Exhibitor Welcome Page ~ Anchorage ~ Fairbanks ~ Juneau ~ Soldotna

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Traveling to Juneau (Juneau Fair Tuesday, April 22, 2008)

Juneau cannot be reached by car or train. Alaska Airlines is the only major airline that has flights to Juneau. You may get tickets on other airlines that share flights with Alaska Airlines. You will want to fly in to Juneau on Monday so that you can get rested and prepare for a long week!

Traveling from Juneau to Anchorage (Anchorage Fair Friday-Saturday, April 25-26, 2008)

This is your chance to relax and sight-see! Wednesday and Thursday are free days, allowing plenty of time to sight-see in Juneau and/or Anchorage and travel from Juneau to Anchorage. Again, Alaska Airlines is the only major airline with flights out of Juneau. The flight from Juneau to Anchorage takes about 90 minutes.

SIGHTSEEING TIP for Juneau: Visit Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center, 5 miles from the Juneau airport.
SIGHTSEEING TIPS for Anchorage: Drive north to charming Talkeetna, Alaska for the best views of Mount McKinley in the state. Or drive south to Portage Glacier or ride the tram at Alyeska Resort for a lovely view of Cook Inlet.

Traveling from Anchorage to Fairbanks (Fairbanks Fair Monday-Tuesday, April 28-29, 2008)

There are many flights between these two Alaska hubs on ERA Aviation, Frontier Flying Service, or Alaska Airlines. The flight is about 60 minutes long. Should you choose to drive the scenic Parks Highway, the trip is 365 miles between Anchorage and Fairbanks. (If you drive and are planning to participate in Soldotna, you may prefer to leave your rental car in Fairbanks, because it is a LONG drive from Fairbanks to Soldotna. We usually have more travel time, but the schedule is determined by the availability of the facilities.)

SIGHTSEEING TIP: You might enjoy a side trip to Denali National Park, although the best views of Mount McKinley can actually be found from charming Talkeetna, Alaska. Drive to Chena Hot Springs (1 hour away) to soak, tour the Ice Museum, or take a dog sled ride!

Traveling from Fairbanks to Soldotna (Soldotna Fair Wednesday, April 30, 2008)

All flights between Fairbanks and Soldotna make a connection in Anchorage. You can fly to Anchorage on ERA Aviation, Frontier Flying Service, or Alaska Airlines, and then to Soldotna on ERA, a commuter airline that is affiliated with Alaska Airlines. The Fair closes mid-afternoon in Fairbanks to allow for extra travel time. All three airlines have a flight to Anchorage around 6:45 pm. From Anchorage, there are 30-minute flights from there to Kenai every day. (Kenai and Soldotna are "twin cites" about 10 minutes apart.)

You may want to consider flying to Anchorage and then driving to Soldotna. Flights arrive in Anchorage around 7:45-8:00 pm, time enough to rent a car and drive south to Soldotna. This is well worth it if you can afford a little bit of time afterward to enjoy that part of Alaska! The 3-hour (145-mile) ride from Anchorage to Soldotna on the Seward and Stering Highways is nothing less than magnificent, traveling first along breath-taking Turnagain Arm with wonderful views of glacier-capped mountains across the inlet, and then through a mountain pass, up close with the mountains, before you drop down into the forest to drive alongside the glacier-fed, green Kenai River.

SIGHTSEEING TIP: Although the Visitor's Center at Portage Glacier is closed in the winter, it is a short (5 mile) nice drive down a side road where you can see glaciers fairly close on the sides of the mountains alongside which you drive.

Traveling "Outside" from Soldonta

Alaskans call the continental United States "Outside" - always capitalized. You will have to travel back to Anchorage in order to catch a connection "Outside." You are expected to stay until the Exhibit Hall closes before you can fly or drive to Anchorage. As mentioned above, it takes about 3 hours to drive and 30 minutes to fly. Flights leave the Kenai airport (10 minutes from the Fair facility) after the Fair closes around 8:15 p.m., 9:50 p.m., and 11:55 p.m. (Check ERA's website for a current schedule.)

SIGHTSEEING TIP: You may want to consider taking a day to drive another 70 miles south to enjoy Homer, "where the road ends and the sea begins." Homer is the favorite vacation spot of Alaskans themselves, an artistic and scenic small community (pop. 4500) literally at "the end of the road."