Calgary

See

thumb|250px|right|The African Savannah Building at the Calgary Zoo thumbnail|400px|Stampede Grandstand The pamphlet titled "Calgary attractions" has discount coupons for 14 tourist attractions. Some coupons are modest such as $1 off Calgary Tower admission, but others can be substantial such as 50% off a second admission to Heritage Park Historical Village. The pamphlet is available at the Tourism Calgary airport kiosk (arrival level) or in the ground floor lobby of the Calgary Tower.(Jun 2016)

Buy

17th Avenue (in City Centre). 17 Avenue S between 14 Street SW and Macleod Trail SE is Calgary's best-known urban business street and a major venue for boutique shopping, bars, pubs and restaurants. Downtown (in City Centre). Includes Stephen (8th) Avenue pedestrian walk, Barclay Parade, and The Core Shopping Centre which contains approximately 160 retailers on four levels. Kensington Village (in Northwest). Centred on 10 Street NW and Kensington Road NW, Kensington is home to art galleries, fashion retailers, and antiques. Inglewood (in Southeast) Centred on 9 Avenue SE, east of the Elbow River, Inglewood is an urban shopping area and historic district that highlights are the coffee shops, art galleries, trendy clothiers, and upscale furniture shops. Chinook Centre (in Southwest). Calgary's largest indoor mall and one of the best shopping experiences in the city for variety and amount of retail shops. CrossIron Mills (in Northeast). This large indoor mall is in the neighbouring hamlet of Balzac, north of Calgary. Similar in format to other "mills" malls, it has many well-known stores and outlets as the first new enclosed mall to be built in the Calgary area in a generation. Market Mall (in Northwest). Calgary's second largest indoor mall. Southcentre Mall (in Southwest). Calgary's third largest indoor mall.

Calgary is also home to numerous farmers' markets such as the Calgary Farmers Market and Crossroads Market, both located in the Southeast.

Eat

Calgary offers a wide variety of dining options. While Calgary doesn't have a single signature dish, residents are very proud of Alberta beef, and Calgarians are discerning customers of steakhouses. Speaking of beef, the popular Chinese-Canadian dish of ginger beef was invented in Calgary in the 1970s. Chocolaterie Bernard Callebaut (also called Cococo), winner of international awards for chocolate-making, is based in Calgary, with many stores in the city.

Calgary is also home to a very culturally diverse population, with a very wide selection of international restaurants, especially from East and Southeast Asia, and the Mediterranean from Italy through Lebanon. Calgary is, however, generally lacking in decent Mexican food, and the inland location means that a good meal of seafood is sometimes hard to find. The highest density of restaurants are located along 17th Avenue (Beltline), 4th Street (Mission), or Stephen (8th) Avenue - all located in the City Centre district.

Restaurants in the downtown area are very busy between noon and 1PM on weekdays due to the lunch crowd of office workers; if you can, try to stagger your lunch to start around 11:15 or 1:30. You'll face much shorter lineups. Buffets are often only prepared once for lunchtime, and visiting a buffet after 12:15 or so will typically be a depressing dining experience.

Calgary is also the city of founding for major Canadian restaurant chains Hy's, JOEY, Jugo Juice, Edo Japan, CRAFT Beer Market, OPA! of Greece, S…

Drink

Calgary is the original home of the Caesar cocktail, sometimes called Canada's national cocktail. There are many bars throughout the city, although the core is where the trendiest clubs are. There is also the ever-popular 17th Avenue SW (in City Centre), home to the Red Mile. CRAFT Beer Market. 100 local and international beers, including a one-of-a-kind weekly cask brew, and an extensive list of wine, cocktails and spirits. Three locations throughout Calgary. National. Restaurant & entertainment venue inspired by North American tastes, with games and events, extraordinary food, and select craft beers. Three locations throughout Calgary. Ranchman's Cookhouse and Dance Hall (in Southwest). Year-round destination for all things Western: line dancing, country music, and more. Very popular during Stampede Week.

Calgary has a large selection of craft breweries and craft distilleries located throughout the city.

Sleep

Accommodations are mainly located in the City Centre, Motel Village in the Northwest near 16 Avenue NW and Crowchild Trail, and in the Northeast near the Calgary International Airport and along Barlow Trail. There are hostels located in the City Centre.

There are several campgrounds near Calgary, but only one is inside the city limits.

Stay safe

Although Calgary is generally a very safe place, walking at night should be avoided in the East Village and Victoria Park areas of downtown (generally speaking, this is the area adjacent to the Stampede Grounds and north to the Bow River). Calgary's 2011 murder rate of 1.1 murders per 100,000 inhabitants was, for example, roughly one-tenth the murder rate of Minneapolis and one-twentieth that of Memphis. Always keep your wits about you when the bars close, regardless of the area of town.

Calgary drivers are typical drivers for a mid-sized western North American city. Culturally, Calgary is a mash-up of small town culture and big city living, and driving in Calgary is no exception. If you come from a small town in rural North America, the drivers would be considerably more aggressive than you are used to. If you are from a larger busier urban area, or are from Europe for instance, Calgary drivers can be considered quite timid and under-skilled. A driver from New York, London or even Montreal and Toronto would consider the Calgary driver to lack confidence more than anything. Calgarians are generally quite aware of pedestrians and usually give pedestrians right of way, as required by law. Calgarians are generally safe and cautious (some consider overly cautious) drivers, though.

Calgary freeways are nowhere near as congested and confusing as L.A. freeways or the 401 in Toronto, but Deerfoot Trail is to be avoided if you're not comfortable with 100 km/h freeway driving, a…

Connect

The area codes in Calgary are 403 and 587, however calling between the codes does not involve long distance charges so long as the phones are within the local calling area.

Public Wi-Fi (city program) WiFi Hotspots in Calgary

Go next

Banff and Lake Louise. Nearby, well-known winter ski areas and mountain summer escapes. Brooks. 2 hours east of Calgary; 50 kilometres away from the 73 km2 Dinosaur Provincial Park, one of Alberta's 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, boasts one of the best dinosaur fossil beds in the world. Cardston. The Remington Carriage Museum houses the largest collection of horse-drawn vehicles in North America with over 250 carriages, wagons and sleighs. Diamond Valley. Turner Valley Gas Plant National and Provincial Historic Site is a pioneering natural gas plant 45 minutes (by car) south of Calgary, where the Dingman No. 1 well's centennial was celebrated on May 14, 2014. See how natural gas from Canada's largest gas field was processed prior to WWII. Drumheller. 90 minutes east of Calgary. The world famous Royal Tyrrell Museum houses many palaeontological specimens. Edmonton. The nearest urban, metropolitan centre to the North is host to North America's largest mall and has a vibrant cultural scene. It is a 3-hour drive north of Calgary on Highway 2. Fort Macleod. A 90 minute drive south of Calgary. Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, one of Alberta's 5 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, is 18 km NW of Fort Macleod with an excellent interpretive centre open year round. Jasper. A well-known mountain destination about 4 hours drive northwest of Calgary. Kananaskis Country and Canmore. Mountain destinations about an hour car travel away. Okotoks, suburban town south of Calgary. Red Deer. A ci…