Forty percent of Alaska‘s population lives in Anchorage and its metropolitan area. With a population of less than 300,000, it looks like a village compared to the large U.S. metropolises, but it’s the largest city in a sparsely populated state composed mostly of small towns. If you’ve already read our article on Alaska’s climate, you can easily guess why this area is where most of the population is concentrated: Anchorage Bay is the place with the least severe climate in the entire country.
Anchorage is not the most beautiful place in the state, in fact the locals often say “Anchorage is only 20 minutes from Alaska”, to emphasize how the big city has very little of those wild characteristics that make the northern state unique. It can be said that a tourist who has already visited some North American metropolises will not miss anything special by avoiding this city, but there are at least two good reasons to go there during a trip to Alaska.
The first is that, since it is almost always the first stop of the trip if you arrive by plane, it is the ideal place to acclimatize. Being catapulted into the wilderness could be disorienting, but Anchorage – a city with all the amenities, but where it’s quite possible to encounter a moose in front of a hotel entrance – is the right middle ground to spend the first couple of days. The second reason is that some of the country’s top attractions are within a day’s drive from here, so being based in town and moving to a different destination each day may be something to consider.
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How to get to Anchorage?
Anchorage is served by two airports: Merrill Field Airport, located practically downtown and offering short-range connections, and Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, which is Alaska’s main airport.
- If you land at Merrill Field, because you may be coming from another Alaskan city, to get to downtown you just need to take the #30 bus, which leads from the airport to the Downtown district.
- If, as is more likely, you land at Ted Stevens, you need to take the number 40 bus to go downtown. This airport is also close to the city and the bus takes less than half an hour.
The alternative is to get to Anchorage by boat. There are no good bus connections from the port to downtown, but the distance is minimal. It is a 20-minute walk downtown from the port and alternatively, given the short distance, the price of a cab or shuttle is not high.
Climate and temperatures: when to go?
If you’ve already read my article on when to go to Alaska, you’ll already have an idea about the climate here. The advantage of Anchorage is that it is located in the mildest area in all of Alaska. It is no coincidence, of course, that the only major city in the state developed here. In this bay, which is well sheltered from disturbances, only 16.5 inches of rain and snowfall per year, much less than in other areas.
In addition, temperatures are never extreme. In summer the daily highs are around 64/68° and the lows around 50/53°. In winter, on the other hand, the average highs are around 28/23° and lows around 14/8°. Clearly not the tropics, but we are talking about temperatures definitely higher than the Alaskan average. The same is true for the sea, which never has temperatures low enough to freeze, as happens along the coast in other areas of the state. Spring and summer days are very long and in the months of May, June and July there is the particular phenomenon of white nights.
How to get around
Despite being the largest city in the state, Anchorage is quite small in absolute terms. On foot is the best way to visit the city. However, if you have to carry luggage, move from one end of the city to the other or even move during the cold season when temperatures are below zero, it may not be pleasant walking around the streets. In all these cases, there is an excellent bus service, called People Mover.
The price of each ride is $2, but if you plan to use the bus several times during the day, it is definitely worth buying a daily ticket at a price of $5. On this page you can consult the bus routes map and follow the movements of the buses on each line in real-time. Also, the AnchorRIDES service offers the possibility of transportation tailored to people with disabilities.
Attractions in the city
It’s a metropolis but doesn’t have the skyscrapers of Chicago, it overlooks a bay but doesn’t have the romantic charm of San Francisco. So we ask ourselves: what is there to see in Anchorage? A small but lively downtown, museums and art galleries, bike and pedestrian paths amidst greenery are some examples, but above all: in what other city in the world is it possible to spot whales from the mainland?
Spending a couple of days here will allow you to understand the lifestyle of the Alaskans better and to easily meet some of them in the many places that animate the center, asking for advice and directions about the best excursions to do in the area, or taking advantage of the museums that the city offers to learn more about local history.
A tour around the historical center
The Downtown district, the most historic one, is very small and can be easily reached on foot. Getting lost is really impossible: the rectangular structure is divided into streets numbered progressively from north to south and with letters from east to west. The street in front of the train station is W 1st Avenue and each parallel street is called progressively W 2nd Avenue, W 3rd Avenue, and so on. The perpendicular streets are named in order A street, B street, etc. moving westward from the large, clearly identifiable viaduct leading to the industrial area of the harbor.
The ideal starting point for a walk downtown is the tourist information office, located at the intersection of W 4th Avenue and F street. The structure, a log cabin with a grass-covered roof, is easily identifiable amidst the large buildings surrounding it. Here you can pick up a map of the city, if you don’t have one, and get detailed information about available tours. I suggest a very simple tour to get a fairly complete walk around the neighborhood.
- The first stop I recommend is the Eisenhower Statehood Monument: the monument celebrating Alaska’s admission to the U.S.A., which is only a 5-minute walk away. Leaving the tourist office behind you, walk down F Street for two blocks, turning right onto W 2nd Avenue. In addition to the monument, which is significant in itself for the history it tells, there is a beautiful view of the north side of the city and the bay.
- From here take E street back to W 4th Avenue and turn left here. At the intersection with D street, in front of the iconic Wendler Building, there is a statue of Balto, Alaska’s most famous dog, who brought the antitoxin needed to eradicate the diphtheria epidemic to Nome in 1925.
- A few feet further ahead, on the opposite side of the street, you will find the 4th Avenue Market Place: one of the ideal places to buy something to eat on the fly.
- If you take D Street and then turn right onto W 5th Avenue, in two minutes you will reach the heart of the city: Town Square Park, the main square of Anchorage.
- If you continue on W 5th Avenue, just walk another block to the intersection with G Street to find the beginning of Planet Walk. This installation depicts the solar system starting with a yellow hemisphere emerging from the pavement and pointing to the Sun. The various planets are placed at proportional distances from the star and can therefore be found in various parts of the city.
- G Street in 6-7 minutes will lead you to the center of Delaney Park, one of the main parks of the city, which cuts across the center of Anchorage for many blocks. In the summer it is alive with many outdoor activities. If you arrive, as suggested, from G Street, turn left first until you reach the old Alaska Railways steam engine. From here, turn back and walk through the park in the opposite direction, toward the bay. You’ll encounter the World War II Soldiers’ Monument, the Martin Luther King Monument, and the Pope John Paul II Monument. Just beyond, there is an interesting little rose garden, which is very beautiful during the summer months.
- Walk through the park to the end and you’re almost at the coast. After the last block, you can turn right on Stolt Lane and follow the road to the small Nulbay Park and its curious whale monument.
- Keeping along the coast, it’s easy to reach Eldberry Park in a few minutes, from where you can enjoy a great view of Anchorage Bay and the mountains in the distance. Here you will also find Oscar Anderson House: the oldest house in town, dating back to 1915 (now a house-museum) that displays personal items of the family who lived there.
- Take W 5th Avenue towards downtown and turn left on L Street to reach another interesting panoramic point, Resolution Park, where there is the statue of Captain Cook.
- Continuing on W 3rd Avenue, when you reach the neighborhood enclosed between Christensen Street and F Street, you can see more well-preserved historic wooden houses.
Museums and art galleries
If you decide to spend at least a couple of days in the city, it may be worth visiting a few museums to learn more about local history or discover more about the art Alaska has to offer. Here are the top museums and galleries in Anchorage.
- Anchorage Museum: the second largest state museum after the official museum in Juneau, it is one of the best places in Alaska to educate yourself on the country’s art and history. Since 2009, it has also been expanded with a planetarium, a center for Arctic studies, and the interesting Imaginarium: an old attraction that used to be downtown and offers interactive science attractions for children. Aurora Borealis, volcanoes, and other natural features of the Alaskan ecosystem are highlights in the museum. (Address: 1625, C street).
- Alaska Heritage Museum at Wells Fargo: This is a great collection of indigenous artifacts and works by local masters. (Address: 301 W Northern lights Boulevard).
- Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum: a collection of 27 airplanes, some of them very rare. From an observation deck at the museum, you can see the seaplane base on Lake Hood from above. (Address: 4721 Aircraft Dr).
- Stephan Fine Arts Gallery: This is a museum that collects mainly paintings of Alaskan subjects and photographs, as well as bear portraits by Thomas Mangelsen. (Address: 939 W 5th Avenue).
- Aurora Fine Art Gallery: a distinctive gallery that mixes traditional and contemporary art. The totemic design of Marilyn Kaminsky Miller’s works is particular. (Address: 737 W 5th Avenue).
Every first Friday of the month you can participate in the so-called First Friday Art Walk: from 17.30 to 19.30 dozens of galleries, stores and restaurants offer food, drinks, and live music, as well as presentations of new works and artists. If you happen to be there on one of these days, look around, you might find some nice surprises!
Green Walks
Even a big city like Anchorage, being located in Alaska, has no shortage of green areas to walk or ride a bike through to enjoy nature at a stone’s throw from the city’s amenities. One of the most interesting places in this sense is the Alaska Botanical Garden, which offers a large number of endemic species. From here, there are also paths that run along streams where salmon come to spawn in the summer.
At the western end of the city, south of the airport, there is Kincaid Park. Although it is attached to the metropolis, it is a place where you can easily see moose and other wild animals. From the coast, it is not impossible to spot whales that come to feed in the bay. Kincaid Park can be reached from the historic center by riding the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail. This 17-mile bike/pedestrian trail runs along the entire southwest headland of the city, offering stunning views of the sea.
Day Trips from Anchorage
Anchorage is not a city close to the wilderness, but a city ‘in’ the wilderness. Because of this, it can be used as a base for a variety of day trips. Here are some examples of trips within a stone’s throw of the city center.
- Alaska Native Heritage Center and Eklutna Historical Park. On the northern outskirts of town we find the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the perfect place to understand the history of Native peoples. If you have a car, driving for another half hour along the Glenn Highway, you come to the village of Eklutna, next to which stands Eklutna Historical Park: a place where the culture of the natives is mixed with the Russian Orthodox culture. The most peculiar thing are 80 colorful houses for the spirits. Just before Eklutna are the impressive Thunder Bird Falls that can easily be reached from the road.
- Chugach State Park. Staying in the surroundings of the city, an interesting trip can be made to Chugach State Park, adjacent to the eastern outskirts of Anchorage. It is easily accessible and offers many outdoor activities, depending on the season: from skiing to fishing, from biking to blueberry picking. The mountainous area of the park offers wild and unexplored trails, while the area closer to the city is a destination for family activities. Despite being on the outskirts of town, it’s home to moose and bears, wolves and lynx, stoats and beavers – in short, any animal you can find in these lands. An easy spot to get to (just over a half-hour drive from Anchorage) is Artic Valley. Drive north on the Glenn Highway until you hit the junction for Arctic Valley Road. This road will take you to ski resorts in the winter, and in the summer to a valley full of blueberries and trails ideal for hikers. A slightly more distant, but definitely worthwhile, alternative is the Eagle River Nature Center. Located in the valley of the river of the same name, in the northern part of the park, it is an educational center where you can learn a lot about the Alaskan territory and from where many hiking trails start.
- Turnagain Bay. The large territory of Chugach State Park faces south on Turnagain Bay: the name means just what it says and was given to this place because Captain James Cook, who arrived here with the illusion of finding a passage, had to turn around. Driving along the Seward Highway, you will skirt the marshes where elk graze and you can reach some of the best places to spot flocks of waterfowl. The most famous is the Potter Marsh, and it is only a 20-minute drive from downtown Anchorage.
Those who want to go further, and use Anchorage as a base for a more in-depth tour of the area, can read our tips on how to plan a multi-day Alaska itinerary.
Anchorage tours and departures from the city
Those who don’t want to explore the city on their own but instead rely on an organized tour can consider the following options:
- Private tour of Anchorage: if you want a tour that is tailored to your schedule and needs, this package may be right for you given the wide range of customization it offers.
- Bike Tour and beer tasting: Anchorage is also renowned for hosting some very popular breweries. Thanks to this tour you will have the opportunity to undertake a tasting session in the three best ones in town.
- Anchorage tour with visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center: guided tour of about 3 hours that will take you to explore some popular areas of the city such as the harbor, Bootleggers Cove and Hood Lake, with a visit to the famous theme park where you can also decide whether to stay longer and go back downtown on the Heritage Center shuttle.
Given its importance and, as we have seen, the presence of numerous natural attractions nearby, Anchorage also offers organized tours to explore the surrounding areas. Here are the main ones:
- Denali National Park Airplane Tour: This tour offers a pick-up service from the city’s main hotels, after which you will be driven to the town of Talkeetna where you will take a plane to fly for about an hour over Denali and, if weather conditions permit, land on the glacier.
- Turnagain Bay Super Scenic Tour from Anchorage: an eight-hour tour with a cruise on the famous Turnagain Bay. A recommended solution for those who want to observe a glacier up close.
Where to eat in Anchorage
Alaskan cuisine is certainly not world-famous, but in order not to always end up in fast-food restaurants, even here you can taste special dishes. One of the local delicacies is salmon, you can find it in all kinds of sauces and it is worth eating it in what is one of its world homelands. The most convenient solution is to buy it fresh at the market and the New Sagaya’s City Market and the Midtown Market are two markets where it is possible to take away salmon and other types of fish.
For good seafood in a unique location, you can try Bridge Seafood, a restaurant on a pier on stilts. If you’re looking for a rustic, cozy location, the Glacier Brewhouse has an extensive menu for all tastes.
If you’re brave enough to eat pizza in Alaska, a curious compromise between pizza and local cuisine is offered at Moose’s Tooth Pub & Pizzeria. Here, pizza flavors start with Alaskan tradition and there’s no shortage of salmon and halibut.
Where to Stay in Anchorage
Anchorage isn’t very big and it’s very likely that you’ll only be passing through and then heading off in search of the real Alaskan attractions, so you could say that one neighborhood is as good as the next. However, it’s important to take into consideration whether you have a rental car or if you’re moving around on public transportation.
In the second case, I recommend looking for a hotel in the downtown district or in any case in all that sector of the city between the station and W 15th Avenue. Here the bus network is extensive, you’ll have the station at hand to move by train to other locations, and easy access to and from the airport.
If you’re looking for an upscale hotel, the first suggestion is Captain Cook Hotel (939 West 5th Avenue), an old staple of the city, large enough to take up an entire block. The homage to the famous navigator isn’t just in the name: the rooms are decorated in a nautical theme.
Another particular hotel is the Historic Anchorage Hotel (330 E Street, Anchorage), where the most famous Alaskan painter, Sydney Laurence, lived for two years and produced many of his masterpieces. In this same hotel, the aviation pioneer Wiley Post and comedian Will Rogers spent the last two nights of their lives (before a plane crash).
For nature lovers, but outside of downtown, there’s the Copper Whale Inn (440 L Street, Anchorage). The name is not accidental: located on a hill, it has binoculars on the sill so you can watch whales in the sea ahead.
To get a general overview of all the hotels available in the city you can click on the link below.
