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8 Day Alberta Itinerary
Trip Style: Self directed
Transportation: Rental Car
Average Accommodation Cost: CAD$200/night
Travel dates: June 23-30, 2012
Saturday, June 23
We arrived in Calgary airport on Saturday morning, and arranged our car rental easily form the airport. It was fairly easy to find our way to Calgary from here with the aid of google maps. On the way into town, we quickly looked up recommendations online for a brunch spot. We got really excited at the menu for this restaurant and headed there right away to settle our stomachs. We got into town much earlier than expected - the drive in was under half an hour, and we went for a quick walk along the Bow River in Shouldice Park while we waited for it to open. Parking in this area was easy to come by on a Saturday morning. We arrived at the restaurant right at opening time, and were the first to be seated. The dark walls and soft lighting were relaxing compared to the rainy weather outside, but on a sunny day it would be nicer to find a place with a patio. The food was fantastic, I of course had the chocolate banana bread french toast, which surprisingly wasn't as heavy as I had expected - that being a good thing. All four of us were satisfied with our meals, and overall the food and ambience is worth the price.
After brunch we checked in to our hotel early. This hotel may be the best hotel I've ever stayed in. I will dream of the bedding in that hotel for a long time coming, and honestly I would strongly consider buying it for home use if that ever were an option for me. Everything about this place was pure luxury, with modern decor, a rain shower, and no need for their pillow menu because there were several pillows to choose from on the bed already (really, it was like resting on a fluffy cloud).
Just a block north from the hotel on 9th Ave and Centre St, was a pedestrian mall that looked like the main part of downtown Calgary. There are a few cowboy stores to buy tourist products like leather hats, boots and belts. From here you can access the +15, which is an indoor network of bridges connecting the first floors of most of the downtown buildings. I imagine they're designed for the colder months when the weather outside is harsh. Overall the downtown core as a shopping district is small, and quiet on weekends, so I suspect the city centre is mainly catered towards the weekday working crowd.
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We ambled aimlessly for a while, until finding ourselves on a map realised we were close to Prince's Island - a massive parkground. This park was beautiful and worth the visit. It really feels like you're not in a city at all. Definitely, Calgary feels more like a town or suburb than a city, with friendly residents, plenty of parks, and small shopping districts scattered in various places. The only city feel we got was the multiple lane roads leading in and out of the city (which were about empty at the time we used them). We wondered around the park until some inclement rain arrived and we had to run for shelter... all the way back in town. We took the +15 back towards the hotel.
For dinner we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse with some family friends. Yes, I know, it's a US chain and it was an odd choice to go to the one place that would give us a US raised steak when in the capital of Canada grown beef. But it was pouring buckets outside and the place was steps away from the hotel. And it broils a pretty decent tenderloin to perfection.
Our friends took us for a drive to see some of the Calgary neighbourhoods in the rain. We returned the next day to Kensington for lunch because it seemed a nice place from the car. The neighbourhood is around Kensington Rd and 10 St NW, parking was a little tricky but we found some pay parking on Sunday on one of the side streets. The area has a trendy feel to it, but overall the popular part of the strip is fairly small and takes 10 minutes to walk around.
After brunch we checked in to our hotel early. This hotel may be the best hotel I've ever stayed in. I will dream of the bedding in that hotel for a long time coming, and honestly I would strongly consider buying it for home use if that ever were an option for me. Everything about this place was pure luxury, with modern decor, a rain shower, and no need for their pillow menu because there were several pillows to choose from on the bed already (really, it was like resting on a fluffy cloud).
Just a block north from the hotel on 9th Ave and Centre St, was a pedestrian mall that looked like the main part of downtown Calgary. There are a few cowboy stores to buy tourist products like leather hats, boots and belts. From here you can access the +15, which is an indoor network of bridges connecting the first floors of most of the downtown buildings. I imagine they're designed for the colder months when the weather outside is harsh. Overall the downtown core as a shopping district is small, and quiet on weekends, so I suspect the city centre is mainly catered towards the weekday working crowd.
.jpg)
We ambled aimlessly for a while, until finding ourselves on a map realised we were close to Prince's Island - a massive parkground. This park was beautiful and worth the visit. It really feels like you're not in a city at all. Definitely, Calgary feels more like a town or suburb than a city, with friendly residents, plenty of parks, and small shopping districts scattered in various places. The only city feel we got was the multiple lane roads leading in and out of the city (which were about empty at the time we used them). We wondered around the park until some inclement rain arrived and we had to run for shelter... all the way back in town. We took the +15 back towards the hotel.
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| Prince's Island |
For dinner we went to Ruth's Chris Steakhouse with some family friends. Yes, I know, it's a US chain and it was an odd choice to go to the one place that would give us a US raised steak when in the capital of Canada grown beef. But it was pouring buckets outside and the place was steps away from the hotel. And it broils a pretty decent tenderloin to perfection.
Our friends took us for a drive to see some of the Calgary neighbourhoods in the rain. We returned the next day to Kensington for lunch because it seemed a nice place from the car. The neighbourhood is around Kensington Rd and 10 St NW, parking was a little tricky but we found some pay parking on Sunday on one of the side streets. The area has a trendy feel to it, but overall the popular part of the strip is fairly small and takes 10 minutes to walk around.
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