The Kenai Peninsula is readily accessible by car, bus, plane, or train from Anchorage, making it perfect if you have a few days, but adventurers could easily spend considerably longer exploring backcountry areas or playing in the scenic towns.

The off-the-beaten-path settlement of Hope has a picture-perfect collection of gold rush–era buildings along Turnagain Arm. A very scenic three-hour drive south from Anchorage, the town of Seward is home to the Alaska SeaLife Center (great for kids), along with Kenai Fjords National Park, where visitors can take guided hikes across Exit Glacier, join Resurrection Bay boat tours, or take longer day (or multiple-night) trips into the park.

A second highway (the Sterling) heads west across the peninsula through Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, where the Kenai and Russian Rivers are the scene of “combat fishing” as hundreds of anglers crowd the banks when the salmon are running.

The Sterling Highway continues west through Soldotna before bending south to the end of the road, Homer. The Homer Spit, a sandy strip of land extending four miles into the bay, is the primary visitor attraction here, with charter halibut fishing, sea kayaking, Kachemak Bay tours to Gull Island or the remote villages of Halibut Cove and Seldovia, and some of the finest restaurants and lodging in Alaska. Inside attractions well worth a visit include the Islands and Ocean Center and the Pratt Museum.