Travel in Alberta
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Informations on Alberta: history, politics, economy, culture, Did you mean: Alberta
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Alberta is one of the 10 provinces of Canada. It includes parts of the Canadian Rockies and is known for its oilfields and cattle farming.
Alberta was formed as a province in 1905. Its capital is Edmonton, located roughly in the middle of the province, while many business headquarters are located in Calgary, to the south. Most of the population of Alberta lives along the "Highway 2 Corridor" between Edmonton and Calgary, though Lethbridge to the south-east, Grande Prairie to the north-west and Fort McMurray to the north-east are also major centers.
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Regions
- the Rocky Mountains
Cities
Other destinations
- Drumheller
- Kananaskis
- Banff
- Lake Louise
- Jasper
- Grande_Cache
- Waterton-Lakes National Park or Waterton-Glacier National Park
- Off the beaten path in Alberta
Understand
"Alberta is a place like no other. We are an incorrigible lot. Fiercely proud. Compassionate beyond words. We deliberately face into the wind every chance we get. ...Throughout our history of ups and downs, booms and busts, Albertans have shown an uncanny ability to stare down the worst possible adversity. When the storms of challenge and change gust through our province, we do not turn our backs or search for corners to hide behind. We face directly into the wind. We tackle our problems head on. We make the right decisions. And we move on ... deliberately, decisively, with our eyes firmly fixed on building a better future for our province." - Budget Speech by Alberta Finance Minister Pat Nelson, March 19, 2002 (http://www.finance.gov.ab.ca/publications/budget/budget2002/speech.pdf).
Talk
Albertans speak English. In most cases, just English. However, there remain a few small towns scattered throughout the prairies where you might encounter French, German, or Ukrainian. There is a French-language university in Edmonton - the Faculté Saint-Jean, now a part of the University of Alberta, which offers undergraduate degrees in several disciplines with instruction completely in French.
There are also many First Nations communities across the province in which original languages are spoken, including Cree, Déné, Blackfoot, and others.
Get in
Get around
Greyhound buslines (http://www.greyhound.ca/) offers service between almost all centres, large and small. To get to many rural areas, however, the bus is the so-called "milk run" that stops at every location. There are other buslines offering service between major centres, such as Red Arrow (http://www.redarrow.ca/home/index.php) between Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray and Banff. The most efficient method of travel to off-the-beaten-path areas is to rent a vehicle.
See
Driving west out of Calgary towards British Columbia, the Rockies rise dramatically and quickly. It is truly an amazing drive, taking you through Banff national park and Glacier national park. My breath was taken away.
Itineraries
Do
Eat
Drink
Get out
In Edmonton, West Edmonton Mall, the largest mall in the world, is definitely worth checking out. Currently they have a waterpark, an amusement park, flamingoes, other animals, and tons of places to shop and eat. The Rockies are a breathtaking sight, and Calgary Zoo is amazing.
External links
For a good read on Alberta politics, see:
Lisac, Mark. 2004. Alberta Politics Uncovered. Edmonton: NeWest Press. 122pp. ISBN 1-896300-91-X.