Summer is the best time to be in Alaska. In July we have nearly 19 hours of daylight – the sunrise on July 9th is at 04:39, and sunset at 23:29. The most common summer activities in The Last Frontier include fishing, hiking, wildlife viewing, whale watching, train adventures as well as enjoying the various local events.

For fishing experiences, Seward and Homer are the places to be for charter fishing trips. Kenai River is one of the greatest fishing spots in the inland, and also crowded – of course.

Some Anchorage and neighborhood events and event listings (list to be updated):

• Anchorage Downtown Market Saturdays & Sundays from 10AM-6PM (May 12-September 9, 2012)
• Anchorage Events
• As courtesy of Anchorage Daily News: Things To Do In Anchorage Alaska
• As courtesy of Alyeska Resort: List of events and activities

Places worth visiting:

Independence Mine: an old, abandoned gold mine in Hatcher Pass (68 miles from Anchorage).

Matanuska Glacier: a great place to be able to walk on a glacier (100 miles from Anchorage).

Flat Top Mountain Hike: Good taste of Alaskan outdoors without going too far and great views of the mountains and of Anchorage (~ 10 miles from Anchorage). Be prepared with proper hiking shoes and dress for the weather.

Thunderbird Falls: Nice, short, easy hike – about 2 miles round trip with a waterfall at the end (~ 20 miles from Anchorage).

Coastal Trail: a 20-mile, easy, rather flat, paved trail around the city. Coastal Trail is excellent for biking and walking – with scenic views! About half way on the trail there is great place to watch planes landing and taking off at Anchorage International Airport. Some pictures of this trail at Nina’s Blog Posting.

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Alaska Railroad: has a wide range of train trips that can be combined with short glacier and whale watching cruises or if you head north trips to Denali National Park.

Rust’s Flying Service: located across from Anchorage International Airport, provides flightseeing tours around the Anchorage or up to Denali. If you want a once and a lifetime experience flightseeing is the way to do it.

Places to see outside of Anchorage:

Healy (just outside Denali National Park, 250 miles from Anchorage): Great place to go and visit Denali National park with the largest mountain in North American Mt McKinley. The park provides a variety of bus tours throughout the park. The park contains a wide range of wildlife from bears, doll sheep, fox, bald eagles, moose, and much more.

Denali National Park: The third largest National Park in the country about 6 million acres.

Denali Park Resort: One of the main resorts to stay around the park.

Denali Princess Lodge: Another main resorts to stay around the park.

Girdwood (40 miles from Anchorage): Ski resort town.

Alyeska Resort

: Has a 60 person tram that rises up 2,300 feet in elevation with some great views of mountains and glaciers. You can hike, take the tram, or if your adventurous you can mountain bike down. Mountaintop dinning includes Glacier Express for lunch or a five star Seven Glaciers Restaurant. Also some great places to eat in the resort itself.

Alyeska Resort (rock and/or ice climbing

: Alyeska offers a variety of ways to test your own climbing skills with the safety and expertise of local climbing guides. The rugged and unique terrain of the Girdwood valley offers rock climbing just minutes from the Hotel Alyeska. Ice climbing trips take place nearby along the Seward Highway or at Portage. Climbing takes an adventurous spirit, all ages and fitness levels welcome. No previous climbing experience necessary.

Crow Creek Mine

: Old gold mine from the 1890′s with tours and you can still pan for gold in the creek and they will provide all the gear and show you how for you for a small fee of course.

Hope (90 miles from Anchorage): old gold rush town from 1880′s.

Chugach Outdoor Center

: Provides float, raft trips and land tours exploring Alaska’s spectacular wilderness areas.

Seward (A scenic 120 miles drive from Anchorage)

Kenai Fjords Tours

: Has a variety of glacier and whale watching curses out of Seward Note: The Alaskan Railroad has a package that combines the train trip from Anchorage to Seward and includes the National Park Tour.

Exit Glacier

: Glacier about ~10 miles from downtown Seward.

Talkeetna (120 miles from Anchorage): Talkeetna has an outstanding panoramic view of the Alaska Range that can be enjoyed and photographed from several places as you wander through our town, and discover what this unique location has to offer.

K2 Aviation

: Denali flightseeing tours are often called a “once in a lifetime experience” these flights leave out of Talkeetna Airport and the glacial landing is strongly recommended.

Talkeetna Air Taxi

: Another Denali flightseeing “once in a lifetime experience” these flights also leave out of Talkeetna Airport and the glacial landing is strongly recommended.

Whittier (60 miles from Anchorage): to get here you will drive through the 2nd longest tunnel in North America, 2.5 miles

26 Glacier Cruise

: You’ll cruise through the calm, protected waters of Prince William Sound and come face to face with towering masses of ice, migratory whales and breathtaking Alaska scenery.

Note: The Alaskan Railroad has a package that combines the train trip from Anchorage to Whittier and the cruise.

Major Marine Tours

: Look forward to breathtaking scenery, towering waterfalls, massive glaciers and wildlife such as: eagles, harbor seals, otters and bird rookeries.