mckinley explorer

We rode from Fairback down to Anchorage, stopping for a day at Denali.Sitting in the upper deck of the car, it was like a real life travel show...we just kelp looking out the windows!Dinner was very nice (if a bit pricey), we would take this train again in a heatbeat. I can't think of a better way to see the view.

我们很喜欢由Holland America 组织的車箱，88个座位在高高的二层，楼下是有歺室44个位，2个洗手间. 中午轮流下去用歺. 每个車箱有自己的导游讲解和调酒员. 早上9点半从Anchorge 出发，下午4.30pm 到达Denail 国家公园站. 26.08.2014 Today we met in the lobby of the hotel at 8.45 am and we were bussed to the train station or depot as it is called here. The train consisted of a diesel locomotive and 8 domed carriages, most owned by Holland America, we sat in row 9, the carriage carried 88 passengers and downstairs was a dining room for 44 and 2 restrooms. We had a guide and a bartender, 'Griffin', her last name who was a character. We left Anchorage at 9.30 am and slowly picked up speed heading north, passed Wasilla, a town 45 miles from Anchorage and then other small settlements, saw many fast wide rivers and were surrounded by mountains, on the way we passed 2 trains going south, we had lunch at 1pm. The train rumbled on, we were travelling over the tundra with frozen earth stopping the trees from growing big, some were tiny and 500 years old. We arrived at Denali depot in the rain at 4.35pm and then went by bus to McKinley Chalet.

The beauty of Alaska is somewhat showcased on the Explorer. Its a comfortable ride through the wilderness with a ringside seat to enjoy the show. The domed cars allow for maximum viewing pleasure. They even have an elevator for those who need it. White linen tablecloths and silverware compliment the dining experience. Wonderful experience.

Great service, photo ops. Food not so great. Upgraded to glass-top cars, but any seat allows good views. Especially enjoyed the private open car area. Got hundreds of great pictures until it got too cold.

When we were back in Wisconsin, one of our friends noted to us to try and get the first car behind the engine, as you view to the forward is over the engine, and if you get a car behind the first, your forward view is spoiled as you are looking at the back of the forward dome car. I do not know how we lucked out, but within our reservations we were assigned car #1 behind the engine and seated in the fourth row seats.Holland America owns the first four cars and Princes Cruise Line owns the next four cars. Differences is the HA cars have the large high rise dome cars, and the Princes has the lower dome cars. One drawback to the Princes cars is half the people have to sit backwards at tables topside, where the HA cars have passengers all sitting forward with big comfortable seats (with lots and lots of leg room). Suggestion Go Holland America over Princes.The HA cars each have a crew of about 5 employees that tend the bar, provide narration for the trip and do the cooking. The lower level of each car has its own kitchen and dining room. Meals were relatively inexpensive but very good. Drinks served up on the upper level were very good and ran around $7 each. There are accommodations for 80 people in each car.The start of the ride was most excellent with a view of all the big mountains and wild life, but as you approached Anchorage the landscape leveled out to tress and trees, broken by an occasional stream. If you have the choice, the best would be to go north from Anchorage into Denali. On our trip south it was like we had our dessert first!Lots to see on the trip when it comes to wildlife. We saw this big moose Jump into a lake right along the train tracks and swim off with other moose already on the other side. Lots of trumpeter swans and salmon in the clear water rivers were observed.The train travels the 233 miles at around 32 MPH for most of the trip until we got to about 25 miles of Anchorage where the train was able to speed up as the rails are all welded in this section of the track. The trip took about 8 hours, but the train crew kept you occupied with lots of information.We think this train trip was well worth it, but doubt we would like anything that would go longer = Like a Transcontinental Canadian trip!

Loved the day trip in the glass top train through Alaska countryside. Beautiful scenery, delicious food. All very nice.

We very much enjoyed this day's ride from Denali to Anchorage. The weather cleared that morning so the scenery was spectacular. I spent a large part of the trip on the outdoor platform since the plexiglass dome windows distorted the photographs too much. Still, it was a very scenic relaxing way to travel.

One of the highlights of our trip. We were fortunate to visit Alaska just at the fall colors were popping and the rain had stopped! The McKinley Explorer allowed us a bird's eye view of this spectacular sight.

What a beautiful domed car. Breakfast and drinks (and souvenirs of course) were available. The car had a tour guide, bartender and waiters. The windows allowed clear viewing of the landscape and the trained eye of the guide pointed out animals and places of interest. While traveling between Fairbanks and Denali the weather changed from sunny to a snow shower! And we had to stop for "a few minutes" to "clear a rock slide" off the tracks. Very impressed with how quickly and efficiently they cleared the tracks, we only had to wait about 10 minutes and left with a story to tell. The time went quickly as we listened to narrative and viewed an ever-changing view. A great way to tour Alaska.

I cannot begin to say how absolutely stunning the colors of all the trees from Anchorage through Denal National Park! Every shade of yellow, orange, red, green with the contrasting black pines were truly a sight to behold that I will never forget. The train was very comfortable with huge dome windows that give you a tremendous view. We had lunch on the train in the dining car and it was delicious! This was one of the highlights of my trip to Alaska!

This was such a beautiful train ride from Denali to Talkeetna. The glass dome cars were clean and the views lovely. The food in the lower dining car was very good. The service was pleasant.Our first view of Mt McKinley(Denali) was breath taking. It was easy to take wonderful photos. I highly recommend this mode of transportation through such beautiful landscape.

We rode the train from Denali to Anchorage. Saw lots of moose and even a black bear! Look for the Mushers Monument! Great service and commentary! Riding in the dome car felt so spacious!

Did a land+sea cruise and the McKinley Explorer was part of the trip back to Anchorage and then to Seward to join the ship. It was a very nice ride and our "car host" was very good. The train even slowed down when we spotted Black Bear. Very nice trip and very comfortable seats.

As part of our Holland Americe Line trip we took the McKinley Explorer train from Anchorage to Denali. We had previously gone by a "lesser" train from Seward to Anchorage (cramped seating and some facing the wrong direction) and would later travel by bus from Denali to Fairbanks. This was the best part of the 3 part trip. The train has a large dome car in which we travelled - this allowed great views of the area through which we were travelling. The seating was also very spacious and comfortable and all the seats were facing in the direction of travel. Erica our guide was excellent; she was very informative about the sights through which we were travelling and also had many amusing anecdotes. The food in the dining car was good although the service was quite slow and there was a limited choice of menu items from which to choose.Recommended

The McKinley Explorer was by far the best way to travel. We took a 10 hr. bus ride from Seward to Denali NP and the train back from Denali to Anchorage. The train was by far the better way to go. The seats are really comfortable, the food very good and it was wonderful to see the views from the dome train car. The staff was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. I would highly recommend this mode of travel over any other to really get to see the Alaska landscape and learn about the area, the animals and the people living in Alaska.