THE FORKS
This multi-use retail, cultural and historical development – so named because it is located where the Assiniboine River flows into the Red – is a modern-day ‘gathering place’, in keeping with its rich history. For it was here that Indigenous peoples traded and where Scottish settlers, railway pioneers and thousands of immigrants arrived in the city.
Highlights include an indoor marketplace, with quality gift shops and food outlets.
Take a walk back through the green spaces that connect The Forks to the city centre: onn the way you will pass the Children’s Museum and Canadian Museum of Human Rights.
theforks.com
AGOWIIDIWINAN CENTRE
Located at The Forks, this small centre offers education and a balanced understanding of the various land treaties between the First Nations and the Crown. Exhibits and archival tools plot the history of First Nations people in Manitoba, their laws and customs.
One of its key messages is: “We Are All Treaty People”, with the hope it will help Canadians increase their understanding and appreciation of Treaties and their shared responsibilities as “Treaty partners”.
indigenoustourismmanitoba.ca
CANADIAN MUSEUM OF HUMAN RIGHTS
Spread out over eight floors, the museum shines a light on the struggle for equality and civil liberties.
Take a guided tour – billed as a “Journey from Darkness into Light” – to hear the stories of those who were determined to overcome prejudice and discrimination or attempts to obliterate their cultures, political views or sexual preferences.
Winnipeg is an appropriate choice for a museum dedicated to human rights: Manitoba was the first province to pass both an Indigenous Bill of Rights and grant women the vote.
humanrights.ca
ASSINIBOINE PARK ZOO
Manitoba is the “home” of polar bear watching in Canada, but you don’t have to fly up to the southern edge of the Arctic to see the beasts as the zoo’s Journey to Churchill exhibit has polar bears, Arctic fox, muskoxen, wolves and other northern species.
But it is the rescued bears – orphaned or vulnerable cubs – who are the stars of the show as they swim in huge overhead tanks.
assiniboinepark.ca
EXCHANGE DISTRICT
Located downtown are several blocks of characterful turn-of-the 20th century buildings that once formed the commercial heart of the city.
Today, these well-preserved heritage buildings are home to some of the city’s coolest art galleries, brew pubs, cafes, restaurants and one-of-a-kind boutique shops that on a Friday or Saturday evening transform this just-off-downtown area.
exchangedistrict.org
ROYAL CANADIAN MINT
As a world leader in circulation coin design, the Royal Canadian Mint is always on the money.
Established in 1976 as a high-tech, high-volume manufacturing facility, every single Canadian coin in circulation is minted here – which adds up to billions each year.
Visitors can sign up for an informative guided tour to discover the complexities and wonders of how the coins roll off the press.
mint.ca
ROYAL AVIATION MUSEUM OF WESTERN CANADA
Located at Winnipeg’s international airport, this eclectic collection of more than 90 aircraft includes a replica of a Lockheed Model 10 Electra, the aircraft Amelia Earhart was flying in 1937 when she disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to complete a round-the-world flight, and a Stinson SR-8CM, CF-AZV, which flew supplies to Canada’s remotest outposts.
You can also climb aboard a 1970s Air Canada Vickers Viscount passenger plane and there’s an example of an early helicopter prototype, whose creators knew they were onto something but didn’t live long enough to see it, quite literally, get off the ground.
royalaviationmuseum.com
WINNIPEG POLICE MUSEUM
See vehicles, weapons, uniforms, handcuffs, police medals and other crime-busting artefacts, and hear stories about notorious criminals and much more in a facility that charts the history of the city’s police force, which dates to 1874.
The largest item on display is a 1925 REO Police Patrol Wagon, used to convey prisoners. There is also a 1978 Harley Davidson motorcycle, complete with sidecar, a hovercraft briefly used for water rescues, and a display in honour of those who laid down their lives in the line of duty.
winnipegpolicemuseum.ca
RIVERFRONT STROLL
Stroll the Westaway River Trail, a six-kilometre path that spans the Red and Assiniboine Rivers that is popular year-round for strolling and cycling. The trail once held the Guinness World Record for the longest naturally frozen skating trail in the world.
On a typical winter’s day, it attracts up to 50,000 skaters and cross-country skiers.
CAPITOL BUILDING
Take a self-guided or group tour of the regal Legislative Building to see sculptures, pink marble floors, a grand stairway and the pure-gold Golden Boy statue.
It is a building steeped in mystery, with claims of hidden hieroglyphic inscriptions, numerological codes and Freemasonic symbols in the carvings and statues – which is why the Hermetic Code tour is the most popular way to see the building.
Each December sees the Capito festooned with Christmas lights.
gov.mb.ca
