Top Alaska Attractions
From Stellar sea lions to Alaska museums to a gold mining district.
Top Alaska Attractions
From Stellar sea lions to Alaska museums to a gold mining district.
Top Alaska Attractions
From Stellar sea lions to Alaska museums to a gold mining district.
Top Alaska Attractions
From Stellar sea lions to Alaska museums to a gold mining district.
Top Alaska Attractions
From Stellar sea lions to Alaska museums to a gold mining district.
Places like Denali National Park are so grand that they have a way of eclipsing everything around them, but there are still many smaller attractions in Alaska worthy of a visit. These attractions often showcase Alaska's wildlife, natural and human history, and diverse indigenous cultures.
On the shore of Resurrection Bay in Seward is the Alaska SeaLife Center, Alaska's only marine education, research, and rehabilitation facility. Here visitors walk through a myriad of exhibits showcasing the region's diverse marine wildlife, including salmon tanks, a puffin aviary, and Stellar sea lion habitat. Visitors can see these animals up close and learn more about them on special animal encounter experiences and behind the scenes tours. To see more of Alaska's tertiary animals, you can visit the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center near Portage. It's even more fun with a guide on the Spencer Glacier Bears, Train & Icebergs tour out of Anchorage.
In Anchorage, two distinctive attractions are worth a visit, the Anchorage Museum and the Alaska Native Heritage Center. At the museum, visitors can explore many aspects of Alaska life, from the vivid mountain artwork of Sydney Lawrence, to cultural displays and polar exhibits. The museum is in downtown Anchorage within walking distance of several area hotels. At the Alaska Native Heritage Center, several indigenous Alaskan cultures are represented in life-size outdoor exhibits with Alaskan Native hosts.
The northern Alaska destination of Fairbanks is host to many Alaska attractions, several of which showcase the distinctive culture and pastimes of the Last Frontier. You can visit the Gold Dredge 8 mining district to see gold mining equipment, some of it a century old, still at work. Also a century old are the stately sternwheelers paddling up and down the Chena River on riverboat cruises.
Farther afield, Chena Hot Springs draws visitors from around the world to its geothermally heated waters. The artfully landscaped resort property is also home to the world's largest year-round indoor ice building. It is open for daily tours.
Curious about other things to do in Alaska? Take a look at some of the best things to do in Alaska by category and destination.
