20 + Reasons Why you Should Visit Edmonton

The Alberta Legislative Buildings and their awesome kid-friendly fountains. See Canada Day note below...
The Alberta Legislative Buildings and their awesome kid-friendly fountains. See Canada Day note below…

You always remember your first time. Your first time visiting Edmonton, that is. I was 14 and a third stringer on the senior girls’ basketball team during my first senior’s tourney. I remember the huge blue skies, biting cold and the world’s biggest mall. We came in third at the tournament, rode the Galaxyland roller coaster and I recorded my first single on a cassette tape (Paula Abdul’s Straight Up, naturally) at the mall. It was a super fun trip that barely even kissed the surface of Alberta’s capital.

Fast forward decade or two and I’m living in Edmonton. It’s not a place I’ve ever considered until meeting my partner. Oh love and it’s convincing ways of taking you on crazy adventures. We left Vancouver on a wet fall day October 2014 and landed in Edmonton on a cool, dry day two days after.

When we first moved people would ask, “Why would you leave Vancouver to move here?” I found it almost insulting, probing and strange question to ask. But then slowly, I started meeting people who said the opposite. “Welcome to Edmonton, how are you finding it so far? Have you tried…..”

Edmontonians are some of the proudest residents and are generally, always eager to share their version of the city with you. So in keeping with the tradition of my new tribe, I thought I’d share some of my favourite Edmonton spots with you dear readers. Herewith are 25 things that I’ve grown to love about Edmonton. So next time a friend from Calgary/Montreal/Vancouver/Victoria asks why they should come visit, I’ll just save my breath and email them this post. So there. I’ve settled in and learned to love where I am, so read below and then book a trip here, you won’t regret it.

The sunsets and sunsets – fuchsia, tangerine, violet and deep aqua. These is just a teeny tiny smidgeon of the sunrise and sunset palette in Edmonton. Get up early, look west later – you won’t be disappointed.

Canada Day celebrations – Edmonton knows how to do Canada Day. The leg grounds are transformed into a writhing mass of happy families, stages crammed with CBC personalities, kids entertainers, local indie rockers.  The legislature wading pool and fountains are literally crammed with 1000 ecstatic children and the odd worried looking parent. PURE JULY BLISS, people.

Elks Island a four season destination.
Elks Island a four season destination.

Elk Island National Park – If you love buffalo, relatively easy hikes, awesome picnic spots and birds then this is the park for you. My partner bought me a National Park pass for my birthday and it’s one of my most prized possessions.

124th Street is hands down one of Edmonton’s best hoods besides the one I live in. It has it all: Wayne Gretzky’s wedding cake maker, an eco-boutiue, a fantastic baking supplies store, boozy and local food-focused restos and a string of galleries that give Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver a run for their moola. And some pretty great indie boutiques like Plum Home and Salgado & Fenwick.

The French Quarter – If you love light, french fair, the sound of french and French baking techniques then make sure you visit Cafe Bicyclette. There’s also some French galleries and even a french Farmer’s Market on Sundays. 

Crazy cauliflower at the Old Stratchona Farmers' Market.
Crazy cauliflower at the Old Stratchona Farmers’ Market.

Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market – if I could get air miles for the amount of money we’ve spent there going practically every week that we’ve lived in Edmonton (about 48/52 weeks) then we could fly all of our best friends out here. Edmonton has it’s locally farmed/grown/processed/made food on fleek.

If you’re young and you want to start a business Edmonton is the place to be. Just ask the folks at: Poppy Barley, The Royal Bison Craft Fair, Oliver Apt, Meadow Sweet Honey, and Edmonton’s indie coffee shops. To borrow a quote from Pip’s Army in Toronto: it’s all Community over Competition in herrr.

Edmonton's river valley is the largest continuous urban park in North America.
Edmonton’s river valley is the largest continuous urban park in North America.

The River Valley – It’s 48 kilometres long and is made up of 20 urban parks with 22 ravines. It’s the winding green artery of the city that separates downton from Strathcona. My fave river valley spots so far: Rundle Park, Millcreek Ravine, Louise McKinney Park, Forest Heights Park and  Whitemud Ravine. 

Access to camping – within a 45 min drive there are multiple camping options. Provincial Parks like Wabmaun Lake and Miquelon Lake plus Elk Island National Park and a handful of other private campgrounds make weekend warrioring so easy.

Riverdale is one of the few communities in Edmonton without a strip mall. Small town feels with a skate park, canopied river-side paths and a great mix of families, oldies, richies and workers in the community.

Little Brick is the place I try to take most of my out-of-town visitors. It’s a cafe/general store/event space located in Riverdale in a…you guessed it smarty pants: a little brick house.

The Black Dog is the Cheers of my social group. My partner has socialized there since he was legal. Everyone knows your name and it’s dark walls, historic photos, well-used dart boards and sweet little roof top patio make it the place I can go to in my Betsey Johnson and Poppy Barleys or my Lulu’s and new balance and no one gives a flying turd. The definition of C-H-I-L-L.

Snapped at my in-laws in Sherwood Park.
Snapped at my in-laws in Sherwood Park.

Moose – I’ve seen more of Bullwinkle’s cousins in Edmonton and surrounds than I have in my whole life.

West Edmonton Mall – I’m a girl what can I say, I love a good shop. With stores like DKNY, Anthropology, Designer Shoe Warehouse, Escents (BC represent!) and my biggest Canuck crush: Simon’s, the WEM is a sweet place to spend a -35C day off (or half of my maternity leave, doing laps).

The Beards – at least 25 per cent of the men in Edmonton could audition for a role as an extra in a Game of Thrones Dothraki scene or Lord of the Rings remake. Serious beards, trimmed beards, big beards, little beards. So many beards. Sometimes when I’m cold, I want to ask if I can clip some off and us as a hand muff. But then I reconsider.

Branches serves up some mighty nice lunch fondue. It's in a greenhouse - a warm, humid oasis in the dead of the dry Alberta winter.
Branches serves up some mighty nice lunch fondue. It’s in a greenhouse – a warm, humid oasis in the dead of the dry Alberta winter.

Great eats – Edmonton offers almost any cuisine from any corner of the earth. My fave night time restos include: North 53, &27, RGE Rd, Famoso, Tres Carnales, Branches at Greenland Gardens and Dadeo. For brunch: we love the buffets at Yellowhead Brewery (hello beermosas!) and the Fairmont Hotel MacDonald for fancy times like birthdays and anniversaries (I love you bottomless mimosas, crab legs and desserts).

YEG humour. There’s a company that sells shirts that say: Still in Edmonton. I’m not sure what it means – face value vs. double entendre? I’ve seen many a bearded man and swarthy gorgeous woman wearing them. And then there’s the fairly hard-to-find magnets that a guy sells at the Black Dog: Edmonton: If you don’t like it, go fuck yourself.

The Calgary/Edmonton rivalry – peas and carrots, apples and oranges, blue collar/white collar, mountains/river valley. Just stahp it already. We get it, you’re rival siblings. Now play nice.

Perched on a local ski hill, the Edmonton Folkfest offers city views.
Perched on a local ski hill, the Edmonton Folkfest offers city views.

F*#king awesome festivals. Folkfest takes places on a series of tiny ski hills – it defies gravity, attracts world class acts and has a beer garden you can take your kids into (not that we did, honest). Taste of Edmonton is a cacophony of delicious bite sized treats that’s like a speed date for the local restaurant scene. Bloom is an unpretentious Wanderlust – so many quality speakers, classes and local/international folks selling their cosmic, prophetic and athletic wares – ohm baby ohm.

The Edmonton blog-twitter-instagram-o-sphere. When I first moved here, a friend said, ‘Find some good folks to follow on twitter, Edmonton’s all about the twitter.’ Sure enough, two months later I was going for coffee with someone I met on Twitter. People are as friendly on social media as they are in real life – nice one YEG. Some of the best YEG blogs:

The Local Good 

204 Park

The Pretty Secrets

Family Fun Edmonton

Girls & Bicycles (written by Sarah Chan, Edmonton’s first lady) 

From the Local Lens by Edmonton Tourism

Poppy Barley’s online magazine

Baconhound

Edible Woman

The Noteworthy

Avenue magazine – the city’s magazine is slick, real and an awesome cheerleader for the city. Plus I sometimes write for them about delicious things like cherries and Saskatoon berries

Andrew and Krista Ference. The co-captain of the Edmonton Oilers and his wife are all-star community members. They are champions of Edmonton Pride and teach their kiddos it’s totes fine to love whoever you want. Mr. Ference also helped start the November project, free fitness classes every Mon/Weds/Fri aimed at getting people together to get their sweat on. (*Note – the Canucks are still my team, because I need to keep the household rivalry going).

National Geographic likes Edmonton – of course.

Take Via Rail to Edmonton - trains travel to YEG from Toronto and Vancouver and all points in between.
Take Via Rail to Edmonton – trains travel to YEG from Toronto and Vancouver and all points in between.

It’s easy to get to here – you can take the train here from Toronto or Vancouver and points in between, fly here multiple times a day (from places like Iceland or Cancun) or drive the most beautiful Rocky Mountain-filled and/or prairie gold drive.

Have you been to Edmonton? What was your memorable/favourite/best part of the city? Share in the comments below? 

Coming to town and looking for recommendations from someone a year into the #YEG game? Send me a note here.

Comments

16 responses to “20 + Reasons Why you Should Visit Edmonton”

  1. Meg Jerrard Avatar

    Sounds fabulous! I’ve actually always wanted to go since I was a little girl – I saw Edmonton featured on an episode of “Getaway” like 10 years ago (Australian travel show) and it featured the biggest shopping center in the world at that time. Always wanted to go ever since!! Obviously there is much more to do and many more reasons to go than just shopping though 😀

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      I feel like we had similar teen years Megan. The mall was a HUGE deal when I first went there.

  2. jodyR Avatar

    I haven’t been to Edmonton in ages, but I’m planning on taking my daughter to the February winter festival. I’ll be sure to hit some of these up. The French Quarter? Never heard of it. So many great tips here!!

    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      The French Quarter is where the Campus St. Jean of UofA is on 90st (or Rue Anne Gaboury) and 86 ave. Near La Cite Francophone. There are some cute galleries in the area too. 🙂

  3. Marlys Avatar

    If only to get up close with a moose and try out all the eats, I’d pack and go now to Edmonton!!!

  4. Rose Avatar
    Rose

    Love this!!! Little Brick is fantastic. Love the river valley #savethefootbridge 🙂

  5. Emiel Avatar

    I have never even been to Canada, but you really promoted Edmonton very well! Love the Beards, YEG humor, Twitter and more. And your Paula Abdul link made my think about my childhood as well. Loved your post, thanks.

  6. Leah Avatar
    Leah

    And, if you’re lucky, you can see the dancing northern lights from the folkfest grounds!

  7. Leigh Avatar

    What a great rundown of what Edmonton offers. I was actually blown away on a visit last year – especially with regards to parks and eating. Sounds like you’re fitting right in!!

  8. Nathalie Avatar

    I’ve never had a reason to visit Edmonton but you just gave me more than 20 very good reasons to add it to my list. Thanks!

  9. Sally Avatar

    Wow wild moose? Mooses? Is that right? Haha. We have wild deer here and they are scary enough!

  10. Jolanta | Casual Travelers Avatar

    I have yet to see Edmonton, but now after reading your post I think we should try to see it sooner rather than later. I’d love to see some of those sunsets you mention, and that fountain by the Legislative Building certainly would appeal to my daughter! 🙂 Thanks for sharing your favorite places of your new home town.

  11. Sarah Greenleese Avatar
    Sarah Greenleese

    What a great article (again)! I really enjoyed a refresher on the city I’ve lived in for years. Kind of gets me excited to go explore and take advantage of it more. To all those who have never been, this article says it all!

  12. murah.us Avatar

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    1. mpost Avatar
      mpost

      Thanks for stopping by!

  13. Anna Avatar

    Thanks for sharing all your tips!

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