OT: National Geographic says Edmonton is one of world's best summer trips

[Alawishis]

Well! Isn't this thread apropos!!?! This seems like a good place to post this.

Blues fan here in peace.

I came to your board to ask about things to do in Edmonton. I am flying there on Wednesday and will be in Edmonton itself for two days. One day in Grande Prairie (First Nation function) and one day touring Jasper National Park.

I won't have boat loads of time, so I will keep this focused.

1. What is the most awesome vegetarian restaurant in Edmonton?

2. What is your coolest (quirkiest) museum/attraction?

1) Padmanati's North of downtown. Lots of excellent analogs many meat eaters are fooled eating here.
Nourish - just north of Whyte Ave. Excellent quality and very healthy. Pretty new-age beatnik type atmosphere.
If you need something lighter I highly recommend Earth's General Store deli. They make fantastic soup and sandwiches. I think only the downtown location has a deli. It's on 10 4 Street North of Jasper Ave.
2) Fort Edmonton Park - make sure and check out the old theatre while you're there you have to see the show.
Muttart Conservatory especially if you enjoy nature.
Jurassic Forest - not sure they may not be opened for the season yet. It's animitronic dinosaurs it's pretty well done.
West Edmonton Mall Water Park + the mall itself.

 

[40oz]

1) Padmanati's North of downtown. Lots of excellent analogs many meat eaters are fooled eating here.
Nourish - just north of Whyte Ave. Excellent quality and very healthy. Pretty new-age beatnik type atmosphere.
If you need something lighter I highly recommend Earth's General Store deli. They make fantastic soup and sandwiches. I think only the downtown location has a deli. It's on 10 4 Street North of Jasper Ave.
2) Fort Edmonton Park - make sure and check out the old theatre while you're there you have to see the show.
Muttart Conservatory especially if you enjoy nature.
Jurassic Forest - not sure they may not be opened for the season yet. It's animitronic dinosaurs it's pretty well done.
West Edmonton Mall Water Park + the mall itself.

I'd almost entirely disagree with #2 hahaha
Fort Edmonton - Very nice if you're into that sort of thing
Muttart - If you want to enjoy nature, go past them on a bike ride or something in the river valley. I like taking folks from out of town to Elk Island, see some Bison etc..
Jurassic Forest - Maybe if you're with children
WEM - Avoid, it's a mall. Be better off wandering down Whyte Ave

Another veg option is the food truck Sailin' On. I'm not a vegetarian but the Bad Brains referenced in the name drew me in. Great food.

 

[the pen is mightier]

I'd almost entirely disagree with #2 hahaha
Fort Edmonton - Very nice if you're into that sort of thing
Muttart - If you want to enjoy nature, go past them on a bike ride or something in the river valley. I like taking folks from out of town to Elk Island, see some Bison etc..
Jurassic Forest - Maybe if you're with children
WEM - Avoid, it's a mall. Be better off wandering down Whyte Ave

Another veg option is the food truck Sailin' On. I'm not a vegetarian but the Bad Brains referenced in the name drew me in. Great food.

If you go to Fort Edmonton park, check out the foot bridge past the west end of the park, its a nice view that most probably never see.

I would add 104st north of Jasper Ave as a place to take a walk, it also borders the new arena, if you want to take a look at the build.

If you are still in Edmonton Friday night, check out the night market on Jasper and 105st.

Depending on the company, Underground is a vegetarian friendly pub.

 

[YEGJuniorFan]

Well! Isn't this thread apropos!!?! This seems like a good place to post this.

Blues fan here in peace.

I came to your board to ask about things to do in Edmonton. I am flying there on Wednesday and will be in Edmonton itself for two days. One day in Grande Prairie (First Nation function) and one day touring Jasper National Park.

I won't have boat loads of time, so I will keep this focused.

1. What is the most awesome vegetarian restaurant in Edmonton?

2. What is your coolest (quirkiest) museum/attraction?

1. Cafe Mosaic's food is excellent, the service is uber hipster we're too cool for you though.

2. I would honestly just rent a bike and ride trails in the river valley. I run/ride trails almost every day and even in a city with a million people you often feel like you have the place to yourself. PM me if you want some good routes.
If you insist on going to a mueseum/attraction I would go see a movie at the Princess on Whyte, go hang out at the 104th or Old Strathcona farmer's market and maybe check out Telus World of Science.

 

[Jumptheshark]

Considering all the flack that this city gets from HFboards, it's pretty neat seeing our city on a list like this.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmon...is-one-of-world-s-best-summer-trips-1.3078211



Mods can feel free to merge with the OT thread of course, but I thought a little positivity about our city could use some attention.

I would not argue Edmonton in July and August are great--but lets face facts--there is a reason why so much happens during those two months

 

[ThePhoenixx]

There can be snow any month. A better indicator is the first snow that stays. And that is usually on ~Halloween.

What?

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Lovely city! What is being built near downtown? Looks like a new stadium.

Spent most of my time in the Rockies (Jasper area), but also spent two days in Edmonton and stayed near downtown. A friend of mine is in the Alberta legislature (NDP).

I asked for the best vegetarian restaurant and the general consensus was Padmanadi. We went there twice; last Thursday for lunch before we bolted for Grand Prairie and then last night for dinner. LOVED IT!!!!!

A couple people here described it as a little pricey, but we did not find it to be pricey at all. Smitty's cost more than Padmanadi.

The soto mayam at Padmanadi was spectacular and the spicy eggplant was great too! Great service and met the owner.

I also asked for the coolest attraction and the Muttart was the general consensus. It did not disappoint. SOOOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!

Edmonton is a bona fide big city. No doubt about it and the weather was picture perfect.

More feedback another day. Just flew back to Chicago a couple hours ago.

Thank you all for the awesome guidance!!

 

[Giggleplex]

Lovely city! What is being built near downtown? Looks like a new stadium.

Spent most of my time in the Rockies (Jasper area), but also spent two days in Edmonton and stayed near downtown. A friend of mine is in the Alberta legislature (NDP).

I asked for the best vegetarian restaurant and the general consensus was Padmanadi. We went there twice; last Thursday for lunch before we bolted for Grand Prairie and then last night for dinner. LOVED IT!!!!!

A couple people here described it as a little pricey, but we did not find it to be pricey at all. Smitty's cost more than Padmanadi.

The soto mayam at Padmanadi was spectacular and the spicy eggplant was great too! Great service and met the owner.

I also asked for the coolest attraction and the Muttart was the general consensus. It did not disappoint. SOOOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!

Edmonton is a bona fide big city. No doubt about it and the weather was picture perfect.

More feedback another day. Just flew back to Chicago a couple hours ago.

Thank you all for the awesome guidance!!

That, my friend, is future home of the Edmonton Oilers.

http://www.rogersplace.com

Anyways, glad you've enjoyed your stay in Edmonton. It actually has pretty good hockey teams not named Oilers, i.e. the Oil kings, who won the Memorial cup in 2014 and the U of A Golden Bears, who were champions for the last two seasons.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Had a wonderful time. Just wish the corpse plant was in bloom at the time I visited the Muttart.

 

[dookers9]

Lovely city! What is being built near downtown? Looks like a new stadium.

Spent most of my time in the Rockies (Jasper area), but also spent two days in Edmonton and stayed near downtown. A friend of mine is in the Alberta legislature (NDP).

I asked for the best vegetarian restaurant and the general consensus was Padmanadi. We went there twice; last Thursday for lunch before we bolted for Grand Prairie and then last night for dinner. LOVED IT!!!!!

A couple people here described it as a little pricey, but we did not find it to be pricey at all. Smitty's cost more than Padmanadi.

The soto mayam at Padmanadi was spectacular and the spicy eggplant was great too! Great service and met the owner.

I also asked for the coolest attraction and the Muttart was the general consensus. It did not disappoint. SOOOOOOO COOOOOL!!!!

Edmonton is a bona fide big city. No doubt about it and the weather was picture perfect.

More feedback another day. Just flew back to Chicago a couple hours ago.

Thank you all for the awesome guidance!!

Right on. Glad you enjoyed your stay and that you found the city to be a nice place to visit. You would no doubt be a good emissary to others given you've now experienced what Edmonton has to offer. Go forth and speak... speak positively. lol

Muttart's a cool idea, but it's a little meh in contrast to a few other things around town that you wouldn't have had time for. Nice location in the river valley, but there are a few other things to take in before that. But no biggie - you had a good time, so great.

 

[ChicagoBlues]

Right on. Glad you enjoyed your stay and that you found the city to be a nice place to visit. You would no doubt be a good emissary to others given you've now experienced what Edmonton has to offer. Go forth and speak... speak positively. lol

Muttart's a cool idea, but it's a little meh in contrast to a few other things around town that you wouldn't have had time for. Nice location in the river valley, but there are a few other things to take in before that. But no biggie - you had a good time, so great.

There was too much to do and not enough time to do it, which is why I kept it simple and focused when asking for information.

If you knew me and my lady, then you would know that a botanical garden was perfect. We're both nature lovers and I love to garden and fiddle with houseplants. We sat outside in the gardens for at least two hours just sitting and looking at the impressive skyline of Edmonton. The Muttart was simply perfection.

We had West Edmonton Mall on the list, especially the roller coaster, but time did not permit.

By the way Padmanadi is vegan, not just vegetarian. We tried another vegan restaurant called Clever Rabbit and it was just so-so. The red curry lentil dish was mushy and disjointed flavor wise, but the lentil loaf was excellent. Neither of us are vegan or vegetarian, by the way.

We were also recommended a place called the Duchess, which is just two doors down from Clever Rabbit, but it was jam packed and a little too loud for us. Seemed a little fu fu and pretentious as well. Maybe next time we will stop by there when it is not so busy and try their supposedly wonderful pasties.

I got a real good taste of Edmonton. Never in a million years did I think I would wind up in the city where so many great hockey teams played. I went totally nuts during those Cup victories back in the day. Hated the Islanders and Billy Smith and was never a Bruins fan either.

Anyway......

 

[rosemount289]

One thing that has not..................???

One thing that has not been mentioned is the humidity in the summer time in cities like Toronto, New York, Chicago..........any city in USA.

We do get some humid weather but not too often and that's another reason why I prefer Edmonton..........I sure some of you have been to Los Vegas in the summer time........you cannot even go outside due to the humidity.

 

[Cizin]

One thing that has not been mentioned is the humidity in the summer time in cities like Toronto, New York, Chicago..........any city in USA.

We do get some humid weather but not too often and that's another reason why I prefer Edmonton..........I sure some of you have been to Los Vegas in the summer time........you cannot even go outside due to the humidity.

Las Vegas is in the desert, average relative humidity in July is very low. Exceptionally hot, though. (40°C compared to 23°C here or 29°C in Chicago).

 

[Section337]

Recently realized, despite living here for 20 years, that I have been quite negligent at checking out Edmonton's tourist attractions. As a result, I have decide to put more energy into visiting these places. Did the Leg tour, checked out the Aviation museum, wandered around the AGA a couple times, hitting up Winspear next week and plan to do the Muttart this weekend (only went one time, for a company event).