20241005_182414Skyline of Calgary (October 2024)

It had been over 15 years since I last visited Canada– I hadn’t gone back since I was in my teens, so it made returning to the neighbors up north surreal as an adult. I’d previously visited the west and east coasts of Canada, so this time, I would be exploring the Canadian Prairies, the western-central part of the country, beginning my time in Calgary.

I returned to Canada last October– the purpose of this trip was to visit Banff National Park, which had been on my bucket list for a very long time. I spent just a little over a week in Canada for Banff, before heading west to Vancouver and returning home. I traveled with my friend, “A,” whom I’ve been friends with since primary school. “A” had never been to Canada before, so it was a real treat for her!

Just before heading to Banff National Park, we based ourselves in Calgary, the largest city in the province of Alberta and considered the “gateway” to Banff. Direct flights to Calgary left three times a day from Los Angeles, and we caught the 18h00 flight over– alas, we were delayed by 30 minutes, but in any case, it was a smooth, uneventful three-hour flight, and we soon arrived into Calgary around 22h00 local time.

Our transfer picked us up from the airport and took us to our hotel not too far away– while it wasn’t in the city center, it was spacious and comfy, and it would be the pickup location for our ride to Banff after two nights. It was nearing midnight when we arrived, checked in, and showered before turning in, exhausted after an evening of travel.

I woke up early the next day and took a quick walk over to Tim Hortons, the famous doughnut and coffee shop of Canada. I bought a few doughnuts and coffee for “A” and I, and it astounded me that the whole spread (two doughnuts, several Timbits, and two coffees) totaled to $8 CAD/$6 USD! I brought them back to our hotel room for breakfast– while I honestly can say that the doughnuts and coffee weren’t anything to write home about, I really loved just how inexpensive they were for a decent meal!

20241005_092902Tim Hortons: all for $6 USD!

We were still tired from last night, but we decided to slowly get ready to go out and explore downtown Calgary. We only had one full day to properly see the city, so we grabbed an Uber around 10h00 and headed into the city center. As mentioned, Calgary is the largest city in Alberta and the third-largest in Canada at just over 1.6 million people: it has a big oil industry, which means plenty of money to build tons of shiny and glass buildings that we came across as we pulled into downtown.

20241005_111318Skyline in the Uber

Our first stop was at the Calgary Tower, modeled after the iconic CN Tower in Toronto. It stands a proud 191 meters (626 feet), and visitors can pay to take the elevator up for city views. Unfortunately, the elevators were down the day we went, so we couldn’t go up– however, I’ve heard that the views aren’t that great anyway, so it was a blessing in disguise. Plus, we saved $22 CAD/$15 USD on tickets per person!

20241005_113007Calgary Tower

Any case, we continued our stroll in downtown Calgary. We took a stroll down the pedestrian section of 8 Ave SW, located just a few blocks down from the Calgary Tower– here, we got some souvenirs and toiletries we’d forgotten to pack in our suitcases, before heading up Centre Street S to come across The Bow, a massive futuristic-looking skyscraper at 236 meters (774 feet). It’s not open to the public, so we couldn’t go inside. We also enjoyed the fascinating (if slightly creepy) Wonderland statue– installed in 2013, it’s of a young girl’s head by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa, which is to symbolize the hopes and dreams of youth in Calgary.

20241005_113257The Bow


20241005_113414Wonderland sculpture

Following that, we opted for lunch at a bánh mì shop that exclusively-sold the famed Vietnamese sandwiches. I opted for a lemongrass beef bánh mì, which really hit the spot: the portions were huge and reasonably-priced at less than $14 CAD/$10 USD. I would go back to Calgary just for those sandwiches!

20241005_123537Bánh mì

“A” and I explored a bit of Chinatown in the afternoon, where we strolled inside one of the indoor malls that sold items like Chinese herbs, jade jewelry, and inkstones for calligraphy. The mall also had tea shops and bakeries that sold sweet and savory buns, as well as some cute macarons– my friend got some macarons in the shape of Pikachu, Totoro, and Winnie the Pooh and, while they tasted very subpar, they were very adorable.

20241005_114209Chinatown

We also got some s’mores dessert as an afternoon treat before taking a stroll along the River Walk that runs parallel to the Bow River. “A” and I cut through back into downtown to check out the Central Library. Opened in 2018, this modern building, inside and out, is an architectural wonder, its interior made out of wood and constructed to imitate the flow of the regional Chinook winds. We spent a couple of hours in the library, taking in the architecture and otherwise resting in the comfy chairs.

20241005_144354Inside the Central Library

The two of us had early dinner reservations, so we headed over to be there at 17h15. The restaurant was on the fancy side, yet reasonably-affordable with seasonal small plates to share. We weren’t super hungry, but we still enjoyed dishes like tomato toast, hamachi (my personal favorite), and pesto pasta. Our mocktails were sweet and tasty as well.

20241005_171846Hamachi (my favorite)


20241005_172511Tomato toast


20241005_173805Pesto pasta

We were utterly exhausted following dinner, so we got an Uber back to our hotel– we were also to wake up early the next morning to head to Banff, so we needed to rest. However, following our three nights in Banff, we returned to Calgary for one more night, this time staying at a hotel in downtown Calgary– it was more expensive, but our hotel was really nice and right in the middle of everything. We only had a night in town following Banff, so we didn’t do much except get some decent Xi’an cuisine in Chinatown for dinner and coffee and pastries at a café overlooking downtown for breakfast.

20241009_165801Xi’an dishes (from top: cold noodles, jian bing, and lamb burger)


20241010_090955Almond croissant and latte with views

Although “A” and I only had about a day and a half in Calgary, I actually liked my time in town. Calgary gets a bad rep for being quite a conservative city in a conservative province, as well as with little to do for visitors. However, I found Calgary to be fairly pleasant– even though we managed to see the majority of sites within a day, I especially enjoyed the diverse food scene. The city is, surprisingly, ethnically diverse, and it contributed to lots of great food and culture throughout the city.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for my Banff series! 🙂

— Rebecca

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Published by Rebecca

Blogger, world traveler, poet, foodie, part-time penguin. Welcome!

48 thoughts on “Destination: Calgary, Canada”

  3. What a fun tour! I’ve been to Calgary a couple times, though only for a total of about 2 days. I did go up the tower and thought it was a good view… though I was also a teenager and hadn’t spent much time in cities, so perhaps it was the novelty of it. Either way, this post brought back fun memories for me as well as showed me some things to see next time I’m up that way.

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    1. Thanks, Diana! It’s cool you’ve been to Calgary, too. Having gone up many towers for city views before, I don’t know if Calgary’s would be as novel for me…all the same, I hope you get to return to Calgary sometime soon and discover more!

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    1. Indeed! Calgary is worth at least a couple of nights to see its attractions. The city is also known for its annual Calgary Stampede in July, which I hear is an event in itself! Should you make it to that part of Canada some day for Banff, Calgary is a good place to base yourself in!

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  6. A delightful and vividly painted snapshot of Calgary. You capture the city’s understated charm perfectly—its diverse food scene, striking modern architecture, and the quiet pleasure of discovering a place without overwhelming tourist demands. It feels both personal and inviting, and definitely leaves me looking forward to the Banff series

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  8. I’ve heard wonderful things about Banff National Park and look forward to reading about your experience! I love how much natural light shines throughout the Central Library. It looks like a must see/do when in Calgary. Thanks for sharing, Rebecca!

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    1. Thanks, Darlene! Banff National Park was a blast, and I’ll be recapping it in my next post! Calgary was fun, too, and the Central Library was a beautiful piece of architecture to check out.

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  10. It’s nice to read about a Canadian city I don’t usually read about (the spotlight is usually on Vancouver, Toronto, or Montreal). Calgary looks nice, and the traffic in the downtown area doesn’t look too bad. It’s good that you got to explore the city with the limited time you had.

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    1. Trust me, the traffic in Calgary isn’t great, either! I just didn’t take photos of it, haha. It was a fun time in town, however brief it was, and it was the perfect gateway to Banff!

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    1. Indeed! I was fortunate the US/Canadian dollar exchange rate was in my favor– I was especially astounded at the cost of Tim Hortons! Banff is coming up!

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  14. You captured so many wonderful photos from Calgary, Rebecca. I was fortunate to visit this beautiful city a decade ago, but unfortunately saw very little of it as we only had about a half a day for exploring it before we set out towards Banff National Park. But I very much loved what I saw, especially as we were there just before Stampede started, and we had a chance to see it all set up and ready to go. Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 Aiva xx

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    1. Despite the short time you had in Calgary, I’m sure you still saw how beautiful it was! I wasn’t there for the Stampede, but I’ve heard it’s world-famous. Glad you enjoyed visiting that part of Canada, and I appreciate you reading, Aiva. Have a great day! 🙂

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  15. I’m trying to think if I’ve been to Calgary. Just after college I spent time in Banff and Jaspar Park, and a little time in the Edmonton Mall, so it seems likely, but I just can’t say for sure. Either way, the library is beautiful. I love all that wood. Can’t wait to hear what you thought of Banff!

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    1. Calgary is a lovely city, and the perfect gateway to Banff and Jasper National Park. I did not go up to Edmonton this time, but as it’s past Jasper, it’s also a good gateway to the parks! My posts on Banff are coming really soon 😊

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  16. Calgary looks like a lovely city – sign me up for that bowl of pesto pasta and the Banh Mi (I’m off to Vietnam in a few weeks, and I am going to eat my body weight in them!!). I also love the look of the central library. Looks like you had perfect weather, too! Thanks for sharing 🙂

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    1. Thanks, Han! The food in Calgary definitely surprised me by being diverse and tasty! I’m so jealous you’re going to Vietnam; I’ve yet to go, and I hope you have a wonderful time there!

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  21. This was an interesting read Rebecca, as I have never been to Calgary and deep down my gut is telling me I might never get there. So thanks for allowing me to explore vicariously. The Central Library looks impressive and boy did you guys get through some fine looking food. You got me scratching my head with the Jaume Plensa artwork, I was sure I’d seen that somewhere before. So I looked him up and sure enough I stumbled upon a piece of his (similarish to the one you pictured) when I was exploring Des Moine in Iowa back in 2012.

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    1. Interesting! What are the odds you saw a Jaume Plensa artwork in Iowa? That’s incredible! Calgary is a pleasant Canadian city to check out while en-route to Banff; I was surprised that it was quite diverse in its people and food, and it’s definitely worth a night or two in town!

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  22. Calgary looks amazing! My husband is out in Canada fairly often rotating through BATUS with the British Army, it’s definitely a trip I’d like to make. The library is very similar to the modern part of Liverpool Central Library. So much so, I checked the designers to see if there was a connection. There isn’t- just one of those things!

    Look forward to Banff

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  23. It’s fantastic you got to go back to Canada for a trip so many years later. Really enjoyed reading your time there. What strikes me about Canada, and Calgary in particular, is that the metropolitan area is really modern. Like the futuristic skyscrapers that you pointed out. Awww you got to try Tim Hortons and honestly the doughnut and pastry looked really good. When you’re travelling snacks and tidbits like these can’t really go wrong.

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    1. Indeed! It was surreal returning to Canada after so many years, considering the last time I visited I was a child. Calgary was a lovely surprise; I didn’t expect for the city to look so modern and futuristic, but it was quite cool! Tim Hortons was tasty and cheap, and it did the trick before we headed out for the day! Thanks for reading the Canada series, Mabel– more to come!

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