On the Sun Princess excursion list, they have the WhitePass Rail (3.5), and then there's a WhitePass plus Yukon Territory (8hrs) for about an extra $70. Apparently you board another train at the WhitePass summit and go into Canada. Has anyone done this and do you think it is worth it? I'm more concerned about using my whole day on the train than the money.
This trip goes 3 days a week to Lake Bennett, you do not switch trains in Frasier. You can book direct for $128. It is a tough choice- the main scenery is Skagway to Frasier. Base your choice on the history factor and if you still will have time to do a brief stoll of the town. Consider a stop at the Park Visitor center for a look at their free museum. www.whitepassrailroad.com
It seemed like a long time to ride a train to me too, but everyone else here raves about it. What do you think about the motorcoach to the summit? Are the vistas better/worse/same? What about just renting a car and going to the summit? From the map, it looks like the views are probably about 80% the same, but the train looks like it would give you some nice "gorge" crossings. Is the train too close to the side of the mountain for good viewing? That would be the advantage of the car/coach in that it looks like it follows the river bed.
We took a van tour that was sold at the pier, when we got off the ship. I'm a train lover, but budget restraints had us looking for other alternatives. The tour guide was super. We made MANY photo stops and traveled into the Yukon territory. I thought it was very much worth the trip. This was back in '96 and it cost us $35 each for the experience. We had plenty of time to check out Skagway before our van picked us up downtown.
I am one of the dissenters that am not enthralled with the White Pass Rail trip. We've rented a car in Skagway ( we used Sourdough Rentals), and driven up the White Pass, stopping at our leisure for photo ops, and enjoying the scenery.
After reaching the summit, u can keep on driving right into the Yukon.
We came back from the White Pass, and drove up to do some sightseeing on the Chilikoot Trail.
Regards,
Kuki
Features Editor
<Join us on a CruiseMates Group Cruise.. here's how:
<http://www.cruisemates.com/Articles/CMcruises/CM-cruises.cfm>
I have done both - rode the White Pass Rail Road and driven the Klondike highway- several times. The summit from the train is indeed superior to the Klondike Highway. One main reason to consider the train is to research the history and experience this engineering marvel. If this is not important to you, maybe the train is not for you? History was made from the White Pass- but the Gold rush was long over before it was complete. The viewing from the train is excellent.
For clairfication - few buses go to the Yukon, it is British Columbia at the summit not the Yukon. The Yukon is another 25 miles north- 45 miles from Skagway.
>> One main reason to consider
the train is to research the history and experience this engineering marvel.
>>The viewing from the train is excellent.
The historical part of wouldn't be enough to entice me, nor is it that it is a train. It really is the views. Do you think the views are superior enough from the train to warrant the extra cost. In general I like the flexibility of the car, but I'd definitely pay extra for the train if views are better.
The actual text from the Princess excursion is "Yukon Expedition & White Pass Rail" so I guess they go the full 45 miles. At 8 hours for the tour, sounds like they do.
I was on the 5/12 sailing of the Dawn Princess and took the Yukon Expedition and White Pass Scenic Railway. You ride a bus up to a place called Frontierland for a barbecue chicken lunch which was very good. The bus makes several photo stops and the guide was excellent. The scenery just gets better as you go further and we were lucky that our tour guide took us to Emerald Lake (we were the only one of 3 buses to go) which is about 10 minutes past Frontierland and it is well worth the extra time. The bus goes farther than the train. On your way back to the train at Frasier you will stop at Carcross which is a very small town and my husband and I felt we could have gone on by it. You will pick the train up in Frasier and ride it back to skagway. My husband and I enjoyed this tour very much and he has a hard time sitting for long lengths of time in a bus. Also according to the tour guide this is their favorite tour to do. We still had plenty of time to walk around Skagway because it was a very small town. Whatever you decide to do you can't go wrong.
Thanks for the great info. Someone else on the forum mentioned Emerald Lake. In your writeup, you don't mention much about the train ride. Do you think renting a car and driving the trip would be better than taking the train? It seems that what I've seen on the forum has been mixed on the train ride, but all agree that the trip to the summit is great. Some say a car is preferable since you can stop when you wish.
My husband and I enjoyed the train ride back very much. You get some different views then you do on the bus and we already saw all the views from the bus on the way up. My husband spent a good deal of the time standing outside between the cars on the train and got some great pictures. When we were there everything was still covered in snow. So in my opinion the trip we took was great and the train ride very enjoyable.
Whitepass + yukon?
Linear Mode
