Things to Know Before Visiting Calgary, Alberta
74If you plan on visiting Calgary for the Stampede or just as a pit stop to Banff there are a few things you should consider first before making those plans.
Eating
Avoid restaurants. Calgary is experiencing a working shortage and restaurants in the city are suffering the most. Restaurant owners have been granted permission from the city to hire teenagers as young as 13 years old. So don't be surprised if you are waited on by a kid or that your food is cooked by a child with little experience.
You are usually safe at upscale or hotel type restaurants. Places to absolutely avoid eating at are Taco Bell, Burger King, anything at the mall and Denny's. Also keep in mind that the Norwalk virus is still quite prevalent in Calgary so stay away from any buffets or outdoor grills. Grocery store lunchable foods are great and reasonably priced and restaurants that are outside of tourist areas are great too.
Transportation
Getting around the city without a car is a hard thing to do. The LRT (light rail transit) stops running at midnight and doesn't start again until 5 am, and on the weekend only shows up every hour. That wouldn't be so bad except taxis take over an hour, on average, to get to you (shortage of taxi drivers). For transportation you are better off renting a car, but avoid driving in the city during peak hours since all of its main roads are under major construction.
Calgary, Alberta: July 7, 2006
Weather
The only other thing I would recommend is to be prepared for any weather. It has snowed in June and the beginning of July there is always a sudden hail storm. The weather could change dramatically without notice, even when the weather was perfect before you left the hotel, so pack everything.
What I love most about Calgary despite all of the problems, are the Calgarians. You will never meet a nicer group of people.
Aside From That Calgary is Great!
Calgary Weather
- Current Weather
- 4 hours ago
- Monday, May 21, 2012
Variable cloudiness, High 19 °C, Low 6 °C, P.O.P. 20% - 42 years ago
- Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Scattered showers, High 16 °C, Low 9 °C, P.O.P. 60% - 42 years ago
Comments or QuestionsLoading...
It was definitely a strange experience driving in the slush while trying to stop the car from hydroplaning during mid-May.
There are definately some not so good things about Calgary and there are also some great things about it. Like the scenery.
Thanks for the warning, hope the situation improves.
I'll add it to my list of places to visit!
Calgary sucks in road signs. The major roadways have signs too small to see while driving. Signs on major intersections should be placed right beside the traffic lights above the middle of the road. NOT on a light post at the side of the road. For a city so rich financially, you can afford it to treat your visiting guests better driving in Calgary.
don't worry about this norwalk virus? i lived here all my life and never heard about it, and as for the restaurants, they are all pretty great, we are over staffed in most places now, so have a seat and expect to get excellent customer service. Calgary is great!
This is out of date. Light Rail Transit now runs every 5 minutes during rush hour, every 10 minutes in off peak times, and every 15 all other times. It also currently runs until at least 1am.
That would have been nice when I was a teenager. Now I'd much rather just drive myself around.
Also since writing this Hub the LRT now runs on 100% wind generated power. In fact most if not all of the City of Calgary facilities and services run at least in part from wind generators. Pretty cool.
This was a pretty good site, accept if i graded it on a scale from 1 to 10 i would grade it a 7
The biggest thing I dislike about Calgary is the fact that it is politically correct. City council recently spent 3 days discussing the term"Alderman" and if it may be considered offensive to woman. All schools in Calgary have been told they are no longer allowed to celebrate Christmas in fear it may upset the ethnic population.
I have been on contract here for two years and hate the gutless whips who live in Calgary. Come January I am off and hope I will never have to revisit this city of wimps again.
The information on eating in calgary is grossly incorrect. We did go through a boom last year 2009 however there was never a time that they would hire 13 year old servers or cooks. Firstly that is illegal and secondly the restaurant owners would never lose business due to lack of quality.
Telling travellers to go the Taco Bell and Burger King is atrocious we are not Americans and there are NUMEROUS of delicious inexpensive restaurants that will definitely tantalize those taste buds. You dont even need to look far. Kensignton, Inglewood, Stevens Ave and 17th Ave (aka: the red mile) will have everything you need.
I am very well offended by this website. There are many other good things that Calgary has to offer. The weather is not very welcoming but once you look past that its an amazing city. I would recomed it to everyone!
Hal Licino 4 years ago
Calgary got a couple of inches of heavy snow just a couple of days ago and now it's back to sunny and mild. If you don't like the weather, just wait a while!