Hitting the Streets of Downtown - a Walking Tour of Calgary

	Stephen Avenue Walk - the heart of downtown1

Kensington
Kensington is one of Calgary's older and trendier districts and is filled with a personality and energy that makes it popular on the weekends with the young and hip crowd. Regardless of where visitors are staying, Kensington can be easily reached by taking the clean and efficient C-Train to the Sunnyside station and walking the short distance to the junction of 10th Street NW and Kensington Road. Featuring comfy coffee and tea houses and over 100 shops and restaurants amid character buildings, the streets are a great place to kick-start the tour with a sidewalk breakfast or small lunch and, if time allows, browse the many unique shops. If the day is sunny and warm (and it is almost always the former in Calgary), visitors might consider picking up something from a local deli for a picnic lunch in Prince's Island Park, a 15-minute stroll away.

	Downtown Calgary from across the Bow River 2

Once on the south shore, visitors will meet the Bow River Pathway and should turn eastward towards the bulk of downtown. The path is part of an extensive system of bike trails in Calgary and is used by cycling commuters, roller-bladers, walkers and joggers. With approximately 400 km, (250 mi) of pathways and on-street bike lanes crossing some 67 bridges, Calgary boasts the most extensive bike network in North America, which even includes snow removal in winter months for all-season use.

To the left of the path is Peace Park, a small park established to recognize the country's International Peacekeeping Role and marks Canada's 125th birthday. A large memorial arch just on the edge of the park leads to 8th Street SW and the Historic Trinity Lutheran Church, a simple white and green wooden structure built in 1924 by landed Norwegians. The church is one of the last remaining buildings of the original Eau Claire district and its age and simplicity are noticeably at odds with the looming floors of glass and steel of the surrounding skyscrapers.

Map of Walking Tour

Prince's Island Park
Continuing east on the Bow River Pathway leads to Prince's Island Park. This peaceful, wooded area is as the name suggests, an island in the river, connected to Calgary by Jaipur Bridge. The popular park is perfect for a picnic lunch, especially in summer when it plays hosts to several festivals and performances, including the Calgary Folk Music Festival and Shakespeare in the Park. The park was named after Peter Anthony Prince, founder of the Eau Claire and Bow River Lumber Company which was originally located at the present-day Eau Claire Festival Market.

Eau Claire
Next on the tour is the Eau Claire Festival Market, directly across from Prince's Island. This modern, questionably-designed complex is not the best that Calgary has to offer but is worth a brief look around for its handful of import and specialty shops and access to free Internet. A mall-style food court and a smattering of other shops complete the complex, along with a Cineplex Odean Movie Theatre located on the second level.

Outside the market, opposite the Good Earth Cafe, is a quaint-looking building of black and white which served as the original headquarters of the Eau Claire lumber company, after which the market is named. Dating from 1886, the historic building now houses the 1886 Buffalo Cafe, so named for its beginning and for the bison heads that adorn its interior. This Calgary landmark restaurant has purportedly been serving breakfast for over 100 years, evidenced by the well worn wooden floors and original features inside. Together with a lone-standing chimney at the corner of 2nd Ave SW and Barclay Mall (also 3rd Street SW), these two structures are all that remain of the original mill and the thriving community that it supported.

	Chinese Cultural Centre 3

Chinatown
From the Market, visitors should head directly east on 2nd Avenue SW towards Chinatown and the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre. The building is easily recognized by its impressive blue dome, designed to resemble the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. The building is open daily and a step inside is worth it to see the four giant red and gold columns and the ornately-decorated ceiling of the dome. Visitors can tour the centre's museum, art gallery, wall murals and 200-year old calligraphy scrolls or just generally witness the bustle of activity in what is the cultural hub of Chinatown. Outside, continuing on 2nd Avenue SW (signposted Daqing Avenue in Chinatown) and then turning south on Centre Street visitors get an indication of Calgary's thriving Chinese community, most lively on weekends. In contrast with the downtown's new and sterile skyscrapers, the neighbourhood, which dates back to 1910, features small two-storey buildings with neon and hand-painted signs, a plethora of restaurants, bargain shops, grocery stores and fresh food markets.

One of Calgary's Plus 15 Skyways 4

Film buffs might know that the Plus 15 was featured in the film Waydowntown, a 2000 Toronto International Film Festival winner about a bet between three Canadian work colleagues on who could stay indoors the longest. No matter the weather, the Plus 15 is worth checking out, and the Sun Life Plaza Bridge is a good place to start. Entrances to the skywalk are efficiently marked and maps of the walkways are frequently located inside. Visitors at this point should make their way through the skywalk system to the western end of Stephen Avenue Walk, eventually arriving at Bankers Hall, located at 8th Avenue SW and 3rd Street SW. In doing so, the chosen route might include the Petro Canada Centre or Energy Plaza, both evidence of the oil and gas industry's presence in Alberta. Indeed, many of the industry's international headquarters call Calgary home and downtown highrises such as these reflect their prominent tenants.

	The Trees on Stephen Avenue 5

Not only is Stephen Avenue great for people-watching and strolling, it has a number of interesting statues and sculptures. Tourists will first notice The Trees, 25 metre- (85-feet) tall metal sculptures in front of Bankers Hall where new Calgary melds with old. Further along in front of the impressive, column-fronted Hudson's Bay Company is The Conversation, a bronze statue depicting two paunchy businessmen, and a block east at Centre Street, the life-sized Mechanical Horse is a statue made entirely of mechanical tools. The avenue ends at 1st Street SE and across the street from the historic Dominion Bank Building in the southwest corner of Olympic Plaza is the Famous Five, a memorial commemorating five women significant to early Canadian and British Commonwealth politics.

Olympic Plaza and the Calgary Tower 6

The Glenbow Museum, located close to the plaza at 1st Street SE and 9th Avenue SE, is an excellent museum which has a wide variety of exhibits chronicling the history of the Canadian West.

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