Things to Do in Anchorage: Tours, Tickets & Day Trips

Ranked by traveller reviews: 1) the wilderness, wildlife and glacier day tour along Turnagain Arm, 2) the Anchorage Trolley city tour, 3) the city tour with smoked salmon and reindeer sausage tastings, 4) a helicopter flight with a glacier landing, 5) the Portage Glacier cruise, 6) the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center’s bears, moose and musk oxen, 7) the Matanuska Glacier hike, 8) an e-bike ride on the Coastal Trail, 9) the downtown food and history walking tour and 10) the Alaska Railroad to Seward for a Kenai Fjords cruise.

Plan two days in town and two to four on day trips. Day one: trolley tour, the Anchorage Museum, the Alaska Native Heritage Center, salmon at Ship Creek and an evening on the Coastal Trail. Day two: the Turnagain Arm drive with Beluga Point, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and the Portage Glacier cruise. Day three: the Alaska Railroad or a drive to Seward for a Kenai Fjords glacier-and-whale cruise. Day four: the Matanuska Glacier hike or Talkeetna and a Denali flight.

The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail (rent a bike or walk the downtown section to Westchester Lagoon), Flattop Mountain’s summit, Kincaid Park’s moose-filled trails, Potter Marsh boardwalk, Ship Creek’s salmon run and the Ulu Factory, Lake Hood’s float planes, the Anchorage Market on summer weekends, Earthquake Park, Eklutna Lake and Thunderbird Falls (parking fee), and the Turnagain Arm scenic drive with the bore tide and Dall sheep at Windy Corner. The Anchorage Museum is free on first Fridays.

Turnagain Arm, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and the Portage Glacier cruise (one hour south; tours from about $119–239), Girdwood and the Alyeska aerial tram (45 minutes), Whittier and a Prince William Sound glacier cruise (90 minutes), Seward and the Kenai Fjords (2.5 hours by road or Alaska Railroad; best as an overnight), Matanuska Glacier (two hours; guided hikes $369), Hatcher Pass and Independence Mine (90 minutes) and Talkeetna for Denali flightseeing (2.5 hours).

In summer there is no real night — the sun sets after 11pm in June, so cycle the Coastal Trail at 10pm, watch the sunset over Cook Inlet from Point Woronzof, then hit the Glacier BrewHouse, 49th State Brewing’s rooftop, the Bear Tooth Theatrepub or the legendary Chilkoot Charlie’s. From September to April the night belongs to the northern lights — aurora-viewing tours drive out of the city glow, and the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center host evening events.

Northern-lights tours (September to April), dog-sledding on snow, skiing at Alyeska in Girdwood, skating on Westchester Lagoon, snowshoeing and fat-biking in the Chugach foothills, the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center indoors. Late February brings the Fur Rendezvous festival and the first Saturday of March the ceremonial start of the Iditarod sled-dog race down Fourth Avenue. Days are short and cold, but hotel prices drop by half.

The Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center, the Anchorage Museum’s Discovery Center and planetarium, the Alaska Zoo, the Portage Glacier cruise, the Alaska Native Heritage Center’s dance performances, watching salmon at Ship Creek, the Alyeska tram in Girdwood, a sled-dog kennel visit (summer cart rides, winter sleds), the H2Oasis indoor water park, the trolley tour and the Alaska Railroad’s glass-domed cars.

Mid-June to mid-August — long days, every tour and cruise running, salmon in the rivers and bears at their most visible. Late August and September add autumn colour, fewer crowds and the first northern lights. March has bright days, snow sports and the Iditarod; November to February is dark but best for aurora hunting.

Yes — the one-hour cruise across Portage Lake to the face of the glacier is the easiest way to see a tidewater glacier from Anchorage, and combined with the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center and Turnagain Arm it makes the single best day trip from the city. Choose a tour that includes hotel pickup and the wildlife centre; for calving glaciers and whales, Kenai Fjords from Seward is the bigger day.