Nestled
below South Central Alaska's Chugach Mountains and along historic Cook Inlet, Anchorage
lies as far north as Helsinki, Finland and as west as Honolulu, Hawaii.
In summer those geographic coordinates translate into 20
hours of daily sunlight, a profusion of flowers, balmy
temperatures, and a good chance to witness a mystical
performance by the
Northern Lights.
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Winter has a whole different set of charms—including
catching sight of one of the city's 1600 resident moose sauntering along
snowy streets. And at any time of the year you can see far beyond the
city to Mount McKinley (highest point on the North American continent),
two active volcanoes, and six major mountain ranges.
Anchorage
is filled with things to do at any season.
If you’re
sports enthusiasts, choose from familiar activities like golf, hiking,
skiing and fishing. Or try something completely new: dog sledding, ice
fishing, kayaking amidst the sea otters, or golfing under the Midnight
Sun. Nature lovers enjoy wildlife viewing in the rugged wilderness (just
minutes from downtown) via four-wheelers or floatplane. Culture vultures
head to the Alaska Center
for the Performing Arts to take in the city’s symphony orchestra
and opera companies—not to mention visiting performers from around the
globe.
From spring to
fall, you can hike the beautiful 1.1-mile
interpretive nature trail at the
Alaska Botanical Garden with its birch, spruce, and alder
forests; bogs, meadows, and creek; and glimpses of moose, woodpeckers, goshawks, lynx, and even bear. Doesn't turn you on? Don't fret:
Anchorage possesses 120 miles of paved trails and 300 miles of unpaved
wilderness trails, so you're sure to find a walk to your liking. A top
favorite is the 11-mile
Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, which runs along the city's coastline
to forested Kincaid Park, with its own network of wilderness trails.
Honeymoon splurge:
A scenic airplane
tour—on a
bush plane equipped with wheels, floats, or skis—is
the quintessential Alaskan experience. These workhorses of the Alaskan
tundra bring you into some of the world's wildest, most remote, and most
beautiful places...effortlessly. They afford endless vistas of Alaska's
magnificent landscape, offering views and experiences you can't get any
other way. Land on a glacier. Fy to a remote luxury lodge on the edge of a
pristine lake. Circle Mt. McKinley and take photos of the summit. Fly over
the Turnagain Arm to Prince William Sound where, if you're in a Float
Plane, you can land on the water. Take a bear-viewing flight over Katmai
National Park or Big River Lakes. There are so many possibilities with a
plane, really. Many flight operators are ready to escort you, and you can
either take a packaged tour or design one of your own in conjunction with
the pilot.
»»Read about
other honeymoon splurges around the world
Anchorage shopping offers the name designers you'd find anywhere
else—but also truly unusual
items and stores.
Browse a shop devoted to Russian nesting dolls and icons or treat your
new hubby to gold-nugget cufflinks? The range of native handicrafts is
awesome: a Yupik Eskimo spirit mask carved from walrus
ivory, an intricate Inupiat basket
crafted from thin strips of whale baleen, or a traditional scarf made by
hand from musk ox wool.
Eskimo Ulu knives make great presents when manufactured of stainless steel rather than the traditional slate and bone. BTW, there is no state sales tax,
although Anchorage imposes an 8% tax on rental cars, fuel, alcohol, and
tobacco.
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An
"adventure trip"—a half- or full-day excursion by boat—lets you get close to tidewater glaciers in
Prince William
Sound or the waters of
Kenai Fjords National Park;
you might even witness a glacier calving from a 1,000-foot wall of
blue ice. Trips leave from the towns of
Seward or Whittier, easily
reached from Anchorage. From Whittier
you can explore Prince William Sound's scenic 15,000 square miles of tidewater glaciers, rainforests and towering mountains.
Seward offers proximity to Kenai Fjords' humpback whales,
Orcas, porpoise, Steller sea lions, sea otters, seals, black bears,
moose, and more then 80 different species of birds.
»»Alaska's "10 Most Want-to-See" Species List
Get to
know the city with a walking tour. Stop first at the unique sod-roofed
Log Cabin on 4th Street that’s home to the
Visitor
Information Center, picking up guides, maps, and other info.
Check out the nearby Fourth Avenue Theater, an Art Deco landmark with
floor-to-ceiling bronze murals. Visit Cook Inlet, where a
monument commemorates the area’s 1778 exploration by Captain James Cook
(migrating Beluga whales can often be seen from this spot).
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Other
"must" in-city visits include the Alaska
Native Heritage Center, where you can learn about the state's
First People through art, film, story-telling, dance, interactive
displays, reproduction village sites, and lots more. The permanent
collection at the
Anchorage Museum of History & Art, depicts 10,000 years of Alaskan history and features northern
Native art. A neighboring cemetery contains graves with Russian Orthodox
crosses and traditional Eskimo upright whale rib bones.
At
night, after a dinner of just-caught wild salmon, giant crab legs,
or—for the adventurous—reindeer sausage, take in a traveling Broadway
play or a performance by a native dance troupe. Afterward, treat
yourselves to a horse-drawn carriage ride around downtown. Perhaps the
Northern Lights will dance overhead for the ultimate end to your
Anchorage visit.
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