Things to do in Anchorage before your Red Eye Flight

Posted On January 18, 2025

So many of my guests on tour spend a good portion of our last day together trying to get an earlier flight home instead of seeing more of Alaska – and this always makes me so sad because there are so many things to do in Anchorage the day of your flight home!

Let me help you avoid this mistake or spending the day sitting around a hotel or the airport when there are so many wonderful things to do either on your own or on a tour and with or without a rental car.

The biggest challenge for many people is what to do with their luggage after checking out in the morning for 12+ hours before their flight. Unless you are from the West Coast, or overnighting in Seattle, it’s very likely you will have a red eye flight. You will definitely be on a red eye flight if you are flying directly to a city in the midwest, East Coast or the South.

If you’re staying in a hotel, you can leave your luggage there for the day and get it before you go to the airport. The tour operators I list below will store your luggage while you’re on tour with them. You can also store luggage at the airport for a charge.

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Things to do on your own in Anchorage before your red eye flight

Keep in mind for all of these you either need to keep your luggage with you or store it at your hotel until it’s time to go to the airport – this is a big advantage of a hotel over a vacation rental on your last night before flying out.

If you have a rental car

If you have wheels, these are my top suggestions with what to do on your last day:

mountain views on a sunny day with a rocky meadow in the foreground
Views from Flattop on a sunny day

If you don’t have a rental car

No car? No problem. Stow your luggage at your hotel or the airport and then take a ride share or taxi downtown. Some of my favorite things to do downtown include –

  • Tony Knowles Coastal Trail – walk or rent a bike and get some exercise before hopping on a plane, while joining the locals enjoying the outdoors
  • Visit the Anchorage Museum
  • Enjoy the outdoor beer garden and ice cream stand at 49th State Brewing if it’s a sunny day
  • Eat lunch or dinner at 49th State Brewing or Glacier Brewhouse.
  • Check out the shops in downtown Anchorage – I especially love Octopus Ink and the Tiny Gallery
  • See if any salmon are running in Ship Creek
  • Cold day? Warm up with a bowl of ramen at Whisky and Ramen or a pizza at Flattop pizza.
A few of mountains and trees on the Coastal Trail in Anchorage
A summer day along the Coastal Trail with Sleeping Lady in the background

I also love to go to the restaurant in the Millenium Hotel at Lake Hood and watch float planes for awhile.

Tours to do in Anchorage on the day of your red eye flight

All of these tour companies will keep your luggage for you while you’re on tour with them.

Matanuska Glacier with Greatland Adventures (winter and summer)

blue ice bergs in winter covered in snow at Matanuska Glacier
Winter day at Matanuska Glacier

Greatland Adventures offers a wonderful small group van tour from Anchorage that takes you out the beautiful Glenn Highway to Matanuska Glacier and then for a hike out onto the glacier. They provide lunch on this all day adventure and will pick you up and return you to Anchorage.

Knik Glacier Landing with Alaska Helicopter tours (winter and summer)

a person's feet next to a blue pool on Knik Glacier with mountains in the background
Spring day on Knik Glacier

If you haven’t had a glacier experience yet, don’t miss out on this short helicopter flight over stunning scenery to Knik Glacier and some time to walk around and explore the glacier.

If you’re nervous about helicopters, it’s a fairly short ride in the helicopter (15 minutes or so) each way and you won’t ever notice because you’ll be blown away by the views.

Philips Cruises and Tours 26 Glaciers tour in Whittier (May – September)

A tidewater glacier face between two rocky mountains on an overcast day. The water is gray and there is a bright blue ice berg in the water
Spring day in Blackstone Bay with Philips Cruises and Tours

A short scenic drive or train ride plus a boat trip through fjords and glaciers with a chance of seeing whales, this is another wonderful way to spend your last day in Alaska!

You can book train or bus transportation to and from Anchorage along with your ticket for the boat tour. Read my review of this experience here.

Rust’s Flying Service Flightseeing (year round but options are different in different months)

A mother brown bear and cub on the beach next to a river surrounded by golden trees and a mountainside in Lake Clark National Park.
A mother and cub on a September day in Lake Clark National Park and Preserve

Rust’s offers a variety of options for flightseeing year round from Lake Hood right next door to the Anchorage airport.

In winter, you can do a flightseeing trip of Denali and in summer there have several wonderful options for bear viewing.

If you’re lucky enough to be Anchorage or August or September, my all time favorite is Lake Clark National Park Bear Viewing.

Feel free to use my code: alaskauncovered for a 10% discount on any Rust’s flightseeing tour.

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Jennie Flaming
Hi! I'm Jennie. I’m a fourth generation Seattleite. I lived in Alaska for many years and I still spend lots of time there every year visiting friends and working as a tour director. I've been a guide for many years in both Alaska and Washington, contribute to the Milepost and host the Alaska Uncovered Podcast about Alaska Travel as well as the Washington State Hiking Podcast. I love to share the places I love with visitors, newcomers and my fellow locals. I’m so glad to have you here!