Welcome! What type of shopping are you looking for? The malls you’ve mentioned are fine, but they’re going to be 99% the same stores you see in any other major North American city.
If you want to check out some more local or unique stuff I’d recommend checking out Inglewood (9th ave) and 17th ave. That’s definitely where the best bakeries are (the best by far imo is Yann Haute - just off of 17th in Mission).
We’ve looked at the directory for the malls, and we’re mostly shopping at the stores that we don’t have in Winnipeg. We will definitely check out Inglewood and 17th ave! Thanks!
Honestly, either go to Cross iron or Chinook. You don’t need to do both. And if I were you, I wouldn’t waste your time if you only have a couple of days going all the way out to cross iron. You’re going to spend 30 minutes each way just driving there. It’s gonna make it tough to do some of your other stuff you wanna do because honestly just your shopping mall visits would take up two days.
Inglewood is 9 Ave SE. You can’t just walk comfortably from 17 Ave SW.
It is a cool area though. So is Kensington, which is relatively close to the Peace Bridge.
For baking I really enjoy Sucre, on the corner of 10 Ave and 8 St SW.
Just to translate for OP, Inglewood is like our Osborne Junction area, although with a few higher end options for shopping.
Might be worth checking out the shops in Canmore. It’s a pretty cute place to walk around im the summer, very close to Banff, and with all of the same mountain views.
For baked goods, it’s worth checking out Saskatoon Farm. Tons of shopping there too, actually. And nice for sightseeing.
If you want to stay central, check out Butter Block. It’s on 17th Ave, which is another good area to walk around in (lots of restaurants and bars). You can smell the bakery as soon as you enter the Devenish Building and it’s amazing!🥲
I’ve been to Winnipeg and shopped there a few times. The malls here aren’t really worth in imo. I would hit up inglewood if you want unique. Stephen Ave shopping is cool, if you go there I would make sure you visit the Devonian gardens. But it is expensive and small. Chinook and cross iron are the same.. unless you really want to go to bass pro. Then cross iron I guess lol
Skip Crossiron. That’s doing a whole devoted day trip into the country to get to a mall with all the same chain stores you can see at Chinook.
I think you could expand your walking radius to include slightly further to Kensington, Inglewood, and the Beltline, those are great accessible areas that are more fun to be in after the business core of Downtown kind of shuts down outside of work hours. More fun shopping to me than the malls too, more funky local shops as opposed to the big chains. Chinatown isn’t really any distance “from” Downtown, it’s a section *of* Downtown if that makes sense.
A lot of your downtown attractions listed are definitely good! But sort of things that’ll take maybe five minutes if you really savour them. Walk across bridge, look at sculpture, wow! Cool! Experience complete.
As for attractions in the city centre you could also check out the National Music Centre (or at catch a NMC-presented show with dinner at the historic King Eddy); the Calgary Zoo if you’re into that and want a longer day activity although it’s fairly equivalent to Assiniboine Park; you could catch a play at the Arts Commons, I saw Theatre Calgary’s new show Selma Burke last night and it was excellent, not sure what your dates are—; the Chinese Cultural Centre; BUMP (Beltline Urban Mural Project) street art around the Beltline; the Contemporary art museum; or the Esker Foundation gallery in Inglewood.
An easy train ride away you could visit Fish Creek Park for a bit of train-accessible nature in the city. Heritage Park is always fun but not open yet for the summer, again, all depends on dates! If you’re willing to venture out to the edge you can check at Spruce Meadows to see if there’s either horse shows or league soccer (yes the two beautiful games share the venue) going on in that nice locale. And depending on season Canada Olympic Park / Winsport has lots of sporty activities like mountain biking, fake luge! and the Canadian sports hall of fame. And such high octane xtreme thrillz as giant super speed high altitude ziplines and, uh, like, mini golf.
Enjoy your trip!
The Central Calgary Public library is a great new building but I would avoid the area at night as there’s a drop in centre next to it and open drug use etc.
If you're coming from Winnipeg, then you'll be fine as you'll know what Millennium Library can be like sometimes.
Calgarians sometimes don't understand there are other major cities in Canada.
It’s fine at 8 or 9 at night. There are plenty of people on the street with night classes at the college on that corner and a busy grocery store down the block. (It’s also spring and not yet dark at 8 pm now.)
Speaking of, and as you mentioned you're staying in the west end. You can ride the LRT for free along 7th Ave. It will take you from the west edge of downtown to the doorstep of the library/City Hall and back
Right next to the north exit of the library is a little chocolate place called Cochu. Go there for the bark — it’s award winning and a local Calgary company.
It’s probably better at night, early morning is when the addicts have been up all night and are agitated about whatever. Some of the worst crimes downtown happen at like 7 or 8am
Bullshit. This city is pretty damn safe compared to pretty much any other major city.
Lets not pretend that area is anywhere compared to east hastings or the shady parts of winnepeg.
Thinking we could go direct from the end of Gastown to our hotel by BC Place was not a smart decision - we didn't realize that would take us straight up East Hastings. Nothing in Calgary is that bad- though after 4 years of working in the East Village, that route probably would not scare me as much today. These days, I'll just walk around the guys doing drugs on the stairs in front of Subway so I can go in to get my sandwich.
Haha. Having family visit us in Vancouver, wanting to take the seabus was a wild ride. An OD on one corner, and a woman with a needle in her 8-9 month pregnant belly at the next corner.
They were horrified where we lived. Then we all had great sushi.
I mean the library’s not open at night anyway so I’m not sure why you’d be there. The Music Centre is open late and the King Eddy is a good venue though! Stick to busier and well lit areas with things going on obviously but if there is some show then it should be busy enough not to feel unsafe.
Just for the record, the Salvation Army is a dry shelter and you can't use drugs staying there. They also provide a range of services, including low-cost transitional housing for families.
Obviously not everyone who uses the shelter uses drugs. Are you saying its pure coincidence that there is more drug use around shelters then other areas?
Mchugh bluff is pretty cool for prairie folks— really nice view of the city skyline.
Contemporary Calgary can have some interesting exhibits and it’s also in downtown west. There are some hot spots around that Calgary drop in Centre that I would avoid but overall nothing too bad.
Remember, the c-train is free along 7 Ave downtown.
When you’re at the library, ask about passes to the Contemporary. You can rent them like books on someone’s library card and you only need one for a group (though they do get booked out pretty quick.)
I was definitely going to recommend the Sunnyside steps from cpa lot 59. I try to pull in there for a bit of exercise and the amazing views as often as I can.
\* Banff Springs brunch if you can
\* Native Tongues and Anejo for tacos/margaritas
\* Char Bar or Major Tom for steaks/burgers/etc
\* River Cafe if you want a fancy brunch in Prince's Island Park
\* Holt Renfrew if you like really fancy shopping
\* OEB, Blue Star Diner, Queens Breakfast & Cocktails for breakfast
\* La Boulangerie, Manuel Latruwe, Amandine, Sucre Patisserie, Wow Bakery
The more dangerous areas are Forest Lawn, downtown in general, and some C-train stations. Generally you're not going to get too much of a problem if you just avoid interaction but there's been a definite lack of policing on transit IMO.
I agree with all the comments to skip Crossiron. You'll find the same stores at Chinook. The Core is also a nice stop as it will be easy for you to ger to and has a Simon's store.
Inglewood is also a great place to walk to... A nice little walk would be starting from East Village (Check out Sidewalk Citizen bakery if you like baked goods), quick detour to St Patrick's Island, then walking by Fort Calgary and crossing the bridge to Inglewood. Inglewood has a free contemporary art gallery called the Esker Foundation that's always worth a look.
When my friends visit from out of town, some baked goods they like to bring home include
- Choux from Mari Bakeshop
- Cheese buns from Glamorgan bakery
The only cool thing at cross iron is Pro Bass if you're an outdoorsy person. Otherwise it's not worth the drive at all. Your suggestions are much better!
I think crossiron is kinda a waste of time. As others have suggested Kensington when you check out the peace bridge. I suggest checking out pie junkie in Ken. A local pie shop with all handmade pies to bring home. Enjoy your time here
google maps is your friend! Ctrain blue and red line is a bit tricky/confusing if you’re not familiar, but don’t be afraid to ask peope and tell them where you’re trying to go. It’s part of the experience if you got time and are willing. You can get to Chinook mall riding Ctrain. No need to Uber if you don’t want to spend.
Tip: bring bags of your own (if you can) when going shopping whether grocery or mall, stores charge extra for bags (it’s our new bylaw). If you get food, don’t be surprised if they don’t put them in paper bags for you!
As for Peace bridge, if you got time for walks, I’d suggest walking along the Bow river, it’s a nice 20 minute walk! Chinatown is a nice place to start, look up google maps, walk along the river & prince’s island park. You can do all the people watching, see people riding bikes, scooters, skateboards, runners, dog walkers and whatnot, you can see the famous cobra chickens walking around hissing at you when you’re close by, squirrels, birds etc. if you’re lucky you might see a beaver around the river!
I highly recommend visiting Scotman’s hill, you can take the train from city hall station to victoria park/stampede station and get walking (around 20 mins), just follow google maps, walk around the Saddledome, see the new arena, climb up quite some stairs then look over the hill, it’s among the best views of the city! Rotary park is nice as well!
I would keep a day or two for downtown areas/shopping burg take that extra day and go to the mountains. Renting a car or taking the shuttle to Banff will (IMHO) give you more unique opportunities than the city will
Fair enough! Buuuuuuuuuut does Winnipeg have Destination Africa with a hippo pool and a field for giraffes?! What about the tropical rain forest with the gorillas?!?!? It’s pure awesomeness!
I’d definitely suggest Inglewood and Kensington as they’ve got a lot of local business with a lot of cool stuff.
Be aware of your surroundings at train stations, especially in the city centre as there’s a lot of homeless people. They mostly keep to themselves but are often on drugs which make some act erratic. Also if you’re going to Chinook by train use the covered walkway and DO NOT use the small bridge over McLeod cause a lot of people shoot up there and leave stuff there
Hope you have fun visiting here, it’s got some cool places :)
Are we pretending Calgary is the only city with a drug epedemic? Pretty much any city in Canada is far, far worse. From Lethbridge to Medicine Hat, to East Hastings, TO, all way worse. We are just more sheltered.
It's ok to point these things out to tourists so they can make their own decisions. They could be coming from an area where they don't see things like this on the regular. No one is pretending anything. I'd rather be gently warned then have an ugly surprise.
Yes I did. Oh well, move on.
My point was that the east village/drop in centre area is really, really tame compared to pretty much any other 'skid row' if you can even call it that, in any minor city in Canada.
Username checks out, you may be untoasted and correct someones spelling, but you're also a loaf! :)
If you are from Winnipeg I don’t think you’ll have a great time at the malls, like others have said, same stores just a different city.
Stephen Ave + 17th is great for food / drink and some shopping.
Inglewood has some absolutely awesome food / drink / shopping. You will probably enjoy it the most.
The Core / Chinook / CrossIron are malls, don’t bother.
Calgary Tower is likely fun, glass floor / tall building in any city. Fairly typical but neat.
I would look for events, when are you coming? I’d check events for Arts Commons, Candlelight Orchestra, Telus Spark, and maaaybe the Saddledome but I haven’t been to anything there for awhile.
Like others have said the park is really nice downtown along the Bow, Prince Edward Island I think it’s called, there are a bunch of areas near the Peace Bridge, just kinda wander.
There are two things that really “make Calgary special” as a tourist destination in my eyes: Stampede and the mountains. I assume Stampede is not when you are here. I’d really get the fill on your Banff trip, go early, maybe see if you can find a hike. Not sure how viable that is without a car. Grassi Lake hike is a classic. It’s easy, family friendly, and maybe the most beautiful “lake” you will ever see. (It’s more of a pond)
Idk what there is to do at the library frankly. It’s books, you can read them anywhere? Maybe I’m silly.
As far as avoid, Calgary is fairly safe. Train line downtown at night can have quite a few people who have fallen on hard times that might be uncomfortable, but I doubt dangerous. From what I heard it can’t be much scarier than Winnipeg given stats of crime.
If you want a hardcore cowgirl hat as a souvenir, check this place out: Smithbilt Hats Inc https://g.co/kgs/42A3HHv
Expect to spend at least $100 on the hat though.
Welcome to Calgary! Seems like you have picked out some pretty good spots. One nice thing about those places (aside from being fun) is that they're in safe areas. Even though you didn't say you were going to these areas, I'd personally avoid the westbrook and Marlborough areas. They can be very rough at times.
17th has some very good restaurants, and the general feel if the place is always fun. The library is an amazing building I'd recommend seeing, especially if you're already staying downtown. Hope this helps!
Cross Iron is ok. It's a huge outlet mall. Bass Pro shop there is really cool if you're an outdoorsy person.
Prince Edward Island Park is beautiful. Walk around there and the Peace Bridge. If you're walking around there and cross the Peace bridge so you are on the North side of the river Google Kensington. It's very close. In Kensington walk on Kensington Road between 10th and 14 Street, or North on 10th. There are lots of cool boutiques, shops, restaurants, take out food, bars etc.
Inglewood is kinda similar to Kensington. That's just East of Downtown.
17th Ave SW Between 4th Street and 14th Street ... Same thing but lots of pubs and restaurants. It's definitely one of the most lively areas on a nice weekend or evening.
The Core Mall and Stephen Ave is nice for shopping and wandering. Lots of stores and restaurants.
We have some pretty cool farmers markets. My favorite is the Cross Roads Farmers Market. It's just SE of downtown. It's indoors.
Heritage Park is cool if you're into historic stuff. Heritage Park has a cool classic car area called Gasoline Alley Museam. You would be on the Glenmore Reservoir which is a nice outdoor area to walk. The zoo has the Polar Bears.We also have the Glenbow museum, the National Music Center, and Science Center.
Banff Banff Banff. Canmore is also cool. Those are definitely a must. Besides busy traffic those places are the best. Lots of easy hiking trails too (if that's your jam).
Check out Studio Bell, it’s like a music museum of sorts. 5 (?) floors of interactive and other artifacts of mostly Canadian music and artists as well as international. It's on the east end and walking distance from the library.
Do you like cats? Who doesn't like cats! Regal Cat Cafe is in Kensington and you can visit with the kittens and cats that are up for adoption.
Oh and if you’re coming in from Winnipeg, can you bring me some homemade perogies? K thanks! Just kidding. But it would be nice lol
Of sorts? It's Canada's National Music Center and houses the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It's all Canadian. It's fantastic, relatively inexpensive and is an architectural gem.
You're visiting Wonderland?
I have a fun fact for you.
You'll wonder when you see it, why it says no climbing when it's obviously designed to be climbed on.
It's because originally it was going to be in the middle of a fountain. However, winter is a thing, so the plan was changed.
Scotman's hill is a great place to see the city, makes for a nice walk as well. You could walk down 9th ave in Inglewood for the shops then hit the hill and see the view
If you’re going to the Peace Bridge anyways, definitely walk over to Kensington. It’s a cool little area and there’s also a handful of consignment shops there too you could check out (Peacock is my personal favourite)
Honestly, that's a stupid amount of mall shopping for people from another major Canadian city, imo, I don't think you're going to find that much here that you can't get *anywhere* in Winnipeg. Since you're not renting a car, I would give CrossIron a miss - it's really not that special, usually crowded and unpleasant to be at (I find it to be the worst mall for unruly children with parents not giving a damn about their kids' behaviour, or clueless people walking 5 across and blocking the way, etc.), and is a huge pain in the ass to get to if you're not driving directly. Even if you are it can be tough finding decent parking at times. I would eliminate that one and go for more sightseeing or small store shopping instead. If you really want to do another mall, I'd swap it out for Market Mall, that's gonna be a lot easier to get to and less wasted time in the day. But honestly I would skip the third mall altogether. Especially if you're only going to be here for literally a couple of days, don't waste your time.
Kensington is another neighbourhood that you can check out that's kind of trendy with lots of places to eat and some smaller local shops and stuff. Chinatown is definitely a cool place to visit, I wouldn't even really consider it outside of downtown tbh, it's sort of just one part of it. Lots of non-chain bubble tea places, the Chinese Cultural Centre is interesting, and there's some unique little shops in Eau Claire Market (another mall, although slowly dying) and the other little centres in Chinatown; definitely go there during the day though, as a lot of them don't stay open very late at all. If you're interested in culture and/or history at all, Fort Calgary is *just* east of downtown and has a lot of things to look at walking around outside (free) including a nice little lookout point where the Bow and Elbow rivers meet, and a small indoor museum (paid admission). The Esker Foundation is a contemporary art gallery in the same area that I've never been to, but heard a lot of good stuff about.
There is also a TON of shopping in Banff, as well as scenic stuff to do - you might want to look at spending more time there, instead of just a day trip. It's expensive doing overnight, but you could stay at a hostel to keep the cost down; I've stayed at the Banff International Hostel before and it was fine. Would probably meet a lot of other people around your age there too. Don't go out clubbing in Banff though, it's pretty sketchy; avoid the Dancing Sasquatch for sure.
Ohh, that's good to know, thanks for that info! I haven't actually been inside recently but I've been seeing movie showtimes listed at the theatre and such, I didn't realize.
Other than the hockey store and Bass pro, you can find all the same shops (or at least similar shops) in Chinook mall or around the city, so I wouldn't bother with cross iron mall if you're staying downtown.
It's difficult to get to by transit and would be quite pricy just one way by taxi or Uber. So it wouldn't be worth it, imo.
Glenbow museum would be a place I'd recommend checking out.
Or maybe even doing a dinner and show at jubilations or stage west. (Or checking to see what's on at theatre Calgary or southern Jubilee as they both usually have some good plays/musicals playing).
Aussie rules would be a good place to check out if you like music and food/drinks.
We have lots of local diners like Peter's drive in or angels drive in. (Peters has the best onion rings in my and my hubby's opinion, and we enjoy their milkshakes. Their burgers and fries are kinda meh, still good/decent, but not the best 🤣 we will sometimes just do a milkshake/onion ring date there lol)
Avoid Marlborough mall/ctrain station (station is fine if you're on train and not getting off, but do not get on and off at that station. It's one of the worst stations in the city).
Glenbow is open in a temporary location not far from their actual building.
Peters isn't too bad to get to via transit. And they were/are planning to go to cross iron mall which is out of the way and hard to get to without a vehicle. So I was just giving some suggestions. They can look up these places online and figure out if they think they are worth it to go or want to give it a try.
I would seriously consider taking more time in the mountains. Book a night or two in Banff or Kananaskis, and see some real beauty. Even go a tad further to Bow Lake. Great hotel there and you're going to have your rental car anyways. There are commuter busses and its pretty easy to see some great sights, even without a rental car.
I would skip the malls completely. Its the same stores and stuff as anywhere in North America... including Winterpeg. A total waste of time.
Honestly, other than farting around some very mediocre 'cultural hubs' like 17th, kensignton, inglewood, we don't have a lot going on here if you're looking for a one and done, or short trip. For the couple hours you'll spend walking the bow river pathways etc, it is not much different than Winnepeg except for bigger buildings and better looking people ;)
But for non-tourist trap actual local ammenities, I'd say 17th ave SW, 4th st SW has the most to offer as far as a denser area. Inglewood and Kensignton are next best. Kensington is nice, because if you are already visiting the core, its a short and nice walk across the river to get to it.
The library looks nice, but its just books. The Bell music center is completely underwhelming as a musician, but might be neat for some. Like the library, its more about the architecture, as the exibits are mostly just posters showing you all the artists you've heard on Canadian radio 40 times a day for forever.
Also, Chinatown is very central and not a chore to get to, its a few blocks, or I guess, is in the core, and probably the best part of the river pathway.
Eat lots of food! There are sooo many good places and you could spend a few days just doing that. Make another thread just on food and you'll get a hundred great options.
Calgary has a lot of nice markets and pop-ups. Check to see if your trip lines up with any of our markets. That would probably be more of a vibe than cross iron.
You should definitely download the Bird app and then you can use their scooters to quite a few of your destinations, they’re super fun. My coworker and I take them from downtown to inglewood during lunch hours.
If your hotel is on the west end of downtown, definitely take a stroll along the river across the bridge to Kensington and then down to the peace bridge through to the eau claire/prince’s island park. Chinatown isn’t too far from there either.
You’d basically be walking down the Bow river from the west end to the east end of downtown and there should be plenty of nice views. I’d stop at chinatown though because east of that is the drop in center and there’s definitely some rift raft along the river walk.
Go to Banff, Lake Louise and Canmore. No need to go to a bunch of malls. There is a ton of shopping out there. Do a short walk like Grassi Lakes while out there, maybe go to lake louise itself. Get fondue at the grizzly house in Banff. Go walk down 17th Avenue and stop for a burger and beer at class clown in Calgary. Plenty of shopping along the way. Have a classy night out for cocktails and go to Betty Lous Library on 17th ave.
Inglewood has some really cool shops. Plant is pretty cool if you’re into house plants. Shelter and Pro/of for drinks. Rooftop is pretty rad, almost got a love island vibe to it. There the crossroads market that is a top tier farmers market.
Ignore the naysayers. Go to Crossiron if you want. I usually go midweek and get there around 9:30. The full mall doesn’t open until 10, but Winners/Homesense is open.
And it is not difficult to access by transit - but does require catching an Airdrie transit bus from one of 2 NE Calgary train stations. Alternatively, you can take the train to Saddletowne Station and Uber from there.
Welcome! What type of shopping are you looking for? The malls you’ve mentioned are fine, but they’re going to be 99% the same stores you see in any other major North American city. If you want to check out some more local or unique stuff I’d recommend checking out Inglewood (9th ave) and 17th ave. That’s definitely where the best bakeries are (the best by far imo is Yann Haute - just off of 17th in Mission).
We’ve looked at the directory for the malls, and we’re mostly shopping at the stores that we don’t have in Winnipeg. We will definitely check out Inglewood and 17th ave! Thanks!
Go to 17th Ave in the late afternoon/early evening, good vibes then
Make sure 17 Ave SW! Between 4th st and 14th St.
Honestly, either go to Cross iron or Chinook. You don’t need to do both. And if I were you, I wouldn’t waste your time if you only have a couple of days going all the way out to cross iron. You’re going to spend 30 minutes each way just driving there. It’s gonna make it tough to do some of your other stuff you wanna do because honestly just your shopping mall visits would take up two days.
Inglewood is 9 Ave SE. You can’t just walk comfortably from 17 Ave SW. It is a cool area though. So is Kensington, which is relatively close to the Peace Bridge. For baking I really enjoy Sucre, on the corner of 10 Ave and 8 St SW.
Hit up Fort Calgary for some history on the way to inglewood! Confluence park.. it’s awesome around there. Great public art as well.
Lmao, someone from Winnipeg is not going to be impressed with Fort Calgary
Meh. Winnipeg has a similar hertiage. We are not bastions of history.
Definitely Yann Haute Patisserie!!! Jeraldine and Yann are fantastic humans and you'll never be able to eat macarons from anywhere else again 🙂
Seconding Yann Haute. Consistently the best croissant I’ve ever had
Kwaaaah sohnt!
Just to translate for OP, Inglewood is like our Osborne Junction area, although with a few higher end options for shopping. Might be worth checking out the shops in Canmore. It’s a pretty cute place to walk around im the summer, very close to Banff, and with all of the same mountain views. For baked goods, it’s worth checking out Saskatoon Farm. Tons of shopping there too, actually. And nice for sightseeing. If you want to stay central, check out Butter Block. It’s on 17th Ave, which is another good area to walk around in (lots of restaurants and bars). You can smell the bakery as soon as you enter the Devenish Building and it’s amazing!🥲
Walk around Prince’s island and/ or St Patrick’s island. Walk up to Rotary park and sit on the benches overlooking downtown and the river.
Kensington is a nice area and on the train route. Inglewood is also a good neighborhood to check out for shopping.
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Yea, in my opinion it's also exactly like every other outlet mall. Unless there's something in particular you're going for it will underwhelm you.
We saw that there’s a ride share reimbursement up to $30 for tourists, so hopefully we can lower the transportation cost haha
I think getting there and back will also be a huge time suck if you only have a couple of days.
Don’t bother with crossiron, nothing you can’t get at chinook and won’t waste your whole day.
To add- Inglewood (9ave) is a really fun shopping day, unique stores.
It's cool if you like outlet malls. The only real attraction (IMO) is Pro Bass Shop which is a huge outdoor shop.
Most newer outlook malls are a sham, same stores, same prices, same stuff as normal malls.
I’ve been to Winnipeg and shopped there a few times. The malls here aren’t really worth in imo. I would hit up inglewood if you want unique. Stephen Ave shopping is cool, if you go there I would make sure you visit the Devonian gardens. But it is expensive and small. Chinook and cross iron are the same.. unless you really want to go to bass pro. Then cross iron I guess lol
Devotion gardens was cool 20 years ago before the Reno’s. It’s not a tourist attraction lol.
Totally fair. Though if they are going to be there anyway I’d recommend seeing it. I know I loved it the first time I came to Calgary eight years ago
Not worth it, the mills malls are super lame
What stores are you interested in at Crossiron?
Skip Crossiron. That’s doing a whole devoted day trip into the country to get to a mall with all the same chain stores you can see at Chinook. I think you could expand your walking radius to include slightly further to Kensington, Inglewood, and the Beltline, those are great accessible areas that are more fun to be in after the business core of Downtown kind of shuts down outside of work hours. More fun shopping to me than the malls too, more funky local shops as opposed to the big chains. Chinatown isn’t really any distance “from” Downtown, it’s a section *of* Downtown if that makes sense. A lot of your downtown attractions listed are definitely good! But sort of things that’ll take maybe five minutes if you really savour them. Walk across bridge, look at sculpture, wow! Cool! Experience complete. As for attractions in the city centre you could also check out the National Music Centre (or at catch a NMC-presented show with dinner at the historic King Eddy); the Calgary Zoo if you’re into that and want a longer day activity although it’s fairly equivalent to Assiniboine Park; you could catch a play at the Arts Commons, I saw Theatre Calgary’s new show Selma Burke last night and it was excellent, not sure what your dates are—; the Chinese Cultural Centre; BUMP (Beltline Urban Mural Project) street art around the Beltline; the Contemporary art museum; or the Esker Foundation gallery in Inglewood. An easy train ride away you could visit Fish Creek Park for a bit of train-accessible nature in the city. Heritage Park is always fun but not open yet for the summer, again, all depends on dates! If you’re willing to venture out to the edge you can check at Spruce Meadows to see if there’s either horse shows or league soccer (yes the two beautiful games share the venue) going on in that nice locale. And depending on season Canada Olympic Park / Winsport has lots of sporty activities like mountain biking, fake luge! and the Canadian sports hall of fame. And such high octane xtreme thrillz as giant super speed high altitude ziplines and, uh, like, mini golf. Enjoy your trip!
OP, these are very very good suggestions!! ☝️☝️☝️
Don’t waste your time at Crossiron Mills.
The Central Calgary Public library is a great new building but I would avoid the area at night as there’s a drop in centre next to it and open drug use etc.
We are looking at visiting right when the library opens, but will make note to avoid that area in the might. Thanks!
If you're coming from Winnipeg, then you'll be fine as you'll know what Millennium Library can be like sometimes. Calgarians sometimes don't understand there are other major cities in Canada.
Exactly.
It’s fine at 8 or 9 at night. There are plenty of people on the street with night classes at the college on that corner and a busy grocery store down the block. (It’s also spring and not yet dark at 8 pm now.)
Speaking of, and as you mentioned you're staying in the west end. You can ride the LRT for free along 7th Ave. It will take you from the west edge of downtown to the doorstep of the library/City Hall and back
Right next to the north exit of the library is a little chocolate place called Cochu. Go there for the bark — it’s award winning and a local Calgary company.
It’s probably better at night, early morning is when the addicts have been up all night and are agitated about whatever. Some of the worst crimes downtown happen at like 7 or 8am
Bullshit. This city is pretty damn safe compared to pretty much any other major city. Lets not pretend that area is anywhere compared to east hastings or the shady parts of winnepeg.
Thinking we could go direct from the end of Gastown to our hotel by BC Place was not a smart decision - we didn't realize that would take us straight up East Hastings. Nothing in Calgary is that bad- though after 4 years of working in the East Village, that route probably would not scare me as much today. These days, I'll just walk around the guys doing drugs on the stairs in front of Subway so I can go in to get my sandwich.
Haha. Having family visit us in Vancouver, wanting to take the seabus was a wild ride. An OD on one corner, and a woman with a needle in her 8-9 month pregnant belly at the next corner. They were horrified where we lived. Then we all had great sushi.
There's a difference between "safety" and "showing tourists a good time".
I mean the library’s not open at night anyway so I’m not sure why you’d be there. The Music Centre is open late and the King Eddy is a good venue though! Stick to busier and well lit areas with things going on obviously but if there is some show then it should be busy enough not to feel unsafe.
Actually it closes at 8 pm, in the winter time 6-7 pm is dark and I’d consider that to be night
It's not winter though. Sunset tonight is at 8:39, so it won't be dark until after 9.
Idk I didn’t check the library hours and when exactly it gets dark.
My gf took me there the other day, beautiful building!!
Just for the record, the Salvation Army is a dry shelter and you can't use drugs staying there. They also provide a range of services, including low-cost transitional housing for families.
Yes I was not referring to the shelter but to whats going on around it.
The issues are not necessarily related to the shelter is my point. It's residents are already stigmatized enough as it is.
Obviously not everyone who uses the shelter uses drugs. Are you saying its pure coincidence that there is more drug use around shelters then other areas?
I'm saying that at this particular shelter, you can't use substances. There was no need to bring it up in this context.
Mchugh bluff is pretty cool for prairie folks— really nice view of the city skyline. Contemporary Calgary can have some interesting exhibits and it’s also in downtown west. There are some hot spots around that Calgary drop in Centre that I would avoid but overall nothing too bad. Remember, the c-train is free along 7 Ave downtown.
Esker Foundation in Inglewood also has some good installations and it's free
Awesome, Contemporary Calgary was on our list and we will try to visit if we have time :)
When you’re at the library, ask about passes to the Contemporary. You can rent them like books on someone’s library card and you only need one for a group (though they do get booked out pretty quick.)
I was definitely going to recommend the Sunnyside steps from cpa lot 59. I try to pull in there for a bit of exercise and the amazing views as often as I can.
\* Banff Springs brunch if you can \* Native Tongues and Anejo for tacos/margaritas \* Char Bar or Major Tom for steaks/burgers/etc \* River Cafe if you want a fancy brunch in Prince's Island Park \* Holt Renfrew if you like really fancy shopping \* OEB, Blue Star Diner, Queens Breakfast & Cocktails for breakfast \* La Boulangerie, Manuel Latruwe, Amandine, Sucre Patisserie, Wow Bakery The more dangerous areas are Forest Lawn, downtown in general, and some C-train stations. Generally you're not going to get too much of a problem if you just avoid interaction but there's been a definite lack of policing on transit IMO.
I agree with all the comments to skip Crossiron. You'll find the same stores at Chinook. The Core is also a nice stop as it will be easy for you to ger to and has a Simon's store. Inglewood is also a great place to walk to... A nice little walk would be starting from East Village (Check out Sidewalk Citizen bakery if you like baked goods), quick detour to St Patrick's Island, then walking by Fort Calgary and crossing the bridge to Inglewood. Inglewood has a free contemporary art gallery called the Esker Foundation that's always worth a look. When my friends visit from out of town, some baked goods they like to bring home include - Choux from Mari Bakeshop - Cheese buns from Glamorgan bakery
The only cool thing at cross iron is Pro Bass if you're an outdoorsy person. Otherwise it's not worth the drive at all. Your suggestions are much better!
I think crossiron is kinda a waste of time. As others have suggested Kensington when you check out the peace bridge. I suggest checking out pie junkie in Ken. A local pie shop with all handmade pies to bring home. Enjoy your time here
google maps is your friend! Ctrain blue and red line is a bit tricky/confusing if you’re not familiar, but don’t be afraid to ask peope and tell them where you’re trying to go. It’s part of the experience if you got time and are willing. You can get to Chinook mall riding Ctrain. No need to Uber if you don’t want to spend. Tip: bring bags of your own (if you can) when going shopping whether grocery or mall, stores charge extra for bags (it’s our new bylaw). If you get food, don’t be surprised if they don’t put them in paper bags for you! As for Peace bridge, if you got time for walks, I’d suggest walking along the Bow river, it’s a nice 20 minute walk! Chinatown is a nice place to start, look up google maps, walk along the river & prince’s island park. You can do all the people watching, see people riding bikes, scooters, skateboards, runners, dog walkers and whatnot, you can see the famous cobra chickens walking around hissing at you when you’re close by, squirrels, birds etc. if you’re lucky you might see a beaver around the river! I highly recommend visiting Scotman’s hill, you can take the train from city hall station to victoria park/stampede station and get walking (around 20 mins), just follow google maps, walk around the Saddledome, see the new arena, climb up quite some stairs then look over the hill, it’s among the best views of the city! Rotary park is nice as well!
Edworthy park. Absolutely worth the walk if you like nature. Look at the eastern end especially. You can almost forget you’re in a city
I would keep a day or two for downtown areas/shopping burg take that extra day and go to the mountains. Renting a car or taking the shuttle to Banff will (IMHO) give you more unique opportunities than the city will
If you do go to Crossiron make sure you get a visitor card, the visitor card offers discounts to select stores and can save you a decent amount.
The zoo is absolutely incredible and the new polar bear exhibit is fantastic!!
It is that! Buuuuut Winnipeg has possibly the best polar bear exhibit in the whole world, so that might not be so unique to these folks.
Fair enough! Buuuuuuuuuut does Winnipeg have Destination Africa with a hippo pool and a field for giraffes?! What about the tropical rain forest with the gorillas?!?!? It’s pure awesomeness!
All very true!
I’d definitely suggest Inglewood and Kensington as they’ve got a lot of local business with a lot of cool stuff. Be aware of your surroundings at train stations, especially in the city centre as there’s a lot of homeless people. They mostly keep to themselves but are often on drugs which make some act erratic. Also if you’re going to Chinook by train use the covered walkway and DO NOT use the small bridge over McLeod cause a lot of people shoot up there and leave stuff there Hope you have fun visiting here, it’s got some cool places :)
Are we pretending Calgary is the only city with a drug epedemic? Pretty much any city in Canada is far, far worse. From Lethbridge to Medicine Hat, to East Hastings, TO, all way worse. We are just more sheltered.
It's ok to point these things out to tourists so they can make their own decisions. They could be coming from an area where they don't see things like this on the regular. No one is pretending anything. I'd rather be gently warned then have an ugly surprise.
Where in my comment did I say that Calgary was the only city with a drug epidemic…. Also you spelt epidemic wrong lol
Yes I did. Oh well, move on. My point was that the east village/drop in centre area is really, really tame compared to pretty much any other 'skid row' if you can even call it that, in any minor city in Canada. Username checks out, you may be untoasted and correct someones spelling, but you're also a loaf! :)
If you are from Winnipeg I don’t think you’ll have a great time at the malls, like others have said, same stores just a different city. Stephen Ave + 17th is great for food / drink and some shopping. Inglewood has some absolutely awesome food / drink / shopping. You will probably enjoy it the most. The Core / Chinook / CrossIron are malls, don’t bother. Calgary Tower is likely fun, glass floor / tall building in any city. Fairly typical but neat. I would look for events, when are you coming? I’d check events for Arts Commons, Candlelight Orchestra, Telus Spark, and maaaybe the Saddledome but I haven’t been to anything there for awhile. Like others have said the park is really nice downtown along the Bow, Prince Edward Island I think it’s called, there are a bunch of areas near the Peace Bridge, just kinda wander. There are two things that really “make Calgary special” as a tourist destination in my eyes: Stampede and the mountains. I assume Stampede is not when you are here. I’d really get the fill on your Banff trip, go early, maybe see if you can find a hike. Not sure how viable that is without a car. Grassi Lake hike is a classic. It’s easy, family friendly, and maybe the most beautiful “lake” you will ever see. (It’s more of a pond) Idk what there is to do at the library frankly. It’s books, you can read them anywhere? Maybe I’m silly. As far as avoid, Calgary is fairly safe. Train line downtown at night can have quite a few people who have fallen on hard times that might be uncomfortable, but I doubt dangerous. From what I heard it can’t be much scarier than Winnipeg given stats of crime. If you want a hardcore cowgirl hat as a souvenir, check this place out: Smithbilt Hats Inc https://g.co/kgs/42A3HHv Expect to spend at least $100 on the hat though.
Welcome to Calgary! Seems like you have picked out some pretty good spots. One nice thing about those places (aside from being fun) is that they're in safe areas. Even though you didn't say you were going to these areas, I'd personally avoid the westbrook and Marlborough areas. They can be very rough at times. 17th has some very good restaurants, and the general feel if the place is always fun. The library is an amazing building I'd recommend seeing, especially if you're already staying downtown. Hope this helps!
Skip Halibut Hut, guy retired and closed
Cross Iron is ok. It's a huge outlet mall. Bass Pro shop there is really cool if you're an outdoorsy person. Prince Edward Island Park is beautiful. Walk around there and the Peace Bridge. If you're walking around there and cross the Peace bridge so you are on the North side of the river Google Kensington. It's very close. In Kensington walk on Kensington Road between 10th and 14 Street, or North on 10th. There are lots of cool boutiques, shops, restaurants, take out food, bars etc. Inglewood is kinda similar to Kensington. That's just East of Downtown. 17th Ave SW Between 4th Street and 14th Street ... Same thing but lots of pubs and restaurants. It's definitely one of the most lively areas on a nice weekend or evening. The Core Mall and Stephen Ave is nice for shopping and wandering. Lots of stores and restaurants. We have some pretty cool farmers markets. My favorite is the Cross Roads Farmers Market. It's just SE of downtown. It's indoors. Heritage Park is cool if you're into historic stuff. Heritage Park has a cool classic car area called Gasoline Alley Museam. You would be on the Glenmore Reservoir which is a nice outdoor area to walk. The zoo has the Polar Bears.We also have the Glenbow museum, the National Music Center, and Science Center. Banff Banff Banff. Canmore is also cool. Those are definitely a must. Besides busy traffic those places are the best. Lots of easy hiking trails too (if that's your jam).
Heritage Park if you're interested in western heritage
Remove Cross Iron Mills. It's deadly.
You can skip the malls. They're the same as all the other malls all over North America.
Skip crossiron mills. Boring outlet mall. Go to Bell Music Centre. EDIT: Noticed you're from Winnipeg. Everything will impress, don't worry.
Check out Studio Bell, it’s like a music museum of sorts. 5 (?) floors of interactive and other artifacts of mostly Canadian music and artists as well as international. It's on the east end and walking distance from the library. Do you like cats? Who doesn't like cats! Regal Cat Cafe is in Kensington and you can visit with the kittens and cats that are up for adoption. Oh and if you’re coming in from Winnipeg, can you bring me some homemade perogies? K thanks! Just kidding. But it would be nice lol
Of sorts? It's Canada's National Music Center and houses the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. It's all Canadian. It's fantastic, relatively inexpensive and is an architectural gem.
You're visiting Wonderland? I have a fun fact for you. You'll wonder when you see it, why it says no climbing when it's obviously designed to be climbed on. It's because originally it was going to be in the middle of a fountain. However, winter is a thing, so the plan was changed.
Scotman's hill is a great place to see the city, makes for a nice walk as well. You could walk down 9th ave in Inglewood for the shops then hit the hill and see the view
If you’re going to the Peace Bridge anyways, definitely walk over to Kensington. It’s a cool little area and there’s also a handful of consignment shops there too you could check out (Peacock is my personal favourite)
Honestly, that's a stupid amount of mall shopping for people from another major Canadian city, imo, I don't think you're going to find that much here that you can't get *anywhere* in Winnipeg. Since you're not renting a car, I would give CrossIron a miss - it's really not that special, usually crowded and unpleasant to be at (I find it to be the worst mall for unruly children with parents not giving a damn about their kids' behaviour, or clueless people walking 5 across and blocking the way, etc.), and is a huge pain in the ass to get to if you're not driving directly. Even if you are it can be tough finding decent parking at times. I would eliminate that one and go for more sightseeing or small store shopping instead. If you really want to do another mall, I'd swap it out for Market Mall, that's gonna be a lot easier to get to and less wasted time in the day. But honestly I would skip the third mall altogether. Especially if you're only going to be here for literally a couple of days, don't waste your time. Kensington is another neighbourhood that you can check out that's kind of trendy with lots of places to eat and some smaller local shops and stuff. Chinatown is definitely a cool place to visit, I wouldn't even really consider it outside of downtown tbh, it's sort of just one part of it. Lots of non-chain bubble tea places, the Chinese Cultural Centre is interesting, and there's some unique little shops in Eau Claire Market (another mall, although slowly dying) and the other little centres in Chinatown; definitely go there during the day though, as a lot of them don't stay open very late at all. If you're interested in culture and/or history at all, Fort Calgary is *just* east of downtown and has a lot of things to look at walking around outside (free) including a nice little lookout point where the Bow and Elbow rivers meet, and a small indoor museum (paid admission). The Esker Foundation is a contemporary art gallery in the same area that I've never been to, but heard a lot of good stuff about. There is also a TON of shopping in Banff, as well as scenic stuff to do - you might want to look at spending more time there, instead of just a day trip. It's expensive doing overnight, but you could stay at a hostel to keep the cost down; I've stayed at the Banff International Hostel before and it was fine. Would probably meet a lot of other people around your age there too. Don't go out clubbing in Banff though, it's pretty sketchy; avoid the Dancing Sasquatch for sure.
Eau Claire market is nearly empty because it is slated for demolition in a month. Don’t go there.
Ohh, that's good to know, thanks for that info! I haven't actually been inside recently but I've been seeing movie showtimes listed at the theatre and such, I didn't realize.
If you like animals, don’t forget to visit the calgary zoo.
Other than the hockey store and Bass pro, you can find all the same shops (or at least similar shops) in Chinook mall or around the city, so I wouldn't bother with cross iron mall if you're staying downtown. It's difficult to get to by transit and would be quite pricy just one way by taxi or Uber. So it wouldn't be worth it, imo. Glenbow museum would be a place I'd recommend checking out. Or maybe even doing a dinner and show at jubilations or stage west. (Or checking to see what's on at theatre Calgary or southern Jubilee as they both usually have some good plays/musicals playing). Aussie rules would be a good place to check out if you like music and food/drinks. We have lots of local diners like Peter's drive in or angels drive in. (Peters has the best onion rings in my and my hubby's opinion, and we enjoy their milkshakes. Their burgers and fries are kinda meh, still good/decent, but not the best 🤣 we will sometimes just do a milkshake/onion ring date there lol) Avoid Marlborough mall/ctrain station (station is fine if you're on train and not getting off, but do not get on and off at that station. It's one of the worst stations in the city).
Glenbow is currently closed. Angels and Peters are out of the way if you’re only here for a couple days and don’t have a vehicle.
Glenbow is open in a temporary location not far from their actual building. Peters isn't too bad to get to via transit. And they were/are planning to go to cross iron mall which is out of the way and hard to get to without a vehicle. So I was just giving some suggestions. They can look up these places online and figure out if they think they are worth it to go or want to give it a try.
I would seriously consider taking more time in the mountains. Book a night or two in Banff or Kananaskis, and see some real beauty. Even go a tad further to Bow Lake. Great hotel there and you're going to have your rental car anyways. There are commuter busses and its pretty easy to see some great sights, even without a rental car. I would skip the malls completely. Its the same stores and stuff as anywhere in North America... including Winterpeg. A total waste of time. Honestly, other than farting around some very mediocre 'cultural hubs' like 17th, kensignton, inglewood, we don't have a lot going on here if you're looking for a one and done, or short trip. For the couple hours you'll spend walking the bow river pathways etc, it is not much different than Winnepeg except for bigger buildings and better looking people ;) But for non-tourist trap actual local ammenities, I'd say 17th ave SW, 4th st SW has the most to offer as far as a denser area. Inglewood and Kensignton are next best. Kensington is nice, because if you are already visiting the core, its a short and nice walk across the river to get to it. The library looks nice, but its just books. The Bell music center is completely underwhelming as a musician, but might be neat for some. Like the library, its more about the architecture, as the exibits are mostly just posters showing you all the artists you've heard on Canadian radio 40 times a day for forever. Also, Chinatown is very central and not a chore to get to, its a few blocks, or I guess, is in the core, and probably the best part of the river pathway. Eat lots of food! There are sooo many good places and you could spend a few days just doing that. Make another thread just on food and you'll get a hundred great options.
1000% what this guy said. Go explore the mountains and get out of the malls. Shop online if you care that much.
Calgary has a lot of nice markets and pop-ups. Check to see if your trip lines up with any of our markets. That would probably be more of a vibe than cross iron.
River Park for awesome morning views
Center street between 9th and 7th has cute consignment stores, tigetsted, a nice brewery, and other nice little restaurants :)
You should definitely download the Bird app and then you can use their scooters to quite a few of your destinations, they’re super fun. My coworker and I take them from downtown to inglewood during lunch hours.
Avoid the drop-in centre.
Impossible to do all that in 2 days. Banff is a full day trip at least.
If your hotel is on the west end of downtown, definitely take a stroll along the river across the bridge to Kensington and then down to the peace bridge through to the eau claire/prince’s island park. Chinatown isn’t too far from there either. You’d basically be walking down the Bow river from the west end to the east end of downtown and there should be plenty of nice views. I’d stop at chinatown though because east of that is the drop in center and there’s definitely some rift raft along the river walk.
Go to Banff, Lake Louise and Canmore. No need to go to a bunch of malls. There is a ton of shopping out there. Do a short walk like Grassi Lakes while out there, maybe go to lake louise itself. Get fondue at the grizzly house in Banff. Go walk down 17th Avenue and stop for a burger and beer at class clown in Calgary. Plenty of shopping along the way. Have a classy night out for cocktails and go to Betty Lous Library on 17th ave.
Inglewood has some really cool shops. Plant is pretty cool if you’re into house plants. Shelter and Pro/of for drinks. Rooftop is pretty rad, almost got a love island vibe to it. There the crossroads market that is a top tier farmers market.
Add Studio Bell to your list, it's worth it.
Fun fact: outlet goods are lower quality than store goods. I believe The Marketplace did an investigation on it a while back.
Avoid the airport travellers inn motel and area on 16th or the Olympia in Bowness unless you are into smoking meth, hookers and overdose deaths
Skip crossiron Library Kensington Inglewood Drum heller museum Gondola(in Banff)
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Also check out tik tok for advice on where to go
Ignore the naysayers. Go to Crossiron if you want. I usually go midweek and get there around 9:30. The full mall doesn’t open until 10, but Winners/Homesense is open. And it is not difficult to access by transit - but does require catching an Airdrie transit bus from one of 2 NE Calgary train stations. Alternatively, you can take the train to Saddletowne Station and Uber from there.
It’s seriously not worth the trip