Alberta Travel Guide
Moraine Lake at sunrise, Banff National Park. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.
Alberta holds the Canadian Rockies: Banff and Jasper national parks, the Icefields Parkway between them, and lakes so blue they look edited. Banff, founded in 1885, was Canada's first national park.
The mountains are only half the story. Calgary hosts the Stampede every July, Edmonton has North America's largest mall and a deep river valley park system, and Drumheller's Royal Tyrrell Museum guards one of the world's great dinosaur fossil collections.
Destinations in Alberta
Lake LouiseThe turquoise lake and the Victoria Glacier, Canada's most photographed view.
Moraine LakeTen peaks over impossibly blue water in the Valley of the Ten Peaks.
Columbia IcefieldThe Athabasca Glacier and the Icefields Parkway, the great mountain drive.
Johnston CanyonCatwalks over turquoise water to the upper and lower falls.
Royal Tyrrell MuseumThe world-class dinosaur museum in Drumheller's badlands.
Calgary StampedeTen days of rodeo each July: 'The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.'
JasperThe quieter Rockies park: Maligne Lake, elk and dark-sky stargazing.
Banff townsiteThe mountain town: hot springs, the gondola and the Banff Springs hotel.- CanmoreThe laid-back mountain town between Calgary and Banff, under the Three Sisters.
Edmonton river valleyNorth America's largest urban parkland, on the North Saskatchewan.
West Edmonton MallNorth America's largest mall: waterpark, ice rink and 800 stores.
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Top Cities & towns in Alberta
Regional food
- Alberta beef
- Saskatoon berry pie
- The Caesar cocktail (invented in Calgary in 1969)
Getting there
Calgary (YYC) and Edmonton (YEG) are the air gateways. Banff is 90 minutes west of Calgary on the Trans-Canada; the Icefields Parkway (93) runs Banff to Jasper. Brewster and Roam buses serve the mountain parks.