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A city enamored with independent business, warehouse music venues, and nature-loving urbanites, Winnipeg is an often overseen Canadian city due to its more popular cousins, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. But that only makes Winnipeg that much cooler! Here are the best underrated things to do in and around town.
The Forks
Where the Red and Assiniboine Rivers meet, The Forks is a historic gathering place with aboriginal roots. Home to an outdoor market plaza, a children’s museum, and a stoic hotel, it’s a great place to spend the afternoon.
Royal Canadian Mint
If you’re searching for things to do in Winnipeg, Royal Canadian Mint is a coin producer for 75 countries that offers 45-minute guided tours of its facility. During the tour, you will become familiar with the process of currency creation. You can also try your hand at lifting a pure bar of gold worth a ton!
Deer + Almond
At the heart of the Exchange District, this fine dining restaurant nods to two crucial ingredients in the Manitoban diet, which are – you guessed it — deer and almond. Small plates and an artsy ambiance also make it a great late-night stop – try the parmesan fries!
The Red River Mutual Skating Trail
When winter comes, the Red River turns to ice, and locals utilize this to the best of their ability – through ice skating! If you are looking for things to do in Winnipeg today, travel to the longest natural ice-skating path to view the city.
The River Walk
Part of The Forks, the Assiniboine River Walk continues west, offering a tranquil stroll to lesser-seen city landmarks like the Osborne Street Bridge and Bonnycastle Park.
Atikaki Provincial Park
Home to a crystal clear freshwater lakes and prehistoric rock paintings, Atikaki Provincial Park is about an hour’s drive outside the city, and well worth your time. Make sure you don’t leave any food out – the bears will smell it.
The Northern Lights
Though a few hundred miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba’s Hudson Bay shoreline is considered one of the greatest places in the world to see the Northern Lights – if you have the patience, try to make the drive to see it.
Birds Hill Provincial Park
Birds Hill Provincial Park is an all-in-one escape just outside the city. If you are searching for things to do in Winnipeg this weekend, this park offers cross-country skiing in the winter, epic wooded hiking paths in the spring, and a huge lakeshore beach where you can bury your toes in the summer.
The Exchange District
Along the north end of downtown, the Exchange District is Winnipeg’s cultural hub. Home to the ballet, the opera, and the Centennial Concert Hall, an array of theaters and indie boutiques line the neighborhood’s historic streets. Deer + Almond is here!
Trappist Monastery
For those in search of solace, visit the Trappist Monastery at the end of your trip – the abandoned monastery is well maintained and open to explore. If you are looking for things to do, the surrounding parkland is home to plenty of angles to watch the sunset.
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
One of the coolest architectural phenomenons we’ve ever seen, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights “is the first museum solely dedicated to the evolution, celebration, and future of human rights.” The Forks is right near here!
