Top 10 things to see and do in Winnipeg
These can’t-miss city experiences will see you standing below swimming polar bears, embarking on a bison safari and hitting the chic streets of The Exchange District.
These can’t-miss city experiences will see you standing below swimming polar bears, embarking on a bison safari and hitting the chic streets of The Exchange District.
Journey to Churchill at Assiniboine Park Zoo
The world’s most comprehensive Arctic species exhibit is a real showstopper. Its vast terrain is home to muskox, Arctic fox, snowy owls, caribou, wolves, and of course, the show-stealing polar bears. These bears astound with their sheer size when swimming right over your head in the Sea Ice Passage. The adjacent Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre doubles as an educational centre for the public—focusing on the effects of climate change on northern species, along with being a research facility. In fact, the polar bears are no longer the only stars at the zoo, as you can catch the veterinary team on the new CBC television show, Arctic Vets.
Winnipeg Art Gallery
The WAG is home to the world’s largest collection of contemporary Inuit art, which now has an incredible permanent home in the $65-million Qaumajuq (Inuit art centre). This architectural marvel (it straddles the south side of the WAG) pays homage to the stark beauty of the Arctic landscape while presenting thousands of works representing nearly every Inuit community. It will also serve as an educational centre and a place to foster dialogue once larger gatherings may resume. In the WAG proper, you can currently witness a collection spanning 24,000 works in a variety of mediums–running from the late Renaissance to the present–with a particular emphasis on works by local, Canadian and Indigenous artists.
The Forks
For more than 6,000 years, The Forks has been a meeting place for Indigenous peoples, while today it is the most-visited tourism destination in Manitoba. A central feature is The Forks Market – brimming with shops, worldly food kiosks, and a gorgeous indoor and outdoor wine and beer bar called The Common. The Common services one of Western Canada’s largest patios where you can sit with a drink and watch the boats go by in summer, or around a bonfire as people skate past in winter. Of course, you too can hop on one of these boats and go on a sight-seeing tour with Splash Dash (spring through fall), or head out on the River Trail in winter, skating, biking or skiing past cool Warming Huts.
FortWhyte Alive
Have you heard: Winnipeg is home to a huge urban bison herd? These grunting, munching beasts are always out and about at FortWhyte Alive, where experiences include encountering them on a safari. This beautiful, primarily outdoor centre has a mandate of connecting people with nature. Amongst its many trails, lakes and wetlands, you can do some birding, hiking, biking, sailing, canoeing, skiing and snowshoeing. Year round, FortWhyte also plays host to fun events that promote sustainability, particularly through its FortWhyte Farms.
The Exchange District
Winnipeg’s hippest neighbourhood is home to North America’s largest collection of turn-of-the-20th century buildings, all of them built back when the city was the booming central transportation hub of the continent. These handsome brick and marble facades are now home to some of the city’s best cafes, galleries, locally-owned shops, restaurants (with so many patios) and design firms, making for a great spot to spend a day walking gorgeous streets that often stand in for New York and Chicago in Hollywood productions.
The Canadian Museum for Human Rights
The building’s awe-inspiring architecture is visible from almost every area of the city, beckoning with its “glass cloud” façade. Within, visitors take a journey that physically climbs from darkness to light through 11 interactive galleries that present human rights stories from across the globe via artifacts, video installations and new media displays.
Thermëa by Nordik Spa-Nature
Winnipeggers take their spa-ing seriously, which is one of the many reasons why Thermëa has been such a hit since it opened in 2015. Tailored to be its absolute best in the middle of winter (summer is obviously great too), this open-air spa features numerous thermal pools, fire pits, relaxation rooms, heated hammocks, steam rooms and saunas, all serviced by an incredible farm-to-table restaurant and bar. You can (and people often do) spend all day here, leaving feeling like the total embodiment of relaxation.
Royal Canadian Mint
You can bet your bottom dollar that tours here are always on the money. During one, you’ll see how millions of coins are made each year for countries around the world. Plus, there are interactive exhibits that will test your currency knowledge and have you lifting a $600,000 gold bar (which is super heavy). The building itself is a stunner too, even when it serves as a stand in for an evil pharmaceutical company in the Ralph Fiennes classic, The Constant Gardener.
Manitoba Museum
This place does such an amazing job of mixing classic, somewhat-retro dioramas with modern new media displays to tell the story of the region. Its artifacts, fossils and specimens run from mosasaurs of the Cretaceous period (they once terrorized the seaway which the city now stands on), to the national treasure HBC Collection, to the life-sized (and ever-popular) Nonsuch ship, which people of all ages can’t help but board.
Hermetic Code Tour at the Manitoba Legislative Building
Seriously one of the coolest buildings in Canada, which was made even cooler in 2007 by architectural historian Frank Albo. Dr. Albo revealed that all the sphinxes, gods of the Greek pantheon, hieroglyphics, works of art, mystic numerology and architectural features (including the trippy Pool of the Black Star) found within the building and along its façade add up to a modern version of King Solomon’s Temple. You really must see (and hear) this tour in person to learn how a Freemason architect clandestinely created one of the world’s most mysterious buildings – the meaning behind which was hidden in plain sight for nearly a century.