Hope: Now almost a ghost town, this once-booming mining town is the place that time forgot. Several fine hikes head out from here.

Alaska SeaLife Center: Touch tanks, puffins swimming underwater, and fascinating exhibits are great, but seals and sea lions steal the show at this popular Seward marine science center.

Exit Glacier: Easily accessible from Seward, this glacier is part of Kenai Fjords National Park and has camping, hiking trails (including one onto the massive Harding Ice Field), and glacier tours.

Resurrection Bay Tours: Several Seward companies offer wildlife and glacier tours by boat. Half-day excursions tour the bay; all-day versions (take your Dramamine) make it into Kenai Fjords.

Combat Fishing: The Kenai and Russian Rivers are major destinations for Anchorageites and tourists in search of their bag limit of red salmon. It’s an elbow-to-elbow frenzy at the midsummer peak.

The Homer Spit: Jutting four miles into Kachemak Bay, this narrow sandy peninsula provides a great base for halibut charters, sea kayaking, bird-watching, cycling, dining, and shopping.

Islands and Ocean Center: Modern and slick, this free center houses exhibits on the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge. Don’t miss the award-winning film about the refuge and its wildlife.

Pratt Museum: One of the finest small museums in Alaska, the Pratt always has something interesting, including a touch tank with tide-pool animals in the back room.

Kachemak Bay and Gull Island: Gull Island with its thousands of nesting seabirds is a favorite destination for day tours. Also popular are trips to the off-the-road-system villages of Halibut Cove and Seldovia.