anchorage without a cruise
 

is it worth visiting? how would a landlocked random tourist fill up two days, getting all the northern exposure he could possibly handle? the fare's just too good, and not being a cruise kinda guy, i'd figured i should try this.

That's kind of how I first went to Alaska. I've been back over 30 times. Never on a ship. Day cruises out of Seward, sure, fishing boat, sure, sightseeing planes, sure. Never a cruise ship. For a "1st trip" of just a few days, I'd drive to Seward (either an overnight, though lodging is scarce and spendy) or a full day (its about 100 mi) with a detour to Exit Glacier (just before Seward) and the rest of the time, go hike a trail in the Chugach state park... lots of stuff to do. I could go on for pages. I'm sure you will get lots of feedback.

lonman,

The fares are great, the days are long (sun goes down around midnight) and there is plenty to do in ANC for a weekend.

Eastbay1K makes some good suggestions. There are plenty of other fine activities around here too.

What do you like? Photography, museums, fishing, golf, quaint towns, Native Alaskan culture, seeing animals in the wild? That's just a few of the easy ones.

Ask some specific questions, and I'll be glad to answer them. Shoot me an email or just post here for the benefit of the group.

Regards,
-levi aka eastwest

Things to do in Anchorage.

Eat at Humpys, La Mex, and the Glacier Brewhouse.

Go to the Art Museum

Stop at McHugh Creek on the way to the Girdwood.

Have drinks in the bar at the top of the Alyeska ski-lift and watch the sunset.

Go up to Flattop.

Shop tax free at the 5th Ave Mall http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Drive to Seward.

And if you run out of stuff to do, there's always that Bush Company place http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif


------------------
Have a great day!!
~~Missy~~

As it happened, work took me there in early May, and I spent some time in Anchorage, arriving and departing by air. Amongst the nifty things I did were driving down to Seward and taking a cruise along Kenai Fjords National Park, which was fabulous. I went to another town, Whittier, to take a different cruise (so-called "26 glaciers cruise") and wasn't so pleased. These are six-hour or so trips, not overnight things. There is a fairly nice paved trail right along the coast on the west end of Anchorage. Nice views of the Inlet and the mountains on the opposite side. Not that great as Alaska goes, but it was AMAZING for something I could walk to from my high-rise urban hotel! If you get in a car and drive out of Anchorage in just about any direction, you will see great views and impressive wildlife, even from the road. The Alaska railroad has a couple of nice sightseeing traintrips.
Probably the best thing I did was take a rental car up to Talneetka and use K2 Aviation to take a flight over Mount Denali (McKinley to us old fogies), including a ski landing on a glacier about 1/3 of the way up. That was among my top travel experiences anywhere!

Having said all that, every single person I know who went on the inshore passage cruise said it was awesome. It's among the 500 or so travel excursions I want to take before I die....

Mike B. in OKlahoma

i describe myself as the epitome of urban. the onl;y time i'm ever in a car is usually, the backseat...as a passenger. so any of the out of town excursion you described, would be me, accompanied by a tour guide that could transport me there and back. to eliminate that, i'll stick in anc proper. the museum, and some artifact shopping will probably be primary pursuits.

I'll be there for about 3 days in the middle of August - I, too, booked one of those great NW fares. I am planning on renting a car, enjoy photography and wildlife watching/siting. Any suggestions for an overnight trip would be great. I'm not a hotel snob, as long as the place is clean. I arrive at noon on Sat 8/11 and depart Monday 8/13 at 7:45 PM. What would be an ideal itinerary for a first time Alaska visitor who wants to see as much as she can in a short weekend? I'll be travelling alone and don't have any great fears of anything (except flying in really small planes).

well, instead of driving to Seward, you could also take the train from Anchorage to Seward. We drove it when we were there, but by all accounts, the train is one of the most scenic train rides in the world... if I had been by myself, I would have taken the train (but with two of us, renting a car made more sense economically).

We took one of the 5-hour glacier cruises from Seward (lots of whales to see, too), and went kayaking in Homer; both of which were pretty fantastic.

I'd love to go back to ANC. btw, on the path along the water that Mike B mentioned, I saw two moose up _real_ close and personal...

oh, and bring some decent raingear (or buy it there)

Dan

Having recently been stuck in ANC for two days, I agree with missydarlin except for the GABC.

Earthquake Park is nice, along with the trail through out the city. Seward is a nice drive.

I agree with the shopping. The Nordstrom's there was fabulous!

I stayed at the Westmark which is a nice medium priced hotel and enjoyed the health club at the hilton for free. Don't stay there, they are doing extensive renos.

The museum is fabulous.

You could always fly to Dutch Harbor for the shear thrill of it, but you may not get back due to weather.

lala

I just thought there should be some alternative for those who don't love Nordstroms like I love Nordstroms. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/biggrin.gif And whenever I go up north, one of my guy friends inevitably asks for a souvenier from there.

------------------
Have a great day!!
~~Missy~~

[This message has been edited by missydarlin (edited 06-22-2001).]

Of course, the Great Alaska Bush Company is only for those who wish to see the local wildlife up close without having to endure the elements and dangers that otherwise exist in the wild.

The Tony Knowles Coastal Trail is an enjoyable walk, jog, bike, and yes moose are often seen on the trail along with numerous species of birds and other wildlife.

jerry

an overnite would be to drive to homer [home of tom bodett, ron & return. my dad & i did this about 15 yrs ago & stayed at a b&b way up the hill w/ moose in the yard. we had caught a salmon each on the trip down on the kainei? & caught some other fish out of homer. we did more but this was a great part of the trip.

LOL, I can honestly say I have never been to the GABC but my coworkers report that most of the "wildlife" (read that as dancers) are not locals at all, but rather are imported for the tourists entertainment.

Seriously though, there is a decent bus system in ANC, and you might consider renting a bicycle for a couple of days if that is more your style. If you stayed in the downtown area there would be more than enough to see and do within bicycle range for a weekend.

Lodging will probably be rather expensive. See if you can get a hotel through Priceline or if you really want to stay on the cheap, consider one of the two local hostels. There is one right downtown that is about $20 a night and is quite clean and acceptable. The name escapes me at the moment, but email me if you are interested and I'll figure it out for you.



[This message has been edited by eastwest (edited 06-22-2001).]

Here is the link for the hostel in Anchorage:

http://www.hiayh.org/hostels/alaska/anchor.htm

Downtown Anchorage is a pleasant walking environment in the summer...it's very compact. There is a long narrow park a couple of blocks from downtown, and they sometimes make several blocks of one of the streets into a marketplace.

The shopping mall is downtown.

And, you won't have to worry about getting all hot and sweaty http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

------------------
Middle Seat