Sometimes referred to as “Cowtown” or the “Dallas of the North” due to its dominance in Canada’s cattle and oil and gas industries, Calgary is a vibrant and prosperous city of 1.3 million with the highest income per capita in the country. Its economy has diversified over the years as a result of the product and service needs of the energy sector, to include financial services, communications, transportation, manufacturing, agri-business, film and creative industries, tourism, and alternative energies and environmental technologies.
It’s also an entrepreneurial hotbed with the largest concentration of small businesses and entrepreneurs among Canadian cities. Trendy new neighbourhoods are popping up, along with a burgeoning cultural scene boasting museums, galleries and music festivals.
The biggest event in town is undoubtedly the world-famous Calgary Stampede (www.calgarystampede.com) – an annual rodeo, exhibition and festival held every July. Billed as “The Greatest Show on Earth”, this 10-day extravaganza attracts over a million locals and visitors every year (including Prince William and Kate on their first international tour in 2011), and features North America’s biggest rodeo with chuckwagon racing and bull riding, the world’s second largest parade (after the Rose Bowl), concerts, stage shows and exhibitions of the First Nations, North America’s indigenous peoples.
The Stampede is so ingrained in Calgary’s pride and national identity that the local Canadian Football League team is called the “Stampeders”, and the city’s primary indoor arena, home of the Calgary Flames hockey team, is the distinctive Saddledome with a roof in the shape of, you guessed it, a saddle. The whole city gets into the cowboy spirit during the Stampede, donning Western wear and taking part in cross-town events such as barbecues and complimentary pancake breakfasts served out of the backs of chuckwagons.
If you’re here during the festivities, get a pair of old-fashioned denims (no designer jeans here), and cowboy shirts from the numerous Western gear shops along Stephen Ave Mall downtown, and top off the whole look with a Canadian Smithbilt hat (www.smithbilthats.com). Since the 1950s, every visiting celebrity and dignitary has been honoured in a White Hat Ceremony – Calgary’s unique version of the key to the city. You can have yours custom fitted in any colour starting from C$90 (US$88.5) for a wool hat to C$950 (US$934) for a beaver felt version.
For insight into the historic and cultural life of Western Canada, the Glenbow Museum (www.glenbow.org) downtown features unique exhibits such as “Mavericks”, a look into the early pioneers of Alberta, and “Native Cultures”, an interactive cultural history of the region’s indigenous peoples. There is also an extensive collection of art from the North American West.
Aside from the Stampede, Calgary has a rich sporting history. The city hosted the Olympic Winter Games in 1988, and Canada Olympic Park (www.winsportcanada.ca), just a 15-minute drive from downtown Calgary, was the premier venue for the ski jumping, luge and bobsled competitions. The park continues its Olympic legacy with world-class training facilities for athletes and year-round recreation for the general public. In the winter, there are cross-country ski trails, snowboarding, freestyle aerials and moguls courses.
If you’re visiting during the summer, get your adrenaline rush by barrelling down the Olympic track in a professionally driven bobsled on wheels instead of blades (just sit tight and keep your head down), or experience North America’s fastest zip line at speeds of up to 137 km/h from the top of the park’s 60-metre Ski Jump Tower.
Also at the Park is Canada’s Sports Hall of Fame (www.sportshall.ca), a new 40,000sq ft (3,716 sqm) building honouring 520 inducted Canadian sports heroes, and showcasing Canada’s greatest moments in sports. There are over 50 interactive exhibits, and more than 1,000 artefacts from 60 sports including Terry Fox’s shoe from the Marathon of Hope, Jacque Villeneuve’s F1 racecar and memorabilia of hockey legend Wayne Gretzky of the Calgary Flames.
The colourful pedestrian Peace Bridge
Right Neighbourly
A rarity among modern urban centres, rather than having a downtown area ringed by independent suburbs, Calgary’s districts are for the most part incorporated into the city proper. In the shadow of the landmark 191-metre-tall Calgary Tower, the central city consists of five neighbourhoods: Eau Claire (including the Festival District), the Downtown West End, the Downtown Commercial Core, Chinatown, and the Downtown East Village (also part of the Rivers District).
A 15-minute walk from downtown is Uptown 17 (on 17th Ave SW), Calgary’s lively and pedestrian-friendly district fairly bursting with over 400 restaurants, outdoor cafés, popular watering holes and
clothing shops.
Across the Elbow River from the city centre is Inglewood, a once dilapidated neighbourhood that has enjoyed recent gentrification, and is now home to many eclectic home décor and antique stores. Dade Art and Design Lab carries a range of original art and sculptures by local artists, while Circa specialises in mid-20th century vintage art glass and collectibles. Several of the area’s historic buildings have been restored and transformed into live music performance venues, and fine-dining establishments.
Bohemian Kensington is filled with fashion boutiques, book and gift shops, edgy furniture stores, and coffee houses popular with the indie-alternative crowd and students from two nearby colleges.
Calgarians are the retail spending champions of Canada, with the highest per-capita expenditure in the country. Many brands and local designers open stores and launch exclusive lines in Calgary first. For those short on time, retail therapy is made even easier thanks to a first-of-its-kind website tool created by Tourism Calgary. The site enables visitors to search over 400 stores and three shopping centres to create a personalised shopping itinerary, as well as suggestions on nearby dining and entertainment options.
In addition to the recommender tool, www.visitcalgary.com is also a source of information on the city’s fashion events, and offers special deals on shopping packages.
For downtown accommodation that is sleek and green, the Hotel Le Germain (www.germaincalgary.com) – a 143-room boutique property directly opposite the Calgary Tower – is built with energy-conservation in mind. The entrance features an eight-metre glass wall which fills the lobby and lounge with natural light. Guestrooms are spacious with large workstations and ergonomic chairs, as well as complimentary high-speed wireless internet. There’s even a fresh air supply humidified at 30 per cent so no more stuffy hotel rooms. The naturally lit bathrooms feature rainfall showers, Frette cotton towels and Molton Brown toiletries.
The boardrooms and meeting rooms feature contemporary design and state-of-the-art lighting and audio-visual systems. In case you forgot yours, there are laptops reserved especially for guests. The 24-hour fitness centre offers panoramic views of the Calgary skyline, and don’t miss the superb Sante Spa, located on the top floor of the hotel to help alleviate the effects of jet lag, cramped flights and hectic schedules.
Stephen Avenue in downtown Calgary
Culinary Calgary
Long a town known in the culinary landscape for its steakhouses, the Calgary gastronomy scene has grown increasingly innovative, sophisticated and diverse. Here are some of the best eateries the city has to offer:
Charcut (www.charcut.com) at the Hotel Le Germain, serves local, chef-driven, rustic cuisine, and the restaurant sports a hand-crafted charcuterie eating bar. Co-owner Connie DeSousa, a finalist in the highly rated reality series Top Chef Canada, incorporates ingredients sourced from small, local artisan farmers and ranchers.
Rouge (www.rougecalgary.com)
has two locations – the one in Inglewood is housed in a historic home that’s been designated as a Heritage Site. Winner of the Pellegrino World’s Best Restaurants 2010 Award, Rouge is fine dining without the pretence, and their philosophy of partnering with local food growers and utilising homegrown produce from their onsite garden results in internationally inspired dishes with exquisite flavours.
NOtaBLE (http://notabletherestaurant.ca) has an open kitchen with a large, wood-fired rotisserie. Standouts in its gourmet comfort food menu include its monthly burger inspirations, all the rotisserie meats and the signature Stilton cheesecake.
River Café (www.river-cafe.com) at Prince’s Island Park is like dining in a cosy log cabin with a roaring fire by the riverbank. They even have a bar shelf framed by a canoe, and an outdoor patio for the warmer months. Chefs prepare seasonal Canadian cuisine, and employ artisanal techniques in bread making and curing meats.
Centini (www.centini.com) located at the TELUS Convention Centre serves fine Italian and continental European cuisine. Its Business Express lunch is popular with busy executives in the downtown area. Bring your expense account.
Banff National Park
Head to the Mountains
Although Calgary has much to offer, there’s more to appreciate beyond its immediate environs. This town is known as the gateway to the Canadian Rockies. Just 138km northwest of the city is Banff National Park, Canada’s first national park and a Unesco World Heritage site. Offering year-round outdoor pursuits in the heart of the Rocky Mountains, the area boasts award-winning golf courses, superlative hiking and, naturally, world-class skiing and every other winter activity imaginable. The picturesque town of Banff itself is dotted with speciality clothing stores (there’s a fantastic selection of skiwear and gear), artisan candy shops, art galleries and natural mineral hot springs.
The historic Fairmont Banff Springs (www.fairmont.com), which opened in 1888, is one of Canada’s Grand Railways hotels, and is modelled after a Scottish castle. For the most striking views, check out the Rimrock Resort (www.rimrockresort.com), an AAA Four Diamond award-winning property. Carved into the side of Sulphur Mountain, the hotel is perched 230 metres above the town of Banff.
Head over to the Banff Grizzly House restaurant (www.banff
grizzlyhouse.com) for fabulous fondues and sizzling hot rock entrées where you can cook your own Alberta beef, seafood and wild game. For those with an adventurous palate, there are exotic meats such as alligator, kangaroo and ostrich. The restaurant’s rustic décor features totem poles, a wood-carved bear and bearskin rugs. For more elegant surroundings, the superb Bison restaurant with a mountain-viewed terrace (www.thebison.ca) specialises in regional and seasonal fare such as AAA Alberta beef tenderloin and Rocky Mountain venison.
Only 45 minutes past Banff is Lake Louise, renowned as the birthplace of Canadian mountaineering, and one of the largest ski areas in North America. The luxurious Chateau Lake Louise (www.fairmont.com/lake-louise) is superbly situated on the eastern shores of the lake and framed by snow-capped mountains. The hotel can arrange seemingly limitless activities such as cross-country ski tours, dog-sledding on an Inuit sled, snowshoeing with a mountain heritage guide, or simply skating through the ice castle on Lake Louise. For those who like pushing the boundaries, try heli-hiking with exclusive airborne access to pristine trails inaccessible by road. You can also ride on the Rocky Mountaineer train from April to October for unforgettable views of the Rockies.
All that activity and crisp mountain air is sure to give you an appetite. Satisfy your hunger at Chateau Lake Louise’s Walliser Stube restaurant, which features Swiss-influenced dishes including cheese, meat and chocolate fondues. The menu is in honour of the Swiss mountain guides in the beginning of the 20th century who led hotel guests and visitors on climbing excursions.
