The Cowboy-Approved 2 Week Calgary Itinerary: Big Skies, Bigger Steaks

Your Day-By-Day 2 Week Calgary Itinerary: From Bison Burgers to Badlands

What follows is a meticulously crafted 2 week Calgary itinerary that balances urban exploration with wilderness adventures, ensuring you experience the full spectrum of what makes this corner of Alberta so captivating. This schedule strategically alternates between city explorations and daytrips, preventing the cultural whiplash that comes from too rapid transitions between skyscrapers and mountain peaks.

Days 1-3: Downtown Calgary Immersion

Begin your Calgary adventure by acquainting yourself with the city’s compact, walkable downtown core. Start day one with the obligatory ascent of the Calgary Tower ($18), where the glass floor provides either breathtaking views or panic attacks, depending on your relationship with heights. The 360-degree panorama offers a bird’s eye orientation to the city’s layout, which follows a sensible grid pattern that makes New Yorkers suspicious. Spend the afternoon wandering Stephen Avenue’s pedestrian mall, where historic sandstone buildings house shops selling $500 cowboy boots alongside corporate headquarters.

Day two belongs to the East Village, Calgary’s remarkable urban renewal success story. The architecturally stunning Studio Bell National Music Centre ($20) houses Canada’s music history with interactive exhibits where you can channel your inner Céline Dion without the emotional trauma of performing publicly. Lunch at Sidewalk Citizen ($12-15) offers sourdough sandwiches that would make San Franciscans weep with jealousy. Cap your day at the Glenbow Museum, strategically timing your visit for the first Thursday evening when admission is pay-what-you-can.

Dedicate day three to outdoorsy urban experiences with a morning stroll through Prince’s Island Park, where Canada geese maintain their reputation for unwarranted aggression. The Calgary Central Library delivers architectural wonder without admission fees—its spiral staircase has appeared in more Instagram posts than most minor celebrities. Your evening belongs to Inglewood, Calgary’s oldest neighborhood, where four craft breweries stand within stumbling distance of each other, allowing for an improvised beer tour without designated driver concerns.

For accommodations, your budget determines your address. The Fairmont Palliser ($280/night) offers old-world luxury where you might spot visiting celebrities, while the Alt Hotel ($165/night) delivers European-inspired minimalism with thoughtful details. Budget travelers can secure dorm beds at HI Calgary City Centre for a reasonable $40/night, allowing more funds for experiential splurges.

Days 4-5: Stampede and Western Heritage

If your 2 week Calgary itinerary fortuitously coincides with July, days four and five belong entirely to the Calgary Stampede—the self-proclaimed “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.” Whether this claim holds against competitors like “Earth” remains debatable, but the 10-day festival delivers undeniable spectacle. Ground admission ($25) grants access to rodeo events where professionals demonstrate why riding angry bulls remains a questionable career choice. The midway offers deep-fried foods that would make a cardiologist faint, while evening grandstand shows display pyrotechnics that momentarily convince you Calgary invented fire.

For visitors whose timing misses Stampede season, substitute WinSport at Canada Olympic Park ($32), where the 1988 Winter Olympics left behind infrastructure now repurposed for recreational death-defiance on bobsled tracks. The Military Museums ($15) offer more sober entertainment with Canada’s most significant collection of military artifacts outside Ottawa.

Regardless of season, dedicate time to Heritage Park Historical Village ($30), where pre-1914 buildings and costumed interpreters create a living museum that makes Colonial Williamsburg look hastily assembled. The steam train circling the property delights children and railroad enthusiasts with equal fervor. For photography enthusiasts, the 56-foot “Wonderland” wire mesh head sculpture outside The Bow building provides Calgary’s most distinctive photo opportunity—a massive disembodied head that somehow perfectly captures the city’s mix of artistic ambition and slightly unsettling prairie aesthetics.

Days 6-8: Banff National Park Excursion

No proper 2 week Calgary itinerary would be complete without venturing west to Banff National Park, where nature makes even the most committed urbanites briefly reconsider their life choices. The 80-minute drive from Calgary follows the TransCanada Highway as it trades prairie flatness for increasingly dramatic mountain silhouettes. Begin at Lake Minnewanka with a scenic cruise ($48) that reveals mountain panoramas inaccessible by road. Evening brings strolls along Banff Avenue, where outdoor equipment stores outnumber humans and elk occasionally wander downtown with complete disregard for traffic signals.

Day seven demands a morning ascent via the Banff Gondola ($65), which delivers visitors to Sulphur Mountain’s summit without the cardiovascular exertion of hiking. The subsequent visit to Banff Hot Springs ($9.25) provides the unique experience of outdoor bathing surrounded by snow-capped peaks. End your day with dinner at The Bison, where entrees ($30-45) showcase local ingredients with presentations that require at least three social media posts.

Reserve day eight for the twin icons of Moraine Lake and Lake Louise, applying the critical insider knowledge that parking becomes a mathematical impossibility after 7am. The Plain of Six Glaciers trail rewards moderate hiking effort with tea served in a mountain hut that somehow receives regular supply deliveries despite its remote location. For accommodations, the Fairmont Banff Springs ($500+/night) delivers a castle experience for those with royal budgets, while Tunnel Mountain Resort ($220/night) and Samesun Banff ($40/night dorm beds) cater to mid-range and budget travelers respectively.

Days 9-10: Jasper and Icefields Parkway

The Icefields Parkway connecting Banff to Jasper consistently ranks among the world’s most scenic drives, with good reason. This 144-mile stretch of highway demands a full day’s drive not because of distance but because you’ll stop approximately every seven minutes for increasingly spectacular photo opportunities. Peyto Lake’s turquoise waters and the Columbia Icefield’s accessible glacier provide natural wonders that make even teenagers briefly look up from their phones.

Dedicate day ten to Jasper’s highlights, centered around Maligne Lake with its Spirit Island tour ($82)—perhaps the most photographed island in all of Canada despite being barely larger than a tennis court. An evening wildlife spotting tour ($65) offers sightings of elk, bears, and bighorn sheep, though guides carefully maintain the 100+ yard distance required to prevent appearances in Darwin Award nominations.

Jasper accommodations mirror Banff’s range, with The Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge ($350+/night) offering luxury rustic cabins, Whistlers Inn ($180/night) providing comfortable mid-range options, and HI Jasper ($40/night) delivering budget-friendly dorm beds. The small-town atmosphere of Jasper provides refreshing contrast to Banff’s more commercial tourism infrastructure, with stargazing opportunities enhanced by dark sky preserve designation.

Days 11-12: Drumheller and Dinosaur Provincial Park

Shifting geological gears entirely, days eleven and twelve introduce the badlands landscape of Drumheller, 90 minutes northeast of Calgary. The Royal Tyrrell Museum ($21) houses world-class dinosaur exhibits where paleontologists actively clean fossils behind glass walls, combining education with the voyeuristic thrill of watching others work. The surrounding region looks suspiciously like Mars, leading visitors to question whether they’ve accidentally departed Canada altogether.

Day twelve brings exploration of the hoodoo rock formations, where erosion has created natural sculptures that appear designed by a committee of surrealist artists. The World’s Largest Dinosaur statue ($4 to climb inside) stands as a testament to small-town tourism initiatives and provides the unique opportunity to survey the landscape from within a T-Rex’s mouth. For truly authentic local experience, venture to the Last Chance Saloon in Wayne (population: 27), accessible via eleven one-lane bridges that serve as a sobriety test both entering and exiting.

Accommodation options include the charming Heartwood Inn ($150/night) with its homemade breakfasts or the Canalta Jurassic Hotel ($130/night), which embraces dinosaur theming with enthusiasm that borders on concerning. Photographers should note that sunset transforms the badlands landscape into a shadow play of dramatic contrasts that draws professionals from around the world.

Days 13-14: Return to Calgary and Final Explorations

Your final days return you to Calgary for loose-end exploration of neighborhoods beyond downtown. The Kensington district offers boutique shopping where items are priced by apparent uniqueness rather than practical utility. Dinner at Model Milk ($25-40 entrees) presents Alberta ingredients with metropolitan flair in a converted dairy building that retains industrial character without sacrificing comfort.

Close your 2 week Calgary itinerary with either the Calgary Zoo ($30), home to Canada’s most successful panda breeding program, or Telus Spark Science Centre ($26), where interactive exhibits provide intellectual stimulation and permission to touch everything. Last-minute souvenir hunting at Crossiron Mills outlet mall allows for tax-free purchases of Canadian brands before departure. Book your final dinner at Charcut Roast House for Alberta beef demonstrating why the province’s cattle enjoy international renown—though reservations require at least three days advance planning.

Practical Information for American Visitors

Canadian currency operates like American dollars that went through a colorful washing machine and emerged smaller and more vibrant. Exchange rates typically cost travelers 3-5% beyond published rates, making credit cards the preferred payment method for most transactions. Car rentals from Calgary airport start around $70/day for basic models, though SUVs—highly recommended for mountain driving—command premium prices.

Cell phone coverage excels in urban areas but becomes frustratingly spotty in national parks, necessitating downloaded offline maps. Tipping customs mirror American expectations (15-20% at restaurants), though with noticeably less server hovering. Temperature variations demand packing flexibility, with winter lows reaching a browser-freezing -22°F while summer averages a pleasant 70-75°F with mercifully low humidity.

Calgary’s semi-arid climate produces air so dry that moisturizer becomes less skincare and more survival equipment. The city’s weather forecasters have developed the nation’s most creative excuses for inaccurate predictions, as chinook winds can raise temperatures 30 degrees in hours, transforming winter coats into awkward accessories by afternoon.