Explore Anchorage: the top things to do, where to stay & what to eat
Located at the head of the Cook Inlet, surrounded by mountains, rivers and glaciers, this Alaskan city is a base camp for boots-on adventures, with a historic core every bit as spectacular as other American West Coast downtowns.
Key neighbourhoods in Anchorage
Downtown
Where Manhattan or Downtown Los Angeles go the whole nine yards with no-room-to-move skyscrapers, Anchorage’s Downtown confines itself to a compact grid of inner-city blocks, its streets coloured by glimpses of mountains and evergreen forests.
For all this natural splendour, Anchorage is an urban crossroads – there are noticeable influences from Mexico, Hawaii, Japan, China and Italy – and the coffee is as good as you’d find in Seattle; the craft beer an equal to that in Portland. As a former hub for railroad construction, Downtown’s frontier heritage is centre stage, from of-the-era sourdough cabins (traditional log cabins) with sod roofs to shops selling caribou-bone ulu knives and trapper hats.
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Bootleggers Cove
Stuck between Downtown and the icy blast of the Cook Inlet, this low-profile, residential area west of the centre is on the visitor map for two reasons.
Firstly, for being preoccupied with Captain Cook, whose bronze monument peers out from Resolution Park, his eyes drawn toward the sea channel he cruised in 1778 while looking for the Inside Passage. Then for the all-conquering Snow City Cafe, a coffee shop so good it’s where US presidents, pipeline workers and ice road truckers have stopped by for a feast.
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Abbott Loop
To go all the way to Anchorage and miss out on true wilderness would be a calamity. An easy win in this southwestern district is Far North Bicentennial Park, a 4,000-acre area of lakes, trails, creeks, gorges and spruce-skirted hills for hiking, biking and ski-touring. It’s a pristine, wildlife-crammed place bursting with potential for adventure.
ak_odonata/Flickr/CC BY-NC 2.0
After a day out and about, you’ll be hard pushed to find better beer in Alaska than at Midnight Sun Brewing, Turnagain Brewing, or King Street Brewing Company, all of which have neighbourhood tasting rooms.
READ MORE: 6 bucket-list adventures not to miss in Alaska
Spenard
Whether you’re an aviation geek or not, head to Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport to gawp at the world’s largest – and busiest – seaplane harbour on Lake Spenard and Lake Hood.
On a summer’s day, with up to 17 hours of sunlight, it sees more than 700 take-offs and the docks and plane hangars are wreathed in history. At the latest count, there are around 500 floatplanes in the water and 600 on standby. The city has more pilots per capita than anywhere else in the US too. Check out the Alaska Aviation Museum to walk through four hangars of history.
alaskaaviationmuseum/Facebook
Top things to do in Anchorage
Bike the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail
The Anchorage coastline is magical and this strip of two-way asphalt meanders through spruce forest and moose-inhabited woodlands between Downtown and Kincaid Park.
It’s an 11-mile (18km) sprint to the south and worth it alone for the expansive shore trail views of Cook Inlet. For an extra spin, the route marries to the Chester Creek Trail, a 4-mile (6km) loop from Westchester Lagoon to Goose Lake. Two bike rental shops to try are Pablo’s Bicycle Rentals and Downtown Bicycle Rental.
Lisa A. Ernst/Shutterstock
Visit Earthquake Park
Earthquake Park, southwest of Downtown, is the site of the largest earthquake in North America and the second most powerful quake in history. The tremor struck south-central Alaska in 1964, causing cavernous fissures, crumpling structures and tidal waves that resulted in 131 fatalities. At one point, an entire neighbourhood fell into the sea.
Today, the 134-acre park is both a geological anomaly and memorial. You’ll find trails for hiking and biking, a rugged coastline and moose lurking in the forest (the city has one per square mile). As for the prospect of future tremors, don’t let it worry you – the city experiences more than 1,000 quakes a year, most of which are so insignificant you’d hardly notice.
Gail Frederick/Flickr/CC BY 2.0
Take a flight
With its humming floatplane terminal, the city is a launchpad for phenomenal, one-day adventures, from backcountry brown bear viewing and fly-in fishing to heart-in-mouth flightseeing trips to Prince William Sound and Mt Denali, the highest peak in North America. If there’s one moment to splurge, then this is it. Among the operators are Regal Air and Rust’s Flying Service, with flights starting from $125 (£96) per person.
Have an adventure in the great outdoors
Chugach State Park is to Anchorage what Central Park is to New York or Golden Gate Park is to San Francisco. The difference being this 495,000-acre expanse of untamed wilderness encompasses Bashful Peak which reaches 8,005 feet (2,440m); a glacier that twists and turns for miles (Eklutna Glacier); and a 31-mile (50km), hut-to-hut circuit (the Lakeside Trail) that crosses bear and moose territory.
READ MORE: The most beautiful state park in every US state
Susan R. Serna/Shutterstock
Abounding lakes, monstrous glaciers and abundant ice fields? Plenty of those too. At weekends, locals are knee-deep in adventure here and who can blame them?
Learn about indigenous culture
For all the talk of the oil boom and rush of money to North America’s northwest, Anchorage’s 10,000-year heritage reveals an equally enriching story. Highlights are the ethnography Anchorage Museum, home to 600 native objects from the Smithsonian collection, and the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Here, you can discover the state’s indigenous cultures and meet members of the Athabascan, Aleut, Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian peoples, all of whom are happy to share their stories at the living history camps on Lake Tiulana.
READ MORE: Incredible places to celebrate America's Native cultures
AlaskaNativeHeritageCenter/Facebook
The best places to stay in Anchorage
There’s a mixed bag to choose from when it comes to hotels, including a Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton and Hampton Inn – all with oversized rooms, off-the-shelf amenities, breakfast buffets and in-the-thick-of-it or airport locations. Remember, you don’t come to Anchorage for the VIP luxury and the majority of the city’s hotels have the state’s annual one million cruise ship passengers in their sights.
But for something with a backstory – and the prospect of a believe-it-or-not ghost sighting – book a stay at the 26-room Historic Anchorage Hotel. Opened in 1916, the supposed paranormal hot spot claims to host three dozen ghosts as well as its living guests.
READ MORE: The most historic hotel in every state
Historic Anchorage Hotel/booking.com
Another more interesting night’s sleep is guaranteed at the Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa, home to the city’s most sophisticated wellness centre where you can steam yourself silly. Many rooms have peekaboo views of Cook Inlet and the Chugach Mountains, while Ptarmigan Lounge, the fireside bar, is perfectly suited for nightcap.
Sheraton Anchorage Hotel & Spa/booking.com
Where to eat and drink in Anchorage
Start with coffee and a hearty breakfast at Snow City Cafe, a ludicrously popular, all-day brunch spot for build-your-own omelettes, eggs benedict and supersized, syrupy pancakes. Go early or prepare to queue.
For a taste of dyed-in-the-wool Alaska, by way of Oaxaca, try a salmon quesadilla, halibut taco or reindeer burrito at Anchorage Market. In addition to dishing up the state’s best Mexican cuisine from food trucks, the mid-May to mid-September weekend market has smoked meats, locals craft beers and kitchen souvenirs. It’s hard not walk away without something like an elk horn knife or antler-shaped wine bottle stopper.
When the market has packed-up for the season, consider an only-in-Alaska brewpub lunch at 49th State Brewing Co. Must-orders are morning-caught halibut fish and chips and the half-pound yak burger.
Anchorage is a beer-drinking city and as night falls, check out one of Spenard’s craft breweries, including Midnight Sun Brewing or Anchorage Brewing Company. Brews on offer run the gamut from spruce tip ale and glacial water IPA to Arctic barley wine.
For a night away from the baseball cap and plaid brigade, book a table at the city’s glitziest restaurant, Crow’s Nest, inside the Hotel Captain Cook. Here, chef Reuben Gerber tweezers local herbs onto top-quality steaks, king crab legs, Kodiak Island scallops and sablefish. There’s also bound to be a wine you like from the cellar stocked with more than 10,000 bottles.
hotelcaptcook/Facebook
Top Anchorage tips
Arctic safety
The harsh truth of Jon Krakauer’s Into the Wild — the story of Christopher McCandless withdrawing from the world and perishing in the Alaskan wilderness — is never far away. Plan any outdoor adventures with the utmost care and familiarise yourself with the risks beforehand. In winter, temperatures can drop to -15°C (5°F) and snowstorms can appear without warning.
Likewise, this is big bear country, home to black and brown bears, so a canister of bear spray determent is vital when adventuring in the outdoors in spring.
Getting around
Downtown Anchorage is walkable and easy to navigate thanks to its gridded block of streets. To explore further afield, take a taxi or local bus, using the city’s People Mover transportation system. For an insightful tour of the city, consider a trip with Anchorage Trolley (May to September), which departs from the tourist information centre in Downtown every hour.
Fancy a day trip out of the city? Jump on board the highly recommended and incredibly scenic Alaska Railroad to reach destinations like Seward or Spencer Glacier Whistle Stop.
Map of Anchorage
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