It’s not uncommon, when staying in downtown Anchorage, to see a moose wander past your window. In a city of 300,000 people, more than 1,500 moose roam downtown to welcome visitors. And now, thanks to new development and revitalization brightening up the city, those moose will say hello to many more people.

“It feels like we’re growing, but we’re doing it on our own terms,” said Jack Bonney, vice president of communications, Visit Anchorage, and a 25-year resident. “It won’t be a place where you have a chain restaurant, a big-box store. We’re building in a way that still speaks to the place that we live in.”

© Donna Dewhurst / Visit Anchorage

The visitor center sits downtown at the intersection of West 4th Avenue and F Street, essentially the nerve center of Anchorage, and the rustic log cabin-style building looks out over much of the development. The biggest project at the moment is Block 41, right down the street from the visitor center. The mixed-use development will include shops, housing and eventually a hotel. When complete, Block 41 will take up an entire city block on 4th Avenue.

Nearby, Town Square Park, across from the convention center and Performing Arts Center, and neighboring Peratrovich Park are both being outfitted with improved walkways, upgraded lighting and modernized public spaces; those developments are expected for completion in summer 2027.

By that time, hotels in the downtown core will offer more than 400 new rooms. The Wildbirch Hotel, for example, opened in 2025 with 252 rooms and 5,200 square feet of event space. Another hotel, The Voyager Inn, reopened with 40 rooms, and the new Aspen Suites Hotel Anchorage Downtown offers 120 new studio-style rooms. A handful of boutique hotels will debut over the next year, offering a handful of rooms each, as well as a Marriott-owned property.

The increased number of rooms comes at a good time since flying into Anchorage has become easier than ever. Southwest Airlines officially launched service to Anchorage in May 2026 from Denver (DEN) and Las Vegas (LAS); American Airlines started a seasonal route between Phoenix (PHX) and Anchorage that same month; and Alaska Airlines expanded service with new routes heading to Boise (BOI), Boston (BOS) and Spokane (GEG).

Money coming in from new visitors helps finance new community investments, too. A new public library branch will open in the historical city hall building, alongside a new Anchorage Mushing District arch locals expect to become an iconic landmark. New trail projects will enhance recreation options, like a new route linking existing Ship Creek and Tony Knowles coastal trails and a new 6-mile mountain biking trail in east Anchorage. And throughout the city an initiative is updating wayfinding markers with Indigenous place names, leaning even further into the local connection to First Nations culture.

Alaska’s Seward Highway winding through the mountains and waters of Turnagain Arm © Cecoffman | Dreamstime.com

“It’s both becoming more accessible for people to get here and also more interesting when they do get here,” Bonney said. “There’s a lot going on all at once, and it feels like one of the most dynamic times that we’ve ever had in Anchorage. … For a lot of people who live here, it’s also been encouraging to see that kind of investment, to see that kind of attention to what comes next.”

SCENIC DRIVES
Don’t miss the drive from Anchorage to Girdwood. The stretch of Seward Highway hugging Turnagain Arm shows off the beauty of nature in Alaska, with beluga whales, sheep and glaciers all in view. This part of AK-1 is a USDA Forest Service Scenic Byway, an Alaska Scenic Byway and an All-American Road.

If you want to explore small-town Alaskan life, take a two-hour drive north to Talkeetna along Parks Highway. You’ll get expansive mountain views as well as a visit to a town of about 1,000 people where you can stroll along a row of historic shops and art galleries and then dine on freshly made pizza at Mountain High Pizza Pie.

Those looking for a quieter daytrip — but with stunning scenery — can take Glenn Highway for 2.5 hours to reach Matanuska Glacier. The drive is speckled with scenic pullouts overlooking rivers, valleys and craggy mountaintops. You can see the glacier from the highway, but don’t quit on the drive; it’s the largest glacier available by car in the United States. There’s plenty to do when you get there, as well, from a guided glacier hike and zip lining to helicopter flights and ATV tours.