Calgary Colemans

Hello,

Well....our in-laws are arriving this week, for a three week stay

They are elderly and I am wondering where the best places are to take them?? I suppose we need suggestions because we haven't been here long ourselves!!!!

So far we've got Banff (gondola) and Lake Louise, possibly the zoo (though this may be a bit much!) Drives through the rockies and picnics (as long as the weather holds up!)

Any suggestions??

Nicky

Piff Poff

Oh I feel for you

My MIL visited for the second time this year, for 3 weeks she is 82 and has limited mobility, as this was her 2nd visit we were able to do different things with her (most everything caused some sort of complaint but I think thats just MIL's).

She seemed to really enjoy:
Walmart
Sylvan Lake - she couldn't get over the size of it - so a lake nearer you may have the same effect.
Calgary Tower.
Lake Louisa - yeah we don't know where the A come from either.
The Icefields - shoved her on one of the buses - we had already done this but daughter was excited about a repeat visit.
Jasper - she preferred Jasper to Banff - but then we do too.
She loved West Ed mall - we got her a scooter whenerver she went in any mall/walmart etc. Absolutely loved using one.
She loved the Old Spaghetti Factory for supper too.

We also did some Historical interest stuff - not sure if they will still be open seeing as it's after Labour Day.

Markerville Creamery and Dickson were a hit. Also we had thought of doing the Alberta Prairie Steam train out of Stettler http://www.absteamtrain.com/schedule.html But we ran out of weekends. We have previously travelled the Country Dinner to Big valley - a lovely day out and we will do it again sometime.

Anyway enjoy your inlaws, hope all goes well.

MCrocker

Waterton is a 3 hour drive but worth it.
Elbow Falls
Sheep River Falls
Millarville Market

there's always the Chinook Mall - you might lose them....

Judy in Calgary

Everything Piff Poff and MCrocker have told you is true.

But please do not miss Moraine Lake. It's 9 miles (14 km) from Lake Louise and, in my opinion, is even more beautiful than Lake Louise (although of course Lake Louise is a must-see as well).

My travel website has a suggested one-day itinerary from Calgary to the mountains and back again. It encompasses Moraine Lake, Lake Louise and Banff townsite.

If you have more time to spend in the mountains, my website has other suggested itineraries of varying lengths.

I suggest you go to the Inside Calgary part of TripAdvisor, which is a travel discussion forum.

Once you're there, check out Day Trips. Of the attractions listed on that page, I especially recommend the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, between 1.5 hours and 2 hours northeast of Calgary. The dinosaur skeletons are awesome. The TripAdvisor page has detailed directions and information about the place.

In the Inside Calgary section, also check the pages on:

Architecture

Neighbourhoods

Museums and Attractions Of the attractions listed on that page, I especially recommend the Devonian Gardens in the downtown core and Heritage Park Pioneer Village in the southwest quadrant. But note that now, in the autumn, Heritage Park is open only on Saturdays and Sundays.

Off The Beaten Path

If time permits, I highly recommend that you visit Kananaskis Country, which is to the southeast of Banff, between Banff and Calgary. There are directions on this page of my travel website.

On the TripAdvisor website, I suggest that you go to the Inside Banff National Park : National Park Entry Fees page, so that you can understand how the entry fees work.

In fact, the entire Inside Banff National Park section is a great source of information about the Canadian Rockies in general.

I especially recommend that you read the page about the Clothing in which you will be most comfortable in the mountains.

If you want to visit Waterton Lakes National Park, which MCrocker recommended, you would do well to check out the informative website that "Camping_Girl," who lives in Nanton, Alberta, has created about that beautiful mountain national park (about 3 hours' drive south of Calgary).

If you do go to Waterton, you would do well to either go there or return via the secondary highway known as the Cowboy Trail (Hwy #22). It takes you through the rolling foothills immediately east of the Rockies, and is a charming route.

Another excellent website that tells you what there is between Calgary and the US border is A Day Through Southern Alberta.

You probably won't be able to do all of the stuff listed here with your in-laws, but it'll give you a long list of attractions to tackle as and when you can. (Also, it's good to have some things left over for them to see if they come back again. )

Hope that helps.

calgary2006

Devonian Gardens and the Calgary Tower downtown
Cochrane for MacKays ice cream
Moraine Lake - on the way to Lake Louise and much better IMHO - far less touristy
Heritage Park for old time, western Calgary
Bowness Park in the NW is good for family picnics - right on the Bow or
Fish Creek Park in the SW
My MIL loves Winners - can't get her out of there whenever she comes over!

Mountain Girl

Dont forget Moraine Lake closes soon for the winter. I am not 100% sure but I think its the end of September.

Its one of my favorites especially with a bit of snow on the peaks.

Calgary Colemans

Many thanks guys....you are always full if such helpful hints!!

We will definately be doing some of those.

Nicky

Steve_P

When my elderly aunt and uncle visited from the UK they really liked Heritage Park.

They also really quite enjoyed driving around some of the inner neighborhoods (Inglewood and Hillhurst Sunnyside) looking at the older homes.

Also a visit to the top of the Calgary Tower for lunch and then to the Glenbow Museum was a big hit.

A walk along the Eighth Avenue Mall on a Sunday afternoon with a visit to the Devonian Gardens also seemed to go down a treat.

Piff Poff

I didn't mention Moraine lake before because we always do it when we do Lake Louise - so we hear the ooohs and aaaahs over Lkae Louise and then the OH WOW it's even nicer when we get to Moraine lake so sorry for the omission

If your doing Banff, Lake Louise and Moraine lake then carry on up the Icefields parkway if you don't have time to do the Jasper stuff then turn at the Saskatchewen crossing and do the David Thompson Highway - for me that is a big Oh My Look at that! (I would say all that in 1 day would be too much though).

Mountain Girl

You can always do a boat trip on Lake Minewanka, the tunnel mountain turn off before you go into Banff.

MCrocker

...and that is the coolest name for any lake in the whole of Canada.....

Mountain Girl

I know , pronounced with a Canadian accent isnt it more along the lines of "Minewaaaka"

Steve_P

Pronounced in a similar fashion to Willie Wonka.

mandymoochops

Would cause sniggers with younger kids and teens but think MIL will be oblivious so you should be OK

Steve_P

If you think that will raise a snigger or two, try the name of the major road (the yellow one) in this Google map.

Guaranteed to raise the eyebrows of virtually every UK immigrant or tourist to Calgary.