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Calgary

Calgary skyline © Tourism Alberta
Calgary is situated 200 miles (322km) north of the US border on the banks of the Bow River below the Rocky Mountains. Although Alberta's second city, Edmonton, is the state capital, Calgary is the territory's commercial and cultural centre and offers visitors and inhabitants all the trappings of urban life along with the pleasure of enjoying the dramatic countryside that surrounds the city. Splendid national parks that flourish on its doorstep, act as a magnet for hikers, fishermen and lovers of the great outdoors. The city, sited on the Trans-Canada highway, is also the gateway to the Rocky Mountain resorts, which in winter attract skiers from all over the continent.

The downtown area of Calgary not only serves as a shopping, entertainment, cultural and recreation centre for locals, but it is also a tourist centre for more than four million visitors a year. The city boasts dozens of tourist attractions and annual festivals, wonderful parks and open spaces and a selection of excellent shops, restaurants, cafes and bistros. The city is probably best known for the Calgary Stampede, a world-class cowboy carnival and rodeo that draws more than a million people every year to watch the action and be entertained by its accompanying huge parade and festivities.

For over 10,000 years the site on which Calgary sits today was home to the Blackfoot Indians; the first European settlers did not arrive until 1860. Colonel James Macleod established the small trading post, Fort Calgary, named after Calgary Bay on his native Isle of Mull in Scotland. The Pacific Railway reached the town in 1883, but it was not until the discovery of oil in Turner Valley, 22 miles (35km) southwest of the city that the population started to explode. Wander the streets in your Stetson beneath the sparkling skyscrapers built on the back of the oil boom, dine on a juicy steak in a saloon with country music playing in the background, and it will be hard to decide whether you are in Calgary or Texas.




Attractions

Giraffes at Calgary Zoo © jon_a_ross

Calgary Zoo

Canada's second largest zoo includes a botanical garden and prehistoric park, and offers more than 100 rare animals, a variety of birds, species of reptiles and amphibians in natural habitat enclosures. In the prehistoric park there are 19 life-size dinosaur models on display. The...  see full details



Fort Calgary © bchow

Fort Calgary

This historical site chronicles Calgary's history between 1875 and the 1940s and allows visitors to step back in time and explore the early days of the city through interactive exhibits, costumed interpreters, hands on activities, guided tours and an entertaining audio-visual presentation. Fort Calgary...  see full details



Glenbow Museum © mastermaq

Glenbow Museum

Located in the heart of Calgary opposite the tower, Canada’s largest museum has more than 93,000 square feet (8,640 sq metres) of exhibition space spread over three floors. It houses more than a million objects that fill up its 20 galleries and showcase the...  see full details





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