General: Alberta (Canada)

Advantages: Totally Relaxing
Disadvantages: Gets Very Busy

Lake Louise, nestles in the Banff National Park, in the Canadian Rockies. To reach Lake Louise, it is quickest to fly into Calgary airport and hire a car from there. The drive is just an hour and 45 minutes. However, you can also fly into Edmonton with a 4.5 hour drive or approach from Vancouver with a 9 hour drive. The lake itself is at approximately 5,500 feet above sea level and is renowned for its turquoise colour. The colour is due to the light ...
...flour is created by the movement of glaciers grinding rocks together forming fine silt. The meltwater then carries the small rock particles down and feeds them into the lake via streams. Unfortunately, this glacial stream makes the lake far too cold for swimming, even in the height of summer. In 1882, Tom Wilson was the first white man to see the lake. He named it Emerald Lake due to its colour but it was later renamed Lake Louise after Queen Victoria's ... Read review

Advantages: It's Where I'm From
Disadvantages: nothing at all

Prenote- My teacher who happens to go onto Ciao suggested me to write a whole series on Traveling in Canada. Well who'd know more about Canada than a true, 100% pure, blood Canadian? So I agreed and am starting on a volume of 10 Provincial and 3 Territorial Guide on them. So I hope you enjoy. The first in the series is about my home Province of ALBERTA!!! Alberta- Descrition and facts Alberta is the Wild Rose Country of Canada. With a population ...
...Alberta is more than 4 times larger than the English Isles! Alberta has two big cities of Edmonton and Calgary (There are still quite small compared to London.) They have great shopping and tourism there. Here are some general facts... Name: Alberta Founded: Sept. 1st, 1905 Capital: Edmonton (Population 650,000) Taxes: 0% Provincial, but 7% Federal on all purchases Flights: There are some flights going into Calgary and Edmonton from Heathrow ... Read review

Advantages: clean air, amazing scenery, real wild wildlife, music, the people
Disadvantages: it's a long way from home

I have recently returned from my latest trip to Canada and already it feels like it was years ago. I arrived at Calgary into the nearly finished, almost total rebuild of the airport complex, though still in the middle of work, with typical Canadian efficiency there were no delays, I took the bus from outside arrivals which runs direct to Calgary centre or to Calgary transit LRT station at Whitehorn (about 5min). The trains are similar to those ...
...litter and graffiti free and clean, this takes about 15-20 minutes to the centre of Calgary though the bus goes to the same destinations the train journey is twice as fast. Once in Calgary proper there is no end of things to do and be amused by, there is of course the normal plethora of tourist traps and big chain coffee houses etc.. The streets are very user friendly with pedestrian right of way at most junctions and street maps on almost every ... Read review

Advantages: Something different
Disadvantages: Gets busy

A visit to the Athabasca Glacier made a great stopping off point on our journey between Jasper and Banff. The glacier extends from the Columbia Icefield (it covers 325 square km and is over 1000 feet thick in places. My kids were less than enthusiastic about the impromptu geology lesson given by the snocoach driver but we adults found it very informative. Access to the glacier is by a Brewster snocoach, specially designed with enormous tyres. Don't ...
...minutes on the glacier can be pretty chilly. Walking boots are advisable too as it is very slippery. We arrived just in time (about 10 am) and managed to beat the coach trippers. By the time we left after lunch the parking area was packed. The restaurant and cafe at the centre also fill up early. We were there just after 12 and the restaurant was full and the self service cafe had a huge queue. ... Read review

Advantages: A once in a lifetime experience
Disadvantages: You get wet and the river is icy cold

I can really recommend white water rafting on the Athabasca river just outside Jasper. It is a grade 2 river and provides enough thrills (and the odd spill) to keep everyone happy but also the knowledge that it is quite safe. I went with my husband and two teenagers and had a brilliant time. We went with the company White Water Rafting (Jasper) Ltd who were fun but professional. They do a pick up service on a school bus, drive you to the drop off ... Read review

Advantages: scenery
Disadvantages: far away

...was a romantic blockhouse accommodation, where we you could watch hummingbirds from our terrace. Jasper NP is a good starting-point to get to know the Rocky Mountain area. At first we were impressed by Mt. Robson (3.954 m), the highest mountain of the Canadian Rockies (only Mt. Kinley in Alaska is higher). There is a hiking trail (starts at the visitor center) around Mt. Robson that takes three days, take a tent with you. Our trip continued to Alberta. I’ll write an op there and general information about Canada in the Canada/General section. Other area worth a visit in BC is the Okanogan valley, a series of valleys carved out by glaciers and linked with a series of lakes, the largest is Okanogan Lake. The landscape should be very interesting, but we preferred to go to the Yellowstone National Park. The rugged landscape of Vancouver... Read review

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