Tamara Gane

When my brother and I began planning a trip to Alaska last summer, we considered taking a cruise. After all, cruising is how most travelers see the state. But the more we looked at rigid schedules and limited time in port, the more we found ourselves drawn to another option: the Alaska Railroad. Traveling by train gave us the freedom to build our own itinerary and decide how much time to spend in each destination. Instead of sailing from one stop to the next, we were able to experience Alaska at our own pace. We'd both been to Alaska before. My brother spent several summers working at a cannery during college, but he spent most of his time in a warehouse. I'd visited many times as a travel writer, but my trips were always woefully brief and left me wanting more. For this trip, we wanted to take our time, which made the Alaska Railroad a natural fit. How to plan and book your Alaska Railroad trip The Alaska Railroad operates year-round and offers five seasonal routes. Because we're both national park enthusiasts, we booked a nine-day itinerary that combined the Denali Star from Anchorage to Fairbanks, with stops in Talkeetna and Denali National Park and Preserve, and the Coastal Classic from Anchorage to Seward, the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park.  Other routes include the Glacier Discovery to Whittier, the Hurricane Turn, which provides flag-stop service into the backcountry, and the Aurora Winter Train, which follows the Denali Star route from mid-September to mid-May