What to do in Calgary?
 

I'll be in Calgary for two weddings and decided to stay 3-4 nights there (not sure if that was a good idea). What restaurant, bars/pubs, cafes, streets, activities are a must eat/do? Seems like places are pretty scattered and downtown isn't exactly great for a drink and what not. Yelp/tripadvisor,etc can only take you so far with food/activiites. So here I am summoning RS.

I thought about checking out Inglewood and Kensington and possibly trying Charcut. I'm still kind of lost. haha

Thanks in advance!

Visit Nathan Head's new bar Proof - Cocktails & Curiosities

Pics from my recent visit. Amazing hospitality. Excellent drinks. Tasty food.



Welcome to Model Milk | Model Milk - If you're alone, sit at the bar. Madeleine MacDonald is the new bar manager. A lot of fun and excellent hospitality.

Another one of Nathan Head's ventures - Milk Tiger Lounge | Classic cocktails, wine, beer, and food! (Just around the corner from Model Milk.)

Coffee - Monogram Coffee in Altadore and Phil & Sebastian (Visit the Mission location.)

Enjoy.

Calgary Stampede!

The Zoo.

Skyline Luge.
Skyline Luge Calgary (Alberta): Address, Phone Number, Game & Entertainment Center Reviews - TripAdvisor

Eats:
If you like Malaysian Laksa, you MUST go here:
https://www.zomato.com/calgary/banan...uisine-calgary

Awesome recommendations on bar and tasty eats BCRDukes.. Will definitely try and venture through all of them!

Is the Banana leaf better than the ones in Vancouver? Will definitely be at the Zoo, will be spending it there with my niece. I'll miss out on the stampeded though.

Keep the tips coming. The more the merrier!!!

It's truly 100% authentic cooked by a Malaysian chef/owner that owned a previous restaurant in Vancouver.

It's also very, very, very spicy, and uses ingredients imported from Malaysia.

Just recently got back from there.

Village Ice cream - they pull off an amazing Phil and Sebastian coffee flavour
Buttermilk - great waffles here
National - a chain of bars with tons of beer on their menu and each location will have something different (eg. bowling alley, arcade, games room, roof top patio)
Ox and Angela - one of the best brunches I've had
And of course, stampede if you're there during that time.

Didn't get a chance to really check out Kensington while things were open, but it looked like a cool place. People are generally much friendlier than they are in Vancouver and willing to chat.

Oh, yes.

Buttermilk is good if you're into waffles.

National, for a pub/bar, their food is pretty good.

Ox and Angela - I tried their tapas for dinner and it was pretty good. Haven't tried their brunch.

All of the mentioned above are within walking distance of one another, including the ones I mentioned in my original post (with the exception of Proof and Monogram Coffee.)

What days will you be in Calgary? There’s usually a festival or something going on..
As mentioned by the others.. Village ice cream, Buttermilk, Ox and Angela. Also:
-Anju
-Charbar
-Shiki Menya (if you like ramen)
-White Elephant (hole-in-the-wall Thai restaurant)

Inglewood and Kensington are alright. Some other areas to potentially check out:
-Eau Claire/Prince’s Island Park
-Stephen Ave.
-17th Ave SW (Ship & Anchor, National, Tubby Dog)
-Scotsman’s Hill (For a nice city view)
-The Bow Tower, and Peace bridge are where I usually see tourists as well..

If you’re able to trek outside of the city, these would be typical suggestions:
-Banff. Hike up to Grassi Lakes, it takes less than an hour to get up there
-Drumheller. If you have kids, they'd probably enjoy the Royal Tyrell Museum

Machi604 - Have you tried Anju? If so, what did you think of it?

On a personal level, I don't like it nor would I recommend it. It's "modern Korean" but how much of Korean food can really be elevated? Again, this is just my personal take on it, but for some, it could be quite the culinary experience. :)

I've been a few times and have tried the oxtail tortellini, pork belly eggs benny, korean fried chicken, and the yam fries so far. I enjoyed them all!

It's definitely Korean fusion food though so I can understand why you (or other people) wouldn't like it haha

its calgary skyxx. nothing to do there but get coked up and hit up clubs for sloots.

If you have a car you can drive out to Banff for the day. Just over an hour drive west of Calgary. Or if you have some extra time, Lake Louise is closer to 2 hours from Calgary, but I find it is more picturesque and has less tourists.

There's the zoo and stampede.

For food, someone already mentioned Village Ice cream. If you're into steaks, Murrieta's, Saltlik, Trib are all pretty good. A steak will cost you $30~40 though. Saltlik has one of the better chocolate lava cake's I've had since Morton's. These are all around Stephen Ave. Vero Bistro up in Kensington is quite good too, just cross the bridge from downtown.

There are also two major shopping malls, since there's only GST there, Chinook which is accessible via the C-Train, and Cross Iron outlets near the airport (no train access).

17th Avenue is full of pubs if that's what you're into.

For parks, there's Eau Claire and Prince Island park in the northern part of downtown.

Awesome stuff guys! Appreciate everyone taking time to write out all your recommendations.

I'll be in Calgary from 18-23. 18/19 will be all weddings. So realistically it'll be from 20-23(24ish). I'll be heading to Banff on the way home when I carpool back with my brother in-law.

go to Cross Iron outlets.. it's all driving in Calgary. Don't even try to bus it.

it's a lot of driving for calgary since it's so spread out. they do have a lot of viet food in Calgary. Nothing too crazy meh..

Don't have a car, I'll probably transit/taxi/car2go and possibly see if I could meet up with my cousins.