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This is my suggested route when one visits Alaska. It would be best to visit during the summer. And, remember, moose wander around Alaska, even in urban areas. Moose are very dangerous and can kill you. If you see a moose, walk the opposite direction until you can find shelter.
1. Fly into Anchorage and spend a couple days there.
Visit Downtown Anchorage. Walk around and visit the local shops. Eat at The Glacier Brewhouse or The Bridge. On Saturdays, take a walk through the Saturday Market. Visit Kaladi Brothers Coffee - the BEST coffee you will taste (yes, even better than Starbucks).
Take a stroll down the Coastal Trail. This is a easy walk for people of all abilities. It starts in Downtown Anchorage and ends at Kincaid Park. The entire Coastal trail is 10 miles.
Take a hike up Flat Top! This mountain is just about the easiest hike that Anchorage has to offer. It is about a mile. There is a half-way point where you can take a rest and view the gorgeous surrounding valleys.
Visit Alaska Wildberry Products, home of the world's largest chocolate fountain! It is a very nice tourist shop, which produces very fine chocolates.
Visit Portage Glacier. It is about an hour drive out of Anchorage. Portage Glacier is very beautiful and worth seeing.
2. Drive south to Seward. The views which you see along the way are well worth the drive.
Visit the only local coffee shop. It is a historic landmark, as it is in an old church.
Visit the Seward Sealife Center. During this visit, one can learn about all the Alaskan sealife. You can touch many rare sealife as well!
Take a chartered boat tour. You will see wildlife, sealife and glaciers.
Go fishing! There are many companies based in Seward that can take you out to sea for a couple hours and let you use their equipment!
3. Drive back to Anchorage.
4. Take the train north into Denali National Park.
Take in all the beautiful landscape you will see while riding the train. Bring your camera!
Spend a day or two in Denali National Park. This park is at the bottom of Mount McKinley. The Athabascan name for this mountain is Denali, which is why the park is called Denali National Park. Be sure to take the guided tours that strike your fancy!
5. Take the train north to Fairbanks.
Fairbanks is like a mini-Anchorage. There isn't really much to see here, unfortunately. The tourists seem to like Fairbanks very much, though, which is why I am including it on my list.
There is a mini theme park called Alaskaland in Fairbanks. This may be fun for families to visit.
6. Fly home out of Fairbanks.
This route should show you much of the diverse beauty of Alaska!
Alaska is GORGEOUS! There is a reason why its nickname is "The Last Frontier."
You can view mountains from just about anywhere in Alaska. They are always snow-capped, even in the summer. As a little girl, I always found comfort in the fact that the mountains are always surrounding me.
The air is so clean and fresh. There is no strange odor from industrialization. Alaskan air is far superior to any other air I have breathed.
The land is almost untouched. Even in Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, there are fields and trees and flowers. The landscape of rural areas is as it was hundreds of years ago. And we're talking hundreds of thousands of miles of untouched land.
There are many different types of landscapes in Alaska. On the panhandle and southwest Alaska, there are many islands. This coastal area has beautiful views into the Ocean. Southcentral Alaska is the most urban area in Alaska, yet it has many surrounding mountains and still has much of its original landscaping. The Interior is an area which is mostly made up of tundra among the mountainous regions. Out in the "bush," the northern rural areas where there are many Alaskan Native villages, these areas are mostly tundra as well.
Alaska is INDESCRIBABLE.
In order to understand its true beauty, one should visit Alaska! The only way to appreciate Alaska is to see it....
The abbreviation for Alaska is AK..... Arkansas is AR.
Get it straight people.
One of the main things that appalls me about being in New Jersey is that most people here are unaware that Alaska is part of the United States of America. I have been asked a countless number of times, "How do you like being in the country?" No joke. It is pathetic.
Thus, I intend to educate the residents of New Jersey about Alaska. These facts about Alaska are in response to the most common questions that I have been asked by the people of New Jersey.
1. Alaska IS a state. It became the 49th state of the United States of America in 1959. (That's right - Alaska's almost 50!)
2. Alaska is NOT an island. It is NOT located under California. Alaska is located on the top left corner of North America, and is connected to the left side of Canada. To be completely accurate, though, Alaska does consist of many small islands in addition to the mainland.
3. There ARE black people in Alaska. This is one of the most frequent questions I am asked. Alaska, in fact, is a very diverse state. Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska, is one of the most diverse cities in America. There are African-Americans, Hawaiians, Filipinos, Somoans, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, Africans, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Indians (from India), Alaska Natives and pretty much any other ethnicity that you can think of. I graduated from East Anchorage High School, where whites were the minority. There were 25% white and 75% "minorities."
4. YES, it is COLD in Alaska. Duh.
5. NO, people don't live in IGLOOS in Alaska. It is true that the Alaska Native peoples lived in Igloos many years ago, yet it is VERY rare for an Alaskan to currently live in an Igloo. To be completely factual, it is a common survival technique among hikers and ice climbers to build Igloos in an emergency situation.
6. Alaska IS bigger than Texas. In fact, Texas is roughy 1/3 the size of Alaska. Also, Alaska is 1/5 the size of the Lower 48, as Alaskans call the Continental US.
7. There ARE Eskimos in Alaska. Yet that is one of MANY Native Alaskan tribes that still live in villages in Alaska.
