Calgary in February
 

My Mom (50ish) and grandmother (spry at 70) will be going to Calgray to visit my sister for 5 days at the end of February. Any suggestions for great (but not super pricey) restaurants and activities would be much appreciated. I am especially looking for ideas about indoor activities and attractions as my grandmother finds the cold. Thanks in advance for any suggestions offered.

Here are some indoor attractions that are worth checking out in Calgary-<BR><BR>- Glenbow Museum<BR>- Eau Claire Market (nice little indoor marketplace with foodcourt, independant stores, movie theatre+IMAX)<BR>- Canada Olympic Park- I really enjoyed this!<BR> <BR>check out http://www.wherecalgary.com/index.cf...d=97&amp;bid=6 for more details<BR><BR>If your mom and grandma enjoy Thai food, they should pay a visit to &quot;Thai Sa-on&quot; which is downtown. Their selection is just amazing!!<BR>

In what area of Calgary will they be staying?

DS: thanks for the suggestions I have passed them on to my mom.<BR><BR>Sandy: I'm not sure what part of the city they will be staying in, I will find out and post back here. But in any case they will either be renting a car or taking taxis as it will be too cold for my grandmother to use public transport<BR><BR>Also, they are both love to shop, so if anyone has suggestions for stores unique to calgary it would be much appreciated, at home they usually frequent Laura or Talbots but would probably like to avoid chain stores on this trip.<BR><BR>Thanks again for all tips offered!

One of my favorite stores is The Parisien located at #140, 2424 - 4 Street SW. They carry fashionable clothing at relatively reasonable prices (probably comparable to Talbots). Mount Royal Village is another indoor shopping area with nice (not mall-type) stores.<BR><BR>Re weather -- you never know, it could be warm and sunny if a Chinook blows in!

There is a really good Chinese place that serves dim sum at lunch that my sons insist on going to every time we visit Calgary. I think the name is Grand Isle Seafood--it's on the 2nd floor of a building in Chinatown and has huge fish tanks. Most of the waitresses don't speak English, so you just point at what look good. Our family joke is about when my husband ordered chicken feet and duck feet.

i was visited calgary over new year's and there was an inviting advertisement about the new (indoors) ?rainforest at the calgary zoo. it is a great zoo &amp; well worth exploring. i think this is a new indoor exhibit. the weather is v. unpredictable - - so expect the worst &amp; hope for the best (a nice chinook). have a great trip. the downtown market (??au clair center) is fun to explore, too.

There are a couple of indoor things that might appeal to your grandmother... The Devonian Gardens is one - which just happens to be in the downtown of Calgary (I believe its in TD Square ) which is an absolutely delightful refuge from the busy shopping areas below! I agree the Aue Claire Market is very cool - and has mostly unique shops to Calgary. Calgary also has some excellent theater companies - lots going on all the time at reasonable rates. <BR>There are countless restaurants in Calgary that are not that expensive... while downtown is host to many of them my hunch is your sister will know of a good place or two as well. Teatro's is one of my favorites...its in an old historic building (old Bank of Montreal) and is quite funky. Its a bit loud so it may not be the best for your spry 70 year old. There are a couple of 'chain' like restaurants that we always found to be very reliable... Earls and Joey Tomatoes are a couple very reasonable places.<BR>hope you have a great time!

I just wanted to say thanks everyone for the great tips. I wish I was going on the trip with them now!<BR><BR>If anyone else would like to add their two cents any and all tips are appreciated.

To family:<BR>you may want to advise your mom of a side trip: if they like little towns and/or nature, take a day trip to Canmore or Banff, about 1.5 hour drive west of Calgary. If they like shopping, then go to Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, about 3.5 hours drive north. Edmonton has the biggest mall in the world (bigger than the Mall of America). It is called the West Edmonton Mall, and the shopping there is fantastic. She can spend the whole day there easy.

I think the drive to Edmonton is even less than 3.5 hours. I seem to remember doing it in under three and even closer to two. It is a FAST straight, wide, smooth FAST highway and if shopping is your game, and you are looking to explore beyond Calgary Edmonton is THE place with the West Edmonton Mall (miles of indoor stuff to do) and White Ave (a great stroll on a nice day) Actually I think Edmonton is such a cool, funky city and vastly under-rated. However, if nature is what you want then do the Canmore/Banff thing. For Calgary itself, the suggestions that have already been posted are good ones. I seem to remember some kind of downtown indoor shopping complex there that was decent too.

If you're looking for an interesting dinning experience then try the Sultan's Tent. It's a smaller restaurant that's decorated like a sultan's tent. You eat with your hands and the food was amazing, but it is a little higher priced than most places. It's located on 17th Ave which is a trendy street with lots of other little shops and restaurants.