In July 2003 my wife and I drove from Vancouver to Calgary, via Anchorage. We first drove the 500 miles to Prince George and then, next day, turned right and drove another 500 miles to Prince Rupert. Be wary of any town which has a 'Rainwear Superstore.' We travelled on the ferry to Skagway and had a pretty basic cabin but it served its purpose. The menu in the restaurant was a bit limited but, again, was fine by us. There was also a pleasant bar and we met some great people.(One couple we met, are still in contact with us, and we met up together in Toronto a couple of years later.) There were also staff from the US Parks Dept. who gave talks on the wildlife etc twice a day. I don't remember it as being particularly expensive - about £300 I think, and in those days the sterling/dollar rate wasn't as brilliant (from an English point of view!) as it is now.

A couple of points, though: The ship would arrive at a port at (say) four in the morning and we'd be woken by the tannoy asking if we wanted to go ashore. Also, the places where the ship docked were often a mile or more from the town centres. In Sitka a bus was laid on to take us to the centre and its Russian Orthodox Cathedral.

Skagway was fine, but we got the impression that many of the shops couldn't be bothered to open unless there were at least two crusie ships berthed there. We thought Dawson City, in the Yukon, was a much more genuine gold rush town.

We then drove to Anchorgae, via the Top of the World Highway. I'm glad we did it but there were so many RVs throwing up clouds of dirt and dust that I reckon we had the dirtiest car in North America by time we arrived in Tok. In Anchorage we had to have a new windscreen fitted because a crack had appeared thanks to a stone thrown up by an RV.

We loved Anchorage - one of the nicest American cities we've seen. The drive back, overland, to Calgary was spectacular.

One last point - the mosquitoes are frightening - my wife got bitten through her trousers (often).

Of all our many American/Canadian journeys I reckon this one was the best.