Let’s face it, Edmonton isn’t normally a holiday weekend destination. I mean, I’ll be honest, we have family there, and that’s why we go there. To be fair though, there can be quite a few opportunities for a fun family weekend in Edmonton. Now, in the fall of 2022, we travelled to Edmonton twice, for Labour Day long weekend and again at the end of November. This blog will cover both weekends that we were there.
Between Victoria and Edmonton, you’ll find direct flights from WestJet and Flair airlines, although it was served by Swoop before as well, those flights have since stopped. You can also fly with a quick stopover in Vancouver on Air Canada. More often, Flair and WestJet compete quite fiercely and frequent sales have brought the price down where its affordable for us to do a weekend in Edmonton.
ZzzZZzz…
Hotel stays in Edmonton can be found pretty affordably. Edmonton does have a good range though of limit-service hotels such as Courtyard by Marriott, Elements, Hyatt Place, and Hampton Inn. I covered off big three hotel chains just now, with Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt being major hotel chains. For us, I often prefer Marriott hotels, and they are one of Canada’s dominant hotel brands.
For our September trip, we stayed at the Elements Edmonton West. We were upgraded to a slightly nicer suite; this had a separate sleeping area with a king-sized bed and a pullout couch in the living room for the kids. It also had a small kitchenette with everything you needed to cook your own meals. Breakfast is included here along with free parking. The bathroom was nice, and the hotel overall is newer, with an attractive modern finish. We had a safe, comfortable place to spend the weekend, although sleep quality and bed comfort left a lot to be desired.
For November, we opted for the Fairfield Inn and Suites Edmonton North, another Marriott brand. We found this other limited-service brand to be a lot more comfortable than the Elements. Free breakfast is also included here, and the spread was quite nice with something delicious easily found by everyone. A decent pool with a water slide and a small fitness centre are also available here, although there is no hot tub; the kids greatly enjoyed the water slide. The room was nicely appointed, we were in a room with 2 queen-sized beds, a typical bathroom, and a microwave was available. Having the microwave is nice with the kids so we can warm up milk for the little guy in the evenings.
Let’s get to activities. What can you do with kids in Edmonton? We have a membership with the Telus World of Science in Vancouver, you’ll need your membership card, but if offers reciprocal access to the Edmonton Science World. With the changing feature exhibit, a simple $6 add on was all we paid for access to the entire space. The kids always love the interactive exhibits and games.
West Ed – Classic Family Fun
From there, there is the world-famous West Edmonton Mall. Galaxyland and World Waterpark. At the time of opening, these two were some of the biggest indoor amusement parks in the world, and Galaxyland at one point hosted the world’s longest indoor roller coaster. The mall also has tons of shops and dozens of eateries, along with indoor go-carting!
More of a Wild Side
Other activities we did during the weekend included the Edmonton Valley Zoo, a nice little zoo that’s quite affordable for entry and features some cool creatures. Something we haven’t done yet is the Edmonton Aviation Museum, but with trips to Edmonton at least once a year, it is on our list to visit. The Royal Alberta Museum is also located in Edmonton and is on our list of must-see attractions. Rogers Place also plays host to a number of events on top of professional hockey, and Edmonton is known as the festival capital of Canada, and in the spring and summer months you’ll find Edmonton host to a number of different festivals. Let’s also not forget the quick drive to Jasper where you can enjoy all the wonders of the Canadian Rockies.
Mmmm Food…
For the foodies! Edmonton has some spectacular eateries. For the Labour Day weekend, we discovered a cool hot pot restaurant that was one of those hole-in-the-wall type places. However, the online reviews were great. For those unaware of what hot pot is, you’ll all get your own stove and soup base, and you cook your own meals. What makes hot pot amazing is the sauces, and this place’s sauce buffet was endless! Unoriginally, it is called Chinese Hot Pot Buffet. Luckily we made reservations, as arriving at 8pm, the place was absolutely jam packed, and our table for 12 was seated in no time. There is an all-you-can-eat menu, but at that time, there’s a special where you pick your soup base + 5 items, we went with that. Pro tip if you go, mix and match among the table and share, the true spirit of hot pot.
Another cool hot pot restaurant was the Chili Hot Pot Chinese Restaurant. Here, the affordable all-you-can-eat restaurant has a robotic cat that brings dishes out to tables. Again, the kids loved making their own meals, apparently it tastes better when they make their own meals, go figure!
Final Thoughts
A lot of Canadians have never explored Canada. While we aspire to travel the world with our kids, its also important to explore our own backyard, and all points across Canada have so much to offer for exciting family getaways. With family locally, we will continue to return to Edmonton regularly, once or twice per year. While we have our staple of activities we return to, there is still plenty for us to explore and discover, and happily look forward to our trips to Edmonton. Thanks for reading and we look forward to exploring more of Canada in the coming years. Have a favorite activity we should try in Edmonton? Leave a comment and let us know!
Adventures of the Nguyen Family 