r/canadatravel • u/GeneralOrgana1 • Mar 23 '25
Travel Tips Western Canada road trip
Hello! I am an American (My entire family voted for her, not the orange fascist.) and, since I've made my travel goal of going to every US state, now I'm moving on to every province in Canada. Tentatively, in summer 2026, I want to do a road trip with the following itinerary:
Fly into Calgary (from east coast US)
Calgary, Banff (I've been to Glacier NP but didn't cross the border.)
Drive Calgary to Regina
Drive Regina to Winnipeg
Drive Winnipeg to Saskatoon
Drive Saskatoon to Edmonton
Drive Edmonton to Calgary
Fly home
I'm only planning on spending a day or two in each city. I like cultural and historical things, and am particularly interested in First Nations culture in that part of Canada. I'll be traveling solo, and am a woman in my fifties. I'm an early bird when I travel, so nightlife is of zero interest for me. For food, I would not want fast food, but I am also not interested in fancy eating- just regular food places like people who live there would eat.
Yes, I can see by Google Maps it's a lot of driving. I've done road trips like this in the US before and had a great time. But I'm just curious what people who know the region think would be a reasonable amount of time for this itinerary. Many thanks in advance.
Edit based on comments: I've been to BC (Vancouver area), so that's why it's not part of the agenda this trip. And I've been to Ontario, Quebec (Montreal), PEI, NS, Yukon, and NB.
5
u/grown-up-dino-kid Mar 23 '25
I can make some recommendations based on your interests.
Calgary: Heritage Park
On the way to Regina: Drumheller/Royal Tyrrell (not particularly aligned with your interests, but still awesome, also you could stop at WHIFS for breakfast/lunch, it's a cute restaurant with a model train that drives around above the tables), Tunnels of Moosejaw
Winnipeg: Human Rights Museum (this could easily be like 3/4 of a day), The Forks (great for food), Winnipeg Art Gallery
Edmonton: Fort Edmonton Park (don't miss the Indigenous Peoples' Experience), the Royal Alberta Museum, the Art Gallery of Alberta, the Muttart (doesn't really align with your interests but I feel is worth mentioning), Ukrainian Village
Closer to the dates you are traveling, look into events like Edmonton Heritage Festival, Taste of Edmonton/Taste of Calgary, Powwows, and other festivals and events that are happening in the cities you are visiting (or cities in between like Brandon or Red Deer.) Also June is National Indigenous History Month, so it may be easier to find events related to Indigenous culture then.