Calgary, Canada

Who doesn’t dream of one day taking a road trip through Canada and exploring every corner of the country’s unspoiled landscape, no matter how remote? Spectacular scenic highways, such as the 230-km-long Icefields Parkway, cross Alberta. The Icefields Parkway is bordered by mountains towering over 3,000 meters high and goes through two of the highest passes accessible to drivers—Sunwapta Pass (2,030 m) and Bow Pass (2,067 m). Various viewpoints and attractions can be found along the route, including the Columbia Icefield—the biggest ice field south of the Arctic Circle.
The Cowboy Trail promises an insight into the life of ranchers. Officially, the 640-km-long route runs from Mayerthorpe, north-west of Edmonton, to Cardston and ends in Pincher Creek, not far from the border with Montana. In the shadow of the nearby Rocky Mountains, the landscape varies with a diverse flora and fauna. Along the route, cowboys let their herds of cattle graze on lush pastures and in summer rodeos are held in small towns, many of which have retained their western spirit.

Alberta boasts an impressive six UNESCO World Heritage Sites which attract nature lovers from all over the world. Follow in the footsteps of dinosaurs in Dinosaur Provincial Park. Located in the Canadian Badlands, it is one of the world's largest sites for dinosaur fossils. In Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park, you can marvel at thousands of petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pictograms (rock paintings) documenting the history of the Blackfoot First Nations people.
Banff National Park combines breathtaking landscapes in the Rocky Mountains with easy accessibility and a long tourist tradition. Soaring mountains, rugged valleys, huge coniferous forests, upland meadows as well as glacial lakes and raging rivers shape this unique landscape, which provides a habitat for countless animal species.
This and many other national parks invite visitors to go hiking, canoeing or e-bike touring. Whichever way you choose, the beauty of the Canadian landscape will linger in your memory for a lifetime.

Your ‘to-do’ list in Calgary will be a long one. To learn more about Canada’s history, we recommend a visit to the Heritage Park, Canada’s largest open-air museum. If you like heights, enjoy the breathtaking views from Calgary Tower—you might even recognize the Canadian Rockies in the distance. Or visit the ten-day Calgary Stampede which is held every July and is also known as the “the greatest outdoor show on earth.” Animal lovers will particularly look forward to this: the biggest zoo in Western Canada, which houses more than 1,000 animals on a 2.5-hectare site. The zoo’s “Canadian Wilds” habitat is particularly impressive, with native species such as bears, wolves, cougars, moose, bison, bighorn sheep, and Rocky Mountain goats.

Calgary’s former main street from the 1890s is the heart of the city’s business and retail center to this day. A stroll along the centrally located Stephen Avenue can easily be combined with a visit to the CORE shopping center and trips to Kensington Village or 17th Avenue. The offer of the 180 shops and service providers in the always busy pedestrian zone ranges from designer brands to popular restaurants. Likewise, numerous special galleries, boutiques, cafes, bistros, record shops and bookshops are waiting to be discovered. After a stroll through the city center, the banks of the Bow River are an inviting place for a picnic—the ideal spot for photos of the famous Peace Bridge. Designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, this pedestrian bridge links the Bow River Pathway south of the river with downtown and is considered an architectural masterpiece.