Sites and Landmarks Worth a Visit in Calgary, Canada

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Architectural Landmark, Historical Landmark

Calgary’s story starts right here, where the Bow and Elbow Rivers meet – a cultural meeting place for Indigenous people. Fort Calgary was built in 1875 to stamp out the whisky trade and establish Canadian law, eventually becoming a focal point for settlers, ranchers and businesses. While little of the fort remains today, visitors can tour the museum’s comprehensive exhibitions and understand the region’s long – and complicated – history.

Music Venue
This music center, in the East Village just minutes from Downtown, celebrates all things music. It has recording studios, a Canadian Music Hall of Fame – cue Neil Young memorabilia – and an interactive barn dance where visitors can try their hand at designing cowboy outfits or composing a country song. If “walking the line” isn’t for you, check out the public library next door. It’s among the city’s most remarkable feats of wooden archways, sleek glass walls and sweeping hexagonal structures.

Sports Center

If the story of a Jamaican bobsled team who’d never seen snow – or even a bobsled – before taking part in the Winter Olympics in 1988 rings a bell, this is where they made their debut. Today, the park is home to the only urban downhill ski facility in Calgary, offering snowboarding, zip-lining, mountain biking, luge, snow hockey and many other wintersports. If you’re wary, watch Cool Runnings (1993) before you go. Everyone starts somewhere.

Architectural Landmark
Stephen Avenue is Calgary’s beating pulse of cultural and commercial activity. The typical sandstone architecture and the Calgary Tower on Centre Street are famous, and if you go in the winter, try your hand – or rather, your feet – at ice skating in the Olympic Plaza. There’s no shortage of bars or restaurants nearby, though take note: Alberta is cattle country, meaning steaks are juicy, plentiful and everywhere.

Architectural Landmark

Calgary’s tallest building for a brief time, this 626ft (191m) observation tower offers panoramic views of the city and is made of 11,000 tons of steel-reinforced concrete. There’s a revolving restaurant, which serves the city’s best elk sirloin with foie gras. You could try walking up the 802 steps, but the tower has two high-speed elevators that can whisk you up in 62 seconds flat, which, frankly, sounds a lot more fun.

Sports Center
Calgary is clearly a city for folks who love the outdoors. And that applies to its students. The University of Calgary is best known for sports, engineering and sports medicine and boasts a speed-skating oval, climbing gym and fitness center, all of which are open to the public.

Sports Center
Built in 1983, this multiuse sports center has an inverted V-shaped roof, which is partially transparent, allowing for natural light to seep through. It’s just another addition to Calgary’s extensive sporting tradition and offers a variety of swimming pools (for sports, competitions and diving), as well as a massive indoor track and gym facilities.

Music Venue, Theatre

If you’re exhausted from all the sports, the Jubilee Auditorium, in southern Alberta, offers visitors a place to sit and watch opera, ballet, theater, dance festivals and bands. Built in 1957 to celebrate Alberta’s 50th anniversary, which took place in 1955, the facility is located in Hillhurst, next to the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.

Architectural Landmark
This pedestrian bridge pays tribute to the Canadian flag, with its dazzling red-and-white color scheme. This cultural landmark stretches across Bow River completely unsupported by beams or cables. Instead, it supports its own weight. It’s best to go at night when the bridge is lit up, and views of the sparkly city on both sides of the river stretch out for miles. If you go during the summer, expect to be met with the hopeful faces of graduating students, snapping their pre-prom pics.

Architectural Landmark, Historical Landmark

The Wonderland Sculpture, in front of the Bow, is one of Calgary’s tallest buildings, featuring the 39ft (12m) head of a girl. Visitors can walk through this artistic representation at the base of her neck, then look upwards. The artist who designed it, Jaume Plensa, did so as a representation of youth and hope.