Alberta’s most populated city is a must-see on any Canadian bucket list, so pack your cowboy boots and get ready to discover the best things to do in Calgary.
The gateway to western Canada, Calgary’s experienced a significant economic boom over the past few decades. While you can feel this progress in the downtown streets, a lot of history and culture can be found around every corner. It’s a place filled with soul, where you can brush shoulders with locals at the Calgary Stampede by day and spend your nights square dancing at a downtown saloon.
Our beloved Cowtown has a surprisingly diverse list of fun things to do and see in and around the city. From beautiful parks and river walks, to fascinating museums, architectural marvels, not to mention great food and drink, there’s plenty of amazing things to do in Calgary for just about any type of traveller.
Getting to Calgary, Alberta
Calgary is actually one of the cheapest cities to fly in to Canada. WestJet, Canada’s largest low-cost airline has its headquarters there, which has helped get Alberta’s largest city more connected with domestic and international destinations. Whether you’re coming in from Toronto or Los Angeles, NYC or London, England, there’s no shortage of flight deals to Calgary available every month.
If you want to extend your adventuring in Western Canada, another great option is to fly in or out of Vancouver and take an adventurous road trip across BC to Calgary. There’s a few route options to choose from, where you can pass some of Canada’s top ski resorts, national parks, and scenic mountain valley towns like Kelowna. Check out the best road trips in Canada for more inspiration.
11 top things to do in Calgary
Canada’s west is wild
From the best free things to do in downtown Calgary and beyond, this list has everything you need for a winter or summer trip to Calgary.
1. Visit Calgary’s Olympic Park
Your inner Olympian awaits
Officially called WinSport Canada Olympic Park, this venue was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary (yes, the Cool Runnings one). Now, it’s a great place to channel your inner Olympian and try out your favourite winter and summer sports at this historic attraction.
A great option for things to do in Calgary with kids, you can buy a day or season pass at the Day Lodge to access the Summer Hill and Winter Hill to access their seasonal activities. In the winter, the park offers downhill skiing and snowboarding. If you’re visiting Calgary in the summer, try out mountain biking or mini golf. There’s even an indoor ice rink that’s available to use year-round.
Note: Curious if you can still try the bobsled track at the Olympic Park? While many blog posts report on experiences had at the famous bobsled and luge tracks at the Olympic Park, most were originally written over five years ago. Unfortunately, the tracks closed in 2019.
2. Go to Prince’s Island Park
Folksy folks and the best bbq
Located just north of downtown Calgary, Prince’s Island Park is the preferred nature escape among local Calgarians. The park is actually an island along the Bow River, making for a beautiful urban oasis where you can rest and rejuvenate. Every summer, the park hosts the ever-popular Calgary Folk Festival, with amazing headliners including The Roots, Cowboy Junkies, James Vincent McMorrow, and many more.
Another unmissable event at Prince’s Island Park is the beloved BBQ on the Bow. Celebrating its 33rd year, the 2024 BBQ on the Bow is a family-friendly and free Calgary community event with lots of live music shows, a BBQ competition, and fantastic food trucks and stands featuring some of the best of Canadian BBQ culture.
Visiting Calgary in the winter? Take advantage of their outdoor skating rink, free to use and open (weather permitting) from mid-December to mid-March.
3. The Calgary Stampede
Blue jeans and cowboy hats
Canada has rodeos? Yes, yes we do, and this is where your cowboy boots will come in handy. Held every year for ten days in June or July, the Calgary Stampede is hands-down one of Calgary’s top attractions for international visitors.
The first Calgary Stampede kicked off in 1912, making this an over century-old tradition and cultural icon for the city. Featuring the main Rodeo and Evening Shows, concerts across four stages, Stage of Wonders performances, and much more, events for this 10-day adventure are held at Stampede Park in the heart of downtown Calgary. When attending any or all of the Stampede events, blue jeans, cowboy hat and boots are of course optional, but recommended. Gotta keep it cultural, ‘ya know.
Book your hotel in advance and get ready for an experience like no other. Check out the best hotels in downtown Calgary for the trip, so you’ll have easy access to the event. And accommodation books up early, so start prepping now for next year.
4. Check out the National Music Centre in Calgary
Pique your curiosity
One of the best glimpses of Canadian musical culture and history can be found right here in Calgary. Located in the Studio Bell building in downtown Calgary’s East Village, be prepared to be impressed with the museum’s 5 floors and 22 exhibition studios you can visit. Featuring permanent and rotating exhibits of interactive displays, artist exhibitions, and a collection of over two thousand rare music artifacts which cover over 450 years of music history on this land from coast to coast to coast.
Sing along with your favourite Canadian musical artists at the vocal booth and test your skills on the piano or acoustic guitar, on display to use for all museum-goers. Head up to Level Five to check out the Canadian Music Halls of Fame. From Oscar Peterson to Celine Dion, this is where you learn about Canada’s contribution to the world of popular music.
Have curious and music-loving little ones? The National Music Centre is a great option for things to do in Calgary with kids.
5. Marvel at the Calgary Tower
The world from above
The Calgary Tower is the city skyline’s main attraction, and no trip to Calgary would be complete without a visit here. Originally opened in 1968, the Calgary Tower is now home to an observation deck, dining halls including the Sky 360 Lounge, a theatre room showing a 15-minute movie on the making of the Calgary Tower on loop throughout the day, and much more.
The showstopper here is really the fabulous glass-floored observation deck, giving guests a stunning bird’s eye view of Calgary. If you’re visiting during the month of March you can take the 802 Challenge, where every Tuesday afternoon you can walk up all 802 steps of the tower’s stairwell. The rewarding views at the top will keep you motivated!
6. Spend the afternoon at Bowness Park
Get outside
A perfect nature escape just outside of the Calgary city centre is Bowness Park. Located along the Bow River, this urban green space has lots to do for outdoor lovers any time of year. Get some exercise by exploring the park’s well-paved riverside hiking trails, including the Uncle Wood’s Home Trail and the Bowness Park Loop, which is a 4-kilometre wander that takes you around the park.
The kids will have a blast at the playground and taking a ride on the mini train. If you have some time, pack a picnic lunch and set up camp at one of the park’s many picnic sites and make a day of it. You can even rent a canoe or kayak and make your way across the Bowness Lagoon, taking in those beautiful park views. When the lagoon is frozen during winter, it’s open as a free outdoor skating rink for all.
While you might know about curling, one of Canada’s favourite winter sports, have you ever heard of “Crokicurl”? A combination of the board game Crokinole and good old-fashioned curling, it’s the latest thing in Calgary. During the winter months, Bowness Park has four new Crokicurl rinks to try out this local sport, along with a few fire pits nearby to warm up in between games.
7. Go on an art tour of downtown Calgary
Cowtown has an unmissable art scene
Amongst the high rises and big-city bustle of Calgary’s downtown business district is a rich and inspiring collection of unique art and architecture. Want to discover this alternative side to Calgary? Take a self-guided tour of these enlivening sculptures, murals, and other public works of art scattered around downtown Calgary.
Start your exploring with a wander along the pedestrian-friendly and colourful Stephen Avenue, where you can pop in and out of boutique shops and stop at a patio for some lunch. Along this bustling street, make sure to look up so you don’t miss the Galleria Trees in front of Bankers Hall. Then head over to check out The Conversation, a bronze statue of two businessmen in top hats. The colourful cowboy books by mural artist Jill Stanton is another local fave that adorns downtown’s 7th Avenue.
One of the biggest draws though is the majestic Wonderland sculpture. Built by Spanish artist Jaume Plensa, this bent-wire sculpture is a depiction of a young woman from Barcelona. It’s a towering wonder at 12-metres high.
To dive in deeper, head to Calgary for the BUMP Festival, an annual event where you can immerse yourself in the work of many talented mural artists. There’s mural workshops, off-site drink event, networking, talks, mural tours, and more.
8. Take a break at the New Central Library
A recluse in the city
Oh Calgary, what a chameleon. Not only is Cowtown your Canadian city to visit for mouthwatering bbq and world-class rodeos, Calgary is home to inspiring music history museums and stunning examples of art and architecture.
On top of that, the city has the New Central Library, a recluse in downtown’s East Village for curious souls. Take a break from all the action in the city and slow down here at Calgary’s biggest public library, where you can take a tour or bring the kids for an afternoon of immersive learning at the Children’s Library. It was even voted one of the World’s Most Beautiful Libraries by the Daily Beast!
9. Cross the Peace Bridge
Calgary’s peace-building pedestrian pathway
A must-do for anyone in Calgary is to walk or cycle down the Peace Bridge. Crossing the Bow River to easily connect downtown Calgary with the outer districts, this unique piece of work is another amazing example of the architectural gems that can be found in Calgary.
Keeping it Canadian with its striking red colour, this pedestrian footbridge is the work of Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, and thousands of tourists and locals alike cross it everyday.
10. Hit up a local saloon
Downtown Calgary at night
Can you really visit a “western” city without going to a country bar? Strap on those cowboy boots from your time at the Stampede and hit up a country bar in downtown Calgary. Calgary is home to a few great spots that give Old West with a side of Jack Daniels.
Whiskey Rose Saloon on 17th Avenue has live music on weekends. Spanky’s Saloon is the new hot spot in town, a Nashville-inspired honky tonk bar for live music and dancing.
11. Go back in time at the Heritage Historic Village
Living history
We’re gonna close out this list with the Heritage Historic Village, a must on any Calgary things to do list. This historic attraction showcases Calgary’s Western heritage over the years, in a re-create village scene of what life in this part of Canada was typically like at the turn of the 20th century.
Open year-round, Heritage Park puts on seasonal events and exhibits that make for a fun day for the whole family. Some favourites include the antique car exhibit, Heritage Day Tea, and the Calgary Market Nights, held every Saturday from the last weekend of June until mid-September.
Bonus thing to do in Calgary: take to the mountains
The Rocky Mountains, that is. You can’t plan an amazing trip to Calgary and not visit the countryside, and the outskirts of Calgary are something of legend. Just a few hour’s drive from the city borders are some of the best parts of the Rocky Mountain range, out-of-this-world national parks, and crystal clear glacial lakes abound.
While there’s a ton of options, one solid choice is to take a day or overnight trip to Banff National Park. About an hour and a half (epically beautiful) drive west of Calgary, Banff is where you can downhill ski or snowboard like the pros in winter and rent a canoe in summer and experience the glacial lakes of Banff like never before. If you have extra time, treat yourself to an outdoor spa day and take a dip in the Upper Hot Springs, one of the best hot springs in Canada.
Ready to discover the best things to do in Calgary? Skyscanner can help you find the best flights, hotels and car rental deals for your next trip.
