We are going to Alaska is July. Planning on flying to Anchorage, renting a car and going up to Fairbanks, seeing Denali, etc..Our list comes from what it seems people see when they travel to AK. Anything that someone can tell me is a must see?
Planning on fishing around Talkeetna. I am wondering if I can catch fish on my own or if a guide would be worth it.
Any insight would be appreciated.

I think if you don't do some fishing in Alaska in July, you will have missed a significant opportunity. From my personal experience, you can do the Kenai River for some King Salmon, a flyout on a floatplane for Silver Salmon, or do a Halibut trip into the Cook Inlet and be surrounded by Humpback Whales. Highly recommend you hire a guide, that way you don't have worry about taking your own gear and who can help you navigate fish cleaning services, etc.

Alaska is huge, use Turo over there to rent the car and read the owners reviews to ensure they take care of the car. A guide is always worth the $$ for the first time. At Denali take the bus through the park 85 miles as you can stop and stay and wait for the next one. You do not need bear spray unless you are going back country!! There is a bar restaurant in Healy with the bus from the movie Into the wild, if you have seen that movie, jump on Stampeed road for beautiful views and to see how stupid Christopher McCandis was. In Fairbanks Frontier Park is a must see and cool place, Jump on hwy 2 to see the Alaska Pipeline, and there is many gold mine stops to see equiptment and history, North Pole Ak is just down the rd and has The Santa House where all the letters go to Santa and is a nice quick stop. If in Fairbanks on a Sunny Day go to the University on Yukon Drive and you can see the entire Alaska mountain range including Mt Mckinnley. Still in Fairbanks there is a great butcher bshop Tommy Gs. For the most part the food in Alaska is porr and very few restaurants ( low expectations are in order) You need mesquito spray especially in FairbAnks, eye covers for sleep. If you have more questions you can text me as I spent 4 months up there. 972-989-3332

I second making sure you do some fishing. Hiring a guide makes everything easier and is what I recommend. But in addition, there is a lot of fishing you can do on your own. This book is an wonderful resource.

https://a.co/d/asFMKB2

In Denali, be sure to do the bus ride deep into the park. It sounds lame and for old folks, but it is a wonderful experience. It's a long day, but going all the way to Wonder Lake is absolutely worth it.

For your first trip, a guide is money well-spent. If nothing else, he's going to know the local hazards that might not be obvious to someone like you or me, and he'll more likely than not give you much better results on fishing.

With regard to Denali, there was a landslide that took out a main road. That can cause some issues.

Have you got any reservations yet for anything in Denali?

It's the opposite direction but I will add that car touring around the Kenai Peninsula is stunning. Homer, Wittier Kenai, and Seward are all worth the drive down from Anchorage. Homer is farthest at about 4-1/2 hours.

The road to Valdez is beautiful. We also spent 1.5 months on the Kenai peninsula, Homer, Soldotna, Ninilchik. Anchorage and Fairbanks are just mid-size (big cities) in a pretty landscape. What I'm saying is there's more to see other places.

I love Valdez. Probably my favorite town in Alaska. I also agree on Fairbanks. Its just a city in Alaska. I lived there for several years.

If you have a rental car that you are comfortable taking on some rough roads, a circuit from Anchorage, up to Denali, take the Denali Highway over to Paxson, head south to Valdez, and then take the Glenn Highway back to Anchorage. The Glenn is one of the most beautiful drives in North America and well worth doing. The Glenn is paved. The Denali Highway is mostly rough gravel, but beautiful and not at all crowded. Some great fishing spots along the way, too. This route shows you some of the highlights of the state, without sacrificing much by missing out on Fairbanks.

If you go to Valdez, there is a business called Fish Central that is great for booking guides and processing and shipping fish. Just call them with your dates, and do what they tell you to do.

We also took a boat cruise out of Seward to see wildlife and icebergs. Got a picture of humpback whales...real close.

Good inputs — take your favorite mosquito juice and extra coverage if you want to enjoy all of what you have heard

The bus tour through Denali that Ramsey mentioned was better than I expected. We actually saw a lot of animals. Make time for that. Only buses can go past a certain point. You cannot take your vehicle all the way through.

Yup and mirror lake is a sight to see

I lived in Fairbanks for 3 years and the suggestions on here are spot on. To add to it, I went north out of Fairbanks towards Point Barrow. When we went over the Yukon River, there was a cafe there that served fantastic burgers. Go north a little further and you get to the Artic Circle marker. Here you can get out and get some selfies and enjoy the view. Another good way to view Denali is the passenger train that runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks. I enjoyed Haines as well but to get there by vehicle you will have to travel through Canada.

Never been, but my first thought is watch out for bears.

They say the moose are more dangerous than bears. If you make noise and don't surprise the bears they will run off...I'm sure that's 95% true, but a moose will come after you. They're not afraid of people. We saw a young bull moose just off the spit in Homer grazing in town.

We went to a Russian occupied town just north of Homer (10 mi). The wording on the bathrooms were in Russian. I'll see if I can find the pic and post it.