Calgary, Canada
Calgary Stampede, Downtown Calgary, Sunshine Village, Banff National Park, Lake Louise

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. The city is a monument to oil money which in turn means that Calgary has some of the finest accomodation in Western Canada.

The city is also a starting point for travellers wishing to visit Banff National Park, situated only an hour from the city.

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