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Calgary is a likeable and booming place, whose downtown skyscrapers soared almost overnight on the back of an oil bonanza in the 1970s, CALGARY 's tight high-rise core is good for wandering, and contains the prestigious Glenbow Museum . The wooden houses of the far-flung suburbs, meanwhile, recall the city's pioneering frontier origins, which are further celebrated in the annual Calgary Stampede , a hugely popular cowboy carnival in which the whole town - and hordes of tourists - revel in a boots-and-stetson image that's still very much a way of life in the surrounding cattle country. Year-round you can dip into the city's lesser museums and historic sites, or take time out in its scattering of attractive city parks.
Downtown Calgary lies in a self-evident cluster of mirrored glass and polished granite facades bounded by the Bow River to the north, 9th Avenue to the south, Centre Street to the east and 8th Street to the west. A monument to oil money, the area is about as sleek as an urban centre can be: virtually everything is brand-new, and the modern architecture is easy on the eye. The city centre , so far as it has one, is traditionally 8th Avenue between 1st Street SE and 3rd Street SW, a largely pedestrianized area known as Stephen Avenue Mall . Any city tour, though, should start with a trip to the Glenbow Museum , while a jaunt up the Calgary Tower , across the street, gives a literal overview of the Calgarian hinterland. Thereafter a good deal of the city lends itself to wandering on foot, whether around the mall-laden main streets or to Prince's Island , the nearest of many parks, and gentrified Kensington , a busy shopping and café district. The appeal of attractions further afield - Fort Calgary , Heritage Park and the Calgary Zoo - will depend on your historical and natural-history inclinations. These sights, together with a crop of special interest museums , can be easily reached by bus or C-Train. The city is home to several museums. The most well known of these, the Glenbow Museum is the largest in western Canada and includes an art gallery. Other major museums include the largest Chinese Cultural Centre in North America, the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame (at Canada Olympic Park), The Military Museums, the Cantos Music Museum and the Aero Space Museum. There are also a number of art galleries in the city and many of them are concentrated along the Stephen Avenue and 17th Avenue corridors. The largest of these is the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC). Almost everything in Calgary, barring Stampede locations and a few minor diversions, is a comfortable walk away - except in winter, when temperatures can make any excursion an ordeal. The city's much-vaunted Plus 15 Walking System , a labyrinthine network of enclosed walkways 4.5m above ground, is designed to beat the freeze. It enables you to walk through downtown without setting foot outside, but is too confusing to bother with when the weather's fine. Nearly 5 million visitors each year find a wealth of cultural attractions, diverse restaurants and award-winning cuisine, parks and pathways, specialty shops and trendy night spots in Calgary. Our wide, blue sky and moderate climate beckons year-round outdoor enthusiasts to golf or hike, fish or mountain bike, ski or dog-sled. With an average relative humidity of 65% in the winter, Calgary has a semi-arid climate typical of other cities on the Canadian prairies. Calgary receives an average of 413mm (16.2in) of precipitation annually, with 301mm (11.8in) of that occurring in the form of rain, and the remainder as snow. Most of the precipitation occurs from May to August, with June averaging the most monthly rainfall. In June of 2005, Calgary received 248 mm of precipitation, making it the wettest month in the city's recorded history. Droughts are not uncommon and may occur at any time of the year. Calgary averages more than 20 days a year with thunderstorms, with almost all of them occurring in the summer months. Calgary lies on the edge of Alberta's hailstorm alley and is prone to occasional damaging hailstorms. A hailstorm that struck Calgary in September 1991 was one of the most destructive natural disasters in Canadian history Calgary is a major Canadian transportation centre and a central cargo hub for freight into and out of north-western North America. The city also sits at the junction between the "Canamex" highway system and the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1 in Alberta). The Calgary International Airport serves the city as well as the international traffic for Alberta and Saskatchewan. The airport saw 10.2 million passenger movements in 2005. In December of that same year, it was the fourth busiest airport in Canada after Toronto Pearson International Airport, Vancouver International Airport and Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. It is one of Canada's busiest cargo airports as well. Calgary is also the largest Canadian city without any intercity passenger rail service, as all VIA Rail service to the city was terminated in the late 1980s and early 1990s by the Conservative government. Calgary's second airport, Calgary/Springbank Airport, is located in the western suburb of Springbank, handles the majority of private-plane flights, and acts as a reliever for the main airport. Calgary's International Airport is just a 20 -minute drive, (17 kilometers or 10.5 miles) from the city's centre. Over 20 airlines service Calgary either directly or in one stop. Excellent, well-maintained highways lead into Calgary from the United States and other parts of Canada. The University of Calgary is a comprehensive research university that, in its short 38-year history , has grown to take its place among the finest institutions in Canada. Calgary, Canada Hotels Accommodation - Hotels in Calgary, Canada Book Calgary hotels online with SimplyRichmond.com. All reservations at Calgary hotels are confirmed instantly with the best online prices guaranteed by hotels in Calgary. We are pleased to offer you accommodation in Calgary ranging from luxurious 5 star Calgary Hotels to small boutique style hotels and guesthouses. SimplyRichmond.com - offering the best hotel rates in Calgary, best hotel value, no fees.
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