Visiting Winnipeg For the First Time? Don’t Miss These Attractions
Outside of Canada, Winnipeg is best known as the home of the Winnipeg Jets, its National Hockey League (NHL) club. Nevertheless, inside Canada, Winnipeg is renowned for its thriving arts and cultural community. The locals, who are known as “Peggers,” have easy access to a wide variety of arts and entertainment options, including opera, ballet, and concerts.
The city has lately come to national and international attention due to the opening of the spectacular Canadian Museum for Human Rights. We now have a brand new landmark in the form of a museum.
Because of its position at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, halfway between the country’s Atlantic and Pacific shores, Winnipeg is sometimes referred to as “the heart” of central Canada.
The Forks, located at the meeting point of these two rivers, is widely regarded as one of Winnipeg’s most attractive tourist destinations.
Winnipeg has a hot summer and cold winter, therefore the wide range of things to do varies with the seasons. Even so, there is always something exciting going on in this area. To help you decide where to start your tour of Winnipeg, we have compiled a list of the city’s top 5 attractions.
The Forks
The Forks is fun to visit year-round, rain or shine, because of its indoor and outdoor attractions. Because of this, it attracts visitors from all over the world through the seasons. The Forks is a popular destination for both shopping and nightlife, housed in a collection of historic structures. The Forks is located at the point where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet.
At one point, this spot was occupied by a railway maintenance facility; nevertheless, over time, the numerous buildings on the site have been lovingly rebuilt to house a wide range of one-of-a-kind eateries, boutiques, and museums.
The principal building of The Forks Market, simply called “The Forks,” houses the market’s main hall, where traders sell fresh produce and food sellers cook a broad range of delicious delicacies. The shops are spread out over two floors.
As an alternative, visitors may reach the observation tower on foot and climb to the top for a panoramic vantage point of the city and river below. The Johnston Terminal Building is another landmark in the city that has been renovated into stores.
The Forks is a popular summer destination because of the abundance of restaurants, both indoor and outdoor, and the variety of river activities. To reach another of Winnipeg’s must-see landmarks, the Legislative Building, visitors may stroll down the riverbank on the Riverwalk. One of the most popular things to do in the winter is to go ice skating, either on the frozen river or at the rink at The Fork.
Zoo and Assiniboine Park
With its 445 hectares of space, Winnipeg’s oldest park, Assiniboine Park, is a true natural treasure. It has a library, a theatre, a museum, a park, a playground, and an English garden with fully-grown trees.
Located in the heart of Assiniboine Park, the Assiniboine Park Zoo is home to a wide variety of plants, animals, and other forms of life. Whilst some unusual creatures like Siberian tigers and red kangaroos are included, it is the northern hemisphere’s indigenous fauna that gets the most of attention. There are also several polar bears there.
As an added bonus, the park is home to the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden. All of his lost-wax-cast brass sculptures are housed here. These items were made at this facility. The breathtaking artworks are shown in a beautiful landscape with a riot of color and elaborate features like fountains and towering trees.
A repurposed schoolhouse, the Leo Mol Gallery may be located nearby. Several of the artist’s works originated in this space. Other pieces and a display showing the lost-wax process in action may be seen within the building.
Riding the 4-8-2 miniature steam train through Assiniboine Park is a lot of fun for the whole family, but it’s particularly great for families with smaller kids. The train leaves from a station slightly to the west of the Pavilion building, and its route follows a small gauge track.
Throughout the summer, the train runs every day, but in the autumn, it only runs on weekends (September and October). Fees for using the service are reasonable.
Want to spend more time outdoors? To the south of the park is a large nature preserve, where visitors have a high chance of seeing deer and other forms of animals.
If you are getting excited about these places then submit your Canada visa application online. Make sure to deposit the visa fee so that the Canada visa application process gets started while you can do your packing for the tour.
Canadian Museum of Human Rights
This new Winnipeg monument has become an international symbol for human rights and is already a major attraction in the city. The museum’s prominence may be attributed to both its creative method of presenting human rights tales and its eye-catching architectural architecture.
When you first enter the museum, you’ll be on the bottom floor; from there, you’ll ascend to the next five floors, where you’ll find 11 separate exhibit halls to explore. Nonetheless, despite the various ways in which it has been demonstrated to be divisive, it remains undeniably significant as a cultural landmark in Canada.
The Asper Tower of Hope of Israel is an observation platform that gives spectacular views of the neighborhood, and it can be found in Tel Aviv beside the museums and galleries.
The Exchange District
Winnipeg’s Exchange District is distinguished by commercial buildings in the Victorian and Edwardian styles. Since so many banks and other financial institutions were founded in the area between 1880 and 1920, it was given that moniker.
Historical warehouses, banks, and other commercial buildings in the Exchange District have been renovated into chic new shops, galleries, and restaurants, bringing the area back to life in recent years.
There are numerous community gatherings and celebrations held at Old Market Square during the summers, making it the de facto focal point of the area.
The Exchange District is also the heart of Winnipeg’s cultural scene, with several theatres and concert halls such as the Pantages Playhouse, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, and Manitoba Centennial Centre.
Saint Boniface
St. Boniface Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in western Canada, was begun in 1818. While it has been burned down and rebuilt many times, this building was once considered Manitoba’s greatest example of French Romanesque architecture. Nonetheless, the modern cathedral retains the original façade.
The park in which the cemetery is situated is a lovely place to spend some time, and it also happens to be the oldest Catholic cemetery in Western Canada. Several of the first settlers and notable historical figures are buried there, and their tombstones may be found among the many others.
The neighboring St. Boniface Museum, originally built in 1846 for the Grey Nuns, is Winnipeg’s oldest structure.
During its tenure in western Canada, it pioneered many important social institutions, including a convent, a school for girls, a hospital, and an orphanage. In 1967, it was converted into a museum to honor the heritage of the French minority in Manitoba.
