One of my favorite meetings at this year's Virtuoso Travel Week was with the Canadian tourism office of Travel Manitoba. Hear me out on this one. Winnipeg sounded so cool! Have we all been sleeping on Manitoba? The incredible Canadian Museum for Human Rights (pictured above) is designed entirely with ramps inside so that anyone can navigate it. Notably, it's a museum FOR human rights and not OF human rights. It is a forward-thinking place of hope, and just like that, Winnipeg is on my list.
Up north in Churchill, Manitoba, Fall is the ideal time to visit this Polar Bear Capital of the World to see where almost 1,000 polar bears gather to wait for ice to form on Hudson Bay. It's the world's most accessible polar bear population! In summertime you'll sight beluga whales in the Churchill River Estuary in July and August. Plus Churchill boasts over 300 days a year for the Northern Lights! Their Aurora Season is August – April, and Peak Season is coming soon from January – March.
I'd love to help you plan and city and safari trip close to home in Manitoba, Canada, and here's a peak into what awaits us in Winnipeg.
Excerpt below from 2/27/2024 article by Kimberley Lovato can found here.
Come for the access to wildlife tours, stay for Filipino food, French history, and Inuit art. One place likely stands between you and your next polar bear or beluga whale adventure: Winnipeg.
Manitoba’s capital serves as a gateway for many travelers heading north to Churchill, but it’s also a rewarding – if surprising – destination on its own. This city of nearly 800,000 in Canada’s interior prairies is one of the country’s sunniest places (roughly 318 days per year) and is home to diverse, crackling culinary, arts, and culture scenes that include the renowned Canadian Museum for Human Rights.
It’s no secret that winter comes with bone-chilling temperatures, but Winnipeggers wear the annual drop in mercury and the city’s “Winterpeg” nickname like a badge of honor, feting the chill at events such as February’s popular ten-day Festival du Voyageur or by taking to the Red and Assiniboine rivers, which transform into one of the world’s longest skating trails (from four to six miles, depending on the freeze factor). Adding to its icy reputation, Winnipeg has claimed the title of “Slurpee capital of the world” for 20-plus years, with around 188,800 of the slushy drinks consumed each month.
Rest assured, there’s nothing chilly about a Winnipeg welcome or its calendar’s sweet spot: summertime. Long, warm days and nights mean alfresco patio meetups, strolling the historic Exchange District, and spreading a blanket in a park for outdoor performances and concerts.
Belugas and polar bears in Churchill? Pschutt! Here’s how to make the most of your time in The Peg.
Food Finds
With the largest Filipino community per capita of any Canadian city, Winnipeg dishes out Pinoy staples. Newcomer Basta! Filipino Kitchen, opened in December inside The Forks Market food hall, is a good place to start, for lumpia with banana ketchup; silog (pronounced “see-LOGH”), a breakfast dish of egg and garlic fried rice; and vegetarian pancit, rice vermicelli noodles with sauteed veggies.
Indigenous cuisine has found its way to dining tables at restaurants such as Bistro on Notre Dame and Feast Café Bistro, which spotlight traditional ingredients such as bison, elk, pickerel, wild rice, Saskatoon berries, and bannock, a pan-fried bread that’s also the base of Feast’s tasty pizza.
Located just across the river from The Forks, Saint Boniface is Winnipeg’s French quarter, with bakeries such as La Belle Baguette among its morning musts for flaky croissants and pastries.
Out and About
With more than 1,000 acres of nature trails, English gardens, and family-friendly attractions, Assiniboine Park – roughly six miles west of downtown – is a year-round essential, especially for the performances and movies that unfurl at The Lyric Theatre during warmer months.
Also in the park, the Journey to Churchill exhibit features frolicking Arctic animals, including polar bears, viewed from a transparent underwater tunnel.
Downtown’s walkable Exchange District, a National Historic Site, has roughly 150 late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century heritage buildings housing galleries and shops selling anything from sustainable clothing to Manitoba beeswax candles. It’s also the neighborhood for “patio-ing,” with dozens to choose from, including brunch favorite Peasant Cookery and the King’s Head pub, open until 2 a.m. nightly.
Arts and Culture
Head to the Winnipeg Art Gallery – Qaumajuq for the world’s largest collection of Inuit carvings, drawings, prints, and textiles; you can also grab coffee, tea, and light bites at Katita Café, which means “let’s get together” in Inuktitut.
Walk the six-mile Loop starting at The Forks to take in Winnipeg highlights such as the Esplanade Riel footbridge, Saint Boniface City Hall and its next-door sculpture garden, and Blue Cross Park, home of the Winnipeg Goldeyes, the minor league baseball team that plays all summer. Return for a food-hall snack and a glimpse of the public art scattered around The Forks’ nine acres.
Celebrating its 70th birthday in 2024, the Rainbow Stage, Canada’s largest, longest-running open-air professional theater, will host Manitoba’s first all-Filipino musical, Ma Buhay!, from June 27 through July 14, followed by Mary Poppins from August 15 through September 1.
To Winnipeg and Beyond
Canada by Design
Spend your summer vacation spotting arctic foxes, seals, and Belugas on a seven-day nature and cultural heritage tour from Winnipeg to Churchill.
Entrée Canada
Flanked by time in Winnipeg, this seven-day tour takes travelers to Churchill, traveling by charter flight and "Tundra Buggy" to view Ice Bears along the Hudson Bay.
Start planning inspired travel and read more about me and what I can do for you!
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