Fairbanks definitely doesn’t have the abundance of shopping options that Anchorage does, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a smaller city and doesn’t have as many large-scale retail outlets as other areas. While we’ll grant that Fairbanks natives may benefit from a few more large stores, this kind of environment is ideal for serious tourists. So when your Alaska cruistour stops in Fairbanks, you’ll find you can focus on a quite productive shopping excursion.
Why? After coming home from an amazing Alaskan adventure, the last things that you want to show your family and friends are a few trinkets that you bought from a big box store! Alaska has a rich cultural history, and Fairbanks, located in the center of the state, is just the place to find the items that will truly represent your experience.
Here are a few great shopping spots that you may want to visit during your time in Fairbanks:
The Tanana Valley Farmers Market is Alaska’s oldest established farmers market and the only one that its housed in its own permanent building. It’s a great place to relax and spend a leisure-filled afternoon. Here you’ll find not only great selection of produce from communities that surround Fairbanks, but also locally-made food and crafts like jewelry, candles and canned goods. One wonderful aspect about the market is the opportunity to meet the people who made these unique products.
Shop for scarves, hats and skeins of yarn spun from Alpacas
We’ll admit that a trip to The Great Alaskan Bowl Company doesn’t sound particularly interesting on the surface, but we strongly recommend that that you carve out some time to visit. The company is one of a handful of bowl mills left in North America that use traditional wood-carving machinery. The artists who create these unique pieces are more than happy to show guests around, answer questions and share their love of the craft with you. In addition to well-made bowls, you can also bring home a wide selection of Alaskan food gift items.
Nesting bowls made of burl from an Alaskan Birch tree. Photo courtesy of The Great Alaskan Bowl Company.
You may have not been thinking about visiting a bookstore during your Alaskan trip, but you’ll at least want to spend a few moments in Gulliver’s Books & Second Story Cafe. It’s North America’s northernmost independently-owned bookstore and has one of the largest collections of Alaska-related literature in the state. You can spend hours in this delightful shop, browsing its vast selection. If you get hungry, conveniently, there’s a great coffee shop upstairs!
Photo courtesy of Gulliver’s Books & Second Story Cafe
Love fine art? Be sure spend some time in Two Street Gallery. Located in the center of downtown, Two Street is one of Fairbanks’ newest locations to view and purchase art. This co-op showcases the work of Alaskan artists and includes prints, sculptures, textiles and much more. On the first Friday of each month, the gallery puts new work on display. If you have any questions, there there is always an artist on-site to answer them. If decide to buy an item that’s a little too large for you to carry around for the rest of your trip, don’t worry – shipping is available!
Photo courtesy of Two Street Gallery
Fairbanks is Alaska’s “Golden Heart,” so it makes sense to bring a bit of this precious metal home with you. At Alaskan Gold Rush Fine Jewelry, you can watch experienced goldsmiths design craft-custom jewelry creations. You can also purchase natural Alaskan gold nuggets and gold nugget jewelry.
Photo courtesy of Alaskan Gold Rush Fine Jewelry
Interested in learning more about Alaska cruise options? Contact a CruiseExperts.com agent for help planing your next vacation. Call us at 1-888-804-CRUISE (2784) or visit our website, www.CruiseExperts.com.
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