Best way to spend a free hour

If it’s during the lunch hour, go for a stroll down Stephen Avenue Walk and take in some of the local colors as people walk by on their lunch break, or walk to the Eau Claire and Prince’s Island area.

At other times, you could take a ride to the top of the Calgary Tower (www.calgarytower.com) to take in the view of downtown Calgary and the Rocky Mountains to the West, or check out the wares in one of Calgary’s trendy shopping districts, either Uptown 17 (17th Avenue SW), Kensington (along Kensington Road, between 14th and 10th Streets NW) or Inglewood (9th Avenue SE).

Best weekend trip to add on after a business trip

There are many day trip options available using Calgary as a home base, including driving down to Drumheller, to see the Canadian Badlands, home of the Tyrrell Museum, where countless dinosaur bones have been found. Or get outdoors in Bragg Creek or Kananaskis Country, which are less than an hour’s drive from downtown Calgary. You can hike, mountain bike, picnic or just inhale that fresh mountain air.

Worth planning a trip around

The Calgary Stampede

Visit www.tourismcalgary.com for a complete list of events.