Alberta Top Attractions

Top 30 things to see and do in Alberta

1 Banff National Park

7.7 /10

A view of the mountains in a park near Banff in Alberta, Canada.

Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada offers activities in summer and in winter that will likely please nearly everyone in the family. If you decide to stay in the National Park there are thirteen campgrounds to choose from. Each one is operated by Parks Canada. There is also a commercial lodging option in the area.

In addition to a number of information centers being open year-round to help you better enjoy your stay, there are also the Upper Hot Springs which enjoy extended hours during the holidays ...
Read more about the Banff National Park
2 Dinosaur Provincial Park

7.7 /10

Panoramic view of part of the Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada.

Don't you sometimes wish life didn't move quite so fast? What if you could step into a different world? A world in existence a very long time ago: .70+ Million years ago, to be more specific. This is a place marked with harsh landscapes that have been carved by centuries of semi-tropical temperatures, wind and rain. This is a place of buried secrets of a long-ago world. Those that lived here once are gone now, but they left the evidence of their existence behind. Where is this other world? It's located in spectacular Alberta, Canada, (a mere 2 hours drive east from Calgary) at Dinosaur Provincial Park ...
Read more about the Dinosaur Provincial Park
3 Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump

7.3 /10

A view of the famous Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump cliff in Alberta, Canada.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is a UNESCO World Heritage site that is located at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains near Fort Macleod in Alberta, Canada. It is a 'buffalo jump' that was used by the Blackfoot peoples up until contact with the Europeans. In case you are not familiar with a buffalo jump, it is a cliff that the people would hear buffalo over in order to process their bodies. This particular jump is no higher than 10 meters at any point. However, it has been reported that up to ten meters of bones have been found at the bottom of the cliff ...
Read more about the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump
4 Royal Alberta Museum

7.2 /10

There are so many wonderful museums in Alberta, but one of the favorites of everyone who visits is the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton, formerly the Provincial Museum of Alberta. This museum contains exhibits of native culture, local wildlife, and contains a number of collections that are interesting and informative. Their mission is to simply tell the story of the people, places, and culture of Alberta.

The Royal Alberta Museum supports several galleries that include:

1. The Syncrude Gallery of Aboriginal Culture that contains more than 3000 artifacts of the First People of the area spanning 11,000 years, and is said to be an amazing story of "triumph and survival" ...
Read more about the Royal Alberta Museum
5 Stampede Park

7.2 /10

Stampede Park is a grouping of a number of seemingly disparaging businesses. Included in the park are a hockey arena, a convention facility, an agricultural building, and some other buildings. There is the more recent Stampede Casino on the site as well. It is located southeast of downtown Calgary, in Alberta, Canada, but access is convenient from Calgary via Calgary Transit's light rail system. This location and easy access make it a convenient attraction to visit anytime you are in the area ...
Read more about the Stampede Park
6 Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village

7.2 /10

Ever want to visit a Ukrainian village, but the thought of distance to the Ukraine, not to mention the cost, prohibits undertaking that journey? The solution is the Ukrainian Cultural Center east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Depicting the lives of Ukrainian Canadian settlers between 1899 and 1930, this village provides some interesting cultural and heritage information for visitors.

This very interesting village that is divided into three areas, the Farmsteads, the Rural Community and the Town, and it contains the homes of three of the original settler's families, and a variety of things to observe relating to Ukrainian life ...
Read more about the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village
7 Fort McMurray Heritage Park

7.1 /10

There is such a great variety of activities in the Canadian Rocky Mountain area, with another interesting facility being the Fort McMurray Heritage Park, which is approximately 234 miles north of Edmonton. This historical village depicts Canadian life in the early 1900's, and has the following activities available:

1. Heritage Park contains an assortment of historic buildings and relics from this community's distinct past. Walk through the trapper's hut, the drugstore, and a Catholic Mission and learn some moving specifics about their history.

2 ...
Read more about the Fort McMurray Heritage Park
8 Moraine Lake

7 /10

Outside of the town of Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada you will find the glacially fed Moraine Lake. The lake's water is known to have a distinct blue appearance. The lake water reaches it high point in June.

If you enjoy scenic environments and outdoor recreation, you may find that a visit to Moraine Lake is a fulfilling one. Around the lake there are numerous trails to explore. Sometimes the trails are closed due to grizzly bear activity, so take caution. Among the most notable is The Rockpile Trail ...
Read more about the Moraine Lake
9 Jasper National Park

7 /10

Established in 1907, Jasper National Park, in Alberta, Canada, is the largest National Park in the Canadian Rockies. The park is well-known for the Columbia Icefield and Marmot Basin among other features. There are more than ten different notable attractions and ten different notable regions within the park.

Jasper has three ecological zones, which are home to over 1300 species of plants. Some of the common species are arnica, paintbrush and wild rose. The park is stretched in more than 10,000 sq km area and has Maligne Canyon and Athabasca Glacier ...
Read more about the Jasper National Park
10 Mount Edith Cavell

7 /10

Inside the Jasper National Park, you will find a mountain in the valleys of two rivers - Mount Edith Cavell that is located in the Athabasca River and Astoria River valleys in Alberta, Canada. The mountain is known for its magnificent view and the wonderful trails that are accessible via a trailhead at the end of Mount Edith Cavell road. Along the same road you will also find access to the Tonquin Valley trail system which has its own distinct pleasures.

From the trailhead a walk of a little more than two miles will bring you to Cavell Meadows. This is an experience in itself for some, but what nearly everyone enjoys from this vantage point is the view of the hanging glacier ...
Read more about the Mount Edith Cavell
11 Johnston Canyon

7 /10

Johnston Canyon is a popular hiking trail in Banff, Alberta, Canada. A lot of hikers who wants to reach Ink Pots take this trail. It is also one of the widely known recreation place for serious climbers and those who want to try Ice climbing, as the canyon is the perfect spot when it is frozen in the winter. The Canyon originates on the glacial valleys of the Banff National Park, below the feet of Cascade Mountain in Badger Pass. It has an elevation of 8, 202 ft (2,500 meters) ...
Read more about the Johnston Canyon
12 Castle Mountain

7 /10

Castle Mountain is situated half-way between Lake Louise and Banff Park of the Banff National Park in the Canadian Rockies. If you are standing and looking from the viewpoint of the Trans-Canada Highway, then the mountain may seem impenetrable. But in fact, anyone can ascend on the backside of the Northeastern slopes or on the eastern side where hikers can take the Rockbound Lake to reach the top.

In 1858, it was James Hector who named the beautiful mountain, as "Castle Mountain" because of the castle like shape of the mountain ...
Read more about the Castle Mountain
13 Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology

7 /10

Interested in prehistoric life, the evolution of various organisms, or other historical sciences? Located in the middle of the Canadian Badlands, just outside Drumheller, Alberta, Canada, lies the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology,. Established in 1985, their mission is to "collect, preserve, research, and interpret paleontological history with special reference to Alberta's fossil heritage".
This museum has numerous programs for the public and schools, houses several current exhibits, and frequently features special exhibitions during the years. The current exhibits include:

1. Terrestrial Paleozoic – contains a variety of plants, insects, and amphibians, and covers 200 million years from the Silurian to Permian periods ...
Read more about the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology
14 Peyto Lake

7 /10

Peyto Lake (Pea-toe) is located 90 km off Banff in Alberta, Canada, near Icefield Parkway. The Lake is named in the memory of Ebenezer William Peyto (1869-1953), a trail guide who was one of the best guides in the Canadian Rockies. Peyto Lake is formed around the valleys of Waputik Range, and it is between the Peyto Peak, Caldron Peak and the Mount Jimmy Simpson that is elevated at 1, 860m (6,100 ft).

Peyto Lake is just one of the many scenic locations that are found near the Icefield, and in the neighboring town of Lake Louise ...
Read more about the Peyto Lake
15 Icefields Parkway

7 /10

Icefields Parkway is a high-altitude parkway, in Alberta, Canada, that follows the path of many significant geographical features. It follows the path of the Continental Divide. This central feature of the Canadian Rockies is also significant for being the watershed point of the entire country. From here water wither flows east or the water flows west. You can access the Icefields Parkway at numerous points including Edmonton and Calgary. Both are home to international airports.

The 143 mile long scenic parkway is also known as highway 93 ...
Read more about the Icefields Parkway
16 Athabasca Falls

7 /10

One of the most popular, most powerful, and breath-taking waterfall in North America comes off of the Columbia Glacier near Jasper, Alberta, Canada, and is known as the Athabasca Falls. At a width of 18 feet, the Athabasca Falls plummets from approximately 80 feet, but the height is not the predominant feature of this magnificent waterfall – it is the force at which it plunges due to the vast amount of water flowing over the falls that amazes and delights visitors. It is considered a "Class 5" waterfall, which is based on the volume of water flowing over the ridge, and forming the Athabasca River ...
Read more about the Athabasca Falls
17 Athabasca Glacier

7 /10

One of the most truly spectacular glaciers is easily accessible and resides between Banff and Jasper, in Alberta, Canada, and is known as the Athabasca Glacier. The Athabasca Glacier is considered to be one of the "toes" of the Columbia Iceflow, and is the most accessible, and well-visited, glacier in North America. It is approximately 3 ¾ miles long, covering an area of about 2 ½ miles, and is considered to be from 270 to 1000 feet thick.

There are several manners available to travel across the Athabasca Glacier:
1 ...
Read more about the Athabasca Glacier
18 Sulphur Mountain

7 /10

The Canadian Rocky Mountains grant visitors some of the most spectacular vistas in the world, and Suphur Mountain is one such location, overlooking Banff, Alberta. Sulphur Mountain is not only magnificent, but the home of two research facilities: a meteorological observatory and research station that opened in 1903, and the Cosmic Ray Station that opened in 1978. Views of the Bow Valley are spectacular from the summit of Sulphur Mountain.

There are a number of activities available around the Sulphur Mountain area, such as:

1 ...
Read more about the Sulphur Mountain
19 Old Strathcona

7 /10

Old Strathcona is located in the central area of Alberta, Canada. This was used to be the commercial capital of Strathcona, however, now it is considered to be the entertainment district of Edmonton and it has a variety of shops, restaurants and popular nightlife for all to enjoy.

There is no end to the possibilities available for all sorts of entertainment in this historic and artistic environment. You can find cafes like the Starbucks and you can get the best of music and entertainment at the Whyte Avenue with the majority of clubs and hotels being situated on that area ...
Read more about the Old Strathcona
20 Alberta Legislature Building

7 /10

The Alberta Legislature Building is located in Edmonton and it serves the purpose of the legislative assembly of Alberta, a western province of Canada. This is a structural monument that dates back to the early 1900's and was designed by architects at that time.

The style of the building is very French as that was considered to be the best architecture at that time which gave the building the sense of power, tradition and permanence and there is no doubt that this building is a great example of all these qualities combined in our platform ...
Read more about the Alberta Legislature Building
21 High Level Bridge & Street Car

7 /10

The High Level Bridge & Street Car on top of the Saskatchewan River was originally built in 1913 to join the towns of Edmonton and Strathcona in Alberta, Canada. This bridge was originally designed for pedestrian traffic and for very low amount of automobile traffic, and even today trucks and other heavy vehicles are not allowed to use this narrow bridge mainly because of the low clearance that it offers.

This bridge forms a historic architecture that has seen lots of changes and maintenance works in the past many years and which include the introduction of the Great Divide Waterfall created in 1980 by Peter Lewis, a great artist that created a waterfall that drops 150 feet from the top of the bridge into the river ...
Read more about the High Level Bridge & Street Car
22 Muttart Conservatory

7 /10

Glass pyramids at the Muttart Conservatory.

The Muttart conservatory is a botanical garden located in the Saskatchewan River valley in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This is a superb combination of architectural art and nature which attracts tourists from all over the world on regular basis.
The structures are basically four large glass pyramids that have been designed to display tropical and temperate plants species found in three different biomes (temperate, arid and tropical). You will be able to find species that are native of Australia and even of Asian regions as well ...
Read more about the Muttart Conservatory
23 Fort Edmonton Park

7 /10

The Fort Edmonton Park, in Edmonton, Alberta, is the largest history museum in Canada. This park covers a variety of old and new structures that will keep you amazed and entertained at the same time.

The old fort located near the Alberta Legislature Building had seen better times and there was a difference of opinion among the people whether this structural place should be removed completely or it should be conserved for historic purposes. And after the Second World War, it was finally decided to construct a theme park which gave the people of Edmonton something to be proud of ...
Read more about the Fort Edmonton Park
24 Canada Olympic Park

7 /10

Canada Olympic Park is situated in Calgary, Canada. The park is wholly operated now by Winsport Canada, but formerly it was operated by Calgary Olympic Development Association (CODA). In 1988 Winter Olympics, Canada Olympic Park was the prime venue of bobsleigh, luge, and ski jumping.

The unique feature of the park is that it functions as a multi-purpose competition and recreation area that is not only available to athletes, but also to the general public ...
Read more about the Canada Olympic Park
25 Heritage Park Historical Village

7 /10

If you enjoy immersive experiences then you may be thrilled by the Heritage Park Historical Village experience. This historical experience is waiting for you in Alberta, city of Calgary, Canada. You can learn about the past as it was and experience the past as if it still existed today. The town is divided into four sections that include the Hudson's Bay Company Fur Trading fort (1864), the Pre-Railway Settlement Village (1880), the Railway Praire Town (1910), and the Heritage Town Square (1930's and 1940's) that was opened in 2009 ...
Read more about the Heritage Park Historical Village
26 Calgary Zoo

7 /10

One of the best zoos to see unique and exotic animals is the Calgary Zoo in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The Calgary Zoo was established in 1929 and currently covers almost 77 acres of land. It is currently the second largest zoo in Canada with animal exhibits organized by native region. The Calgary Zoo is organized into eight major regions appropriate to the species native to the region; housing them in enclosures appropriate to their native environment. These regions include:

 Destination Africa – opened in 2003 and includes appropriate rainforest and savannah settings for hippos, giraffes, zebras, lions, ostriches, river hogs, and many more ...
Read more about the Calgary Zoo
27 West Edmonton Mall

7 /10

Want to know where one of the largest malls in North America is located? Then head up to the West Edmonton Mall, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; covering over six million square feet, it is the fifth largest shopping mall in the whole world.

This amazing mall has some major attractions that will delight everyone from the most casual to the most serious shopper. It includes the following major attractions:

1. With over 800 stores, shoppers of all mindsets will undoubtedly find millions of items to ensure a successful shopping experience. No one should return home disappointed from a visit here ...
Read more about the West Edmonton Mall
28 Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden

7 /10

Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens in Lethbridge, Alberta is certainly one that every tourist to this area should visit. The beauty of the area around Lethbridge provides an incredible setting for this serene traditional Japanese garden.

The Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens were first created during the Canadian Centennial in 1967, and sits on four acres. Since Lethbridge is such a multi-cultural community, the gardens were built to honor those citizens of Japanese ancestry, as a symbol of international amity, and in fact, the name "Ni" is derived from Nihon and "Ka" from Kanada (Canada) ...
Read more about the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
29 Oil Sands Discovery Centre

6.8 /10

Since oil sands are important to the economy of Canada? The Oil Sand Discovery Centre is certainly a destination, located in Fort McMurry, Alberta, that provides some fascinating information about the science and technology utilized in Alberta's Oil Sands.

Opening in 1985, this center is in the heart of the world's largest oil deposit, and has a fascinating display providing the Oil Sands Story, and many programs and events. The Oil Sands story contains these components:

1. The Resource – explains why this is the largest oil reserve in the world, with an estimated 1.7 to 2.5 trillion barrels of oil in the surrounding area ...
Read more about the Oil Sands Discovery Centre
30 Canadian Rockies

6.3 /10

The Canadian Rockies, peaking on Alberta and British Columbia in Canada, is the North American Rocky Mountain range in this region. Picturesque, serene, calm, adventurous treks all add to its charm. Known to be older mountains than the American side, these mountains are purely sedimentary rocks and glaciated.

The closest airport to reach the Rockies is the Calgary International Airport, one and half hours away, from where one can reach the mountains by road. The weather here is a mix of seasons in a day with it sometimes being sunny, sometimes a thunderstorm and sometimes hail ...
Read more about the Canadian Rockies

* Regular pre-pandemic touristic activity level.

You can also rate and vote for your favorite Alberta sightseeing places, famous historical landmarks, and best things to do in Alberta by visiting the individual Alberta attraction pages.

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