Quick Facts:
- Population: ~ 400,000 people in Anchorage and its surrounding area
- Currency: US Dollar
Did you Know?
- Moose sightings are very common in Anchorage. It’s not unusual to see them walking through the streets or even downtown!
Getting Around:
- Downtown Anchorage is very easy to navigate by foot, however, the city is covers a very large area, so a car becomes necessary to travel to most places of interest.
- Uber and Lyft services are available.
I’ll have to admit Anchorage (and Alaska) wasn’t one of the top places on my bucket list I wanted to visit. However, I was mesmerized when I saw how beautiful our northernmost state was. Looking at the city with the mountains as a backdrop was breathtaking. I now understand why it’s one of the “must see” cities in the United States.
As I walked the streets, I felt a certain ruggedness and a sensation of the wild west, yet the city is very charming and friendly. We enjoyed exploring the local shops, sampling delicious Alaskan cuisine, and learning about the state’s rich history at the Anchorage Museum. We also took the Anchorage Trolley bus tour to get a glimpse of the surrounding area.
Anchorage was the starting point for our Alaskan trip. We rode the Alaska Railroad up to Denali National Park, then took a motorcoach down to Whittier to embark on a seven-day Alaskan cruise.
Denali National Park was a delightful experience. Our trip included a two-night stay in the area and we arranged for a tour into the park. The tour only took us partially down the park road as a rock slide a couple of years prior prevented travel deep into the park. With our trip being in May, many of the animals were coming out of hibernation so we saw several moose, caribou and even a grizzly bear off in the distance. It’s unbelievable how vast the park area covers. Happily, we were able to see the Denali peak clearly. Often, we were told, the clouds hid the mountain, so we considered ourselves fortunate.
The bus ride to Whittier was long but filled with beautiful scenery. The cruise was equally amazing with a ride into Glacier Bay National Park and stops that included Juneau and Ketchikan.
I didn’t expect to fall in love with Anchorage and the rest of Alaska the way I did. It was so beautiful, so tranquil – really beyond belief!
