Most Comprehensive & Honest Activity Review for Alaska 📝

Most Comprehensive & Honest Activity Review for Alaska 📝❄️ Disclaimer: Everything below is based on my personal, subjective experience — for reference only. I’m more of a comfort-over-thrill traveler (if the views aren’t breathtakingly spectacular, or if I have to sacrifice too much comfort to enjoy them, it loses points in my book 😌✨). With that in mind, I’d say visiting Alaska in December (key point❗️) is something I don’t regret — but I wouldn’t go again in the same season. First, the cold — bone-chilling, mobility-limiting cold 🥶 (though maybe it’s because we hit Fairbanks’ lowest temps in years, around -40°C). Being outdoors felt painful; I couldn’t last more than 30 seconds. Even getting back in the car was rough — it took over 20 minutes to warm up, and until then, the chill was relentless. We ended up leaving the engine running even for stops under an hour. So when I finally saw the aurora, I wasn’t even that excited — just snapped a few quick photos and dashed back into the car 🚗💨. Second, daylight was extremely short — you can realistically only fit in 1–2 activities a day ⏳🌅. Activity Reviews (all unique, ranked by personal enjoyment): 1️⃣ Flightseeing over mountains in Anchorage ✈️🏔️ The highlight of the trip! The plane flew incredibly close to the snow-capped peaks — absolutely breathtaking! Heard you can even land on a glacier in summer. 2️⃣ Dog sledding 🛷🐕 So fun and delightful! The dogs were adorable, and getting up close with so many huskies was a definite highlight of Alaska. Shoutout to a wonderful B&B — Cabin in Healy — the host was super kind, and she had over a dozen Alaskan dogs nearby. Watching her feed them was one of my favorite moments 💖🏡! 3️⃣ Snowmobiling 🏍️❄️ It was… okay? The views were nice, but it was the coldest activity by far. They provide outerwear and boots, but taking off gloves to take photos froze my hands in seconds 🧤📸🥶. 4️⃣ Chena Hot Springs ♨️🧊 My least favorite activity — kinda felt tricked by all the pretty photos online. Sure, frozen eyelashes and hair are unique, but honestly, I wish I’d skipped it 😅. The facilities felt underwhelming — packed with people both inside and out, no place to put your phone near the pool (bring a waterproof pouch or you’ll be holding it in -40°C air), and the lockers/changing rooms weren’t clean. I left in less than half an hour 🚪💨. 5️⃣ Moose viewing & Ice fishing 🫎🎣 Didn’t try these, but saw quite a few posts calling them boring 💤🐟. Food 🍜 & Hotels 🏨 Food exceeded my expectations! But oddly, every hotel we stayed at in Alaska had super loud AC/heating units — light sleepers, bring earplugs! 🔇😴 #Alaska#AlaskaTravel#WinterReview#HonestExperience#TravelTips#AuroraDiary