Fairbanks is the second-largest city in Alaska and the gateway to the Interior and the Arctic. It sits on the Chena River in a broad valley surrounded by boreal forest, and everything about it is shaped by extremes: summer days that never get dark and winter nights that never get light, temperatures that swing from +35°C to -40°C across the year.
In summer, Fairbanks is a starting point for trips to Denali National Park and the Dalton Highway north to the Arctic Ocean. The midnight sun keeps things going around the clock in June and July. In winter, the city is one of the best places on earth to see the northern lights — the aurora is visible on average more than 200 nights a year. The University of Alaska Museum of the North, with its distinctive swooping roofline, has excellent exhibits on Arctic natural history and Alaska Native cultures.