Tarah Van Grouw

Review of Northern Alaskan Tour Company

The day we arrived in Fairbanks we did a Homestead...

The day we arrived in Fairbanks we did a Homestead Aurora tour with Kyle as our driver. We were also joined by Dallas and Robert with Northern Alaska Tour Company (as the tour grows larger when Arctic circle tours join at the Homestead). All of three of them were so kind! We had such an amazing time (which was made even better with a view of the aurora)! En route Kyle kept checking the sky for stars (as we started out a little gray) while maintaining caution on a road covered in snow and with semis coming from the opposite direction. He stopped once for us to scan the sky and also pulled over to show us where the grid ends. He explained about the aurora, as well as showing us the difference in trees, etc. It was very informative, without boring our 10 year old daughter. Once at the Homestead we were happy to find plenty of seating, as well as games, books, a small store, warm drinks and snacks. Outside they started a fire, which was a great place to stand next to as the temperatures started to drop and without potentially missing an opportunity to see the elusive aurora. Once it got close to the time that the aurora would be expected Kyle was moving from guest to guest making sure they didn't need help with their cameras, showing them the best spots, answering questions, etc. He helped us with perfect settings to capture both the aurora and the magnificent view of the Milky Way that the homestead affords. It was truly a fantastic experience and one that our family will treasure forever. As a side note, we did another tour with another company the next night and it helped us to appreciate our experience with Kyle, Dallas, and Robert that much more. Thanks guys! We would definitely book this again!

On our last day in Fairbanks we did the Denali tour with Mike as our driver. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour as well! Mike kept it interesting with facts and jokes along the way and we had plenty of leg stretching stops (which was wonderful considering we hadn't rented a car so we weren't able to just drive by places like we normally would). En route we swung by the large animal research facilities of the University (where we were able to pet a reindeer), the town of Nenana, and a couple of turn outs where we could enjoy the view. Once in Denali we ate lunch and watched an informative video. Following lunch, we toured the visitors center (Mike was kind enough to hold the tour so that our daughter could get her junior ranger badge!) then went snowshoeing. What an experience! On the way back Mike stopped for us to take pictures of the alpine glow on the mountains and for us to catch a glimpse of two lynx. We would highly recommend this tour as well!

Overall we are thoroughly pleased with our experiences with Northern Alaska Tour Company!