Taking the family to Montana the first week of July. We wanted to spend a couple of days in Calgary. Can anyone recommend a place to stay? I noticed some hotels in Downtown with pretty good rates, but I was not sure if safety was an issue in the city. We are planning on going to the zoo one day. Any other ideas for a family with a 4, 5 and 6 year old?
calgary........alberta, canada. anybody get that reference? calgary has their own version of the rodeo. there are a bunch of cowboys out there.
BANFF BANFF BANFF BANFF BANFF BANFF BANFF BANFF. I cannot stress enough how much of a great time you'd have in Banff. They have like, mountains and cable cars and stuff. I forget exactly, it was years ago. But check into it. I have better memories there than Hawaii even.
Ohh dude, I totally forgot about Lake Louise. It's absolutely beautiful in the summer. Its a really romantic place, but I think you're kids would like it at the same time.
Yes went there last summer, and by far one of the most beautiful place I have ever been to. 1. Go to lake Louise 2. Check out Banff the town (or village), met some cool people there and saw some very rare cars. (Saw an enzo and an f50 on top of everything. Apparently the Ferrari and Rolls dealer from Calgary lives there during the summer. Brings some cars up.) 3. Go on the bus drive to go to a glacier. Ask some hotel, they will tell you. We spent a little less than 2 weeks there, so we had the opportunity to see almost all major sites in banff and jasper national park. But if you have time do more, but these I think is a must. So if you do stay there for longer, check out Jasper too. I saw a grizzly (or some kind of bear) while I was there, from about 200 feet away. Mooses look pretty cool too.
I thought the same thing when I was there, but I was there with my family. The coolest part I thought was the fact that a lot of the people that work in that area during the summer are usually college or college-aged students from around the world. They come over there for the summer, work at hotel, makes room and board ridiculously cheap (I beleive the chateau lake louise would give them room and board w/ food and TV for 30 bucks a week, or month), and they have a good time when they get off of work. The people I talked to were from Japan, Australia, Sweden, Netherlands. I was pretty amazed that so many different countries knew about the place.
Calgary itself is a nice town, albeit kind of bland. It reminds me of the Canadian version of Denver. Canadians call it "Cow Town". That said, I would plan on going to Banff and Lake Louise, as previously mentioned. Definitely the best attraction in the area.
what they said... ...Banff and Lake Louis (or Kananaskis). Calgary's not half bad itself. if you're there during the rodeo - you have to go check it out...if not, then just do whatever people do in cities.
You can also check out Dinosaur Provincial Park. http://www.cd.gov.ab.ca/enjoying_alberta/parks/featured/dinosaur/welcome.asp About two hours east of Calgary, Alberta, the gently rolling prairie grasslands suddenly drop off, plunging the visitor into a whole other world of hoodoos, pinnacles, coulees and buttes. Many who visit these badlands for the first time describe this sudden transition as if they have taken a wrong turn and somehow ended up on the moon. Strange land formations rise up on all sides, sculpted by wind and water into hauntingly beautiful shapes sunbathed in terra cotta, bronze and amber. These almost-human figures are oddly reminiscent of another space and time, as if those who once walked these quiet valleys were suddenly transfixed in place by some unexpected and cataclysmic event that turned everything into sandstone. Those who look closely may find a camel with a pyramid in the background, the Starship Enterprise from Star Trek or a group of ladies with elaborate hats enjoying afternoon tea. A trip to Dinosaur Provincial Park is also a 75 million-year foray back in time. This region was then a subtropical paradise populated by turtles, crocodiles and sharks -- and featuring a lush vegetation similar to the coastal plains of the south-eastern United States today. Here, on the shores of the Bearpaw Sea, dinosaurs once hunted and mated -- and ultimately met their demise, leaving an amazingly rich fossil and bone record for us to discover today. Welcome to Dinosaur Provincial Park -- a world heritage site like nowhere else on earth!
I was in Calgary in October on business and really enjoyed it. I only had one day to drive west into the mountains, and I wish I would have had more time. Banff & Lake Louise are nice, but if you really want to see more spectacular mountains, you need to drive up the Icefields Parkway past Lake Louise toward Jasper. Also, be sure to take the Bow Valley Parkway from Banff to Lake Louise instead of the Trans-Canada Highway - the view is much better. Here are a few photos I took during my trip. Lake Louise:
The only thing I would recommend in Calgary is to get on the train to Jasper. As stated above Kananskis, Banff and Lake Louise are worth the drive out of Calgary. *I watched the 1994 Rockets playoff/OJ white bronco chase game in a ski condo in Banff with a moose muching flowers outside the open door....that's a wierd and wonderful memory*
^ That's a far better memory than I had of the 1994 White Bronco game. My memory of that was not nearly so pleasent and involved a long line of colorful metaphors that I unleashed once I realized they interrupted the Rox to watch OJ and the LAPD's sunday drive.
DFW, finally came out and posted...nice... I agree with what he said, except, don't take the bus tour, drive there yourself, but you do have to hike a bit...I've been to Calgary a lot, but about 8 years ago...They have the stampeded there and something about flapjacks...The downtown hotels are ok, but try not to stay near the Red Light district... You should also visit Olympic Park...
