Calgary Travel Guide

Calgary is Alberta's largest city and Canada's third-largest, and is near where the prairies end and the foothills begin. That makes it the eastern gateway to the Rocky Mountains and an important centre of trade and tourism for the western prairies. It is your best point of access for Banff and Jasper, and a worthwhile destination in its own right. Calgary is the heart of the largest metropolitan area between Toronto and Vancouver, with over 1.3 million people as of 2021 (1.5 million in the metropolitan area), making it Canada's fifth largest metropolitan area. Nicknames of Calgary include The Stampede City (for the Calgary Stampede) and YYC (for the city's airport).

Direct flights to Calgary within Canada include those fromCharlottetown(5.5 hours),Edmonton(1 hour),Fredericton(5 hours),Halifax(5.5 hours),Jasper-Hinton(1.25 hours),Kelowna(1 hour),Moncton(5.25 hours),Montreal(4.5-4.75 hours),Ottawa(4.25 hours),Prince George(1.5 hours),Quebec City(4.5 hours),Regina(1.5-1.75 hours),Saskatoon(1.25 hours),St. John's(NL) (6.25 hours),Thunder Bay(3 hours),Toronto(4 hours),Vancouver(1.5 hours),Victoria(1.5-1.75 hours),Whitehorse(2.5 hours),Winnipeg(2 hours), andYello

It can be fairly easy to get to most destinations of interest by bus and/or light rail transit (LRT, trams). In the downtown core, 7th Avenue South is for public transit only.

Although Calgary is generally a very safe place, walking at night should be avoided in the East Village and Victoria Park areas of downtown (generally speaking, this is the area adjacent to the Stampede Grounds and north to the Bow River). Calgary's 2011 murder rate of 1.1 murders per 100,000 inhabitants was, for example, roughly one-tenth the murder rate of Minneapolis and one-twentieth that of Memphis. Always keep your wits about you when the bars close, regardless of the area of town.

Accommodations are mainly located in theCity Centre,Motel Villagein theNorthwestnear 16 Avenue NW and Crowchild Trail, and in theNortheastnear the Calgary International Airport and along Barlow Trail. There are hostels located in the City Centre.