Travel Guide > North America > Canada > Alberta
Often thought of as Canada's wild west, Alberta is a land of strong urban development as well as striking natural beauty. From badlands and prairies to rocky mountains, along with one of Canada's most densely populated corridors, Alberta is a unique part of the Canadian west.
Alberta is part of western Canada, bordering Saskatchwan to the east, British Columbia to the west, the Northwest Territories to the north, with the United States (Montana) sitting directly below the 49th parallel.
In the southwest section of the province, snaking along the border with British Columbia, the Canadian Rocky Mountains are located, giving way to foothills and eventually plains as one heads east. In southeastern Alberta, where the Red Deer river crosses the flat prairie land, deep gorges and land forms such as hoodoos create a striking landscape known as the Badlands
The two largest cities in Alberta are Edmonton (The capital) and Calgary (The province's largest city). Both cities have metro-area populations of around 1 million. Calgary and Edmonton are anchors to the provinces "Calgary Edmonton Corridor" and within this 400km strip of land stretching between, and including the two cities lives nearly 75% of Alberta's population[1]. Included within this corridor are some of the provinces smaller cities of Red Deer, Wetaskiwin, Leduc and Airdrie.
Edmonton, known as Canada's festival city is home to many exciting summer festivals.
Calgary also features many festivals and events
Alberta, like much of Canada, has warm summers and bitterly cold winters. Average summer temperatures (June to September) are between 20 and 24 degrees Celsius with rather chilly nights, around 10 degrees. Winters last from December to March, with daytime temperatures averaging below zero and nights averaging between -10 and -30 degrees, though up north temperatures can drop even lower at night. Conditions are often sunny but rain is possible year round, except for the wintermonths when most of the precipitation falls in the form of snow. Still, because temperatures can be very low, snowfall is rather light and most of it falls shortly before and after the coldest months.
The Rocky Mountains form a part of Alberta and here summers can be a bit cooler while winters are cold and sometimes see much more heavy snowfall compared with the lower areas or more to the north.
There are several airports in Alberta with flights to other Canadian cities as well as international destinations.
The main airport is Calgary International Airport (airport code: YYC) with dozens of flights within Canada and to the US as well as places further away, including Mexico, the Caribbean and Europe. Air Canada connects Calgary to more destinations across Canada, the USA and the rest of the world direct from here. WestJet flies from Calgary to destinations in western Canada. In addition, many US airlines fly to Calgary.
Edmonton International Airport (airport code: YEG) has a significant amount of flights as well. The airport has domestic flights to most locations in Canada, as well as many major American hubs. Some direct flights are also available to destinations in Mexico and the Caribbean.
The Canadian operates by ViaRail travels between Vancouver and Toronto, stopping in several cities in Alberta. The Skeena travels from Jasper to Prince Rupert along the Pacific Coast of British Columbia.
The greatest variety of food can be found in Edmonton and Calgary. Besides being famous for producting high-quality beef, Alberta does not have a distinct cuisine. However, like much of Canada, the multicultural make-up of the province provides for many excellent restaurants providing food from almost anywhere in the world.
This is version 10. Last edited at 10:03 on Aug 13, 09 by Utrecht (+654). 15 articles link to this page.

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