Downtown Anchorage: Best Food, Hotels, and Things to Do
Downtown Anchorage is a spot you won’t want to miss if you’re headed to Alaska for a road trip, cruise, or layover. For our Alaskan road trip, Anchorage was home base between Denali and Seward. We also spent a few days in Anchorage “working from home” to extend our time in Alaska. Read on for all the best foods spots, hotel and accommodation spots, and all the things to do in downtown Anchorage.
Google Map of Alaska
Before we go any further, as with all of our destinations, we save all of our recommended stops, tours, restaurants, etc in a Google Map for anyone to use. Check out our Travel Maps page for all of our destinations, or check out Alaska below!
Planning Your Trip to Anchorage
How Many Days to Spend in Downtown Anchorage
We recommend one solid day to visit just downtown Anchorage on a trip to Alaska. While downtown is cool and has tons of stuff to explore, Alaska has so much more to offer. Our favorite spots in Alaska are actually easy day trips from Anchorage. So, while you don’t want to miss downtown, we recommend treating it as a home base or quick stop at the beginning or end of your trip.
Best Time to Visit Anchorage
The best time to visit Anchorage, and Alaska in general, is between the months of May and September. More parks and excursions are open and available to you, and the weather is manageable. July and August will of course be the warmest months, with highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. But, if you want to catch the northern lights, you’ll want to visit from September or later.
What to Pack for Downton Anchorage
Pack tons and tons of layers! If you’re planning a trip to Alaska, you’ll likely want to pack for your other activities (glacier hikes, cruises, dogsledding) and you’ll naturally pack enough layers for Anchorage. Definitely bring a raincoat, umbrella, and water-resistant or water proof shoes!
Food in Downtown Anchorage
What to Eat in Alaska
If you’re like us, and you like to eat local food while you travel, you’ve come to the right place. We truly believe that food is the best way to experience a culture. Eating local cuisine and dishes is one of our favorite activities to do while traveling. Alaskan food is heavy in proteins: think salmon, King crab, halibut, reindeer, elk, caribou, yak, the list goes on. To add to the proteins, many Alaskan restaurants will boast about their locally grown ingredients – so definitely make sure to check those out!
If we were to narrow down a list of top 10 dishes/things to eat or drink while in Alaska for the true experience, it’d be this:
- Reindeer sausage: as a hotdog, on a pizza, or in an egg scramble
- Yak meat: works great as a burger
- Elk meat: found in meatballs, gyro meat, etc
- Caribou: another great burger option
- Halibut: fried, in fish & chips, or grilled
- Salmon (wild, King, smoked, etc): salmon anything – chowder, pizza, grilled, smoked, etc
- King crab: stuffed jalepenos, stuffed in another fish, on an egg Benedict – all delicious options
- Wild berries: as a jam, on toast, or in a dessert
- Kaladi Brother’s Coffee
- Local brews
Best Food and Drink in Downtown Anchorage
So now that you’ve got your food bucket list, here are the best spots we found in downtown Anchorage for the best Alaska food scene.
Best Brunch: Snow City Cafe
Snow City Cafe is known by the locals, and very quickly by tourists, as the “best brunch in Anchorage.” Not only is this place a classic brunch spot, featuring eggs benny galore, it also checks all the boxes for ambiance, service, and traditional Alaskan food. Plus, it opens as early as 6:30 am which was PERFECT for us since our flight landed at 4:30 am in the morning. Note, this place gets packed quickly, so arriving at 6:30 am is actually a perfect time to skip the waitlist.
On the menu, if you’re up for Alaskan food, we highly, highly recommend the King crab eggs benny and the reindeer sausage egg scramble. Both are delicious and feature that Alaskan food we just mentioned above! If you love a good mocha, the Snow City coffee is delicious.
Most Popular: 49th State Brewing
This place is so popular, we could not find a reservation available for the entire week we were in Alaska. Though the place is huge, the entirety of Alaska is short-staffed right now, so just because there’s a table available doesn’t mean they can serve you. They’ve got open seating downstairs and heated patio/rooftop seating on the 2nd and 3rd floor. If you can, get the outdoor heated seating for awesome views!
Off the menu, we recommend literally everything, especially anything recommended by the waitstaff. We opted for the crab-stuffed jalepenos, chowder WITH the huge bread roll (yum), and the yak burger (have to have it!). If we’d had more stomach capacity, we would’ve also gotten the salmon or halibut. If you drink beer, don’t forget the beer flight!
Protip: go for an early dinner (around 4 or 5) to beat the cruise-line dinner rush. You might have to wait an hour but it’s better than waiting 3 hours around 7pm!
Reindeer Hot Dogs: Red Umbrella Reindeer
You can’t walk around downtown Anchorage without seeing the classic reindeer sausage food trucks on the more popular streets. Red Umbrella Reindeer is located outside of Tequila 61. If you like spicy, get the spicy reindeer sausage with the caramelized onions on their home-made spicy sauce. So good!
Elk & Caribou Gyros: Tia’s
Tia’s food truck is located kiddy-corner to Red Umbrella Reindeer. And though they also sell reindeer sausage, to switch things up we recommend getting the elk and caribou gyro. Load everything on it, it’s absolutely delicious!
Must-Try Halibut Sandwich: White Spot Cafe
The White Spot Cafe is known to Anchorage as having the “best halibut sandwich ever.” It’s also a great breakfast spot, with your classic American diner experience.
Other Great Spots in Downtown Anchorage
Check out our other pinned restaurants, such as Alaskan Crepe, Glacier Brewing, and more on our Travel Maps.
Accommodations in Downtown Anchorage
Where to Stay in Downtown Anchorage
Downtown Anchorage is super walkable, which is why we recommend staying in the heart of downtown if you can. If you are cost conscious or have a reason to stay elsewhere (better hotel points deal), it should be easy enough to grab an Uber, public transportation, or park a car downtown (there is a TON of parking).
Anywhere between A through L street and 3rd through 6th street is walkable to everything good to do downtown.
Best Hotels in Downtown Anchorage
In terms of hotels located in downtown Anchorage, Hotel Captain Cook probably has the best location. You’ll also find Hilton Anchorage just down the street. Our hotel of choice is Marriott Anchorage – we stayed in all three Marriott hotels downtown and between the Marriott, Sheraton, and Towneplace Suites, Marriott Anchorage won for wifi, lounge, lobby, rooms, and location.
Top Things to Do in Downtown Anchorage
If you Google Top Things to Do in Anchorage, you’ll actually find a ton of cool things to do… outside Anchorage! We found that a bit annoying, as we didn’t have a car our first day in Anchorage. So for your convenience, here is a lit of things you can do right in downtown Anchorage!
Eat/Drink Local Cuisine
This goes without saying, given our entire section devoted to food and drink. You absolutely have to have local food while in Anchorage. If you only have a day, go to Snow City Cafe, grab a reindeer hotdog for lunch from Red Umbrella Reindeer, and spend dinner at 49th Street Brewing. Grab a mix of King crab, salmon, reindeer, and yak dishes through each. Don’t forget to grab Kaladi Bros Coffee and local beer!
If you prefer a more immersive experience, check out this historical walking & food tour in downtown Anchorage. We love a good city walking tour over a DIY approach, as it gets you all the insider info on food and history from the guide.
Bike on Tony Knowles Coastal Trail
Tony Knowles Coastal Trail runs about 10 miles down the coast with beautiful views of the harbor and distance mountains. We recommend renting a bike from Trek Bike Rentals Anchorage and biking down the trail. Make sure to stop and appreciate Westchester Lagoon and Earthquake Park, two top destinations in downtown Anchorage. The trail also takes you by the airport, so you get to see airplanes of all sizes come in and out.
If biking isn’t your thing, you can walk the trail and visit both the Lagoon and Park. If you’d rather visit them with a tour guide via trolley, check out a trolley tour (see below).
Take a Trolley Tour of Downtown Anchorage
One of the best way so seeing the entirety of the top historic spots downtown, and one of the cutest ways, is to take the famous trolley tours. There’s two tours we recommend depending on preference:
- This trolley tour is a 1-hour version that takes you by some of the same stops you can see via the Tony Knowles Coast Trail. We recommend this one if you don’t have time or plans to walk or bike the trail.
- This “deluxe” trolley tour is a 1.5-hour version that takes you to a couple more destinations in Anchorage with a sightly more thorough tour. We recommend this one if you are planning on biking/walking down the Coastal Trail and also want to see the rest of downtown.
Visit Westchester Lagoon
We mentioned it above, but since this Lagoon is so stunning it deserves its own section. Make sure you spend some time either during your bike ride, on a tour, or at some point at this Lagoon. The reflections and backdrop are stunning!
Stop By Major Historical Sites and Landmarks
Whether you do it via trolley, guided tour, or on your own, there are a few historical sites to visit around downtown Anchorage:
- Earthquake Park
- Captain Cook Monument
- Point Woronzof
- Town Square Park
- Murals: Hope Wall Mural, Wyland Whale
Shop Local Products
Last but not least, when in Alaska, don’t forget to grab your local products or gifts for your family members back home. We personally love a good jam/jelly and chocolate, so check out Alaska Wildberry Products if you have time. Plus, wildberries are on our list of foods you must enjoy while in Alaska!
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