8 hours in Calgary. What's near the airport?
 

I have 8 hours between flights on a saturday. Is there a shopping mall or someplace of interest I can go by public transport?

hawaii<BR><BR>hop a cab to downtown..not too far away. nothing around the airport...at least from what I remember!!<BR>john

The airport in Calgary is isolated as described already.<BR>There are some motels between the airport and downtown, even some shopping. But I don't recall a mall per se. <BR>The downtown area is about 10 or 12 miles away based on my memory.<BR>But the land is flat, and the drive is fairly quick.<BR>

Having just checked a Calgary Map, there is an &quot;Outlet mall&quot;- Deerfoot Outlet Mall. Their website says it's only 'minutes' from the Calgary Airport. However am not sure if it's an open strip mall or an indoor one. Seem to recall it being somewhat big. See http://deerfootmall.shopping.ca for more info.<BR><BR>The option as suggested would be to get downtown (20 mins by cab, maybe more depending on rush hour)- There are many malls, so to speak, in different buildings- each connected by indoor walkways called the &quot;Plus 15&quot;. A starting point might be The Eaton Centre. And it's fairly huge. I can see 8 hours easily being spent there! In addition, you can check out Devonian Gardens or Eau Claire Marker which are both in that area (walkable). <BR>

sorry, that was meant to read &quot;Eau Claire Market&quot;. can't type. too early. :-)

If the weather is nice, you may want to consider going to the Calgary Zoo, which is one of the top rated zoos in North America. They have just opened up a new exhibit called &quot;Destination Africa&quot; which is supposed to be phenomenal.<BR><BR>The zoo itself is about 15 minutes from the airport.<BR><BR>With all due deference to the other posters, I wouldn't bother going to any of the local malls - you won't find anything there that you won't find in any other mall. <BR><BR>If you really want to go shopping, I would recommend going to Kensington, or 17th Avenue. These are the two areas that have the funky/independent stores in the city. <BR><BR>One point to note is that there is very little public transportation to and from the airport (one maybe two buses). If you want to go anywhere in the city, you will have to take a cab, unless you decide to head downtown, in which case you can take an airporter to any number of hotels.<BR><BR>Terry

You need to give more details, for different ideas of things to do. <BR>(i.e. Date &amp; time of arrival.)<BR>Also, any other interests like movie-going, go-karts, museums ...<BR><BR>Otherwise, if I were you and I haven't been to, or do not plan on it any time soon, I would rent a car and head to Banff and enjoy the mountains with a meal and a walk down &quot;main street&quot;. Drive = 1.5 hours + 1.5 back to the airport, so you could easily spend 3-4 hours in Banff. Also, they have transfer vehicles that run to and from the airport, but I do not know much about them, so you'll have to search the web.<BR><BR>More details = more replies.<BR><BR>Good luck!

If you are flying out of Calgary to an internationational destination, don't forget you must allow time for passport control. That will eat into your 8 hours. <BR><BR>If you are flying to the USA, you will also have to go through US customs in Calgary. You do all of your re-entry procedures before you board the aircraft. The time requirements are non trivial.<BR><BR>As soon as you check your luggage, you can go straight to US customs and immigrartion/passport control. After you clear passport control, you are in a restricted area until you board your flight. <BR><BR>I also forgot to mention in my first post that you can make life a lot easier if you take your passport. I know, one is technically not required for travel to and from Canada.<BR><BR>That really does not have much to do with the current situation. For all practicality there is no difference now between coming home from China and coming home from Canada.<BR><BR>If you don't have a passport, the best thing to do is to get one. If not, then you will need your original official birth certificate and a government issued photo ID.