Quick Trip 24 Hours in Calgary Travel Guide
My 24 hour Calgary Travel Guide!
This last week was literally one of the most amazing weeks of my life. Tony and I traveled to Alberta Canada and it was nothing short of amazing. It was such an action packed trip that I had to break it up into a few posts. Just to make sure I cover everything and have the chance to share all of our photos and video!
Quick Calgary Travel Guide
We woke up around 4 AM to fly to Calgary. I’m not a morning person, so it was definitely rough. We got to the airport and hopped on a plane, landing in Calgary around 5 PM. Oddly enough, Calgary isn’t THAT far from us. But San Diego doesn’t have any direct flights. So we had a pretty long layover.
I will say, having the AMEX Platinum Card has been a total life saver while traveling. In no way is this an AMEX sponsorship, I’m just obsessed with it. Not only do you get $200 in airline credits for baggage and inflight purchases, you get a ton of amazing perks. My favorite being lounge access! That’s right, you get to act all fancy and have access to a ton of airport lounges. That means you get free food, drinks (yes cocktails), internet & a comfortable place to relax and charge your phone.
We hit up the Alaska Airlines lounge and it was so amazing. It felt like we were in someone’s cozy living room. It even had a Christmas tree and decorations. PLUS: free drinks and snacks are always great.
Hotel Recommendation: Fairmont Palliser
If you’re headed to Calgary, I highly recommend staying at the Fairmont Palliser in downtown Calgary. It’s in a great location, within walking distance of a ton of shops and restaurants. It’s also insanely beautiful. It originally opened in 1914 as a spot for tourists to stop on their way to the hot springs in Banff (just like us)! Our room was massive, complete with a bathrobe – my favorite. We stopped in at the Oak Room bar for hot toddies when we arrived everyone was super friendly. They also have an awesome indoor swimming pool. I wish we had a little more time to stay and visit the spa too!
Dinner Downtown
We got in fairly late and decided to go a few blocks away from the hotel to a trendy restaurant called Ten Foot Henry. I loved the mid-century modern vibes and family style dishes. I highly recommend the caesar salad btw – the fried egg on top was a game changer.
Calgary Zoo At Night
After dinner, we headed over to the Calgary Zoo. It’s a quick car ride over, but we opted to take Uber (no drinking and driving kids)! During the winter, the zoo does a special ZOOLIGHTS feature. The animals all go into hibernation and over 1.5 million lights are strung around the park. There are a ton of indoor and outdoor exhibits and you can even grab a hot chocolate while you walk around! If you’re visiting Calgary in the winter, I highly recommend it taking a stroll through it!
After Dinner Drinks
After we got back from the zoo, we stopped in at a little bar/lounge near our hotel called Proof. It’s a tiny spot and fills up really quickly, but is super mellow and has a ton of fun cocktails. I also appreciated their extensive food menu. Nothing like a little snack with my nightcap. Other cool bars in Calgary:
Fiasco Gelato Tasting and Tour
You read that right… we got to go on a tour of a gelato factory! The best part of the tour was obviously getting to sample every one of the flavors. AND get a flight of flavors to eat in their cafe. If you live in Canada, they offer a Gelato Club subscription… meaning they’ll send gelato to your door every month! Fiasco also offers a Gelato Academy where you get to make your very own flavor! I’m definitely planning my trip back to Calgary already, I’m still dreaming of their Frozen Hot Chocolate flavored gelato!
Making Macarons
One of the major highlights of our 24 hours in Calgary was definitely getting to make macarons at Ollia Bakery. Macarons are a traditional French sandwich cookie. But Ollia puts a modern twist on them by using creative flavors and designs. I got to meet with Lindsay, one of the owners, who taught me how to put macarons macarons together and decorate them! It was so much fun and right up my baking alley.
If you want to learn more about macarons, they have a Macaron 101 post that’s really fun and will give you an idea of what the class is like!
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