We to be there for work for a week at the end of June and will have free time in the afternoons/evenings. I'm considering adding a couple of days to our trip before and after as well. Need advice on everything, particularly what areas to concentrate our search for lodging (planning on Airbnb since the Marriott selection doesn't look great). Also sightseeing must-dos, easy hikes/outdoors stuff (will have a 7 year old along for the trip), and of course restaurants to definitely try or avoid.

There is a poster or two that live or used to live there. Hopefully they will chime in.

Food: Deer sausage in the town square, Fuego Birria food truck, Moose's Tooth for pizza & beer

Hikes: Mt. Baldy (North of Anchorage), Girdwood/Alyeska trails (ski lodge with tram to top of trails), without the kid the Crow Pass trail is amazing but about 12 hrs at a steady pace, Byron Glacier is a bit of a drive but an easy one

No help on lodging as normally stay a few nights in Anchorage at a chain hotel then head to Soldotna for fishing & hikes.

Moose's Tooth for sure

I'd stick around for a few days and take a trip down to Homer. Halibut fishing is great.

Take the train to Talkeetna.

Third on Moose's Tooth for pizza and beers.
Had a great steak dinner at Club Paris.

4th the moose's tooth.

Get out of anchorage and explore.

Matanuska glacier is awesome to hike on. You can also whitewater raft near it. (Close to anchorage)

Denali is probably too far for a day trip and it be worth it. Maybe book a b&b nearby and stay a night and hit Denali early.

That glacier has been on my radar since I booked our trip for last summer. Good to know it's a great experience.

Our 2021 trip is rescheduled for June 9-16. When we were supposed to go last year, I had a weekend in Seattle planned, plus a few days in Anchorage before the Nat Geo trip.

I don't think I'm going to try and reschedule the Seattle portion. How many days in Anchorage would be good? Would Sat-Tues be enough? Sat would be a travel day, and I'm not expecting to get a direct flight.

Our trip was a 1 week cruise from Vancouver to Seward. Got to Vancouver 2 days early and explored.

Once we got to Seward, we rented a car for another week and headed to anchorage. We were there for 2 days, then drove north to Denali, and Fairbanks.

I don't feel like I missed much in anchorage.

We stayed in b&bs the whole time.

Anchorage would be a base to visit the glacier, Seward, and maybe the Kenai Fjords. Planning on Airbnb.

Then we'd fly to Fairbanks to meet up with Nat Geo to tour Denali and Kenai National Park again.

I had a rough itinerary in mind before our trip last year was cancelled, but I can't remember all the details n

I would highly recommend hiking to the top of Flattop Mountain. Well established trail, you drive up most of it and then hike the final section. 7 year old should be able to handle it while still thinking of it as an accomplishment. Trail is 1.5 miles, 1350 ft. elevation climb. Top is at 3245 ft. If you manage to be there for the 1-2 weeks per summer of sunshine then the views are amazing.

Earthquake Park is also pretty cool. Learn about the '64 Good Friday earthquake that registered 9.2 and the ground swallowed entire houses.

Watching float planes land on Lake Hood is fun. Bring a picnic to eat lunch or dinner while hanging out.

Also keep in mind that in June the sun "sets" at 11:30 and even then dusk hangs around for much longer than down here. So depending on your kid's gas tank, you can do a lot in your evenings after work.

Plane watching around Ted Stevens pretty cool too. It's a huge cargo hub so you'll see tons of big planes. We saw the dreamlifter while we were there.

Yeah we did the earthquake park also. On a clear day you can see Mt McKinley from there.

Also prepare for mosquitos. They are the state bird.

Here are a few of my anchorage things I like to recommend:

Anchorage Stuff To Do:
-Visit Ship Creek downtown- check out a little downtown combat fishing. Go by the Bait Shack if you want and they can set you up with everything you need to catch salmon in downtown Anchorage.
-Drive to Beluga point- amazing views
-Kincaid/earthquake Park. Go on a walk. It's beautiful
-Take a bike ride on the Tony Knowles bike trail from downtown anchorage out to Kincaid park. Its a fun ride. Go to Pablos's bike rentals to get the hook up on a bike.
-If you want to take a scenic drive, the Alaska sea life center in Seward is really fun for a day trip
-I highly recommend the flattop trail. easiest "mountain" to climb in AK and the views are awesome on a nice day.
-Watch float planes at Lake Hood. Go eat outside on the patio at The Fancy Moose and they will takeoff/land right over your table
-Go see John Ellison at Ellison Air to take his Chugach tour up to Lake George and over the pass by Girdwood and up the inlet back to Anchorage. Its a blast and he has taken many of my friends up there over the years. He is a great tour guide and a very safe pilot.+ his 206 is sweeeeet and I want one lol!

Restaurants:
-Simon and Seafort's- a little on the expensive side, but amazing. Best seafood and fish selection in anchorage
-Moose tooth best pizza on the planet
-Snow city- best breakfast in Alaska
-Glacier Brewhouse- great beer and some good seafood at times
-Orso- good seafood, pasta etc. High priced
-F Street Bar- best fried halibut in town, great beer, pilot hangout for many of the cargo and united/AA guys while on their overnights.
-Humpy's downtown- good bar food and drinks, their bloody mary bar on the weekends is damn good.
-Kaladi Bros for coffee, its an Alaska staple
-Buckaroo Club- chill bar. Darts pool etc
-Spenard Roadhouse- comfort food with great drinks.

I forgot hotels-

Hotels
-My go to is The Lakefront Hotel- best combination of decent room and great views from walking around lake hood anytime of the year.
-My backup is the Hilton Downtown. Its one of the nicer hotels in Anchorage, although the tower rooms are a bit dated. They did some remodeling last year so most of the rooms on the property are a bit more modern now.

I really don't have a lot to offer, my trip there was a long time ago, but I loved it. We didn't do a ton in Anchorage. As someone else said, we used it for a base to get out and and about on the Kenai river, up to Denali, Seward, etc.

My one heads up, make sure the places you stay have blackout curtains or bring something to cover your eyes. It late June, it won't get dark at night until after midnight, and the sun will be up well before 5 AM (you can look this up to know the specifics). It's really awesome and helps you cram as much into a day as you can, but eventually, you need to sleep!

Did this a couple of years ago with our grandkids (5 & 7).

Best vacation ever and you will have a great time!

Easy day trips from Anchorage to:

Wild life park near Portage.

Salmon runs in creeks at Portage.

Take boat to see Portage Glacier.

Take tunnel at Portage to Whittier.

Kayak trips at Whittier.

Cable car up the mountain at Alyeska.

Hotel:
I like the Crowne Plaza (points)

Matanuska Glacier hike is much fun!

Denali Flight to Base Camp is awesome but expensive.

How could you not try your best to schedule some time before or after the job? I would suggest time on both ends. Maybe plan out a couple days ahead of the job and don't really plan too much for after the job. Instead, leave it semi open and talk with the folks to see what they recommend , or maybe you discover something you really want to do. If you are cool, maybe one of the local coworkers will take y'all someplace for a day or so. I would love to have your opportunity. Enjoy it.

Thank you all so much! I'm making lists with all of your info. Really, really looking forward to this trip.

If you happen to head north, perhaps Eklutna lake camping or hiking.

If you head to Homer, grab a dinner or lunch at www.aksupperclub.com on the way. Hit up the https://www.normanlowellgallery.org/ for incredible wall sized oil paintings of Alaskan landscapes

aglaohfour said:

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Thank you all so much! I'm making lists with all of your info. Really, really looking forward to this trip.

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You should be. Anchorage is a great town and Alaska is an awesome place.



Also, for the record, best dive bar and my personal favorite pizza is The Flight Deck.

I moved to Anchorage with my family about 10 months ago (kids ages 4 & 6). There are some great suggestions here already, I'll try to tack on a couple more or add a little bit of color to some of the prior suggestions.

• If you are going AirBnB route I would stick to midtown or downtown areas. We live on the south side of town which is great for quiet neighborhoods, but all of the bars and restaurants and most activities are closer to midtown or downtown. You would be a 10-15 minute drive from flat top, airport and Kincaid areas.

Local

• Kincaid Park I think was mentioned by someone else. There are ~30 miles of single track bike trails that are a lot of fun if you are into that. Some are easy enough for my 6 year old to ride with me if you want to rent bikes, others kick my butt. Also if you go about a mile down the Coastal trail starting at the south side at kincaid you can access a beach area with sand dunes that are fun for kids to play around in and have great views. Earthquake park that has been mentioned is right in the middle of the Coastal trail and has a parking lot close to it so you don't have to ride the whole trail.
• Lake hood is fun as suggested. As an alternative to the restaurant there are picnic tables on the south side of the lake right by the landing "strips". We prefer to grab takeout or take picnic from home and eat at those and watch planes land on the lake. It is crazy how frequently they land.
• Eagle River Nature Center is a little over 30 minutes north of downtown and has easy scenic hiking.
• Hilltop is a small ski resort in the winter and has some fun bike trails in the summer.
• Potter's Marsh is 15 minutes south of downtown. It has tons of species of birds, they have boardwalks and viewing decks built out. We usually see moose wondering around the marsh as well.

Daytrips

• Girdwood area is 45 minutes south. Beautiful drive down turnagin arm that others mentioned (Beluga Point is one of the pull-offs on this drive). The wildlife conservation is great with a 7 year old, there are a couple of shortish easy hikes that our kids can do (Winner's creek trail and Virgin Creek Falls) right there and Girdwood brewery is good. It's at the foot of Alyeska ski resort so scenic, good beer, nice outdoor area and solid food trucks.
• Portage/Whittier is just 15 minutes further south past Girdwood - Trail of blue ice in portage is where the previous poster mentioned the good viewing spot to see the salmon run. We have taken the kids bike riding along those trails and enjoyed it. The trails start just before the tunnel that takes you to whittier. Byron Glacier is a hike in this area as well and is family friendly.
• Eklutna lake is 45 minutes north. On the way or on the way back you could hike Thunderbird falls which is kid friendly. Eklutna is beautiful, we like to rent kayaks with the kids and wear them out on the lake. There is also an easy bike trail if you want to rent bikes and ride around the lake. We usually put up a tailgate type set up and picnic on the lake shore then do a few of those activities and it is good for a 1/2 day of entertainment.
• Hatcher Pass is a scenic drive about 75 minutes north near Palmer. Independence Mine is a state historical park about 10 minutes from their and is pretty fun. The old mining facilities are well preserved and it's in a serene spot perched up in the mountains. April Bowl trail is in this area as well and was mostly a good family hike. The last bit got a bit steep and I lost the troops.

Weekend Trips

• I would definitely add a couple of days if you can. Assuming you do...you basically need to pick if you want to spend it on a mountain trip or seaside. 4 hour drive north to Denali or a couple of hour drive south to Seward or 4.5 hours to homer. Just depends what you want do do and see. I personally prefer the Kenai Peninsula...
• If you go to seward, Exit Glacier is an easy hike, i had a great experience on a charter and caught halibut, salmon, rockfish and cod. Sealife center is great for a 7 year old and there are a few other good hikes around that are easy to look up on All Trails. I would also try to fit in fishing on the Kenai or Russian rivers over the weekend. I did a 1/2 day charter on the Kenai and it was a blast snagging Sockeye Salmon which would be early in their run starting in late June. If you aren't in to fishing, you can do one of the Marine tours or a guided kayaking tour out of Seward or Whittier. You will see some amazing scenery and if lucky some whales and whatnot. If you are going to do a fishing charter out of Seward then you would see a lot of the same stuff so don't really need to do both.
• Rent an RV and tons of camp sites north. This is a great way to see the state as well.

Hope you enjoy Anchorage, hit me up with any questions!

I grew up in Anchorage and have been back a handful of times over the years. I don't think Anchorage has much to offer as a city. But it is a good jumping off point to the rest of the state which is amazing.

Derelict is actually correct. Nothing to offer. Just stay in your hotel room or, if possible, nix the trip and do it over zoom.







I agree the best of the state is definitely away from the city, but it is oddly pessimistic to suggest there is nothing to enjoy in town while there for work.

I didn't say it didn't have anything to offer as a city, just not much. Anchorage is a jumping off point to the greatness that is Alaska in general but the city itself doesn't really provide all the much. Food is average and the culture leaves a lot to be desired in my opinion.