A Lot To Discover In Alaska

The right time to pay Alaska a visit certainly is between July and August, but also in May and September temperatures are still moderate.

Moose © flickr/Alaskan Dude

Alaska is not only the largest state in the United States; it also has a lot to offer. You can discover fjords, glaciers, forests, tundra, lakes, rivers, and high mountains too.

Especially nature enthusiasts will love the magnificent nature and the numerous animals like Dall sheep, bears, moose, caribous, seals, sea lions, or salmons.

Juneau is the capital of Alaska and located in an area with fjords and glaciers and therefore is a good starting point for trips to the Glacier Bay National Park and other glaciers. Besides glaciers 32 gold mines can be found in the region too. The orthodox St. Nicholas Church is the oldest Russian church of Southeast Alaska.

The economically most important city of Alaska probably is Anchorage. From there you can get everywhere. In Anchorage visitors find a great variety of restaurants and shopping facilities. Great sports events take place in the city which got the title ‘All American City’ in 2002.

The Denali National Park and Preserve, which is home of Mount McKinley which stands at 20,320 feet (6,195 metres) and is North America’s tallest mountain, is not far from Anchorage.  Healy, Cantwell or Talkeetna are starting points for hiking, rafting, camping, and mountain climbing tours. The park is located in Inner Alaska and covers more than six million acres.  Besides 750 species of flowering plants you can see 39 mammal species, 165 bird species and 10 species of fish. Mostly spotted are grizzly bears, moose, Dall sheep, caribou, and fox. You can easily get to the Denali National Park and Preserve by car from Anchorage or Fairbanks.

Kenai Fjords National Park is located on the southeast coast of the Kenai Peninsula near the town of Seward, about 130 road miles south of Anchorage. 60 percent of the park is covered by snow and ice and you can go on a boat tour to watch calving glaciers, seals, sea lions, and wales. The 700-square-mile Harding Icefield is one of only four ice fields in the United States. In summer cabins are available along the coast and authorized commercial guides provide camping, fishing, and kayaking tours.

Alaska © flickr/jerekeys

Sitka lies on Baranof Island and used to be the capital of Russian-America until 1867. The Russian influence is still obvious in the multicultural city. St. Michael’s Cathedral was the first Russian church built in America (1844-1848) and has magnificent onion-shaped domes and gold crosses.  It was destroyed by a fire in 1966 but is rebuilt now and many of the precious icons and religious artifacts saved from the fire are displayed today.

In the Sitka National Historical Park visitors can see a large collection of totem poles which represent traditional Native art. The park also commemorates the 1804 Russian and Tlingit Battle.
Tlingit artists perform their native craft at the Southeast Alaska Indian Cultural Center and can be observed by visitors.
The first concrete building of Alaska was the Sheldon Jackson Museum which hosts one oft he largest collections of Alaskan Native artifacts. There visitors can learn a lot about Native culture and Alaskan history.