We often get asked, by locals and tourists alike, what there is to do in Fairbanks, Alaska in the summer. Fairbanks is the second largest city in Alaska but often gets overlooked since it is so remote and a bit of a drive from the coastal areas that tend to draw a lot of summer tourists. But Fairbanks gets a little bit of the tourist crowd which we have talked about in previous posts like this one: 10 Things to do in Fairbanks in the Summer. In this detailed itinerary, you'll find a perfect schedule of recommended activities to make the most out of your summer visit to Fairbanks, Alaska. We keep this one short because we know that Alaska has so much to offer and this guide is a great jumping off point if you want to stay in Fairbanks or if you want to head down south to see more of this beautiful state. So without further ado.... Fairbanks Itinerary OverviewDay 1: Visit North Pole Gold Panning Santa Claus House Chena Lakes Recreation Area Day 2: Fairbanks/Chena Hot Springs Reindeer Yoga Peony Farm Tour Hot Springs Day 3: History and Culture River Cruise Pioneer Park + Bonus ideas! To begin our itinerary, readers should be aware that most flights in (and out) of Fairbanks occur very close to midnight. If this turns out being the case for you, then our "Day 1" will technically occur on your second day of traveling, but first day in Fairbanks. so we're starting with a full day of activities. Day 1: North PoleSo you've arrived in Fairbanks and hopefully got a full nights rest! That midnight sun can be trippy for locals and visitors alike but it's all part of the experience when visiting in the summer! We get a lot of questions about places to stay in the area. There are hotels and airbnbs that are all worth looking into but if you're okay staying a little bit further away from Fairbanks and in the city of North Pole, we recommend our friends at Northern Sky Cabins. Located in city limits of North Pole, not far from the freeway and grocery stores and other amenities, this is a great location to start your trip. To begin your day, we recommend a breakfast at Country Cafe. They open at 9 AM and serve breakfast until 3PM. The prices are really great for the portion of food you get and it's so good! We love the pancakes but the croissant french toast with berries and cream is always a win. Next, you'll drive down Santa Claus Lane to 5th Avenue to find The North Pole Pole! This pole is actually the twin to a pole that was flown and dropped over the actual geographic North Pole, but take a picture with this one to tell your friends you went to the North Pole ;) Don't forget to check out the street signs and candy cane light posts that prove it really is Christmas year-round in this cute, little town. After a quick photo op with the pole, you gotta head over to Santa's House! The Santa Claus house is the "official" home of Santa Claus where you can browse a souvenir shop and get some delicious fudge or other treats from Santa's Elves ;) Santa, himself, is available for a free photo op Wednesdays-Sundays and maybe you'll even get to visit with Mrs. Claus! Pro tip: You can buy a postcard and have Santa sign it! The cashier will even mail it out for you on site. And don't miss a visit with Santa's reindeer! On the other side of the parking lot, you'll find the Antler Academy, where these famous reindeer learn all about their flying and reindeer games. If you are around on a weekend, you won't regret a stop at Outlaw Tamales for lunch. The lady that runs this shack is the real deal and sells tamales by the 1/2 dozen or full dozen. They come in a bag wrapped in newspaper so you may have to run across the street into Safeway for some forks, or you can take them back to your Airbnb for later, but don't sleep on these! She's only open Thursday-Saturday from 8AM until sold out. So whether you pick them up to eat now or save them for later, you won't regret it! If you aren't able to get these coveted tamales, you can visit the crepery for lunch. They have a wide variety of sweet and savory crepes and we haven't tried one we haven't liked. Here's where we recommend a slight detour out of North Pole over to visit the Gold Daughters for a Gold Panning lesson. These girls know their stuff and a guide will help you cure (or maybe amplify) your gold fever. With a little "shaky, shaky, dippy, dippy" (iykyk) you'll be on your way to becoming a true prospector. Unless you saved your tamales for dinner, a good place to grab an end of day meal is Little Richard's Family Diner: the northern most railcar diner. Afterwards, ff you have time, you should definitely head over to Chena Lakes Recreation Area. If you get there in time, you can take a paddle around the lake with a kayak or a canoe from the rental shop there onsite. Or you can walk the trails, enjoying midnight sun season along with the local fisherman trying their luck along the shore. Day 2: Fairbanks/Chena Hot SpringsIf your day 2 ends up being on a Saturday, we recommend a morning reindeer yoga session at Running Reindeer Ranch. This is such a fun activity getting up close and personal with some reindeer while doing some easy yoga in the outdoors. You do need to bring your own yoga mat, or maybe you can grab a camping pad from the local Walmart. If this is a possible activity for your day, you should definitely stop and grab some breakfast from Hot Shot Sisters on your way. This is a fresh juice shop that also offers smoothie/smoothie bowls and some pretty good burrito wraps, if you ask me! In the prime of Summer, Alaska peonies are world renowned. If you are visiting in June/July, we recommend a peony farm visit. You can visit Boreal Peony Farm for a fun tour to learn about peony farming in the arctic! This area also offers reindeer tours and hikes in case the Running Reindeer Ranch yoga doesn't work in your schedule, or you can head straight to Chena Hot Springs Resort for the next stop on the itinerary. Chena Hot Springs Resort is a gorgeous place full of a bunch of different activities and things to explore like a sled dog kennel with tours, an ice hotel, ATV tours, etc...and you of course the actual hot springs. What this property lacks in clean, comfortable rooms, it makes up for with entertainment. It's definitely worth a place on the itinerary, even if it's not worth an overnight stay. There is a restaurant here to grab dinner and an evening dip in the hot springs before heading back to your accommodations. Day 3: History and CultureNo summer trip to Fairbanks is complete without a tour on the Riverboat Discovery. Every summer the sternwheeler known as the Riverboat Discovery takes passengers an all-encompassing river cruise immersing passengers in the history and culture of Alaska. In the 3-hour narrated tour, passengers learn about recent history and changes to transportation around interior Alaska - including presentations by a floatplane and at a sled dog kennel - in addition to being transported back thousands of years in a walking tour of an authentic native village and summer fishing camp. Some of the guides at the village as well as on the boat are natives themselves who grew up in villages around Alaska and offer a truly unique insight. Besides the tour itself, "Steamboat Springs", where the tour begins, is probably the best souvenir shop we've come across here in Fairbanks. The variety of souvenirs can't be beat and the prices are pretty fair too. This is also home to the -40 degree chamber, where you can get a little taste of what you're missing in a winter in Fairbanks ;) It's free to enter but you can pay to get your picture taken in the chamber next to the thermometer. Do a morning tour to take it easy on your last day and grab some Jason's Donuts on your way. Jason's Donuts is another shop that is open early and closes when sold out. We've gotten there at 10 some mornings and they are already sold out, but it's easy to understand when they've been voted the best donuts in Alaska. After the tour, you can grab some lunch at Friar Tuck's and make your way to Pioneer Park for some more history of the Fairbanks area. Here's where you'll find original cabins from the first settlers of Fairbanks and maybe even a few tour guides in period clothing to teach about some of the famous people in Fairbanks history. You can also ride a historic train around the park departing from the train museum for the full effect. Another fun stop you could add to this itinerary is a visit to the fountainhead antique auto museum. The Fountainhead Antique Auto Museum is home to 95 pre-WWII automobiles and is one of the premier vintage car museums in the world. They also have a vintage fashion collection that is considered to be the most extensive in the Pacific Northwest. Visiting this museum is like stepping back in time and it was so fascinating to learn about the unique challenges that were overcome with bringing automobiles to Alaska. It was truly fun for the whole family and we highly recommend a visit to this spot when visiting Fairbanks. Speaking of cars in Fairbanks, here's a completely random fun fact: Many car companies bring new car models to Fairbanks to test out how they will perform in the extreme cold weather! To end your day, you can't miss The Hungry Robot for some everything-made-from-scratch, wood fired pizza. Here you can get some classic flavors, but if you're feeling adventurous, try the dilly-dilly, a local favorite. Bonus ActivitiesIn case some of these activities don't work with your schedule or don't tickle your fancy, here's a few more ideas you could swap out: The Tanana Valley Farmers Market is the oldest established farmers market in Alaska. Growers and artists through out the Tanana Valley - an area larger than the state of Indiana - gather throughout the season in one place to offer the best of local produce and handicrafts. We definitely frequent the market for the shawarma and kettle corn ;) but we love taking visitors to the market to find unique souvenirs too! The Farmer's Market is open Wednesday's 11AM-4PM and Saturday's 9AM-4PM. The UAF Museum of the North: The Museum of the North is located at the University of Alaska - Fairbanks. They boast a great collection of indigenous artifacts and animal exhibits. Probably one of the most famous is the "blue babe". The "Blue Babe" is a 36,000-year-old mummified steppe bison that was perfectly preserved in the permafrost in interior Alaska from the Ice Age until it was discovered in the late 70s. It's so well preserved you can still see the claw marks and tooth punctures in the skin made by the America Lion that killed it so long ago. It must've frozen rather quickly so other animals couldn't eat it, giving us so many clues to the ancient past. The blue color of the bison comes from a mineral called vivianite that forms when minerals on the fossils react to the ground they're buried in, or maybe it was an ancestor to Paul Bunyan's beloved Ox ;) The Alaska Raw Fur Co is the show room/store front of a company that acts as a trading post for Alaska's fur trappers. It's pretty fascinating to compare the different furs of arctic animals as you wander the show room and you can even get your own as a souvenir. This was a hit for our visitors and Jon loves wandering this store, even if he hasn't bought anything for himself...yet ;) Bonus EatsThai House is another delicious restaurant to try. With 24 Thai restaurants for the 32.000 residents, Fairbanks has been called the Thai food capital of the world. Many locals have their favorites but we recommend Thai House for indulging in this tasty cuisine. We'll take a regular delivery of the fresh spring rolls and curry, please! Blue Roof Bistro is another fun place to grab something for lunch or dinner. With familiar comfort foods, some with a twist, everyone will find something they like here. If you find yourself in the mood for some ice cream, Hot Licks is where we recommend. With Alaska being the state that consumes the most ice cream in the United States, it's never a bad time for ice cream here. Hot Licks is homemade ice cream made by individual batch. While they do have four generic flavors available every day (chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, and coffee) the rest of the menu is different every day with unique flavors inspired by Alaska. That's the end of our 3-day itinerary! Stay tuned for others! Here you can find a condensed version for easy downloading/saving. Bonus TipsFairbanks is definitely a wild card when it comes to knowing what to pack for your trip. We've seen summers where it's gotten up to 90*F and we've seen summers were it hasn't gotten above 70 and was rainy the majority of the season. Always watch the weather and be ready with layers. Rain jackets are good idea. Also remember that summer in Alaska is mosquito season. These buggers are unlike anything you've ever seen! They are giant and unrelenting. Bring bug spray or plan to buy some when you arrive. You'll need it! There are a few places in Alaska you can visit without a car because of train and shuttle transportation. Fairbanks is not one of those places. We highly recommend renting a car for your trip to Fairbanks so you can truly make the most of your visit here. We know there is so much to do and see in Alaska, and most visitors have so much to see and so little time, but Fairbanks really is in a league of it's own and we hope we put it on your bucket list! If you're interested in a one-on-one chat to help plan a custom trip to Alaska, check out our options here!
Comments or questions? We'd love to hear them! Make sure to pin so you can come back to this post! Don't forget to follow us on Instagram for some of our day-to-day adventures and until next time, get out and explore where you live!
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AuthorWe're just a military family enjoying where we live, one PCS at a time. Follow us as we explore our current home, South Carolina, and beyond. The world is our backyard. Archives
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