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Calgary Stampede

© Tourism Calgary

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Travel to Calgary

Flying to Calgary

Airlines offering flights to Calgary from the UK include Air Canada, British Airways and Canadian Affair. Prices soar in July and August and are also high during school holidays in the ski season (December to April). The cheapest deals are in autumn and spring.

Flight times: 

From London - 8 hours 45 minutes; New York - 5 hours; Los Angeles - 3 hours; Toronto - 4 hours; Sydney - 17 hours (plus transfer).

Travel by road

Summary:

The Province of Alberta is covered by an extensive network of primary and secondary highways. The maximum speed is 100kph (62mph) on primary highways, 90kph (56mph) on Rocky Mountain national park highways, 80kph (50mph) on secondary highways and 50kph (31 mph) in urban areas. The road quality is good. Traffic drives on the right and the minimum driving age in Alberta is 16 years. Proof of insurance is compulsory. Foreign licences are valid for three months, while an International Driving Permit is valid for a year.

The Alberta Motor Association (AMA) (tel: (403) 240 5300; www.ama.ab.ca) provides emergency road service, as well as a variety of other automobile-related services, including a 24-hour road report (tel: 1 877 262 4997). The AMA is affiliated with both the Canadian Automobile Association and the American Automobile Association for breakdown service in the rest of Canada and the USA.

Emergency breakdown service:

AMA (tel: (403) 246 0606); CAA/AAA (tel: 1 800 222 4357).

Routes:

The Trans Canada Highway (Highway 1) becomes 16th Avenue as it passes through Calgary to the north of the city centre, running east-west. It connects with Banff, Kamloops and Vancouver to the west, and Medicine Hat and Regina to the east. The Queen Elizabeth II Highway (Highway 2) runs through the city centre, where it becomes Macleod Trail, connecting with Lethbridge to the south and Edmonton to the north.

Driving times:

From Banff - 1 hour 40 minutes; Edmonton - 3 hours 30 minutes; Regina - 8 hours 30 minutes; Vancouver - 12 hours.

Coaches:

Greyhound Canada (tel: 1 800 661 8747; www.greyhound.ca) links Calgary with all major destinations in western Canada. To travel to/from the USA, you’ll need to change in Vancouver. The Greyhound Bus Terminal, 850 16th Street SW, is the hub for most intercity coach services, both national and international.

Red Arrow Motorcoach (tel: (403) 531 0350; www.redarrow.ca) operates executive-style coach services to Lethbridge, Red Deer, Edmonton and Fort McMurray. The service includes deluxe seats, laptop plug-ins, newspapers, on-board movies and Wi-Fi. Coaches depart from Fording Place, 205 9th Avenue SE, and 304 35th Avenue NE (pre-paid reservation required).

Travel by rail

Services:

Arriving by regular train service isn’t really an option, as the nearest railway station to Calgary lies 292km (181 miles) to the north, in Edmonton. Edmonton's station is located at 12360 121st Street.

Operators:

Canada's national rail service provider is VIA Rail (tel: 1 888 842 7245; www.viarail.ca). VIA Rail's transcontinental trains arrive at Edmonton from Vancouver, Kamloops and Jasper to the west, and Toronto, Winnipeg and Saskatoon to the east.

The privately run Rocky Mountaineer (tel: (604) 606 7245; www.rockymountaineer.com) offers the only direct passenger service to Calgary. This terminates in Downtown, near the Calgary Tower. The Rocky Mountaineer service is aimed at tourists, with the journey from Vancouver broken by an overnight stop in Kamloops, so the entire rail journey through the scenic Rockies is in daylight. The twice-weekly service runs from late April to early October.

Journey times:

From Toronto - 58 hours 30 minutes; Vancouver - 25 hours 30 minutes; Winnipeg - 15 hours; Kamloops - 15 hours 30 minutes; Saskatoon – 8 hours.

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