Anchorage

Currency

Alaska has no state sales tax and Anchorage adds none, which is a rare thing in America — the shelf price is close to the price. Everything else costs more than the Lower 48 because it arrives by barge or plane; groceries run 30-40% above the mainland.

ATMs & cards

Bank machines downtown and at the airport; the ones in bars and small-town shops charge heavily. Take cash before heading out of the city — small communities on the Kenai and beyond still have places that do not take cards, and mobile signal disappears fast.

Alaska charges no state sales tax and Anchorage adds none — a rarity in America. Draw cash before leaving the city; signal and card readers both thin out fast.

Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.

Safety

Ordinary urban caution downtown, and then a completely different list once you leave it: moose are the animal that actually injures people here and they do it in city parks, bears are on the trails within the city limits, and the tide on Turnagain Arm comes in as a bore over quicksand-like mud that has killed people. Carry bear spray on trails, give moose a very wide berth, and never walk out onto the mud flats.

Our own assessment, not a sourced index.

Entry & visa

Health & emergencies

Required to enter

No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.

Worth having

• Routine vaccinations up to date

Getting treated

The care is excellent and the bill is the risk. There is no universal system, an ambulance ride alone can run into four figures, and an uninsured hospital stay can be genuinely ruinous. Comprehensive travel insurance with a high medical limit is essential — this is the one destination where skipping it can cost more than the trip by an order of magnitude.

Orientation, not medical advice. Entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history and where you have been — check with a travel clinic or your national health service four to six weeks before you go.

Food tip

King crab, halibut and salmon, and reindeer sausage from a cart outside the 4th Avenue market — which sounds like a gimmick and is genuinely good. The city has a better restaurant scene than its size suggests, because everyone who works in the bush eats here on the way through.

Getting around

• Hire car — Alaska is a driving state and Anchorage is where you pick the car up; book months ahead for summer
• Alaska Railroad — the Coastal Classic to Seward and the Denali Star north, both worth taking for the ride alone
• People Mover buses — cover the city, slowly, and are not much use for the reason you came
• Bush planes — the way to almost everywhere without a road; Lake Hood is the busiest seaplane base on earth
• Airport: Ted Stevens is fifteen minutes from downtown and a hub for the whole state

Internet speed

Broadband here runs at 2.4× the global median of 128 Mbps. Mobile runs at 1.7× the global median of 110 Mbps.

Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured May 2026

Must-see

Things to do

• Cycle the Coastal Trail out to Kincaid Park
• Climb Flattop for the view over the inlet
• Take the train south to Seward and the Kenai Fjords
• Watch for beluga whales along Turnagain Arm
• See the aurora between September and March, on a clear night away from the lights
• Eat reindeer sausage from the cart, once

Nearby day trips

Say a few words

American English — local usage

• HelloHey / How are you doing?
• The bill, pleaseCan we get the check?
• To go, not eaten inTo go
• Fizzy drinkSoda
• The undergroundThe subway
• QueueLine
• Ground floorFirst floor
• Thank you very muchThanks so much

Religion

Christian majority, no state religion

Constitutionally separated from the state, and enormously varied by region — the south is far more observant than the coasts.

Do's and don'ts

Do

• Tip 18-20% at restaurants and bars — servers are paid below minimum wage and depend on it
• Expect sales tax to be added at the till, not shown on the shelf price
• Make small talk with strangers; friendliness is genuine and not a prelude to anything
• Carry ID if you look under about 35 and intend to drink

Don't

• Do not skip the tip to make a point — take it up with the manager instead
• Do not discuss politics, guns or healthcare with strangers unless invited
• Do not stand too close; personal space is larger than in Europe or Latin America
• Do not joke about security at airports or borders