Sightseeing in Calgary

Sightseeing in Calgary comes in two layers, and the second is larger. The city layer is modern and compact: the Bow, a crescent-shaped tower of 236 metres by Foster + Partners, finished in 2012; the Central Library by Snøhetta and DIALOG, opened in November 2018 over the CTrain tracks; and Olympic Park, where the 1988 Winter Games ran ski jumping, bobsled and luge. The only city tour here is a phone-based spy game. The rest is the other layer: Calgary stands in the foothills, and Calgary sightseeing tours mean a day or more in the mountain parks to the west and south.

Calgary sightseeing tours leave the city on the Trans-Canada Highway. The lakes route of Lake Louise, Emerald Lake and Peyto Lake runs about seven hours; adding Moraine Lake with Banff town or Johnston Canyon makes it ten. A sunset run to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake takes five hours. Winter swaps the lakes for ice: Johnston and Marble Canyon icewalks, and Grassi Lakes with Grotto Canyon near Canmore. Waterton Lakes, where the Rockies meet the prairie, is a nine-hour winter day that includes the bison paddock. Twelve hours reach the Columbia Icefield. Private days cover the same parks, and the four- and five-day circuits carry separate summer and winter itineraries.

Practical. Banff lies 126 kilometres west of Calgary, and Lake Louise, at 1,750 metres, another 55. Lake Louise averages -5C by day and -18C at night in January, and 20C by day in July (1981-2010 normals), so bring layers whatever the Calgary forecast says. Moraine Lake Road is closed to private cars all year, which makes the lake a stop for shuttles and tour vehicles. From Lake Louise the Icefields Parkway runs about 128 kilometres to the Columbia Icefield, over Bow Summit at 2,070 metres. Snow is possible there in any month, and winter tyres or chains are required from 1 November to 31 March.