Things to do in Anchorage

Nature · Downtown to Kincaid Park, along Cook Inlet

Eleven miles of paved trail running from the edge of downtown along the Knik Arm bluff to Kincaid Park, with Denali visible on a clear day and beluga whales in the inlet below.

Local tip: This is the single best argument for living in Anchorage and it starts three blocks from the office towers. In winter it is groomed for skiing and ridden on fat bikes. Moose stand on it regularly — give them the whole trail, do not try to squeeze past, and be honest that Point Woronzof at low sun in September is one of the great urban views in North America.

Culture · Downtown, C Street at 7th Avenue

The state's largest museum, combining Alaska history, contemporary art, a planetarium and the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, whose gallery holds hundreds of Alaska Native objects returned north on long-term loan.

Local tip: Go to the Arctic Studies Center first, not last — it is the part people run out of time for and it is the most important thing in the building. Winter is the right season for museums here anyway. The café is a genuinely good downtown lunch.

Culture · North-east Anchorage, off the Glenn Highway

A cultural centre representing the state's Alaska Native peoples, with six life-size village sites around a lake, dance and games demonstrations, and artists working in the building.

Local tip: The people demonstrating are from the cultures being shown and will answer real questions — ask them. Anchorage has the largest Alaska Native population of any city in the state, and understanding that this is a living culture rather than a historical exhibit is the single most useful adjustment a newcomer makes.

Nature · Glen Alps trailhead, Hillside

Half a million acres of state park inside the municipal boundary, with the most-climbed peak in Alaska twenty minutes from midtown and a view over the whole Bowl to Denali.

Local tip: Flattop's last section is a loose scramble that catches people out in trainers — every year. Go for the solstice sunset in June, when the light lasts past midnight. In winter carry traction devices for your boots; the packed trail turns to ice and the fall is what injures people, not the cold.

Neighborhood · Between midtown and Lake Hood, on Spenard Road

Anchorage's oldest and most idiosyncratic district — dive bars and float planes, the Bear Tooth theatre pub, the Saturday farmers market, Thai restaurants and a stubborn refusal to be tidied up.

Local tip: Lake Hood, at the top of the road, is the busiest seaplane base in the world and you can sit and watch the traffic. Spenard is where a lot of newcomers end up because it is central, cheaper than downtown and has the food — walk the specific block in the evening first, because the character varies a lot street to street.

Nature · Downtown, below the Alaska Railroad depot

A salmon stream running through the middle of the city, where king and silver runs draw people in waders standing shoulder to shoulder within sight of the railway station and the port cranes.

Local tip: It is genuinely strange and completely normal here: a summer evening, office workers in chest waders, a king salmon on the bank and downtown behind them. You need a licence and, for kings, a king stamp — buy them online from Fish and Game before you go. This is the easiest way to understand what Alaskans mean when they say the fishing is not a hobby.