OT: About Calgary..sell it to me!

[Rayman]

As a fan but never a visitor I got a bit curious about the city and the region. I'm considering visiting Canada again soon, so I challenge you to sell me Calgary, Alberta!

Would love to hear your opinion, so..tell me something about the city and the region. Pros, cons (not wise if you want to lure me there as a tourist, but I always considered you guys as honest.. ), what to do, where to go, best pubs and so on.. I'd be thankful for any info!

By the way, while searching the web I finally get why the Flames keeps trading with Phoenix on constant basis:

Sister cities
The city of Calgary maintains trade development programs, cultural and educational partnerships in twinning agreements with six cities:[64]

• Phoenix, Arizona (United States) - 1997
• Daejeon (South Korea) - 1996
• Naucalpan (Mexico) - 1994

• Daqing (People's Republic of China) - 1985
• Jaipur (India) - 1973
• Quebec City (Canada) - 1956

(from Wikipedia)

Probably a fata, but I never saw it before..kinda funny IMO..

[Flames89]

umm ... you should be putting posts like this in the "Off Topic" area ...


But don't repost there, I am sure one of our amazing mods will move it ...

[Rayman]

Originally Posted by Flames89

umm ... you should be putting posts like this in the "Off Topic" area ...


But don't repost there, I am sure one of our amazing mods will move it ...

Thought I did..but no..
You're right about one of the amazing mods moving it.

I'll take my punishment, spend a couple of days hiding (in shame) and hopefully learn from it all..

[TheDragon]

My first answer would be to check out the Rockies, which are only about an hour from the outskirts of the city. Banff, Jasper, Kananaskis, all of those parks are world class.

Otherwise, I guess there's the Zoo. The Calgary Tower, which is going to be dwarfed by downtown's rising core. Canada Olympic Park.

Costco?

[Table 5]

It's close to Vancouver. I guess that's a pro.

Seriously, as someone who grew up in Calgary, it never came off as a good tourist city to me. There really isnt that much unique culture compared to other options, and frankly is a city that doesnt care too much about the way it looks. You have to be there a while to appreciate Calgary for the good bids..the people, the amazing light, a good backyard bbq etc.

If you do want to come to this region though, do a drive from Vancouver to Calgary and visit all the amazing natural sights in beetween. Those are truly world-class destinations.

[Rayman]

Originally Posted by TheDragon

Costco?

??

[TheDragon]

Originally Posted by Rayman

??

That was a joke on my part. Costco is a massive wholesale store, meant to imply that it was, as a joke, a tourist attraction.

[calf]

3 hours away from West Edmonton Mall

[Kybosh]

Outdoor pursuits are the biggest draw here in my opinion. World class flyfishing, great hikes and climbs in the Rockies, cool mountain towns (ie. Canmore/Banff) and so on. Like Table 5 said, the drive between Calgary and Vancouver is nothing short of spectacular. I'll also add the drive between Banff and Jasper (west of Edmonton in the Rockies), it's probably four hours long or so. Calgary itself is basically a sprawling mass of development.

[habernac]

It's crowded, expensive and generally unpleasant. Go away. Tell your friends.

[surferguy]

Go to Canadian Tire or Walmart and buy a cheap 20 inflateable raft. Then take the 3 hour float down the ELBOW river. Drink beer and take in some of teh nicest homes in the city. Great cheap way to experiance the city.

[RougeUnderoos]

Base your trip around a Flames homestand or big game and plan on going out of town between games. Go to a Hockey Night in Canada (Saturday night) game against Edmonton or Vancouver and then a game later in the week. In between, head for the hills. Them Rockies are pretty cool. Much cooler than pubs and "places to go" in town, IMO. They are only an hour away.

A piece of advice -- don't plan some crazy trip to see a whole lot of Canada (like the Banff - Niagara Falls corridor like someone I know) in a short time because it's too big.

[Bill Bumface]

I think we give our own city a bit of a hard time. Depending on where you are coming from, our downtown can be very impressive as it is something you'd usually find in a much larger city. Going to Flames games is a must, checking out Flames Central on a Saturday night would be a pretty good experience. If you're here when it's warm hopping from pub to pub on 17th avenue (the site of the red mile) can be a good time.

I really wouldn't recommend Calgary in the winter though unless you are going for a ski vacation and happen to be passing through here on the way. It's pretty brown scrubby and ugly here most of winter.

[MelBridgeman]

There are lots of things to do in the city of calgary depending on your interests....

1. Canada Olympic Park - lots of activities to keep you busy for the day
2. Heritage Park
3. Glenbow Museum
4. Calgary Tower
5. Devonian Gardens - indoor tropics
6. Calgary's unique +15 system - go explore it
7. Nose Hill Park
8. Wave Pools and Leisure Centers
9. 100's of KM of bike trails
10. River rafting
11. Calgary Zoo - world class
12. Fort Calgary
13. Telus World of Science
14. Eau Claire Market
15. Fish Creek Park
16. Lots of golf courses
17. Stephen Avenue
18. Chinese Cultural Center
19. Fire Fighters Museum
20. Museum of Regiments
21. Olympic Plaza
22. Calaway Park
23. Olympic Oval
24. Inglewood Bird Sanctary
25. Lindsay Park
26. Aero Space Museum
27. The Red MIle
28. Stampede Grounds
29. Lots of theatre houses
30. Lots of art galleries
31. Naval Museum of Alberta
32. Kart World
33. Spruce Meadows
34. Rothney Astrophysical Observatory
35. Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park
36. Buzzards Cowboy Cuisine
37. Good night life, especially compared to Vancouver
39. Rocky Mountaineer
40. Downtown skyline - one of the best in North America
41. Calgary Flames
42. Calgary Stampeders
43. Lougheed House
44. Bow River Fishing
45. Weaslehead
46. Beaver Damn Flats
47. Casinos
48. Northern Lights

Outside the City
Vulcan!
Red Rock Coulee
Museum of Miniatures
Hoodoos
Funland Amusement Park
HorseThief Canyon
Yorkshire Pot - deepest cave in Canada!
Royal Tyrrell Musuem
Banff National Park
Waterton
Frank Slide
Enchanted Forest
Columbia Icefields
Kananaskis Park
Dinoursaur Provincial Park (Badlands)
Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump
West Edmonton Mall
Sylvan Lake
Shuswap
The Wet Coast Drive


Lots of things to do depending on your tastes. Lakes, Rivers, Camping, Adventures, Historical sites etc..
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HASH

[MelBridgeman]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

I think we give our own city a bit of a hard time. Depending on where you are coming from, our downtown can be very impressive as it is something you'd usually find in a much larger city. Going to Flames games is a must, checking out Flames Central on a Saturday night would be a pretty good experience. If you're here when it's warm hopping from pub to pub on 17th avenue (the site of the red mile) can be a good time.

I really wouldn't recommend Calgary in the winter though unless you are going for a ski vacation and happen to be passing through here on the way. It's pretty brown scrubby and ugly here most of winter.

yup alot of people who have lived in calgary along time or in canada for that matter dont realize that the western heritage is very appealing and exotic to alot of people especially from Asia and Europe, not to mention how spectacular the rockies are to someone who has never seen those types of mountains before. As far as north america goes the Calgary to Victoria is a adventurers paradise and is a fantastic holiday for people from the bigs cities in the East, Europe and Asia, the open spaces, fresh air, the many lakes and rivers. We do live in a special part of the world, that alot of people who live here dont appreciate.
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Vaporizer review

[MaDMaN_26]

Originally Posted by Kybosh

Outdoor pursuits are the biggest draw here in my opinion. World class flyfishing, great hikes and climbs in the Rockies, cool mountain towns (ie. Canmore/Banff) and so on. Like Table 5 said, the drive between Calgary and Vancouver is nothing short of spectacular. I'll also add the drive between Banff and Jasper (west of Edmonton in the Rockies), it's probably four hours long or so. Calgary itself is basically a sprawling mass of development.

I agree with this gentleman, there is very little in the city that has real drawing power... maybe I'm jaded and take it all for granted... but other than flames games... meh...

Much better to focus on the sourounding areas - couple activities he did not mention, there is a lot of back trail mountain bike riding, world class cross county and downhill skiing... youd want a friend or someone that knows his or her way around to take you to banff... and if I were you thats where I'd stay... but if your not into outdoorsy stuff... I'm not sure I'd come here.... or at least I can't think of why you would... its a beautiful city, but in the end its just a city...

[JBR]

Originally Posted by habernac

It's crowded, expensive and generally unpleasant. Go away. Tell your friends.

I agree. We have too many people here. NO VACANCY. Maybe Lethbridge is more up your alley...

[Winsor_Pilates]

No wonder tourists used to go to Cowboys. There's nothing else in Calgary!