Travel: Flights to Anchorage

Anchorage is served by most major American airlines. Air travel is the cheapest and most efficient form of transportation in and out of the state. Non-stop flights are available from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Mineapolis, Chicago, and Taipei year-round, and more locations in the summer. Most arriving and departing out-of-state flights are late-night "red-eyes," but there are often many daytime flight to and from Seattle. Anchorage recently completed extensive remodeling and construction at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport(IATA: ANC) (ICAO: PANC) to help accommodate the upsurge in tourism (unofficial sources have estimated the numbers for 2004 at some four million tourists arriving in Alaska between May and September).

Anchorage is also accessible from the contiguous U.S. (locally referred to as "the Lower 48") and Canada via road. The Alaska Highway enters Alaska several hundred miles away from Anchorage and terminates in Fairbanks. You can either get to Anchorage via the Parks Highway from Fairbanks or the Glenn Highway from Tok (the first major Alaskan town after crossing the Canadian border). The Seward Highway serves traffic entering Anchorage from the Kenai Peninsula to the south and its Alaska Marine Highway System terminals.

Make sure to pick up a copy of The Milepost, which is widely regarded as the premiere road guide for western Canada and Alaska. Most roads in these regions have small white posts every mile or so indicating the number of miles from the start of the road. The Milepost has extremely detailed route descriptions of all of the roads, pointing out everything from scenic viewpoints and campgrounds down to the names of small creeks the roads pass over. If you're flying in to Anchorage and then driving around the state, wait and pick up a copy of The Milepost at one of the local Costcos or WalMarts--the price there is around half of list price.

Many cruise lines provide transportation from their terminals to Anchorage and may even include tours or your return air travel out of the state.