Anchorage travel guide

Anchorage, United States

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Anchorage

Introduction

Anchorage is the most populous city in Alaska, and it holds nearly 40 percent of the state's residents. The wider metropolitan area, which takes in the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, accounts for more than half of all Alaskans. By land area, the city is among the largest in the United States, sprawling across roughly 1,700 square miles.

Before you go

Anchorage is a real American city — freeways, traffic, tall buildings, giant malls — and not the "real Alaska," though you can see that from here. Treat it as the economic hub and gateway to the Alaskan Interior and the Kenai Peninsula, a good place to gear up for a trip rather than a destination in itself. Its setting and its weather are the exceptions: those are genuinely Alaskan.

Most visitors come in summer, when days are long and temperatures moderate; many consider May through early September the best window, and June usually offers the best combination of long days, good weather and warm afternoons. Around the summer solstice the sky stays light from early morning until close to midnight, and under clear skies it never gets completely pitch black. Winter is another matter — bitter cold spells, sunrise as late as mid-morning, sunset in the mid-afternoon, and often cloudy days that cut the already short daylight further. Before you go, look up the Visit Anchorage website, and note that the city's downtown information centers include the Log Cabin Visitor Center at 4th Avenue and F Street, with a second center on F Street behind the log cabin.

Getting there

Most visitors reach Anchorage by air. Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport sits about five miles southwest of downtown and is served by many major American airlines, with Alaska Airlines as the main carrier. Non-stop flights arrive from a long list of Lower 48 cities, including Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Houston, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Atlanta, and Newark, with more seasonal service in summer. There are also non-stop flights from Canada, Germany, and Iceland. Many out-of-state flights are late-night "red-eyes," though daytime flights to and from Seattle are common. The airport has two terminals: the South Terminal handles domestic carriers and all regional intrastate flights, while the North Terminal handles international arrivals and departures. A shuttle bus runs between them roughly every fifteen minutes. To get downtown, use a taxi, shuttle, or rental car, or ride Route #40 of the Anchorage People Mover, which serves both terminals and connects to the downtown Transit Center.

You can also drive in from the Lower 48 and Canada via the Alaska Highway, which ends in Fairbanks; from there, reach Anchorage on the Parks Highway, or come via the Glenn Highway from Tok, the first major Alaskan town after the Canadian border. The Seward Highway brings traffic in from the Kenai Peninsula to the south. Pick up a copy of The Milepost, the standard road guide for western Canada and Alaska, for detailed route descriptions; if you fly in first, buy it locally at a Costco or Wal-Mart for about half the list price. By sea, the Port of Anchorage is mainly a cargo port with shallow water and powerful tides, and only one large cruise ship calls there regularly in summer, with passengers shuttled from the dock to the downtown mall. Most large cruise ships instead dock at Seward or Whittier, both deep-water ports further away, and many cruise lines provide transportation from those terminals to Anchorage. Whittier is also the closest harbor served by the Alaska Marine Highway. By train, the Alaska Railroad runs from Seward through Anchorage, Denali, and Fairbanks to North Pole, with summertime passenger service and a downtown depot. By bus, Interior Alaska Bus Line offers year-round service between Tok and Anchorage, stopping in Glennallen and Palmer along the way.

Getting around

Anchorage is spread out, and outside the compact downtown core it is not very walkable. The street grid was laid out by the railroad: numbered streets run east–west from First Avenue in the north to the mid-hundreds at the south edge of town, while lettered streets run north–south from A Street downtown and westward. East of A Street, streets are named in sequence after Alaskan towns. The Seward Highway becomes Gambell and Ingra streets, and the Glenn Highway becomes 5th and 6th Avenues. Downtown, the historic core at the northwestern tip near the waterfront, holds most tourist activity, gift stores, hotels and the railroad depot. Beyond it, Midtown is largely commercial, South Anchorage is suburban and residential, West Anchorage runs along the water and includes the airport, Spenard is a former separate city that is still something of a red-light district, East Anchorage is mostly residential, and Hillside sits below Chugach State Park.

Walking works well downtown, where you can pick up maps and brochures at the Visitor Information Center, and free summer shuttles extend your range. Otherwise, use the People Mover bus system, whose Downtown Transit Center is at 6th Avenue between H and G Streets. Rental cars are available from the major chains at the airport and at off-airport locations, but summer demand is heavy, so reserve ahead; winter driving demands caution on damaged roads and black ice, and headlights are required on the Seward Highway south of the city. Taxis and hotel courtesy shuttles serve the airport, and Anchorage has an extensive bike trail system, including the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail from Downtown to Kincaid Park, with trails groomed for skiing in winter.

Where to stay

Anchorage's main cluster of chain hotels sits in Midtown, along a half-mile stretch of C Street running from International Airport Road north to just past Tudor Road. Developers from the Lower 48 have been building here since around 2000, and the strip is now the city's de facto hotel row, roughly three miles south of downtown and three miles east of the airport. Mid-range options in this area include Homewood Suites by Hilton on West 48th Avenue, TownePlace Suites Anchorage Midtown on East 32nd Avenue, and a Motel 6 on A Street that, by its general manager's own account, becomes one of the most expensive Motel 6 locations anywhere during the peak summer season.

Downtown is where you'll find the splurge properties, including the Anchorage Marriott Downtown on West 7th Avenue and the Hotel Captain Cook at the corner of 4th Avenue and K Street. Elsewhere, the Dimond Center Hotel sits out on East Dimond Boulevard, while The Lakefront Anchorage Hotel occupies Spenard Road. Spenard is also the budget traveller's corner of town: the Spenard Hostel International on West 42nd Avenue is a clean, friendly place a little removed from the centre, served by PeopleMover route 7, and lets guests help out around the hostel to earn a free night. The Alaska Backpackers Inn and Hostel on Eagle Street offers dorm beds and private singles and doubles closer in. For something quieter, the Puffin Inn of Anchorage on Spenard Road runs as a bed and breakfast, and Jarvi Homestay offers a calm, low-key stay with good breakfasts away from the concrete and crowds.

Food & drink

For cheap, filling meals, Anchorage delivers. Kriner's Diner serves home-cooking the Alaskan way, from Ted's Big Breakfast to Jenne's Reindeer Sandwich to homemade giant cinnamon rolls. Gwennie's is an Alaskan institution where down-home Americana meets Alaska — think sourdough pancakes and reindeer sausage — and it's popular with locals as well as visitors. Yak and Yeti offers Himalayan and Indian cooking in Spenard, while Hula Hands serves Hawaiian and Tongan food. Arctic Roadrunner is an Alaskan institution known for its burgers, plus a halibut burger and homemade onion ring pieces. Sami's City Diner has some of the best sandwiches in town, and The Lucky Wishbone is famous for pan-fried chicken, burgers and shakes. For burgers and halibut sandwiches, try White Spot Cafe, a counter with room for about ten patrons, or Tommy's Burger Stop, and for Mexican, Taco King has several locations. On a cold day, Kami Ramen on Spenard Road hits the spot.

In the mid-range, Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria brews its own beer and makes pizza, with vegetarian selections and occasional outdoor concerts. Bear Tooth Theatrepub pairs pizza with a movie theater where dinner is delivered to your seat, plus a wide selection of microbrews and wines, and an attached grill. Glacier BrewHouse downtown offers a broad menu and beers from its own brewery, while Solstice Bar & Grill serves similar quality for a slightly cheaper price. Southside Bistro focuses on fresh seafood and innovative meat preparations, and Snow City Cafe is open for breakfast and lunch, with breakfast available all day. For a splurge, Crow's Nest sits atop the Hotel Captain Cook with seafood and French and American cuisine and views of the city and the Chugach Mountains; Jens offers Alaskan seafood, Danish specialties and French classics; ORSO Ristorante serves Italian fare; Simon and Seafort's is a semi-fancy seafood restaurant near the coastal trail; and Ginger offers Asian-Alaskan fusion. Tequila 61 is a Mexican gastropub. Anchorage has many bars and, by reputation, a great many microbreweries; bars are non-smoking, and note that First Tap Thursday at Bear Tooth Theatrepub celebrates a new Broken Tooth Brewing draft beer with live music.

What to see and do

Anchorage's museums tell the story of the North from several angles. The Anchorage Museum downtown weaves together the social, political, cultural, scientific, historic and artistic threads of the region, with an extensive exhibit on the first peoples of Alaska, a hands-on Discovery Center for all ages, and part of a Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center. The Alaska Native Heritage Center in northeast Anchorage is more than a static museum: native cultures are represented through dance performances on a large stage, and a short trail around the lake leads to stations where native guides demonstrate aspects of life in each culture and answer questions. Smaller downtown collections include the FOAST Law Enforcement Museum, the Alaska Veterans Museum, and the Oscar Anderson House Museum, the city's only house museum, in one of its oldest houses. At Resolution Park, a bronze statue of Captain Cook stands on a wooden deck gazing out on Cook Inlet, which he explored in 1778. For animals, the Alaska Zoo in South Anchorage displays species native to northern climates, including bald eagles, moose, musk oxen, grizzlies and a polar bear, some rescued from the wild. Further south on the Seward Highway, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center provides refuge for orphaned, injured or ill animals, and you can drive the loop or walk the grounds past brown and black bear, moose, musk ox, caribou, wolves, wood bison and elk. The Alaska Aviation Museum at Lake Hood, home to a large seaplane base, has display hangars, vintage aircraft, a restoration hangar and a tower where you can watch seaplanes and listen to tower radio. In summer, the Anchorage Downtown Partnership hosts free weekly concerts downtown, and on the first Friday of each month the downtown galleries stay open late for the First Friday Art Walk. The Alaska Public Lands Information Center, staffed by National Park rangers, leads a walk through downtown that ends with a view of Cook Inlet. Wildlife viewing is part of the appeal of the area: moose can often be found by driving the Hillside neighbourhoods in the foothills of the Chugach mountains, Dall sheep are often spotted along the Seward Highway, and migratory birds are common, though seeing wild bears means planning an excursion to Denali or Katmai national parks.

When to go

Most visitors come to Anchorage during the long-day summer, and May through early September is considered the best window: days are long, temperatures moderate and afternoons warm. June usually offers the best combination of long days, good weather and warm afternoons. Around the summer solstice on 21 June, the city gets up to 19½ hours of sunlight, roughly 4:30AM to 11:30PM, with the sun setting just before midnight early in the season. Under clear skies the sky never gets completely pitch black in June.

Winter is the opposite extreme. The longest nights come around the winter solstice on 21 December, when the area gets only about 5 hours of sunlight a day, with sunrise as late as 10:15AM and sunsets around 3:45PM. Usually cloudy winter days further limit the daylight, and temperatures can fall into the -20s and -30s for a short spell.

Three days in Anchorage

Day one: Start at the Log Cabin Visitor Center to get your bearings, then walk the streets of downtown Anchorage to see how the city presents itself to visitors. Because Anchorage sits within Alaska but draws heavily on the Lower 48, you will notice influences from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Dallas and Ft Worth alongside Alaskan character. Use the long daylight of May through September to keep exploring into the evening.

Day two: Head out of the city toward the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for a taste of the Alaskan Interior, or turn south toward the Kenai Peninsula if you prefer coastal scenery. Both directions show you why Alaskans treat Anchorage as a base rather than a destination in itself. In winter, expect bitter cold and short daylight; in summer, expect warm, long days.

Day three: Return to Anchorage and use Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport for your onward flight, with Alaska Airlines among the carriers serving non-stop routes to the Lower 48. Before you leave, treat yourself to one more walk through the city center. Most visitors find three days enough to see how Anchorage works as a gateway to the rest of Alaska.

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