Ever Dreamed of Visiting the North Pole? Alaska Has the Next Best Thing
Santa Claus Lane is one of a handful of Christmas-themed street names in North Pole, Alaska (Photo: Erika Bisbocci/Shutterstock)
Admit it: when you were a kid, paying a visit to Santa and his workshop in the North Pole was one of the top items on your travel bucket list (before you’d even heard of the term “bucket list”, most likely). As you’ve gotten older and realized the impossibility of making such a journey, maybe that dream has fallen by the way side — but I’ve got good news for you: you can start dreaming again.
While you may not be able to visit the North Pole itself, it is possible to travel up to Alaska, where you’ll find a little town bearing the same name. In North Pole, Alaska — a town of about 2,000 people found just east of Fairbanks — every day is Christmas (and not in that nightmarish way Huey, Dewey, and Louie experience it in “Mickey’s Once Upon a Christmas”).
The town considers itself the North Pole’s American embassy, according to Thrillist, and acts accordingly, adorning itself in all the hallmarks of Christmas — lights and decorations left up all year long; streets named things like Santa Claus Lane and Kris Kringle Drive, which are lined up and down with candy cane colors; and a post office that officially shares a zip code (99705) with the jolly old elf himself.
In a normal year, North Pole also hosts its annual Winterfest, a two-day event held in early December that features rows of food vendors lining the town’s main drag, a Christmas candle lighting ceremony (complete with singing), a pair of fireworks shows, and more. (The town’s Summerfest, held around the Fourth of July, is equally Christmas-y, in case you were wondering.)
Of course, you’ll also find Santa’s official digs in North Pole. The Santa Claus House, found along St. Nicholas Drive, popped up in the early 1950s, serving primarily as a grocery store and a post office during its first couple decades. These days, it is a gift shop filled to the brim with Christmas treasures and a staff with pens at the ready to write personalized Santa Letters to boys and girls from all over the world.
The Santa Claus House, a gift shop filled to the brim with Christmas treasures, can be found along St. Nicholas Drive (Photo: La Passion Voûtée)
Since 1983, visitors to the Santa Claus House have been greeted by old St. Nick himself — a 42-foot-tall, 900-pound, fiberglass statue version of him, that is. One of the original owners of the gift shop, Con Miller, bought the statue in a state of disrepair for $4,500 in the late ‘70s, subsequently fixing it up so it could stand just outside the house, ushering would-be customers indoors with a friendly wave.
If you want to carry your Christmas spirit right into dinnertime, Elf’s Den Restaurant & Lounge on Mistletoe Drive is happy to serve you. More of a truck stop-style diner than a fine dining establishment, as the sign outside would have you believe, the mom-and-pop restaurant serves Greek, Italian, and American cuisine.
Other spots around town to grab a bite to eat include Little Richard’s Family Diner, which is housed in a retro rail car; Outlaw Tamales, which serves up authentic Mexican fare; and Great Alaska Pizza Company. There’s also North Pole Crepery, Thai and Chinese restaurants, and a handful of fast food joints, including Wendy’s and Taco Bell, if the craving strikes.
Lodging in the city itself consists solely of Hotel North Pole, a 71-room, extended-stay lodge just off the main highway, but plenty of other accommodations can be found in nearby Fairbanks if big-city life (I’m using that term relatively here) is more your thing.
Lastly, though we’re going to assume you came to North Pole to get your Christmas on, there are other things to do in the area. Outdoor activities such as fishing, boating, and hiking abound — I mean, this is Alaska, for Pete’s sake. TripAdvisor has a few recommendations to at least get you started.
-LTH
P.S. For some fun facts about the actual North Pole, check out “15 Things That Actually Exist in The North Pole (10 Things in The South Pole)”, a list of interesting tidbits cobbled together by thetravel.com.