| Canada City Breaks |
Canada City Breaks
Quebec
 
Quebec City lies on the Saint Lawrence River roughly three hours east of Montreal. The city is divided by steep bluffs into Upper Town, including the old quarter, and Lower Town. Perched atop Cap-Diamant, the old quarter is the only walled city and urban UNESCO World Heritage Site in North America. The Citadel, Chateau Frontenac, the Plains of Abraham and the Quebec Parliament are all located in Upper Town, as well as a variety of shops and markets. The Naval Museum of Quebec and the Old Port of Quebec are found in Lower Town, as well as Place-Royal, the site of the first permanent settlement in New France.
Québec, with its distinct French-Canadian or Quebecois culture and strong sense of history, offers a wealth of diversity. Montréal is home to many excellent festivals and the Notre Dame Basilica. It is a city noted for its nightlife, food and museums. When in Quebec City, be sure to visit the historic battlements on the Plains of Abraham, and the beautiful Chateau Frontenac. The Laurentian Mountains offer a variety of adventures - especially for winter sports. The Saguenay Region is great for whale watching. Or, visit the spectacular Gaspe Peninsula in the South St Lawrence area.
Whale watching tours on the Essipit - a river that looks like an ocean, and its name meaning 'river of shells'. Visitors will ride by catamaran or zodiac-style boat in an area that is abundant with Finback and Common Finback - the latter the second largest whale in the world. Choosing Essipit cruises also means meeting the Montagnais and learning about their rich history, traditions, and modern way of life as First Nations people. Luxurious condos and outfitter services are also available.
Situated in the Laurentian Mountains, Tremblant is just one and half hours north of Montreal. Snow boarders and extreme skiers can experience the thrill of the Snow Park off of the Flying Mile. A beautiful Quebecois-style village lies at the base of the mountain. Cross country skiing as well as ice skating are other activities to enjoy.
Raft the Rouge River, rated one of the top ten rivers in North America for rafting. Offering a full day initiation to whitewater kayaking as well as class 3 and 4 rapids on a guided, full day tour. A action packed city break.
Montreal City Breaks
 
Montreal, gem of the St. Lawrence, the Paris of North America, la Ville aux cent clochers - like all clichés these phrases both blur and reveal the truth. Founded by French explorers more than 350 years ago, it is among the oldest cities on the continent, its history a rich backdrop to its vibrant multicultural life.
Notorious for its harsh winters, Montreal flourishes through a hot, sweet summer enlivened by festivals, street fairs and innumerable terrace cafés where locals and visitors alike eat, drink and socialize.
A visit to Montreal can be exciting and fun. We're hoping to answer your questions here, and gather in one place a wealth of information that will help you plan a visit and enjoy it to the max.
Many people come to Montreal to shop in its wide range of international boutiques, and Canada's low dollar makes it especially attractive for Americans to shop here.
The most famous aspect of shopping in Montreal is the Underground City. Constantly growing, the "city" - which links many major buildings and multi-level shopping malls in the area - is a shopper's paradise in any season. One major section is reached via Peel and McGill metro stations on the green line, and another via Bonaventure station on the orange line. East of McGill station is a growing axis from Place-des-Arts metro down through Complexe Desjardins and beyond.
Safe and sheltered from the elements, the Underground City offers a huge range of goods and services as well as a handy way to get from place to place without weather or traffic problems.
Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica has nothing in common with Paris's except the name. It's a neogothic building dating from 1829, constructed on the site of a much older and smaller church which had been outgrown by its parishioners. Notre Dame is noted for its lavish and beautiful interior - stained glass windows, paintings, statues, gold-tipped polychrome carvings, rich altarpiece. It also has a notable Casavant organ and its largest bell, le Gros Bourdon, is the biggest on the continent.
Notre-Dame shares Place d'Armes with the Vieux Séminaire, dating from 1683, the elegant deco Aldred Building (1931), the red sandstone New York Life building (1888) - Montreal's first skyscraper - the Bank of Montreal building, and the central monument to de Maisonneuve, founder of the original settlement of Ville-Marie.
The lookout on top of Mount Royal is an excellent goal for an urban walk. It's in Mount Royal Park, laid out long ago by Frederick Law Olmsted, best known for landscaping New York's Central Park. From the beautifully appointed lookout terrace, downtown Montreal is at your feet, with a view to the river and beyond to the Monteregian Hills. Sight lines to landmarks are marked. The chalet by the lookout is open in the daytime with bathrooms and snack machines. There's no restaurant or café in the park but, in season, you can picnic - and don't forget you're never more than a few minutes from downtown Montreal and its many restaurants.
The top of Mount Royal is divided between the park and two large cemeteries, the Catholic Notre-Dame-des-Neiges cemetery and the nondenominational Mount Royal cemetery. Both can be interesting walks for those of gothic tastes and together they form a necropolis among the largest in the world.
The Olympic Stadium was built for Montreal's 1976 Olympics and is still currently used by baseball's National League's Expos and for all kinds of other shows throughout the year. An elevator ascends the world's tallest inclined tower to a lookout on top; tickets are for sale at the base. The stadium is one of Montreal's most curious pieces of architecture and is accompanied by the Biodome (a building originally used for cycle racing during the Games). Across Sherbrooke Street is the Botanical Garden (best in summertime, but with large greenhouses worth a visit any time of year) and the Insectarium. Across Pie-IX is Château Dufresne, a grand mansion sometimes used for art exhibits.
The Casino de Montréal is a 24/7 extravaganza of gambling, food and drink. Built inside the pavilions of France and Quebec from Expo '67, it's a multi-level experience of roaring, tinkling fun. Bring plenty of money.
Ottawa City Breaks
 
Touted as the city by which all capitals should be measured, Ottawa is a compact, clean, cleverly planned center of culture and politics. And it's an ideal choice for a weekend getaway because you can see so much in a short time. Start downtown at the architecturally stunning National Gallery of Canada. Other fine museums, like the Canadian Nature Museum and the National Aviation Museum, await. The Gothic Revival-style buildings of Parliament Hill convey the political stature. A free, guided tour of the main building offers information on both the present-day government and important historical events. While Ottawa does have its fair share of lofty attractions, there are also lots of ways to kick back and have fun. The lovely Rideau Canal, which cuts through the city, offers boating in the summer and ice-skating in the winter. Gatineau Park is always buzzing with cyclists, walkers and benchwarmers. For an eclectic mix of old and new Ottawa, stop by the Byward Market. Whether you're in town for a few hours or a few days, Ottawa offers a gratifying taste of Canadian culture and hospitality.
Ottawa may be the most underappreciated national capital east of Ulan Bator, even though on most counts it's an urban standard against which many North American cities might well gauge themselves. Ottawa's downtown is striking, with more renovation and enlightened recycling of its 19th- and early-20th-century buildings happening every year. The miles of tidy late-Victorian brick houses serving as shops, restaurants, and homes are real characteristics of the city. The Gothic spires and towers of Parliament Hill look like the grand estate of an overachieving Scottish laird, with the voluptuous Gatineau Hills as a backdrop. In spring, carpets of tulips and daffodils embrace residences and ministries and cast visual fire against the deep greens of the city's parks. Cutting a swath through Ottawa is the Rideau Canal, a magnet for houseboats and cabin cruisers and a scene out of a Dutch painting in winter, when the citizenry takes to the ice on sleighs and skates.
The reality of Ottawa is far from the dour Calvinist sobriety often depicted. It's clean -- men with pans and brooms let not a wad of paper linger in downtown gutters -- and the city's streets are not yet choked. It possesses, in fact, a certain romance in its lanes and parks and cul-de-sacs. See for yourself with a walk down to Victoria Island. Looking east, as the Ottawa River rushes by the bluffs where Parliament stands, it doesn't take much imagination to summon a picture of those early days when waterborne fur traders and explorers sped westward and great logs rolled down these rivers to what was then a clamorous lumber town. Developers and builders have yet to obscure the treasured vistas of hills and water. And, in this most British of Canadian cities, observe troops of sentries in scarlet tunics and black shakos marching to drum and bagpipe to the morning changing of the guard, just as they do at Buckingham Palace.
Admittedly, Ottawa was an unlikely candidate for Canada's capital when it was chosen in the mid-19th century. The two provinces of Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Québec) were fused into the United Provinces of Canada, but their rivalry was so bitter the legislature had to meet alternately in Toronto and Montréal. Queen Victoria selected the village of Ottawa in 1858, no doubt in the hope that its location on the Ontario-Québec border would smooth the differences between the French and English Canadas. Her choice wasn't met with much praise: Essayist Goldwin Smith called it "a sub-Arctic village, converted by royal mandate into a political cockpit." Other assessments weren't as kind.
For nearly a century, the city languished in an undeniable provincialism and worked on its reputation for propriety. In its early days, though, it managed to nurture some colorful characters, not the least of whom was Canada's longest-serving prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, who conducted World War II with the guidance of his dog, his deceased mother, and frequent consultations with his predecessor, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was by then two decades dead.
In the 1960s, perhaps because of Canada's burgeoning nationalism or because the government wished to create a real capital, Ottawa began to change. The National Arts Centre was built, ethnic restaurants multiplied, the Byward Market area and other historic buildings were rescued, and public parks and recreation areas were created. This process has continued into the present with the building of the National Gallery of Canada. Hull, the Québécois city across the river, has been undergoing a similar transformation, highlighted by the opening of the superb Museum of Civilization and recently renamed Casino de Lac-Leamy. These twin cities are now full of unexpected pleasures -- you can watch the debates and pomp of parliamentary proceedings, take in the street scene from a sidewalk terrace, ski or camp or hike in wilderness only 15 minutes away, and then put your feet up before the fireplace of a rustic inn.
After visiting Ottawa, you may wish to explore eastern Ontario for a few days. Kingston, an appealing lakefront town, is the principal gateway to the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River. East from Port Hope -- a worthy stop for antiques hounds -- stretches the Bay of Quinte and Quinte's Isle, a tranquil region of farms, orchards, quaint villages, and riverside parks. Still outside the usual tourist circuits, it was settled by colonials, loyal to the Crown, who fled the American Revolution.
Calgary City Breaks
 
With the eastern face of the Rockies as its backdrop, the crisp concrete-and-steel skyline of Calgary, Alberta, seems to rise from the plains as if by sheer force of will. In fact, all the elements in the great saga of the Canadian West -- Mounties, native peoples, railroads, cowboys, oil -- have converged to create a city with a brand-new face and a surprisingly traditional soul.
Calgary, its name believed to be derived from the Gaelic phrase meaning "bay farm," was founded in 1875 at the junction of the Bow and Elbow rivers as a North West Mounted Police post. The Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in 1883, and ranchers established major spreads on the plains surrounding the town. Incorporated as a city in 1894, Calgary grew quickly, and by 1911 its population had reached 43,000.
The major growth came with the oil boom in the 1960s and 1970s, when most Canadian oil companies established their head offices in the city. Today, Calgary is a city of nearly 800,000 mostly easygoing and downright neighborly people. It is Canada's second-largest center for corporate head offices. Downtown is still evolving, but Calgary's planners have made life during winter more pleasant by connecting most of the buildings with the Plus 15, a network of enclosed walkways 15 ft above street level. Among the major cities on the prairies, Calgary usually has the most reasonable winter, thanks to the annual series of warm chinook winds that blow in from the nearby Rockies
CALGARY ZOO
The zoo is centrally located on an island in downtown Calgary. The popular attraction has a wide variety of special events for the whole family and the elephant paints! The zoo also offers special displays in the winter.
Bronconnier says the zoo offers visitors: "Animals of all description living in modern, generous enclosures; a chance to walk among the dinosaurs in Canada's leading prehistoric park; and acres of flower gardens and green lawns for picnicking and running off a little steam. The recent addition of Destination Africa provides a unique interactive tour of African habitats that brings you face to face with gorillas, hippos and more."
Toronto City Breaks
 
One of Canada's best kept secrets, Toronto is on par with New York City, San Francisco and Chicago when it comes to cultural attractions and urban endeavors. The best place to start is at the top, and in this city there's no mistaking where that is. The landmark CN Tower is the tallest structure in the world and also an important telecommunications hub. Take the elevator to the top for a breathtaking view of the city and its surrounding areas. Right next door at the SkyDome you can catch a Blue Jays game or just walk around the massive stadium. Check out the Royal Ontario Museum, the largest in Canada with fascinating archeology and natural history exhibits, and the Art Gallery of Ontario, with a fine collection of European and Canadian works. Don't miss the funky stores and ethnic restaurants on Queen Street West or the elegant boutiques and fine eateries of Yorkville. Also head down to Harbourfront, a complex of unique shops and restaurants right on beautiful Lake Ontario. From Harbourfront you can hop on a ferry to the Toronto Islands for a picnic and outdoor recreation. Toronto is an especially great destination for families as most attractions are child-friendly. Plus, it is an incredibly clean, safe and easy city to get around either on foot or by public transportation.
Chances are that even if you've never set foot in Toronto, you've seen the city a hundred times over. Known for the past decade as "Hollywood North," Toronto has stood in for international centers from European capitals to New York -- but rarely does it play itself. Self-deprecating Torontonians embody a paradox: Proud of their city's architectural, cultural, and culinary charms, they are unsure whether it's all up to international snuff.
After spending a single afternoon wandering around Toronto, you might wonder why this is a question at all. The sprawling city boasts lush parks, renowned architecture, and excellent galleries. There's no shortage of skyscrapers, particularly in the downtown core. Still, many visitors marvel at the number of Torontonians who live in houses on tree-lined boulevards that are a walk or a bike ride away from work.
Out-of-towners can see the fun side of the place, but Torontonians aren't so sure. They recall the stuffiness of the city's past. Often called "Toronto the Good," it was a town where you could walk down any street in safety, but you couldn't get a drink on Sunday.
Then a funny thing happened on the way through the 1970s. Canada loosened its immigration policies and welcomed waves of Italians, Greeks, Chinese, Vietnamese, Jamaicans, Indians, Somalians, and others, many of whom settled in Toronto. Political unrest in Quebec drove out Anglophones, many into the waiting arms of Toronto. The city's economy flourished, which in turn gave its cultural side a boost.
Natives and visitors alike enjoy the benefits of this rich cultural mosaic. More than 5,000 restaurants are scattered across the city, serving everything from simple Greek souvlaki to Asian-accented fusion cuisine. Festivals such as Caribana and Caravan draw tremendous crowds to celebrate heritage through music and dance. Its newfound cosmopolitanism has made Toronto a key player on the arts scene, too. The Toronto International Film Festival in September and the International Festival of Authors in October draw top stars of the movie and publishing worlds. The theater scene rivals London's and New York's.
Toronto now ranks at or near the top of any international urban quality-of-life study. The city has accomplished something rare, expanding and developing its daring side while holding on to its traditional strengths. It's a great place to visit, but watch out: You might just end up wanting to live here.
Niagra Falls
 
Niagara Falls, Ontario: Pop. 79,000. Or should that be 18 million plus 79,000? That's approximately the number of visitors the region gets each year, as they come by plane, train, boat, bus, automobile and sometimes by foot to get a glimpse of what has been called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.
Known simply as the Falls, with the Horseshoe on the Canadian side and the American and Bridal Veil on the U.S. side, these raging cataracts serve as the conduit for shifting water from the four Upper Great Lakes to Lake Ontario and eventually out to the ocean. That's an awful lot of water, as the Great Lakes hold about 20 percent of the world's fresh supply of the precious liquid. The 2,600-foot wide Horseshoe Falls, for example, blast 600,000 gallons per second down their 170-foot face.
Yet, this amazing flow of water (or part of it) has come to a standstill on at least two occasions⿿once accidentally and once on purpose. On March 30, 1848, an ice jam in the upper river caused the Falls to slow to a trickle for several hours. People actually went out and pulled artifacts from the riverbed. In 1969, the American Falls were deliberately blocked by engineers to see if they could remove some of the rocks at their base but the project was abandoned as too expensive.
More Power to It The Falls aren't just a tourist attraction it is also the engine for one of the world's greatest generators of hydroelectric power with a combined 4.4 million kilowatts shared by the U.S. and Canada. As an offshoot of this water diversion, the annual erosion rate for the Falls at one point about one meter a year has been reduced to three centimetres.
With the late 19th-century Industrial Revolution, this cheap source of electricity brought many industries and manufacturing plants to the region, especially in the Chippawa and Fort Erie areas south of Niagara Falls. It also opened up transportation routes both by land and by sea with the construction of the first Welland Canal in Canada and the Erie Barge Canal in the U.S.
The city of Niagara Falls itself has undergone many changes and facelifts through the years: from being the site of the Seventh Wonder and the Honeymoon Capital to being the present day all-season family vacation destination featuring Marineland and the immensely popular Casino Niagara with 100,000 square feet of gaming space! It is thus a city that rejuvenates itself with almost constant renovation and revitalization, while at the same time respecting the traditions that got it to this point.
Waxing romantic One of the Niagara Falls' traditions is the Clifton Hill area where brand-new luxury hotels vie for space with gaudily-coloured, neon-lit honeymoon motels. Couples step into dark funhouses such as Screamers and NIGHTMARES Fear Factory to see who flinches first. Another tradition is the line up of off-the-wall museums such as Ripley's Believe It Or Not!, Louis Tussaud's Waxworks and Guinness World Of Records that continue to draw the curious.
But any accusations of tackiness are quickly dispelled once you get out into the surrounding countryside. It's no surprise that the first explorers who saw this region thought they'd discovered a new Eden, what with the relatively warm, rich, lush, verdant landscape anchored by those roaring waters!
Today, you'll find fruit trees and vineyards and sun-dappled winding country roads along the river. Jogging and biking paths stretch all the way up to Georgian Bay to the north. Tucked-away bed & breakfasts bear antique furnishings and welcoming hosts. Historical museums and period homes are in mint condition. Not to mention the incredibly beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake that is at the end of it all. If Niagara Falls is all hustle and bustle and humming tourism, this town seems frozen in a Victorian-era time warp, complete with the Shaw Festival with its world-class theatrical tribute to the era of George Bernard Shaw, with the addition of Jacuzzi suites, of course!
Vancouver
 
Vancouver is the largest city in the province of British Columbia and the third largest city in Canada. It's surrounded by water on three sides and is nestled alongside the Coast Mountain Range. Vancouver is home to spectacular natural scenery and a bustling metropolitan core, and boasts one of the mildest climates in Canada.
The City of Vancouver supports a wide range of destination sites-- from more than 190 parks to three different civic theatres -- that are interesting places to visit for tourists and residents alike. Vancouver is also home to many other sights and is networked by a comprehensive transportation system.
Blessed with a spectacular Pacific Rim location, Vancouver is a study in contrasts and cohesion. Set between the mountains and the sea, the city blends cultures and landscapes, allowing visitors to enjoy a modern, cosmopolitan city alongside the great outdoors. You could spend all weekend exploring Stanley Park, but you don't want to miss the panoramic vistas from the Capilano Bridge or the Sea to Sky Highway, or the opportunity to ski or explore a mountain trail. A temperate year-round climate makes Vancouver enjoyable in any season, though the winter months do bring a string of rainy days.
Vancouverites aren't much given to introspection -- too much time spent outdoors -- so it's perhaps a bit unfair to expect it of visitors. But if you really want to understand Vancouver, stand at the edge of the Inner Harbour (the Canada Place pavilion makes a good vantage point) and look up past the floatplanes taking off over Stanley Park, around the container terminals, over the tony waterfront high-rises, and then up the steep green slopes of the North Shore mountains to the twin snowy peaks of the Lions. What you've seen -- 90% of it anyway -- is the result of a collaboration, unique in history, between God and the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).
It was the Almighty -- or Mother Nature (depending on your point of view) -- who raised the Coast Range and then sent a glacier slicing along its foot, simultaneously carving out a deep trench and piling up a tall moraine of rock and sand. When the ice retreated, water from the Pacific flowed in and the moraine became a peninsula, flanked on one side by a deep natural harbor and on the other by a river of glacial meltwater.
Some 10,000 years later, a CPR surveyor came by, took in the peninsula, the harbor, and the river, and decided he'd found the perfect spot for the railway's new Pacific terminus. He kept it quiet, as smart railway men tended to do, until the company had bought up most of the land around town. Then the railway moved in, set up shop, and the city of Vancouver was born.
Working indoors, Vancouverites have all fallen in love with the outside: mountain biking, windsurfing, kayaking, rock climbing, parasailing, snowboarding, and back-country skiing, plus skiing-kayaking, mountain biking-snowboarding, and snowshoeing-paragliding.
The rest of the world has taken notice of the blessed life people in these parts lead. Outside magazine voted it one of the 10 best cities in the world to live in. It's also one of the 10 best to visit, according to Condé Nast Traveler. The World Council of Cities ranked it second only to Geneva for quality of life. And in 2003, the IOC awarded Vancouver the right to host the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Heady stuff, particularly for a spot that less than 20 years ago was routinely derided as the world's biggest mill town.
Eighty-some kilometers (50 miles) across the Strait of Georgia on Vancouver Island, Victoria had for years marketed itself quite successfully as a little bit of England on the North American continent. So successful was the sales job, Victorians soon began to believe it themselves. They began growing elaborate rose gardens, which flourished in the mild Pacific climate, and they cultivated a taste for afternoon tea with jam and scones.
For decades, this continued, until soon it was discovered that not many shared a taste for English cooking, so Victorian restaurants branched out into seafood, ethnic, and fusion. And lately, as visitors have shown more interest in exploring the natural world, Victoria has quietly added whale-watching and mountain-biking trips to its traditional London-style double-decker bus tours. The result, at the dawn of the new millennium, is that Victoria is the only city in the world where you can zoom out on a Zodiac in the morning to see a pod of killer whales, and make it back in time for a lovely afternoon tea.
Edmonton City Breaks
 
Edmonton, Alberta's capital, has the largest metropolitan population in the province, currently around 850,000. Located on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, it's a sophisticated city noted for its easygoing friendliness.
Edmonton grew in spurts, following a boom-and-bust pattern as exciting as it was unreliable. During World War II, the boom came in the form of the Alaska Highway, with Edmonton as the material base and temporary home of 50,000 American troops and construction workers.
The ultimate boom, however, gushed from the ground in 1947, when a drill at Leduc, 25 miles (40km) southwest of the city, sent a fountain of crude oil soaring skyward. Some 10,000 other wells followed, all within a 100-mile (161km) radius of the city. In their wake came the petrochemical industry and the major refining and supply conglomerates. In 20 years, the population of the city quadrupled, its skyline mushroomed with glass-and-concrete office towers, a rapid-transit system was created, and a C$150-million (US$943,800) civic center rose. Edmonton had become what it is today--the oil capital of Canada.
West Edmonton Mall, Edmonton
The world's largest shopping and entertainment complex, with a roller coaster, tropical rainforest and an indoor bungee jump, in addition to the over 800 stores and 20 restaurants.
Attraction type: Amusement/theme park; Mall; Water park
Odyssium, Edmonton
Attraction type: Architectural building; Art gallery; Children's museum; History museum; Specialty museum
Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton
Museum focusing on the history, people and natural history of the western section of Canada.
Attraction type: History museum; Natural history museum
Fort Edmonton Park, Edmonton
Park featuring recreations of Edmonton in different stages of its history.
Attraction type: Amusement/theme park; Historic village
Muttart Conservatory, Edmonton
Five glass pyramids housing plants of different ecosystems: arid, temperate and tropical.
Attraction type: Art gallery; Garden
Winnipeg
 
Rising from the shores of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, the mere mention of winter in Winnipeg can bring shivers to the spine. But it is exactly those long cold winters that have helped make the capital of Manitoba one of the most vibrant cultural centers in Canada, and a dream destination for anyone interested in the arts. When the temperature drops, the best place to be is inside, enjoying a performance of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the oldest dance company in Canada, or wandering through one of the city's many art galleries or museums. The Winnipeg Art Gallery houses the world's largest collection of contemporary Inuit art, while the Manitoba Museum focuses on natural history and the geology of the region. Both make for an enjoyable and educational outing. When spring and summer, eventually, arrive everyone heads outdoors to visit the zoo, go canoeing on the river or to the Forks, a nine-acre site at the junction of the two rivers, which includes ancient meeting grounds, a waterfront park and a multitude of shops and restaurants to savor.
The Performing Arts -- The Manitoba Centennial Centre, 555 Main St. (tel. 204/956-1360), is a complex that includes the Centennial Concert Hall (home to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Symphony, and the Manitoba Opera). Nearby are the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Warehouse Theatre, and Pantages Playhouse Theatre.
Other spaces offering frequent concerts and performances include the Winnipeg Art Gallery (tel. 204/786-6641; www.wag.mb.ca), with blues/jazz, chamber music, and contemporary music groups; and the Pantages Playhouse Theatre, 180 Market Ave. E. (tel. 204/989-2889; www.pantagesplayhouse.com).
The world-renowned Royal Winnipeg Ballet, 380 Graham Ave., at Edmonton Street (tel. 204/956-2792 for the box office; www.rwb.org), was founded in 1939 by two British immigrant ballet teachers, making it North America's second-oldest ballet company (after San Francisco's). By 1949, it was a professional troupe, and in 1953, it was granted a royal charter. Today, its repertoire includes both contemporary and classical works, such as Ashton's Thais, Giselle, and Sleeping Beauty. The company performs at the Centennial Concert Hall, usually for a week in October, November, December, March, and May. Tickets are C$12 to C$58 (US$8.65-US$42), with discounts for students, seniors, and children.
The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, 555 Main St. (tel. 204/949-3950, or 204/949-3999 for the box office; www.wso.mb.ca), was established in 1947. The orchestra's prestige has attracted guest artists such as Itzhak Perlman, Isaac Stern, Tracey Dahl, and Maureen Forrester. The season usually runs September to mid-May, and tickets are C$15 to C$45 (US$11-US$32). In late January, the New Music Festival hosts 9 nights of cutting-edge classical music -- one of Winnipeg's best-kept musical secrets. Contact the WSO for details.
The Manitoba Opera, 380 Graham Ave. (tel. 204/942-7479, or 204/957-7842 for the box office; www.manitobaopera.mb.ca), features a season of two or three operas each year at the Centennial Concert Hall, with performances in February and April, and possibly November. English subtitles are used. Tickets range from C$17 to C$72 (US$12-US$52).
Theater -- You can enjoy theater in the park at the Rainbow Stage, in Kildonan Park at 2021 Main St. (tel. 204/989-5261; www.rainbowstage.net), Canada's largest and oldest continuously operating outdoor theater. The theater group actually presents two musical classics, running about 3 weeks each, one in the summer at Kildonan and one in mid-winter at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre. On the banks of the Red River, the outdoor Rainbow Stage is easily accessible by bus or car. For tickets, which vary in price from show to show, call 888/780-SEAT or 204/780-SEAT, or visit www.selectaseat.mb.ca.
The MTC Warehouse, at 140 Rupert Ave. at Lily (tel. 204/943-4849, or 204/942-6537 for the box office; www.mtc.mb.ca), presents more cutting-edge, controversial plays in an intimate 300-seat theater. Its four-play season generally runs mid-October to mid-May, and tickets are C$11 to C$50 (US$7.90-US$36). Recent seasons' offerings have included Hamlet starring Keanu Reeves.
The Prairie Theatre Exchange, 3rd level, Portage Place, 393 Portage Ave. (tel. 204/942-7291, or 204/942-5483 for the box office; www.pte.mb.ca), also offers about six productions from October to April, and provides the most serious alternative to MTC shows. A recent season featured The Glass Menagerie and Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own. Standard ticket prices are about C$30 (US$22) for adults, C$20 (US$14) for seniors and students. Some less expensive shows run at the end of the season.
Casinos -- The tropical-themed Club Regent, 1425 Regent Ave. (tel. 888/957-4652 or 204/957-2700; www.clubregent.com), offers slots, electronic blackjack, bingo, poker, keno, and breakopen games, plus traditional bingo and the Fountain of Fortune, a series of progressive slot machines. Huge, walk-through aquariums and two live music stages add to the diversions. The club is open Monday to Saturday 10am to 3am and Sunday noon to 3am.
The Grand Railway Hotel-themed McPhillips Station, 484 McPhillips St. (tel. 204/957-3900; www.clubregent.com) is your other major casino option in town, featuring many of the same gaming choices as at the Club Regent (both are operated and regulated by the Manitoba Lotteries Corporation). The side show here is the Millennium Express multimedia theater presentation, a quasi-time-travel ride and show taking you back into Manitoba's past. McPhillips Station operates during the same hours as its sister casino, and both have restaurants and gift shops.
Dance Clubs -- Country-western dance bars used to be a large part of the nightlife in Winnipeg, but the scene is rapidly changing. If you're looking for a hoe-down, though, the best place to sample line dancing is the Palomino Club, 1133 Portage Ave. (tel. 204/722-0454). Classic rock is also featured. Silverado's, 2100 McPhillips St., in the Canad Inn Garden City (tel. 204/633-0024), has three floors of dancing to country bands and rock acts, plus DJ-spun dance-floor hits.
The dance club scene has really exploded in Winnipeg with the opening of several new upscale clubs in the past few years; a small sampling follows. The Empire, at 436 Main St., near Portage Ave. (tel. 204/943-3979), features a Roman-themed dance floor in a historic bank building. Vertigo, in the Exchange District at 291 Bannatyne Ave. (tel. 204/943-3979), is a high-tech, contemporary club with catwalks and hip-hop DJs. The Beach, in the Canad Inns Fort Garry Express at 1792 Pembina Hwy. (tel. 204/269-6955), attracts young revelers (and many college students) to its tropical-themed beach dance parties. Kokonuts, in the Exchange District at 114 Market Ave. (tel. 204/944-1117), features live cover bands and a huge aquarium (aquariums are evidently popular in this town). As dance clubs can be ephemeral, you may want to check out the latest news when you visit town; see Uptown Magazine's website at www.uptownmag.com to search the latest club information and listings.
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