I'll be visiting Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver later this month and would like any must-see suggestions for Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary. I've been to Vancouver once before so I'm not looking for any particular suggestions for that city.

I've been looking at maps... Winnipeg and Edmonton look quite small so if there's no suggestions I'm sure we'll end up finding something to do without going too far. Calgary on the other hand looks like it might have a bit more to offer around the city.

Also, are those 3 cities walkable? Neither myself nor the person I'm going with have a drivers license (Toronto - don't need one ;) ) so will we be able to get around on foot? Should we stick to public transit or just take taxi everywhere we go?

Thanks guys.

Edit: Might I add, we love bars so any good any bars around we also be appreciated :D

Edmonton: Of course WEM. The University of Alberta. Jasper Ave. on the west side of downtown.

Calgary: Eau Claire area with its great restaurants like Joey's Tomato. Stephen Ave. All of downtown.

I'm not sure what you're looking for, however, here are a few things that you might want to consider (depending on your interest) for Calgary ...

- A walk down Stephen Avenue walk downtown and the adjacent malls
, including the Devonion Gardens (quite cool, being in the fourth floor of an office building above an elevated network of malls), ending at Olympic Plaza
http://www.downtowncalgary.com/SAW/index.php
http://www.ilovegardens.com/Features/Devonian_Gardens/devonian_gardens.html

- As mentioned previously, a visit to Eau Claire Market, and a stroll into Prince's Island Park
http://www.eauclairemarket.com/main/index.php
http://www.calgaryplus.ca/portal/profile.do?profileID=90124
http://www.river-cafe.com/

- a visit to the zoo (depending on if this is your type of thing) ... the Calgary zoo is among the biggest and best in Canada
http://www.calgaryzoo.org/

- a visit to heritage park (again, depending on if this is your type of thing) ... it is Canada's largest living historical village
http://www.heritagepark.ca/

- a Flames hockey game at the Saddledome (good luck getting tickets - every game is generally sold-out)
http://www.calgaryflames.com/

- the 17th Ave S/W stretch
http://uptown17.ca/about.htm

- for view points, Crescent Heights, Scotman's Hill and Sarcee trail
- for shopping, beyond the downtown malls mentioned above, Chinook Centre will be your best bet
http://www.chinookcentre.com/

In the Calgary region, you also have
- the Royal Tyrrell Museum, which contains the largest collection of dinosaur fossils in the world [the region East of Calgary is one of the worlds best fossil beds]
http://www.tyrrellmuseum.com/
- world famous Banff to the West
http://www.discoverbanff.com/
- various other wonderful places in the mountains

IF you are driving between Edmonton and Calgary, and if the weather is good, I highly recommend going via Jasper and the Ice Fields Parkway.
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/destinations/Banff_National_Park/Icefields_Parkway_Drive.html
http://www.canadianrockies.net/icepwy.html
http://www.columbiaicefield.com/

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys!

Walli. How much are Flames games typically when you grab them from a scalper?

Winnipeg.
Visit
The Forks Market
http://www.theforks.com/
A market and national historic park converted from old CNR shops and warehouses
Osborne Village
Corydon avenue
Take the free Downtown Spirit bus to most of these places
The riverwalk will take you from the forks to the Legislative bldg. Osborne Street is just to the west. Cross the bridge over the Assiniboine River and you are on Osborne. Great restaurants and shops. A great bohemian type of neighborhood. Corydon (Little Italy) is to the south at the junction of Pembina and Osborne. Go west from there

The Historic Exchange District.
http://www.exchangedistrict.org/default.aspx
Just North of Portage and Main
to the east and west of Main Street. Great galleries shops and restaurants in like 40 city blocks of over 100 year old buildings.

There are also downtown pedstrian tunnels and skywalks connectin much of downtown such as the Bay, Portage Place, MTS Centre, the Library, cityplace, and Portage and Main. Busy on the weekdays.

Edmonton:

WEM - budget a day or so

Whyte avenue (82ave) - shops, food, nightlife *a must see

www.edmontonoilers.com

Downtown - check out the legislature grounds, very nice this time of year.


Muttart Conservatory - just southeast of downtown, the BIG GLASS PYRAMIDS.

www.ualberta.ca - wonderful to walk around

Royal Alberta Museum - http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/

Aviation Museum - http://www.albertaaviationmuseum.com/

Telus world of science - http://www.odyssium.com/

Citadel Theatre - http://www.citadeltheatre.com/

Nighlife - Stick to Whyte avenue or Jasper ave.

http://www.edmontondaytrips.com/

Museums in Winnipeg:
Western Canada Aviation Museum
http://www.wcam.mb.ca/
The Manitoba Museum:
http://www.manitobamuseum.mb.ca/home.html
Winnipeg Railway Museum
St Boniface Museum, the oldest structure in Winnipeg in the French speaking community of Winnipeg
Sargent and Ellice avenues have some good ethnic shops.

Thanks for all your suggestions guys. Much appreciated.

So ur flying into each of these cities?

For transit info and things to do in Vancouver see this thread. (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=282062) Vancouver has a pretty good transit system. Unfortunatly construction of RAV the new airport subway line has only just started, there is rapid bus service in place right now so getting from the Airport to downtown isnt that hard.

Translink is Canada's largest public transportation body covering an area larger than the TTC. (http://www.translink.bc.ca)

@cassius - if you have access to a computer, PM one of us Edmonton forumers and we can hook up and show you around, or have a bevy or two.

have a great time Cassius... the West has great cities and people are very friendly over there. Make sure to take some photos for us back east! =D

*go oilers!*

DON'T TELL THEM WHERE YOU'RE FROM.

Also, are those 3 cities walkable? Neither myself nor the person I'm going with have a drivers license (Toronto - don't need one ;) ) so will we be able to get around on foot? Should we stick to public transit or just take taxi everywhere we go?

For Vancouver:

If you are from North America - you are probably be fine our transit system.

If you are from Europe or developed Asian cities - take the taxi. You will hate our transit system.

@cassius - if you have access to a computer, PM one of us Edmonton forumers and we can hook up and show you around, or have a bevy or two.
I'm in Edmonton right now but leave tomorrow morning. I wish I had read this message earlier because I definitely would have taken someone up on that. So far I've gone to Jasper Ave but it didn't seem like much was going on. Certainly not everything closes at midnight in this city, does it? Last night myself and a friend spent about 2 hours walking to streets looking for a bar to visit but everything was closed or empty. We'll be doing Whyte later today hopefully.

So far I've gone to Jasper Ave but it didn't seem like much was going on. Certainly not everything closes at midnight in this city, does it? Last night myself and a friend spent about 2 hours walking to streets looking for a bar to visit but everything was closed or empty. We'll be doing Whyte later today hopefully.

Some Calgarians refer to Edmonton as Deadmonton.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, guys!

Walli. How much are Flames games typically when you grab them from a scalper?

If you can get tickets from a scalper at the dome, they should be face-value [$150-$50 generally]. I'm not sure how many are available however, and if it's a big game, don't hold your breath.

Prices at buysell.com and ebay.ca are generally double face-value [they sell you a card or trinket, and the tickets come along free - this way there is no legal issue].

Edmonton: Of course WEM. The University of Alberta. Jasper Ave. on the west side of downtown.
oceanmdx,
We're staying at Jasper & 106. Whereabouts along Jasper do you mean?

^^Cassius, regarding Jasper Ave. I wasn't suggesting that that is where to find a significant nightlife. Jasper Ave. (west of the CBD) is the road along which can be found Edmonton's highest concentration of midrise condos. So I was only suggesting Jasper Ave. as the place to view some condos.

For nightlife, I'd check out Whyte Ave. Coming from TO, you need to lower your expectations - big time.

Double Post

^^Cassius, regarding Jasper Ave. I wasn't suggesting that that is where to find a significant nightlife. Jasper Ave. (west of the CBD) is the road along which can be found Edmonton's highest concentration of midrise condos. So I was only suggesting Jasper Ave. as the place to view some condos.

For nightlife, I'd check out Whyte Ave. Coming from TO, you need to lower your expectations - big time.

Cassius, you should have walked west towards 109 Street and Jasper. You would have found The Bank Bar Ultralounge, Fluid Lounge, Globe, Stonehouse, etc. Heading east would have taken you towards the core which is mainly office buildings with not much going on at all. Although, there are two good spots on the block between 105 and 106 Streets and Jasper, Red Star and Halo.

Yes, coming from Toronto prepare to lower your standards.

Thanks guys. We did Whyte Avenue that night and had a blast. My buddy got hammerred by 1:30am so I dropped him at the hotel and went out to an after hours party called Y After Hours Club. Had a blast there as well.

We're in Calgary now and leave tomorrow AM for Vancouver. Calgary has been ok. Unfortunately we've been partying so much that we both had to crash all day Saturday so we didn't get to see much Calgary nightlife. We did make it to Roadhouse (I think that's what it's named) Sunday night which was pretty good for a while.

The Roadhouse? Why on Earth did you do that?

Go to Broken City on 11th ave or something.

yes...jasper and 109st would have been the best bet as per CMD...but whyte is always right.

[QUOTE=cassius]Thanks guys. We did Whyte Avenue that night and had a blast. My buddy got hammerred by 1:30am so I dropped him at the hotel and went out to an after hours party called Y After Hours Club. Had a blast there as well.[QUOTE]

As long as you enjoyed your time in E-Town. Its too bad you didnt contact some of us locals earlier and help you out on where to go. Hope you have a great time as it seems that you did on Whyte.

The Roadhouse? Why on Earth did you do that?

Go to Broken City on 11th ave or something.
Well, it was a Sunday night and Roadhouse was what our bartender recommended. It was actually quite good right up until they did this stupid "shadow porn" thingie which destroyed the vibe of the night.

Dude - one day in Calgary? Wow. I guess you'll miss a bunch. If you are still there, I'd stay clear of Eau Claire - it's in desparate need of ummm...an overhaul.

But I'm surprised no one suggested COP...take a bobsled ride!

Enjoy the drive through the mountains...personally, I'd recommend stopping in Kelowna - I love that town in the summer, not sure how it is in the winter.