Located in the south of the province of Alberta, Calgary is the largest city in this province. Not only that, it is the third largest municipality in Canada by population. Calgary is nicely placed in an area of foothills and high plains in the parkland region of Alberta. It is also the fourth largest metropolitan in the country and offers tourists with the best of both the worlds. For the hip and happening person, it has a jiving urban lifestyle, whereas for the nature lover, it has the serene beauty of the wilderness in which it is enveloped.
Calgary is well connected by the airways. Air Canada is the carrier, which is most popular amongst the passengers and a common choice for air transportation to the Calgary International Airport (YYC). This airport is situated 17 km from the downtown core and offers nonstop flights to various important cities within Canada, Europe and United States. With 12.5 million passengers and with 246,370 aircraft movements in 2008, this is Canada’s third busiest airport. Airfares are always a matter of concern with the tourist as he will always be interesting in shelling out the least penny for transportation purposes. Hence you could look for cheap flights to Calgary even though there are other ways to reach Calgary.
Every July, sleek Calgary skyscrapers look down on colorfully chaotic scenes, as business suit gives way for western outfit and citizens join genuine cowboy in a 10-day celebration of the cow town heritage of the city. Known amongst the greatest outdoor shows on the planet, Calgary Stampede provides bronco busting, calf roping, steer wrestling, bull riding and chuck wagon racing. If its activities you are looking for then hiking and biking at Fish Creek Provincial Park, Millennium Park’s skateboarding and The Source Skateboard Park, amongst the largest indoor skating parks of North America, skiing during winter in Canada Olympic Park, and Downhill biking during summers are the options available. There are numerous guest ranches for you where you can ride horses too.
Calgary’s average temperature in summer is around 20 degrees C, whereas it is -8 degrees for winter. The best time however to visit Calgary would be from June to august when a variety of outdoor activities can be enjoyed. If you plan to come around this time of the year, you could even look for cheap flights from Vancouver to Calgary as an option of an affordable.
As far as the nightlife of Calgary is concerned, your best option would be along 17th Avenue District or there are few clubs alongside 1st Street SW and 9th Avenue SW. The best ones include Mynt Ultralounge, 2004’s best new nightclub as per enRoute Magazine.
So, plan a visit to the city soon and enjoy this thumping heartbeat within the rockies!