Anchorage?

We are doing a northbound cruise out of Vancouver, ending in Seward. There we plan on doing the Kenia Fjords tour and travel back to Anchorage. If we would stay the night in Anchorage, are there things you would recommend to do the next day before our red eye flight back home the next day? We are not likely to stay the night in Seward because I am pretty late with booking a hotel for that night. We are still deciding to head home right after the Seward excursion or stay the extra night in Anchorage.

Most would recommend you rent a car and head south down Turnagain Arm or possibly 2 hours north to Matanuska Glacier.

If not renting the car, Anchorage has a nice museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center. Different venues although there is a free shuttle to both. They also have a combo pass good for both for $30.

The Log Cabin Visitor Center is located on the corner of 4th & F and is where the shuttles depart from. In addition to the Museum & heritage Center, there are free shuttles to the zoo and Ulu Factory. There is also an Anchorage trolley tour that departs from this location that lasts about 1 hour, $20. The visitor center is a great place to get info as well as maps and brochures.

Kitty-corner from the log cabin is the Alaska Public Lands Information Center. It’s a federal facility that has info on “everything Alaskan”. Wonderful place. They also provide ranger leg walks in downtown.

If you’re here on a weekend the Anchorage Market & Festival is worth a visit. You’ll find dozens of Alaskans selling their wares.

There are Segway tours, bike rentals and on a nice day, simply taking a walk along the coast trails that has great views of Mt. Susitna and Denali at a distance.

This web site is managed by Visit Anchorage, the same folks who operate the visitor centers downtown and at the airport. For those arriving into Anchorage to start their journey, the airport location is in the baggage claim area near Alaska Airlines baggage claim.

https://www.anchorage.net/things-to-do/

If you are a baseball fan...Anchorage has a local team. Here is a link to their schedule: http://www.glacierpilots.com/view/glacierpilots

There is also a great biking trail in town also and bike rentals downtown. http://anchoragecoastaltrail.com

Of course, the museums in downtown are excellent. And just walking around is fun. Enjoy your trip.

does it matter which side of the Anchorage Trolley tour you sit on as far as getting photos goes?

we are doing a salmonberry city tour in the morning and the salmon hatchery in the afternoon. Maybe one of those would work for you

It's been a few years, but the last time we visited we had a great day in Anchorage. We had discovered geocaching and did a day of that starting at the visitor's center which was great. Then we walked a lot and talked to local people who were really nice. Went to the police station and spent a good time there and several other places. We had a car rented so we did not have to bother with that. We went to the Heritage Center and that was really nice. A lot of people do not want to spend time in Anchorage at all, but we had a great time and I think just our conversations with locals was wonderful. Enjoy!!