Things To Do in Calgary
Places worth your time and the events on around them — every card is labelled Place or Event, places are verified on their official pages, and event counts come from the live catalogue.
Calgary essentials
Calgary Tower
Calgary's defining landmark tower, worth visiting for the 360-degree observation deck views over downtown, the prairies and the Rockies, and for the glass floor that l…
Central Library
Calgary's flagship public library is worth a visit for its sweeping curved architecture alone, and inside it offers reading rooms, a large children's library, public a…
Heritage Park Historical Village
One of Canada's largest living history museums, where costumed interpreters, historic buildings, a steam train and a paddlewheeler on the Glenmore Reservoir bring west…
Olympic Plaza
Downtown's 1988 Winter Olympics medal-ceremony plaza, long a festival and gathering space with a summer water feature and winter skating, is being fully redesigned as…
Peace Bridge
Santiago Calatrava's red helical pedestrian and cycling bridge over the Bow River is one of Calgary's most photographed structures and an easy, scenic link between dow…
Stampede Park
The year-round grounds of the Calgary Stampede in the Culture + Entertainment District, home to the BMO Centre, GMC Stadium and the Saddledome area, and the setting fo…
Happening soon in Calgary
All Netted Together: Charles Darwin, Alfred Russel Wallace, and the Social Life of a Theory
Arthur Jafa: Love is the Message, the Message is Death
Brendan Fernandes: Other Moves
Bárbara Wagner & Benjamin de Burca: Swinguerra
CrossCraft Pattern Systems
Curtis Talwst Santiago: worlds, worlds, worlds
Evil Dead The Musical
Fluid Fest 2026
Ghazaleh Avarzamani: Churn, Earn, Burn and then Return
Held. Together.
SUE: The T. rex Experience
Damien Eagle Bear: when you see it
Neighbourhoods to wander
17th Avenue SW
Calgary's best-known strip for patios, restaurants, bars and boutiques, running through the Beltline just south of downtown. The BIA office address above is the distri…
Bridgeland
A walkable inner-city neighbourhood just northeast of downtown, centred on 1 Avenue NE, with a strong Italian heritage, cafés, delis and small restaurants. The BIA's o…
Calgary Chinatown
A community dating to the late 19th century on the south bank of the Bow River downtown, with restaurants, bakeries, markets and cultural institutions around Centre St…
East Village
A rebuilt downtown neighbourhood along the Bow River, master-planned by CMLC since 2007, with RiverWalk, public art and gathering spaces like Celebration Square. The a…
Inglewood
Calgary's oldest main street, centred on 9th Avenue SE, mixes heritage buildings with independent shops, arts and food. It is an easy, characterful stroll just east of…
Kensington Village
A compact village just across the Bow River from downtown, with nearly 250 businesses along Kensington Road and 10 Street NW. Good for coffee, browsing independent sho…
Marda Loop
One of Calgary's first BIAs (established 1984), this southwest district along 33rd and 34th Avenues SW has over 200 businesses — cafés, boutiques and services in a vil…
Mission / 4th Street SW
The 4th Street BIA runs from 12th Avenue to Elbow Drive through Mission and Cliff Bungalow, with over 300 businesses. It is a leafy, restaurant-heavy strip that reward…
Nature & parks
Bowness Park
A historic Bow River park built around a shallow lagoon used for paddle boating in summer and skating in winter. Bookable picnic sites, a wading pool, boat rentals and…
Carburn Park
A quiet 135-hectare natural-area park on the Bow River with large ponds that draw herons, kingfishers and other water birds. Pathways, picnic tables and seasonal skati…
Devonian Gardens
Calgary's indoor public park sits on the top floor of the CORE downtown, with tropical planting, a living wall, koi ponds and waterfalls under a skylight. The main Cit…
Edworthy Park
A large, diverse valley park along the Bow River that combines riverside lawns and picnic areas with wilder natural areas. The Douglas Fir Trail and Lawrey Gardens giv…
Fish Creek Provincial Park
One of Canada's largest urban parks stretches about 19 km across south Calgary along Fish Creek, with paved and natural trails, picnic day-use areas and rich wildlife.…
Inglewood Bird Sanctuary & Nature Centre
A federally designated migratory bird sanctuary since 1929, this 36-hectare reserve of riverine forest and lagoon is one of the city's best birdwatching spots. Level t…
Nose Hill Park
This huge natural-environment park protects one of the most significant rough fescue grasslands left on the Canadian prairies. From its plateau you get wide views to t…
Prince's Island Park
A 20-hectare island park in the Bow River right by downtown, reached by pedestrian bridges and built for picnics, pathways and festivals. Its wetland learning pathway…
South Glenmore Park & Glenmore Reservoir
This reservoir-side park links trails around the Glenmore Reservoir with an inclusive Variety Children's Park, a spray park, a bike pump track and a sailing school. Th…
St. Patrick's Island Park
Redeveloped in 2015, this 31-hectare Bow River island between East Village and Bridgeland mixes restored river channels and wetlands with a playground, plaza and a nin…
Museums & culture
Contemporary Calgary
Calgary's contemporary art gallery, housed in the former Centennial Planetarium at the west end of downtown, presents rotating exhibitions and daily guided tours in a…
Esker Foundation
A large, privately funded contemporary art gallery on the fourth floor of Inglewood's Atlantic Avenue Art Block, presenting several major free exhibitions a year with…
Gasoline Alley Museum
A three-storey museum of motoring history with one of the world's largest public collections of antique vehicles and restored gas pumps, recreating an early-1900s-to-1…
Glenbow Museum
Calgary's major art and history museum, holding large collections of art, cultural belongings and archives from Alberta, Canada and around the world, currently being t…
Hangar Flight Museum
Housed in a Second World War drill hall near the airport, this museum displays around thirty aircraft — including a Lancaster bomber — telling the story of aviation in…
Lougheed House
An 1891 sandstone prairie mansion — a national and provincial historic site — set in the Beaulieu Gardens in the Beltline, where exhibitions and tours trace the Loughe…
Nickle Galleries
The University of Calgary's art museum runs a steady programme of temporary exhibitions drawn from its collections of Western Canadian art, ancient coins and medals, a…
The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland / Fort Calgary
At the meeting of the Bow and Elbow rivers, this cultural centre and parkland — the former Fort Calgary site — explores Indigenous cultures, Treaty 7 and the founding…
The Military Museums
A complex of eight museums under one roof covering Canada's army, navy and air force history, with galleries, artefacts, vehicles and aircraft that make it one of the…
YouthLink Calgary Police Interpretive Centre
A hands-on police museum where visitors can work a simulated crime scene in forensic labs, explore more than a century of Calgary policing history and learn practical…
Family attractions
Calgary Farmyard
This seasonal farm amusement park east of Calgary offers more than 40 attractions, from a corn maze and giant slides to zip lines and a petting farm. Its offer changes…
Granary Road
Just south of the city, Granary Road combines an active learning park and mini-golf with farm animals and an indoor farm discovery exhibit. The indoor exhibit keeps it…
TELUS Spark Science Centre
Calgary's science centre mixes hands-on galleries, an Infinity Dome theatre and an outdoor play park, so kids can experiment rather than just look. A dedicated Creativ…
Wilder Institute / Calgary Zoo
Calgary's zoo on St. George's Island is home to over 100 species across themed zones from penguins to Canadian wildlife. It pairs a full day of animal viewing with a c…
WinSport / Canada Olympic Park
The 1988 Winter Olympics legacy park is now a year-round sport hub, with skiing and a tube park in winter and lift-accessed mountain biking and mini-golf in summer. Fa…
Hidden gems
Crescent Heights Lookout / McHugh Bluff
From partway up this bluff above the Bow River, the City promises a dramatic view of the downtown skyline, especially at night. A stairway with a viewing platform drop…
Eau Claire Park & Plaza
A redesigned riverfront plaza, reopened in summer 2025, linking the Bow River Pathway and Prince's Island Park across the Jaipur Bridge. It adds an urban beach, play s…
Griffith Woods Park
A 93-hectare natural environment park along the Elbow River in Discovery Ridge, with spruce and balsam poplar forest, wetlands and mostly flat, easy trails. The City's…
Reader Rock Garden
A hillside rock garden created from 1913 by parks superintendent William Reader, who trialled over 4,000 plant species here. Restored and reopened as a City park in 20…
Tom Campbell's Hill Natural Area
An 18-hectare hilltop natural park above Bridgeland with rough fescue grassland, trails and an interpretive exhibit. From the exhibit, the City notes an excellent view…