Hi. Can anyone give two seniors 65 and 73 advice re Anchorage visit? We will be arriving July 26 for 2 weeks.
Thank you for any help.

We just returned from 5 days in Anchorage. Here are my suggestions:
1. Take mosquito repellent with DEET and use it every day. That will just make the day much better regardless of where you go. Don't wear cologne. We saw ladies who smelled great, but covered with mosquitoes.
2. Saturday or Sunday go to the open air market on 4th St. downtown. You will find good prices on things as well as see some interesting produce.
3. Because you will be there on the First Friday of August, you will be able to participate in the First Friday Art Walk. We were there for the First Friday in July. Look in the paper or tourist papers that list activities and you will find all the art galleries that are participating in the art walk. Most are open until 9 p.m. and there are usually a few of the artists on site, beverages and cheese, crackers, fruit, cookies, etc. at the various galleries. It is a very pleasant way to spend an evening after supper. I would recommend beginning your evening by eating at Simon & Siefert's and then visiting the gallery right next door. The views are great and the prices about the same as most other places - $22-$35 for an entree. Food is expensive everywhere there (compared to Florida anyway).
4. The History and Art Museum is lovely and not too terribly large. Take a tour with a guide for the history floor and it is much more interesting that way. We also ate lunch there and the selections were a bit different from the usual, and delicious. The prices were very reasonable.
5. Other must see places are the Botantical Gardens, The Alaska Native Heritage Center, the shops in the lobby of the Cook Hotel, and a drive on the Seward Highway at least to Portage. The highway along the Turnagain Arm is beautiful, and you will probably spot Dall Sheep, Moose, eagles and maybe a Beluga Whale at high tide. We walked up to the Byron Glacier, which was a very easy walk.
I am sure you will find many other recommendations just by reading postings on this site. I am going to keep checking for my next trip! Enjoy!



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Are you going to stay for two weeks in Anchorage? Do you have any reserved lodging or a car rental? Did you purchase Milepost? Did you do any research? I don't think your age has anything to do with activities the other posters recommend. You can do them all regardless of your age. On the other hand you may like or dislike some suggestions. Would be nice to know what are your interests. I also hope you already have your hotel reservations. Do you hike, shop, sail, fish, bird watch, view wildlife? What appeals to you about Alaska? Why are you going there? Help us figure out what to suggest

I would not spend all my time in Anchorage and certainly with 2 weeks I would make a loop Anchorage, Denali Park, Fairbanks, Valdez, Whittier, Seward, Homer, Anchorage.

Do you have a rental car, lodging, reservations?? You will be hard pressed putting a trip together at this late date??? But doable if you wish??

All three of you are so kind to respond to our request for help. I appreciate all the advice. We are going there because my daughter has accepted a 3 month assignment in a hospital in Anchorage..(she is a nurse). She is bringing her 3 children along, 16, 12, 10. She wants me to watch the kids while she is working...take them to nearby sights etc., but when she is not working my sister and I can travel to various sights that she will want to see when her husband meets them in Alaska. She would not want to take the train and other expensive tours twice...once with us and once with her kids/husband. So we will be on our own a lot of the time. Nurses work three 12-hr. shifts for the week and then they are off. Sorry for all this info. We are thinking of taking a train from Anchorage and don't know if we should stay overnight anywhere? Or you can take the train straight through to about 4 parks and return to Anchorage. I hike somewhat..but my sister can not. We will have use of my daughter's car. We do not have a place to lodge because we are waiting for her to get there and tell us what is nearby to her.
I appreciate all the tips so far. Just really need to know about the train. Thanks to all of you sweet people.

You still have a plent of time to get to the bookstore to purchase Milepost. You not only going to get many ideas on where to take a train or car and stay ovenight but Milepost will be a priceless source of necessary information for your daughter, her husband and their children.
Do you have any place specific in mind when you said you want to get by train through four parks. This is not very clear to me but traveling in Alaska is so different than in any other state. Since you are going to have an acess to a car then you should plan on making a loop Budget Queen suggested or making separate overnight trips to Denali Park, Valdez and Seward. Because it is a long drive try to plan on going for two nights to Homer. It is an easy road trip to Girdwood. Get Milepost and find out whether these places appeal to you. Would you consider an overnight flying trip to Arctic Circle?

Thanks Mama for the great advice. I will get to the store and purchase Milepost. I was looking at the web site about trains in Alaska out of Anchorage and they suggested staying overnight in either Denali Park or just staying on the train and returning the same day. I will look into this further. Thanks for your help.
Happy Traveling!

Actually, with three months there, repeats are not a bad idea.

But you have the option for Denali Park yourself, you need 2 overnights there. You can take the train from Anchorage, leaves around 8mp for the 8 hour trip. But the most scenic portion of the RR is the Anchorage to Seward portion, again spend at least one over night there. Top tour recommendation from me are the Kenai Fjords boat tours, you need a trip of at least 6 hours on the water, take precautions if prone to seasickness.

Thanks ...you are a "Queen". You always give great advice to many people. Thanks for your input. I read the reviews about the people getting seasick on the water tours...opted to avoid that area. Will take the train from Anc. to Seward first since you said the scenery is nicer in that direction. Thanks again....happy touring.

The length of your stay should give you the option of taking a boat trip out of Seward on a calm day. When we went, it was so calm we could have been on a lake and no one was sick. The captain said there were only 3 or 4 days each summer when it was that good and she was also able to get through a very narrow opening to a hidden cove. Imagine getting close to birds and seals who don't mind you looking at them and watching orcas swim and dive in unison. You don't want to miss this trip if you can help it.

Thanks for your advice dfrostnh with checking the calmness of the sea and of course making our decision based on that. Sounds wonderful..i hope we can take the boat excursion. My sister and I will be there 2 weeks..my daughter is the one who will be there 3 months.
Thanks again to all who wrote. Bless you on your journeys.