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Canada's first national park, established in 1885, is celebrated for its majestic Rocky Mountain peaks and turquoise glacial lakes. The spectacular scenery is perfectly reflected in Moraine Lake, and the Valley of the Ten Peaks. The entire park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Banff National Park teems with wildlife. Grizzly bears, black bears, cougar, lynx, elk, and mule deer number just some of the wonderful wildlife that call this place home.
Named in for the hot springs on its lower slopes, Sulphur Mountain is easily explored thanks to the gondola that connects Banff with the summit ridge. Here, visitors can take advantage of a number of restaurants and some truly jaw-dropping views.
Nestling in fragrant pine forest, Alberta's most iconic hotel property, located in Banff, offers all the amenities of a world-class resort.
The lake is served by another historic Alberta hotel, the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise, a year-round luxury lakeside resort that dates back to 1890.
Lake Louise is another Banff National Park showstopper. The amazing Victoria Glacier takes center stage, its outline mirrored on the glass-calm surface.
If motoring through this part of the world, steer a path along the Icefields Parkway. This 232-km (144 mi) stretch is one of the most beautiful drives in North America.
As you head towards Jasper, make sure to detour and visit the Icefields Centre. This first-rate facility allows access to the mighty Athabasca Glacier. You can also tread the amazing Glacier Skywalk, a boomerang-shaped glass-floored observation platform standing 280 m (918 ft) above the valley below.
Moose, elk, and caribou are often spotted foraging among the park's forests and meadows. Bears, too, are regularly seen patrolling their territory.
Hiking is one of the top summer activities, the park etched with numerous footpaths of various grades. A popular trail is the one that snakes past Paradise Valley, rewarding hikers with a memorable lake and mountain panorama.
The Waterton Lakes National Park is unusual for straddling the border between Alberta and the United States. Waterton shares its geography with America's Glacier National Park in Montana, with both collectively known as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. Pictured at the bottom left of the photograph is the famous Prince of Wales Hotel, seen from Bears Hump.
Jasper National Park is also deserving of its UNESCO World Heritage status. Not to be outdone in the scenic stakes, the park offers up Maligne Lake by way of picture-book perfection.
Alberta thrives as a year-round destination. As the temperature plummets and the snow falls, Lake Louise in Banff National Park takes on a totally different aspect, that of a world-class ski resort.
Alberta is also blessed with a second highly regarded winter sports destination—Sunshine Village Ski Resort. Located 15 km (9 mi) from Banff, this is one of the province's most popular family-orientated ski resorts.
Sources: (Statista) (IUCN Red List)
Calgary, Alberta's largest city, was founded in 1875. Its history, though, is rooted in the evolution of Canada's First Nations. Today, this dynamic destination is world-famous for the annual Calgary Stampede.
No other event epitomizes Canada's cowboy tradition more than the Calgary Stampede. Drawing rodeo participants and fans from across North America, the 10-day extravaganza also serves as an opportunity to honor First Nations and their unique heritage.
For others, the Stampede is all about enjoying the carnival atmosphere. All sorts of outdoor spectacles are staged, including cultural exhibits and country music concerts.
The small town of Drumheller sits in Canada's badlands. But it's within this inhospitable landscape that you'll find the remains of some of the most extraordinary creatures that ever roamed Earth.
Drumheller is known as the "Town of the Dinosaurs" for its first-rate Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology. Exhibited here is a collection of fabulous dinosaur skeletons and fossilized bones unearthed in the region. The examples rank among the best on display found anywhere in North America.
Alberta's vast, unspoiled open space is epitomized in Kananaskis Country. Located around 80 km (49 mi) west of Calgary, this is perfect easy hiking territory, a region of undulating hills carpeted with emerald-hued meadows.
Set within Kananaskis boundaries is the serene Peter Lougheed Provincial Park. This is where to seek communion with nature, and where you'll probably be joined by the park's most iconic residents: bighorn sheep.
Edmonton, the provincial capital, is Alberta's cultural hub. Set along both banks of the North Saskatchewan River, the city lures visitors with an enticing collection of galleries, museums, and theaters.
That said, one of Edmonton's most popular venues is a shopping destination: the extraordinary West Edmonton Mall. This is Canada's— and one of the world's—largest shopping centers. With its hundreds of shops, restaurants, and bars, plus movie theaters, an ice rink, aquarium, and even a hotel, the mall is a tourist destination in itself.
A highlight of any visit to Calgary is to step out onto the observation platform of the Calgary Tower. Standing 190 m (626 ft) over the downtown district, this needle-like attraction affords majestic views over the city and towards the mountains beyond.
To get an idea of grassroots Alberta, spend some time in Canmore. This pleasant mountain town is located just outside the entrance to Banff National Park and attracts hikers and other outdoor adventure enthusiasts eager to explore the park or the nearby Canmore cave system.
Another worthy UNESCO World Heritage Site, Wood Buffalo National Park protects the world's largest herd of free-roaming wood bison. Encompassing the park is the Athabasca-Peace River Delta, one of the largest inland deltas in the world.
The wetlands teem with birdlife, including a population of whooping cranes, listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Culture vultures meanwhile can browse the exhibits at the Royal Alberta Museum or admire the collections at the Art Gallery of Alberta (pictured).
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump sounds far more sinister than it actually is. Once upon a time, indigenous peoples in the area used this natural feature to drive herds of buffalo over the edge. The injured beasts would then be slaughtered for sustenance and their hides. Today, this is a sacred location, protected by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Alberta, Canada's fourth largest province, is the location of two of the world's oldest national parks set in a region where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. Majestic, breathtaking, and inspiring, this is a land of glaciers and turquoise lakes, a place where Mother Nature reigns supreme. The cities of Calgary and Edmonton provide a cultural and cosmopolitan fix, but otherwise Alberta is all about exploring an outdoor wilderness of staggering beauty that an abundance of iconic wildlife calls home. Is the destination on your travel itinerary?
Pack your bags, pull on your boots, and hike through this list of where to go and what to see.
What's Alberta all about?
Explore the province where the prairies meet the mountains
TRAVEL Canada
Alberta, Canada's fourth largest province, is the location of two of the world's oldest national parks set in a region where the Great Plains meet the Rocky Mountains. Majestic, breathtaking, and inspiring, this is a land of glaciers and turquoise lakes, a place where Mother Nature reigns supreme. The cities of Calgary and Edmonton provide a cultural and cosmopolitan fix, but otherwise Alberta is all about exploring an outdoor wilderness of staggering beauty that an abundance of iconic wildlife calls home. Is the destination on your travel itinerary?
Pack your bags, pull on your boots, and hike through this list of where to go and what to see.