Things to do in Calgary

Hey everyone, welcome back to my blog! 

I’m so excited to be writing about one of my favourite cities in Canada, Calgary. It’s such a beautiful place, situated just under a two hour drive from Banff. I found that travellers can explore a multitude of experiences by visiting Calgary. You’ll always find something to enjoy whether you’re looking for an amazing outdoor adventure, thriving restaurants and entertainment, or just a kind welcome. I was incredibly lucky to have it as my home for two glorious years and got to discover a lot of Calgary throughout the majority of winter time which was different, however, it made me infatuated with city even more. I found navigating to and around Calgary to be really easy. I’d often get a return bus from Banff to Calgary or pile in the car with friends and family for day trips and even used the app, Poparide! The public transport is also so simple to use, there’s so much in walking distance, you can even cycle around or grab an uber or taxi. No matter whether you’re flying into Calgary, passing through or visiting for a week, this guide will give you a great insight into some things to see and do in Calgary. 

Things to do in Calgary: 

Where to stay: HI Calgary Hostel 

The HI Calgary Hostel is located in the heart of downtown Calgary and a few streets from the stunning Bow River. As a traveller this was a perfect spot for me as it was reasonably priced, a short walk from all the restaurants, shopping and sights to see. You can also walk to the CTrain which runs around the city and is free downtown. I stayed in a six bed dorm which I found really comfy and I had my own locker for my luggage. The HI offers four bed dorms, private rooms and even family rooms. The amenities were awesome and made for a welcoming and fun stay, including a games room, pool table, bike rentals, laundry room, tv and common room as well as free tea and coffee! 

Things to see and do: 

Calgary Central Library: A must visit in Calgary, the architecture inside is absolutely amazing. It’s a free space to look around, learn and brings such a positive and special atmosphere. Calgary Central Library offer different events and programs throughout the year that can help improve skills and gives people an opportunity to connect with the community. 

Chinatown: A spot I kept going back to every time I visited Calgary. Chinatown is such a vibrant area filled with a diversity of history, culture, food and entertainment. I loved walking around all the shops there, my favourite place to wander around was Dragon City Mall. I highly recommend visiting the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre and Mural Alley. There’s also events such as TD Calgary Chinatown Street Festival and Chinese New Year Festival held every year that are so worth checking out too! 

Peace Bridge: Peace Bridge is famous for its unique design and gorgeous views over the Bow River. It was built to connect downtown Calgary with the community of Sunnyside. It’s a wonderful spot in Calgary to break away from the hustle and bustle, walk or cycle around and enjoy the views. 

CORE shopping centre: For all your shopping needs and to escape a rainy or snowy day. Located in downtown Calgary, The Core spans over three city blocks and has easy access to both buses and trains outside. My favourite spot in the CORE was the Devonian Gardens, which is something I’d never seen before in a shopping centre. Reachable from the fourth level, through the food court, the Devonian Gardens opens up to a beautiful space of botanical gardens. 

Stephen Avenue (8th Avenue Southwest): A pedestrian mall and a true hotspot for key access to Calgary’s main facilities and attractions as well as some brilliant pubs, bars, cafes, live music. Not to mention, a variety of entertainment, shopping, historical buildings and museums. During the summertime, it is known to have such an energetic and lively atmosphere, whilst in the winter when I did most of my trips, it’s significantly quieter but incredibly charming covered under the snow, lit up with bright with seasonal lights. 

Calgary Tower: You can’t miss the iconic landmark that offers the best views in the city. You get three hundred and sixty degree panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains, the foothills and even the prairies one hundred and ninety one metres in the air. 

Day Trips: Calgary is the gateway to the heart of the Rocky Mountains and some of Canada’s most breathtaking landscapes filled with mountains, lakes and fascinating animals. There are plenty of day trips to do which can take you to places such as Kananaskis, Canmore, Banff and Lake Louise. Easily done by car, bus or tour group. 

Depending on what time of year you visit Calgary, there are some awesome events and activities that run throughout each season. The three I recommend would be, in the summer time, of course, the Calgary Stampede which is the world’s largest outdoor rodeo! There’s a huge variety of attractions and activities, stage performances, First Nation exhibitions as well as agricultural competitions, chuckwagon races, and plenty of food and drinks. During winter time, ice skating in the middle of Calgary at Olympic Plaza is gorgeous snow globe scene come true and absolute must as well as doing some skiing or snowboarding at the popular resort, WinSport. Plus, you have to go and see a Flames hockey game at the Scotiabank Saddledome arena! 

Where to eat: 

Wayne’s Bagels: Located on central street, this was my absolute favourite spot to go to get my treat of a dozen bagels. They had all sorts of flavours from the everything bagel, to a rainbow bagel. 

Sweet Tooth Rolled Ice Cream: Centred in Chinatown, this was a delicious dessert to have on a warm spring’s evening. 

El Furniture Warehouse: As my friends in Canada call it “El Furnys,” this might be a chain but it did not disappoint. Situated along the famous Stephen Avenue, El Furnys is a fantastic place to stop to have a drink and something to eat. 

Thi Thi Vietnamese Submarine: This Banh Mi spot was introduced to me by my Canadian friends! I couldn’t recommend it enough. Located in Chinatown, the Banh Mi was so delicious and had me wanting MORE. 

Caffe Trieste: A cute cafe within the CORE, they have the best and richest hot chocolates, in my opinion. Perfect for an Autumn or winter’s day. 

I hope this guide can give you some inspiration or ideas for your own travels! I am beyond grateful for everything I got to see, do and experience whilst exploring around Calgary. It’s a city I can’t wait to go back to, somewhere I highly recommend visiting and a true favourite of mine. If you like this sort of blog post, or have more recommendations for readers, feel free to comment below! Otherwise DM me on my instagram: the_runawayredhead. 

Talk Soon, 

The Runaway Redhead

I Canada Believe This Place

I’d been living in Banff for two weeks now. It was late September, 2018 and I found myself looking at the second most stunning and picturesque lake I’d ever laid my eyes on… Moraine Lake. One of the girls I had met at my job took me for a hike around Moraine Lake and up to Larch Valley. I was baffled at the fact that these were the sorts of adventures I was having on my days off. For once, life was impossible to take for granted because these experiences were just so out of this world to me, I wanted to stay as present as possible to make the most and savour up every landscape I saw, and to create the best memories. We were so lucky to get such beautiful weather as we hiked up the switchbacks going up and up, eventually, looking down seeing the gorgeous blue colour of Moraine Lake. As we came to a junction and continued on, past Eiffel Lake, we reached a clearing and got absolutely insane panoramic views of the mountains and the bright yellow larch trees. It was breathtaking, figuratively and literally. 

In the meantime of juggling work and adventures, I enjoyed spending time with my housemates and continued to meet new people who I worked with. It was a good group and I was thankful at how quickly I had made some nice friendships, I got invited out with everything they did - whether that was for something to eat, to go on a night out, to go for a hike, an adventure or just to go food shopping. I also reunited with another lovely friend, Ally, who moved to Banff and had worked with Lauren and I back in Sydney. That was so surreal and heartwarming, especially for the fact I originally had no idea either of them were moving to Banff, being with them felt like being at home, back in Australia, but now Banff was our home and it was a dream come true. 

September rolled into October and “fall” was officially here. This was my first Autumn in a colder environment and now I understood the love for fall and all the comfy vibes that came with it. Things like halloween, the snow, warm drinks, the brown, orange and yellow colours… I got it after seeing it for years on tv or in the movies for my whole life and, I fell in love with it too.

I went for such an awesome Autumn hike with two friends to some hidden natural hot springs over in British Columbia. We drove for a few hours and then took a turn to continue driving up a steep mountain, it was quite the quest. The scenery was like no other and I loved being surrounded by so much yellow. We parked up and hiked for another hour until we came to a clearing where there were some gorgeous pools that sat in the middle of these mountains with the most marvellous views. We chilled in the hot springs for a long time, there was no one about and we had it all to ourselves - now this was living! After hiking back down to where we’d parked, we made a fire to warm ourselves up and cooked some food. The ultimate day out, with the best company, what more could I ask for! 

With all of that, everything felt like it came crumbling down when at work on my third week, I was told by the manager that she was letting me go. 

This did come as a massive shock to me. I wasn’t enjoying the job, but I was happy to stay, although…with this news I didn’t know what to do. A big part of me was relieved, because every time I went to work I thought about quitting and now I didn’t have to go back there anymore. However, that meant I had to leave my staff accommodation and I had nowhere else to go. I was stuck and had no idea what to do. All my worries had fully risen to the surface, all the “what ifs” were real now and I didn’t have a plan B. Thank goodness, one of the girls from work let me stay with her for a few days and Lauren invited me to stay at Lake Louise with her until I decided what to do next. I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without these girls and these incredibly kind gestures. Thanks to them, I felt safe in a crazy situation. I believe that what they did for me was a massive blessing in my journey which ultimately, helped me to stay in Banff… otherwise I would have left. 

I’d packed up my belongings and got a ride with Lauren and one of her friends up to Lake Louise, grateful that I had the chance to stay. 

Thanks for reading and continuing on with my travel story! I appreciate it. Stay tuned for next month where you’ll be reading all about life in Lake Louise… If you have any questions or want to say hey, feel free to DM me on my instagram: the_runawayredhead. I’d also love it if you could leave a comment on any of the posts you’ve enjoyed, can relate to, want to ask a question or just to start a conversation. I’d love to make this a blog into a community of like-minded people, and a place where we can discuss anything to do with travelling! 

Talk soon, 

The Runaway Redhead