A Landsby Spotlight on Winnipeg
Photo by Enviro Foto, c/o Travel Manitoba
Built around the spot where two rivers meet, Manitoba’s booming capital city is a fun and friendly place to visit. Winnipeg — or the Peg to locals — is set on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers and is often seen as the gateway to the Prairies.
Visitors will love the art-filled neighbourhoods, excellent dining options and the huge amount of things to do year round. Winnipeg is a stop along VIA Rail’s Canadian, but is easily also reached by air from most major Canadian cities.
The Forks. Photo by JP Media Works, c/o Travel Manitoba
Things to do in Winnipeg
Visit the Forks
The hub of Winnipeg is the Forks, a riverside public space that encompasses 54 acres in the downtown. Here you’ll find treelined paths that follows the bends of the riverbank, a children’s play area and water park in the summer and one of the world’s longest skating rinks in the winter. At the centre of it all is a bustling market that is home to restaurants, cafes and lots of artisan shops.
Go Museum Hopping
Within a relatively small area in Winnipeg, you’ll find the famous Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the interactive Children’s Museum and the Winnipeg Art Gallery with its spectacular brand-new Qaumajuq addition. Qaumajuq is a stunning space in both design and concept — inside you’ll find the largest collection of contemporary Inuit art in the world.
Winnipeg has many incredible museums and galleries throughout the city — make sure to visit at least one on your next trip to the city.
Related: Read our list of the Top 5 Museums to Visit in Winnipeg.
Herd of bison at FortWhyte Alive. Photo by Robyn Hanson, c/o Travel Manitoba
Get Out in Nature
FortWhyte Alive is a 660-acre reclaimed urban green space just steps away from Winnipeg’s urban areas. Open year round, visitors can explore the lakes and forests through a big network of trails (perfect for biking in the summer and snowshoeing in the winter). You can also get out on the water to paddle in a kayak or canoe. Plenty of wildlife call this urban oasis home, include a herd of bison.
Or head out and explore one of the new gardens at the revitalized Assinboine Park, which features an Indigenous Peoples Garden as well as a Kitchen Garden and a Sensory Garden.
Photo c/o Travel Manitoba
Step Back in Time at the Exchange District
Walk the narrow streets and cobblestone pathways of Winnipeg’s historic Exchange District, which houses the largest and best-preserved collection of early 20th century architecture in North America. Designated a national heritage site, this neighbourhood spans 20 square blocks and features about 150 buildings constructed during the late 1880s to early 1900s.
Related: Read more about why the Exchange District is worth a visit.
Our weekly 2022 Summer Spotlight series has short introductions to Canada’s 14 capital cities (10 provincial, 3 territorial and 1 national) and was created to inspire us Canadians to explore more of our own country. For more details on each province or territory, visit our Experiences page or search our Journal by location. Better yet, reach out to us! We’d love to tell you more about these great places and create travel itineraries for you to explore them.
