In the pursuit of getting all fifty states, Shane and I planned a whirlwind of a trip to number 49, which is fitting, as Alaska was the 49th state of the United States.
One thing we learned quickly is that Alaska is HUGE. We only visited a small portion of a sprawling, rugged state. If you’re like us, with limited time, but want to pack a punch of authentic Alaska excursions and views, this is the perfect way to see and experience Alaska in 48 hours.
We chose to center our trip from Anchorage since it’s the city with the major airport. Though I have to admit, we didn’t find much within the city center that was worth writing about. For this reason, you’ll likely fly in later in the evening and I just recommend making your way to the hotel, going to sleep, and starting bright and early the following morning. I recommend the Hilton Anchorage as a central accommodation.
Wake up in the morning and walk over to the Alaska Railroad Depot. Catch the early morning train towards Seward called the Coastal Classic. This four-hour train ride is absolutely stunning and a great way to see the coast of Alaska. To our surprise, the entire train ride is narrated so it’s a tour experience in and of itself. The train staff points out all sorts of wildlife you can see outside your window and provides such great fun facts about the area and state. Just from the train alone, we saw countless bald eagles, a moose, and dall sheep. The Coastal Classic runs during the summer and I highly recommend buying tickets in advance, which you can do here. The train also makes a quick stop in Girdwood, if you’d like to add that city to your itinerary.
After arriving in Seward, we were a quick walk away from the docks for the Kenai Fjords cruises hosted by Major Marine Tours. We chose the 4-Hour Kenai Fjords Wildlife Cruise, which sails through the protected Resurrection Bay, and Kenai Fjords, which is perfect for glacier and wildlife viewing. During our tour, we saw a humpback whale, sea otter, sea lions, seals, mountain goats, geese, and swans. It was beautiful to see Alaska from the water.
The cruise ends just in time to grab an early dinner before getting back on the train to return to Girdwood and Anchorage. We chose to eat at the waterfront restaurant Chinooks and the meal was absolutely fantastic! Since landing in Alaska, we’ve been go, go, go so it was great to sit down and enjoy a beer and seafood dish, straight from the waters we were sitting in front of. We hoped back on the train after our dinner and enjoyed the four hour trip back into Anchorage.
If you have more time than we did, here’s how I would spend a few extra nights in the area (because like I said, Anchorage didn’t offer much in terms of great accommodations and restaurants):
As a lesson learned, it would actually be great to spend the night in Seward. It looked like such a cute town, sitting right on the water with a ton of seafood restaurants. I would stay at the Harbor 360 Hotel and get a room with a balcony facing out to the water. Talk about a great place to enjoy tomorrow morning’s coffee! The summer train leaves Seward around 6 p.m. every day so you can enjoy another full day in town before catching the train back west.
It would also be fun to take the train home but get off at Girdwood for the evening and check into the Alyeska Resort, which is Alaska’s only luxury resort. It would be great to enjoy the resort for a few days before getting back on the train or renting a car to drive back into Anchorage for your flight out.
One of the craziest parts about Alaska in the spring and summertime is the hours of sunlight! We went in early May and there were about 17 hours of sunlight (it gets to about 20 hours of total sunlight by the Summer Solstice!). This made our 48 hour whirlwind of a trip totally bearable because when we landed the first day, and when our train arrived back in Anchorage at 10pm on the second day, we weren’t totally exhausted because the sun was still out! It fooled your mind into thinking you should be awake. I honestly can’t imagine Alaska in the winter when there’s only 4 hours of daylight. I highly recommend limiting your visit to sometime between May and September.
Thanks for reading! Did we miss any must-sees in the rest of Alaska?
For more travel recommendations, check out my blog here.