Things to do in Alberta
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The Wood
Plenty of wood and a big fireplace create a relaxed, sophisticated vibe in this log building in Canmore's town center. If you're having a day off from AAA Alberta steak (not easy here), plump for the excellent salmon burger with a Dijon tartar relish.
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Three Bananas
This bookish coffee bar in Churchill Sq with its mosaic walls and Warhol-esque banana prints is a good place to grab a caffeine hit on the way to the new art museum.
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Tommy's Neighbourhood Pub
Tommy's pub grub menu stretches to crab cakes and spinach artichoke dip. More importantly for traditionalists there's good draft beer, a darts board, and plenty of opportunity to meet the kind of globe-trotting mavericks who have made Banff their temporary home.
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Twisted Element
Consistently voted the best gay dance venue by the local community, this club has weekly drag shows, karaoke nights and DJs spinning nightly.
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Two Rooms Cafe
Another laid-back Strathcona joint that could have been transplanted from some libertine European city, Two Rooms has a tiny wood-furnished interior, street-side patio and – most importantly – good coffee.
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Ukrainian Heritage Sites
With a huge Ukrainian population and a long history of immigration, there are a few places around town to learn about the culture of the old country and its transplantation in Canada. These sites are found north of downtown and can be combined into a single outing: St Josaphat's Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral,Ukrainian Canadian Archives & Museum of Alberta, and Ukrainian Museum of Canada.
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Ukrainian Museum of Canada
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Vicious Circle
Dark and moody, cocktails and martinis, comfy couches and a stylish atmosphere – check it out.
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Warner Guiding & Outfitting
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Waterton Bagel & Coffee Co
A godsend if you've just staggered out of the wilderness, this tiny caffeine stop has a handful of window stools, life-saving peanut butter and jam bagels, and refreshing frappuccinos.
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West Edmonton Mall
A kitsch lover who is tired of Vegas could still have a field day in West Edmonton Mall. Not content to simply be a shopping mall, this urban behemoth has the world's largest waterslides, an equipped indoor wave pool, a full-sized amusement park, a skating rink, two, yes, two minigolf courses, a fake reef with real seals swimming around, a petting zoo, a hotel and 800 stores thrown in as a bonus. Stroll through Chinatown, grab a meal on the delightfully unauthentic Bourbon St, or go for a skate or bungee jump. Then dive into the sea of chain retail shops.
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Whif's Flapjack House
The name is the menu: waffles, hamburgers, ice cream, flapjacks and salad. Big portions, a miniature train track suspended from the ceiling, and good value are all found at this local greasy spoon.
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Whiskey
Here lie all the unbeatable facets of an ubertrendy nightclub: surly bouncers, a big list of entry rules, long freezing cold lines, a chill-out bar, music from the '80s onwards, and plenty of beautiful people showing off on the dance floor.
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Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies
The century-old Whyte Museum is more than just a rainy-day option. There is a beautiful gallery displaying some great pieces on an ever-changing basis. The permanent collection tells the story of Banff and the hearty men and women who forged a home among the mountains. Attached to the museum is an archive with thousands of photographs spanning the history of the town and park; these are available for reprint. The museum also gives out leaflets for a self-guided Banff Culture Walk.
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Wild Bill's Legendary Saloon
Cowboys – where would Alberta be without them? Check this bar out if you're into line-dancing, calf-roping, karaoke and live music of the twangy Willy Nelson variety. The saloon is named after Wild Bill Peyto, a colorful 'local' character who was actually born and raised in that not-so-famous cowboy county of Kent in England.
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Wild Flour
Banff's antidote to Tim Hortons is heavy on organic, vegan and frankly strange-looking cakes, pastries and cinnamon buns backed up with free-trade, organic coffee. They also bake their own bread.
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Wild Water Adventures
Has a desk at the Chateau Lake Louise, but will pick up from Banff for a fee.
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World's Largest Dinosaur
Warning – cheesy tourist attraction ahead! In a town filled to the brim with dinosaurs, this T-Rex is the king of them all and features in the Guinness Book of Records. Standing 26m above a parking lot, it dominates the Drumheller skyline. It's big, not-at-all scary and cost over a million bucks to build, which explains the admission price to go up the 106 steps for the view from its mouth. Kids love it and, truth be told, the view is pretty good. Ironically, the dinosaur isn't even Jurassically accurate; at 46m long, it's about 4.5 times bigger than its extinct counterpart.
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Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
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Yamnuska Mountain Adventures
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Zum's Eatery
Good home-style cooking of the burger, pizza, and fish and chips variety is brought to you by hard-up students working their summer breaks. The lack of sophisticated flavors is made up for by the character of the decor; several hundred North American license plates embellish almost every centimeter of wall.
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1886 Buffalo Cafe
Calgary needs more places like Buffalo Cafe, a salt-of-the-earth diner in the high-rise dominated city center that the realty lords forgot to knock down. The wooden shack construction dates from the late 19th century and once belonged to the Bow River Lumber Company. These days it's more famous for its huevos rancheros.
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Art Gallery of Alberta
With the opening of this fantastic new art gallery in January 2010, Edmonton at last gained a modern signature building to emulate any great city and doubled the display space of its less-exalted predecessor, the Edmonton Art Gallery. Looking like a giant glass and metal space helmet, the new futuristic structure in Churchill Sq is an exhibit in its own right that houses over 6000 historical and contemporary works of art, many of which have a strong Canadian bias. Additional plush facilities include a 150-seat theater, shop and restaurant.
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