportation with lively huskies and a musher with a
long time Iditarod history. The presentation is inspiring and
educational where you'll learn all about the sled dogs, required
equipment, how the Iditarod race is organized, checkpoints procedures
and mushing basics including dog team commands, running positions, sled
harnessing and breading. Then it is all about mushing. Ever dreamed of
moving silently across snowy landscape pulled by a team of Alaskan
Huskies? Meet the harnessed team and a musher for introductions and take
some pictures. Then enjoy the sled dog ride on one of the beautiful
winter trails.
Day 3: Anchorage -
Mushers Banquet (Thursday)
Enjoy your free morning in and around Anchorage. At
4:00 PM doors open for the Musher Meet & Greet at the Dena'ina
Center. The program and Mushers banquet dinner begins at 6:00 PM. Main
part of the exciting evening entertainment is the annual banquet
fundraiser and drawing for the official start order. The banquet
celebrates the mushers who are about to take part in the “Last Great
Race on Earth” – the nearly 1,000-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
Attendees can help raise funds for the Iditarod via a robust live and
silent auction while enjoying a 3-course meal and watching the mushers
take the stage to draw for their official start order. This is a must
for anyone interested to observe "The Last Great Race on Earth" for the
first time. Participants have plenty of photo opportunities, good
chances to meet and talk with the Iditarod Musher personally, collect
autographs and participate in the auction.
Day 4: Anchorage -
City Sightseeing Tour (Friday)
Explore the sights of Anchorage today during this
guided city sightseeing tour (3 hrs). Begin your historical tour at
the Port of Anchorage at Ship Creek, where Alaska's metropolitan was
born as a tent city. This is also the location of the Anchorage rail
terminal for the historic Alaska Railroad. Check out this year’s snow
sculptures and vote for your favorite. Next we’ll travel through
Bootleggers Cove, stopping for a walk in Earthquake Park where you’ll
see signs of the 1964 earthquake. Then, we’ll take a drive around Lake
Hood, home to the world's busiest seaplane airport and base! Following
this stop, you'll visit the incomparable Turnagain Arm and Beluga
Point. Take in the majestic scenery and scout for Beluga whales and
Dall sheep. Your journey continues to Potter Marsh, the Anchorage
Coastal Wildlife Refuge, a visit to Chugach State Park and - if road
conditions permitting - Flattop Mountain. Get a bird's eye view of
Anchorage as well as views of the "Sleeping Lady", Mount Denali and
the Alaska Range.
Day 5: Anchorage -
Iditarod Ceremonial Race Start (Saturday)
The legendary Iditarod race starts at 10:00 AM on 4th. Avenue in
Alaska's largest city. Get up early and observe the start preparations,
take close up pictures from about 80 Mushers, over 1000 Sled Dogs and
enjoy the bustling and exciting race atmosphere before the teams are
leaving from the starting line for the "1050 mile race to Nome".
Anchorage parks and green belts are providing also a great alternative
to observe the race activities. The Balto Statue marks the ceremonial
starting point of the Iditarod. Balto was the final lead sled dog in a
relay of dogsleds that brought vaccine from Anchorage to Nome just in
time to stop a diphtheria epidemic that was threatening to devastate
Nome's population in the winter of 1925.
Day 6: Anchorage -
Willow Iditarod Restart (Sunday)
After breakfast board the motorcoach for a guided
tour to the official Iditarod Race Start in Willow. Leave at 9:30 AM and
enjoy the drive along the scenic Glenn Highway with a brief stopover in
Wasilla. Continue to Willow where the Iditarod restart ceremony begins
at 2:00 PM. Enjoy the busy and bustling Iditarod race atmosphere and the
mushers final preparation. For mushers, thousands of cheering fans at
the official race restart -- following Saturday's ceremonial start in
Anchorage -- now give way to remote Alaska wilderness and the promise of
a finish line in Nome some 1,000 miles away, but not before crossing a
trail that may prove perilous for both mushers and dogs. Return to
Anchorage approximately 7:00 PM.
Day 7: Anchorage
(Monday)
Breakfast at the hotel. Morning at leisure in/around
Anchorage. Time for your last shopping activities, visit the Alaska
Native Heritage Center or have a nice seafood lunch with delicious
Alaska Salmon or King Crabs in one of Anchorage's top restaurants.
Transfer from the hotel to the airport. End of tour package. Please
note: Individual program extensions are available. Extend your stay and
fly to Rainy Pass Lodge or Nikolai Checkpoints.
Tour Services
Included:
- 6 Nights Standard or Deluxe Hotel Accommodation
- Local Taxes
- Iditarod kennel visit, presentation, sled dog ride and lunch
- Round Trip Transfer to/from kennel
- Anchorage City Sightseeing Tour
|
- Iditarod Restart Tour to Willow
- Mushers Banquet Ticket, Meet & Greet including Dinner
- Airport Transfers (Standard Hotel Category only)
- Sightseeing Information
- Tour Documentation
|
Rates per Person in
US $ from/to Anchorage
Tour Number: IDI1 Iditarod Race Start
|
Single |
Double |
Triple |
Quad |
✦ 2024 ✦ February 27
- March 04 | Standard Hotel Accommodation
|
$
1725.00 |
$
1355.00 |
$
1265.00 |
$
1215.00 |
✦ 2024 ✦ February 27
- March 04 | Deluxe Hotel Accommodation
|
$
2470.00 |
$
1730.00 |
$
1515.00 |
$
1398.00 |
✦
Additional Night Anchorage - Standard Hotel |
$ 99.00 |
$ 50.00 |
$ 40.00 |
$ 35.00 |
✦
Additional Night Anchorage - Deluxe Hotel |
$ 180.00 |
$ 95.00 |
$ 75.00 |
$ 57.00 |
Optional Additional
Tours
✦ Prince William Sound Glacier Cruise
(includes transfer from Anchorage, stopover at the Wildlife
Conservation Center)
|
$
370.00 |
✦ Mt. Denali Flightseeing Tour |
$ 475.00 |
Please contact us for Custom Tour Packages, Group and Travel Agency
Requests, Additional Overnights. Optional
Iditarod Checkpoint Flights