Calgary is more than just the gateway to Banff National Park, and many visitors fly in and out of this airport. Don’t miss out on all Calgary has to offer during your next visit!
Hot List for Calgary
You probably won’t be spending that much time in Calgary on your way to Banff National Park. Here are a couple of pointers in terms of what to do in the area to make the most of your visit.
- Try tubing on the Bow River
- When we visited it was a very warm late summer day in the city, and quite a few people were taking advantage of the weather by having a lazy river Sunday! Check out Lazy Day Raft Rentals for more. Note – this is a seasonal activity!
- Picnic in Prince’s Island Park.
- We really enjoyed lazing away the day eating a picnic we picked up from a variety of restaurants in Calgary. There are plenty of grounds to walk around and you’ll come across lots of live music. There’s even a home for bees here!
- Eat!
- We thought Calgary was an impressively diverse city. Our picnic came from multiple different backgrounds. Check out Halibut Hut for amazing fish and chips. Stop by Cairo shawarma for delicious meat and rice – the owner saw we were very hungry and gave us complementary honey cake! Finally, check out Spice Hut for some standard Indian fare.
- Check out Chinatown.
- China town has solid food options as well, and makes for an awesome little walk. It’s about 10 minutes away from Prince’s Island Park, so you should definitely combine the two.
- Admire the street art and local murals.
- We loved how many amazing murals we saw while wandering around the city! Vibrant colors and full of meaning.
Where to Stay
We stayed at the Hampton Inn by Calgary Airport both nights we were in Calgary. It is very affordable, clean and has a delicious breakfast and warm pool. Our flight out was extremely early so it made sense to stay by the airport. That being said, Calgary has other amazing hotel options as well!
If we came again, we’d check out Hotel Arts (especially if visiting in the summer). These large hotel suites come with amazing balconies and are in a prime area of Calgary. The Prestige Suite at Hotel Le Germain also looks like it would be a sweet place to hang out for an extended period of time.
By the way, if you have Priority Pass, Calgary airport has an amazing lounge! We caught a very early morning flight out and were able to have a delicious breakfast here before we left. It was very clean and had multiple hot items and SUCH good coffee.
If you’re heading to Banff, check out our page on Banff here! Or, if you’re interested in more of Canada, head this way!