What is fun to do in Edmonton Alberta Canada?

Question

Plan on going there for my honeymoon in August. We are driving up from Idaho. I am interested in places, events, things to do, eat, and explore.

I am already from the 5th most popular tourist city in the world: Coeur d Alene, Idaho. I would appreciate genuine answers, as "anything" would be fun to do, is not legitimate.

Answer 1

Try Fort Edmonton Park, Muttart Conservatory, the Edmonton Art Gallery, the TELUS World of Science Center, Royal Alberta Museum, the Edmonton Queen Paddle Boat, An Edmonton Eskimos (Canadian football league) football game at the coliseum, just to name a few.

Visit the Hotel Macdonald, (a historic downtown hotel & landmark overlooking the river valley), or have lunch or dinner in one of the hotels that have an outdoor patio downtown (Thornton Court by Marriot has a good one). Try Tom Goodchild's Moose Factory (restaurant) or the Sawmill for a good old Alberta AAA steak dinner. The Eastbound Eatery is great for Japanese food, or the Japanese Village. Try Brewster's Brewing Company for relaxed dining and delicious beers brewed locally. Il forno is great for Italian cuisine, and for Greek try Cosmos, Koutoukis, or Yianni's. For a delicious lunch try Soul Soup, downtown. For seafood try the Copper Pot.

The Fringe Festival has dozens of theatrical productions going on in August. Whyte avenue (in Old Strathcona, south Edmonton, also where the Fringe is held) is fun in the day time for interesting shops & cafes, (really good food) & in the night time for nightclubs, bars, and pubs.

West Edmonton Mall is a pretty interesting way to spend a day or two, there is an indoor amusement park, a water slide park, bungee jumping, a movie theater with a fire breathing dragon, and loads of stores, restaurants, bars, and interesting sights.

Take walks or have a picnic along the trails in the river valley or at one of the many Edmonton parks - such as Hawrelak, Sir Wilfred Laurier, Whitemud or MillCreek Ravine park.

If you venture out of Edmonton on a day trip, it is worth going to see Drumheller, there is a dinosaur museum there and fantastic landscape called badlands. Just south of Drumheller is an amazing little village called Rosebud, filled with art galleries and bed & breakfasts in quaint turn of the century homes, & Rosebud holds a dinner theater put on by its local arts & theater students. Really fun!

And really no trip to Alberta is complete without a journey to the Rocky Mountains. I would recommend visiting either Banff or Jasper, or anywhere else along the way, absolutely breathtaking places. BRING A CAMERA!

Congratulations on the upcoming wedding, I hope you have a lovely honeymoon!!

A few helpful links:

attractions:

http://www.fortedmontonpark.com/index2.htm
http://www.edmontonqueen.com/index.php
http://www.odyssium.com/
http://www.edmonton.ca/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_2_261_208_0_43/http%3B/CMSServer/COEWeb/arts+culture+and+attractions/attractions/muttart+conservatory/
http://www.royalalbertamuseum.ca/
http://www.artgalleryalberta.com/
http://www.edmontonghosttours.com/
http://www.esks.com/

food:

http://www.fairmont.com/MacDonald/?cm_mmc=icppc-_-Branded-MAC+-+Hotel+Macdonald+-+Canada-_-google-_-hotel+macdonald
http://www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/yegcy-courtyard-edmonton-downtown/
http://www.whatsonedmonton.com/restaurants.php?PHPSESSID=1ed86ac49299d044c08b86654a651e8c
http://www.edmontondining.com/page.php?PageID=157&establishmentid=154
http://www.sawmillrestaurant.com/sub.asp?MainID=50&SubID=71
http://www.discoveredmonton.com/Edmonton/RestaurantsBars/Japanese/
http://www.eatmorelamb.com/yiannis.html
http://www.copperpot.ca/
http://www.ama.ab.ca/cps/rde/xchg/ama/web/member_services_WWarticle-Sept06-UpFront-6266.htm
http://www.canada.com/cityguides/edmonton/index.html

Festivals, etc...:

http://www.fringetheatreadventures.ca/index.php/festival/content/C98
http://www.oldstrathcona.ca/
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/North_America/Canada/Province_of_Alberta/Edmonton-909463/TravelGuide-Edmonton.html
http://www.westedmall.com/home/default.asp
http://www.discoveredmonton.com/SightsAttractions/ParksGardens/

Drumheller:

http://www.dinosaurvalley.com/
http://www.rosebud.ca/

Canadian Rocky Mountains

http://www.canadianrockies.net/
http://www.banfflakelouise.com/
http://www.jaspercanadianrockies.com/
http://www.bbalberta.com/

Extra info:

http://www.edmonton.com/tourism/page.asp?page=10
http://www1.travelalberta.com/card/offers/listing.cfm?segment=5&season=®ion=&town=edmonton+-+city

Map:

http://www.google.ca/maps?q=Edmonton,+AB,+Canada&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title

Answer 2

Lots of things to do in August in Edmonton, and yes it gets hot here :P There's West Edmonton mall, good for some shopping but hugely crowded. The Telus world of science is neat if you are a science geek, there's the Muttart conservatory if you like plants, the zoo is ok, kinda lame compared to some of the American ones. Whyte Ave is a great place for eating & checking out the shops. After dark there can be interesting as the patrons from the many bars spill out on to the streets, not much to see at that point except drunks

Oh and watch out for the potholes ; )

Answer 3

It's to bad your going in August. July 20th weekend is the Champ car race in Edmonton. Ya, check out the Mall. You can spend half a day just checkin' out the mall. half a day at the indoor water park with a pretty decent wave pool.

The Exibition is also around this time 19-28 of July. Do you have a room booked in the Fantasyland Hotel. It's attached to the Mall. The theme rooms are pretty cool.

For night life try out Whyte Ave. Bars all down the strip.

Caroline is being an idiot.

Answer 4

Hmmmmmm....well, there is West Edmonton Mall. You can walk around a huge mall gawking at all the people, maybe go to the great Waterpark or go on a ride in Galaxyland. Maybe the Fringe Festival, a bunch of street performers and small time plays will be going on when you are in town. You can go by Rexall place and see Wayne Gretzky's statue.
For me the best thing about Edmonton is seeing it on my way down south to CALGARY. You would be way better off spending time in and around Calgary. Good luck to you and Congratulations!

Answer 5

Unless you like skiing and ice fishing, there won't be too much to do in Edmonton. But then again, you'll be on your honeymoon, so it won't matter much. August in Edmonton can be a chilly place to be so take warm boots if you plan on going outdoors at all.

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials.

Answer 6

If you're from Idaho just about anyting will be fun.