Calgary and Banff
Calgary
Things to See
1. The Bow River: Located conveniently across the street from Alt Hotel, the Bow River received its name from the Indigenous Peoples of the Great Plains because they made bows out of the Douglas Fir trees that grow along the riverbank. It traverses 587 km stretching from Lake Louise, Banff, Canmore, Cochrane, Calgary and Arrowwood. The Stoney Nakoda named it jathibe Wapta, “a place where people made bows out of Saskatoon saplings.” In the Blackfoot language, the river is called Makhabn, which means “river where the bow reeds grow.”
With its massive and unique design the Calgary Central Library has won various architecture awards, such as the a 2020 Architecture Award from the American Institute of Architects, a 2020 American Institute of Architects New York Design Award for outstanding architectural design by American Institute of Architects New York members, and American Institute of Architects, American Library Association and Library Leadership and Management Association 2019 AIA/ALA Library Building Award. Additionally, this 240,000 square foot building has five levels that contain about 600,000 items from various reading categories for various ages.
Directions: 9 minute walk from Alt Hotel, 750 m
1. Head east on Confluence Way SE toward 6 Ave SE W (73 m) 2. Turn right onto 6 Ave SE W (290 m) 3. Turn left onto 4 St. SE (160 m) 4. Turn right onto 800 3 St SW (140 m)
3. Phil & Sebastian Coffee Roasters – Simmons Building Café 618 Confluence Way SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0G1
Directions: 1 minute walk, (51 m)
1. Head West on Confluence Way SE 2. Destination will be on the right.
4. The Next Page – Bookstore 1217A 9 Ave SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0S9
Directions: 18 minute walk, (1.4 km)
1. Head East on Confluence Way SE toward 6 Ave SE W (73 m) 2. Turn left onto 6 Ave SE W (350 m) 3. Turn left onto 9 Ave SE (950 m) 4. The destination will be on the right.
Restaurants, Bakeries, Café’s Near the Hotel
1. Sidewalk Citizen Bakery – 618 Confluence Way SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0G1
Directions: 1 minute walk (50 m)
1. Head west on Confluence Way SE (50m) and the destination will be on the right.
2. Charbar – 618 Confluence Way SE, Calgary, AB T2G 0G1
Directions: 1 minute walk (47 m)
1. Head west on Confluence Way SE (47 m) and the destination will be on the right.
3. Ten Foot Henry – 1209 1 St SW, Calgary, AB T2R 0V3
Directions: 6 minute drive (2 km)
1. Head east on Confluence Way SE toward 6 Ave SE W (73 m) 2. Turn left onto 6 Ave SE W (350 m) 3. Turn right onto 9 Ave SE (350 m) 4. Turn left onto 4 St. SE (250 m) 5. Turn right onto 11 Ave SE (850 m) 6. Turn left onto 1 St SW (150 m) and the destination will be on the right.
4. River Café: $$$ 25 Prince’s Island Park, SW, Calgary, AB T2P 0R1
Directions: 6 minute drive (2.1 km), 26 minute walk along the Bow River
1. Head west on Confluence Way SE toward Riverfront Ave (98 m) 2. Turn right onto Riverfront Ave (260 m) 3. Turn left onto 4 Ave SE W (1.3 km) 4. Turn right onto 4 St SW (300 m) 5. Turn right (130 m) for the destination.
Information about the C-Train, Transit
Tickets for the C-Train can be purchased either at the kiosks in person or through the MyFare app available on the app store. A day pass for an adult is $11.60, valid for the entire day including return. A single ticket with no return is $3.70 and only valid for one-use for 90 minutes.
Directions from Hotel to University via C-Train 32 minutes, 14 minutes walking.
1. Walking to City Hall Station: Head east on Confluence Way SE toward 6 Ave SE W (73 m) 2. Turn right onto 6 Ave SE W (450 m) 3. Turn left onto 3 St SE (98 m) 4. Once arrived at City Hall Station, take the Tuscany bound train, there are 9 stops before reaching University Station, which is where you can exit. The one before University Station is Banff Trail Station.
Banff
Brief History
Indigenous Peoples have inhabited the area in and around present-day Banff for more than 10,000 years. The town is located on the Bow River which was used by Indigenous people for millennia for travel, hunting and fishing. For tribes of the Great Plains water was “life” and of great importance.
The village site was located downstream of Bow Falls included at least 14 dwellings and was protected in 1913 as the first nationally protected archaeological site in Canada. Of the 15 to 20 dwellings identified in the vicinity of Banff, only a few are known to remain. Despite the loss of the original village site, more sites have been discovered in other valleys along east-west travel routes in Banff National Park. The peoples who built these likely used inter-mountain travel routes to hunt bison, sheep, tend seasonal agricultural plots of plants, and meet others. These types of villages were also used seasonally year after year in the mountains, the same buildings for hundreds of years, the same sites for a few thousand years.
This area from Banff stretching towards Calgary is part of the Bow Valley. For early peoples arriving on foot from the east, or for those arriving over mountain passes from the west, they would have known they were close to their destination, to the holy springs, when they could recognize a mountain in the shape of a resting buffalo in the middle of the valley. To the nearby Stoney Nakoda First Nation people, the mountain has always been a buffalo—a “sleeping buffalo” or Eyarhey Tatanga Woweyahgey Wakân. A Blackfoot name for this mountain is Iinii Istako. (taken from https://banff.ca/indigenouspeoples)
Banff Centre Information
Recreation: Hours of Operation
Fitness Centre
Cardio equipment, free weights and running track
Monday to Friday: 7:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Statutory holidays: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Climbing Gym
Daily: 12:00 pm – 8:00pm
Statutory holidays: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Aquatic Centre
25 m Pool, hot tub and wade pool – swim at your own risk. NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY
Monday to Friday: 7:00 am – 8:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Statutory holidays: 11:00 am – 6:00 pm
Things to See
1. Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, 10 AM – 5 PM daily, 111 Bear Street, Banff, Alberta T1L 1A3 Featuring special gallery collections, art, artefacts of the Rockies, and general history of the region itself.
Directions: 22 minute walk, 5 minute drive, (1.9 km)
1. Head southwest toward St Julien Rd (39 m) 2. Turn right onto St Julien Rd (110 m) 3. Turn right toward St Julien Rd take the stairs (180 m) 4. Turn right onto St Julien Rd (400 m)
5. Turn left onto Wolverine St (280 m)
6. Turn left toward Buffalo St (86 m)
7. Turn right onto Buffalo St (450 m)
8. Turn right onto Bear St (80 m), destination will be on the left.
2. Johnston Canyon, Bow Valley Pkwy, Improvement District No. 9, AB T1L 1K2
Directions: 37 minute drive.
1. Get on Trans-Canada Hwy/AB-1 W from St Julien Way, Wolf St and Mt Norquay Rd (3.6 km) 2. Follow Trans-Canada Hwy/AB-1 W to Banff-Windermere Hwy. Take exit 50 from Trans-Canada Hwy/AB-1 W (29.4 km) 3. Take Bow Valley Pkwy/AB-1A E to your destination (7.5 km)
3. Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, 117B Banff Ave, Banff, AB T1L 1C1
Directions: 21 minute walk (1.5 km), 6 minute drive
1. Take St Julien Way to Wolf St (1.1 km) 2. St Julien Way turns slightly right and becomes Grizzly St. (30 m) 3. Turn left onto Wolf St (450 m) 4. Turn left onto Banff Ave and the destination is on the right (350 m)
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