Edmonton Travel Guide

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Introduction

by Frommers Travel Guides

283km (175 miles) N of Calgary; 361km (224 miles) E of Jasper

Edmonton, Alberta's capital city, is located on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River, which cuts a deep wooded valley through the city. It's a civilized city of 1 million citizens that's known for its summer festivals and easygoing friendliness.

Established as a fur-trading post in 1786, Edmonton grew in spurts, following a boom-and-bust pattern as exciting as it was unreliable. The railroad arrived in 1912 bringing homestead farmers, many from eastern Europe. While Edmonton initially boomed as the market center for these emigrant farm communities, the farm economy went bust during the droughts and Great Depression of the 1930s. 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 February 1947, when oil was discovered southwest of the city. Edmonton soon found itself the capital not just of Alberta but of the Canadian oil industry. Today the city is filled with gleaming office towers and other monuments to wealth -- enormous shopping centers, a wonderful park system, and excellent arts performance facilities.

However, the combination of oil industry workers and provincial bureaucrats don't exactly make for a scintillating civic culture, and despite the youthful energy of 17,000 University of Alberta students, Edmonton lacks the spark you'd expect of a city of this size. It's ironic -- and somehow symptomatic -- that a city with over 200 years of history considers a shopping center its proudest monument.

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Edmonton Travel Experiences

Warburg, Alberta

After having breakfast with Martin & Agnes we headed for Warburg to visit with Fred & Eva (Dave's sister & husband). We... Continue reading »

by Real Traveler Hamms on the Road
Shots and shopping

We finally finished up our course of shots, now we're all set against whatever might attack us on our trip. For those of you counti... Continue reading »

by Real Traveler Michelle and Susan
Oilers vs. Ducks

Everything worked out well. I was a little worried about being tired and the timing because I wasn't able to fly until game day.&nb... Continue reading »

by Real Traveler darth bangkok
Elk Island National Park

After a light day on Friday and a great Alberta beef steak dinner, I drove out to Elk Island to see the bison on Saturday. I got th... Continue reading »

by Real Traveler darth bangkok
West Edmonton Mall

Fantasyland Hotel was great. With our stay there, we got free passes to the amusement park and the water park which was great. There we... Continue reading »

by Real Traveler Sara Mae