You are not done with Winnipeg yet! There is so much to see and do encircling this wonderful city. You will need transportation in order to visit the places recommended in this travel guide.
You are not done with Winnipeg yet! There is so much to see and do encircling this wonderful city. You will need transportation in order to visit the places recommended in this travel guide.
Assiniboine Park Zoo is one of the top attractions in Winnipeg. Since opening in 1904, it has grown into 400 acres with exhibits of 1,500 animals representing 150 species. At the entrance plaza is this bronze ensemble called Mother Polar Bear and Cubs. The work was created by Peter Sawatzky. The sculptures were donated in late 2014 by Bob Williams. He was the former chairman of Polar Bears International. Mama bear stands about nine feet.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
Kids love going to Assiniboine Park Zoo. They are often greeted by Winston, the zoo’s lovable mascot. What better way to start your day than with a photo op while getting a polar bear hug? He was introduced during the summer of 2014 when the new Journey to Churchill section was opened.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
In many zoos around the world, peafowl are allowed to roam the grounds while delighting visitors with their iridescent colors and showy displays of tail feathers. The peacock’s upper wings make it easy to see they are a relative to pheasants. The male Indian blue peafowl is well named: it has a blue crown and metallic blue and green feathers that sparkle in the sun. These birds, originally from India and Sri Lanka, can weigh up to 13 pounds.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
This trio of pronghorns appear to be juveniles. On the left is a female. The two males on the right have a hint of black below their chins and are showing emerging horns. At maturity, they will weigh 85 to 140 pounds. Pronghorns are the fastest animal native to northwestern United States and southern Manitoba. They can reach a top speed of 53 m.p.h. and a sustained pace of 43 m.p.h.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
The boreal woodland caribou is the largest of the caribou species found in all Canadian provinces plus Alaska. The shoulder height of males can reach four feet with a weight up to 450 pounds. Although both genders can grow antlers, the males are much broader. The profile of this magnificent animal has been on the back of the Canadian quarter since 1937.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
This muskox at Assiniboine Park Zoo does not look very motivated. However, the beast can reach a speed of 37 miles an hour. This is surprising for an animal that can exceed 800 pounds. Both genders have curved horns. They are native to the Artic regions of Canada and Greenland. After becoming extinct in Alaska, muskox were reintroduced in 1935.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
This baby male muskox was born at Assiniboine Park Zoo in 2015. The gestation period for muskox is eight months. After two months of nursing, a calf begins to eat only vegetation. In the wild, a calf is expected to keep up with the heard within a few hours of birth. Their life expectancy is 12 to 20 years.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
The Journey to Churchill opened at the Assiniboine Park Zoo in 2014. It is a tribute to Churchill in northern Manitoba along Hudson Bay. The town is called the “Polar Bear Capital of the World.” The highlight of the exhibit is this 70 foot long tunnel named Sea Ice Passage where polar bears swim and play all around you. The zoo also has an International Polar Bear Conservation Centre.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
Assiniboine Park Zoo is justifiably proud of their star residents: polar bears. You will be thrilled to watch them from the Gateway to the Artic viewing deck or from the glass tunnel while they swim overhead. A popular section is the Churchill Coast were the enormous Artic bears stroll along their native tundra. This is Storm who was scratching an itch. He was born in the wild in 2010. Storm could reach a weight of 1,500 pound and be over nine feet tall.
Assiniboine Park Zoo, 2595 Roblin Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R3R 2N7, Canada
There are three lovely gardens within the 1,100 acre Assiniboine Park. The Leo Mol Sculpture Garden contains hundreds of bronze statues by Leonid Molodoshanin. He was a Ukrainian-born artist who lived in Winnipeg during the 20th century. The Formal Garden has rigid, geometrically-designed flower beds. The third and most popular is the English Garden. The walking paths make for a perfect and tranquil stroll around beautiful annuals.
English Garden, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
This little boy holding a leaking boot at the entrance to the English Garden was first designed by the J.L. Mott Irons Works company in 1875. Countless copies of this “Unfortunate Boot” water fountain have been sold across the United States. Yet no one knows for sure who the little boy was. The Winnipeg Downtown Rotary Club donated the statue to the park.
English Garden, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
In 1964, sculptor Leo Mol created the Taras Shevchenko Memorial in Washington, D.C. The bust was a tribute to the 19th century writer and political activist. Shevchenko has been called the father of the Ukrainian language. This replica is one of three hundred of the artist’s works in the three acre Leo Mol Sculpture Garden in Assiniboine Park.
Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, Assiniboine Park Dr, Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N7, Canada
The Canadian Coat of Arms has a very complex design. Beneath the crown is a lion guardant. The shield contains several elements including a harp and three conjoined maple leaves. The supporters are a lion on the left and a unicorn on the right. This carving was over the entrance to Winnipeg’s main post office from 1935 until 1962. Since 1990, the carving has been displayed at the English Garden in Assiniboine Park.
Leo Mol Sculpture Garden, Assiniboine Park Dr, Winnipeg, MB R3P 2N7, Canada
When the Pavilion opened in 1908, a year before the surrounding Assiniboine Park, it featured a dance hall and banquet facilities as well as a 16,000 gallon water tower. It was destroyed by fire in 1929, rebuilt the following year and then totally renovated in 1998. Today, the Pavilion features an art museum including a permanent exhibit on Winnie-the-Pooh. A highlight is an oil painting of Winnie holding a honey pot by Ernest Shepard, the illustrator for A.A. Milne’s famous children’s books. Admission is free so bring the kids.
55 Pavilion Cres, Charleswood, MB R3P 2N6, Canada
For fifty years starting in 1820, the Red River Trails were a muddy network of crude roads stretching from today’s Winnipeg to the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota. Fur traders navigated these treacherous paths using the Red River ox cart. The wooden frames were held together by buffalo hides and could carry up to 1,200 pounds. This sculpture was erected in 1974 at Assiniboine Park as part of Winnipeg’s centennial celebration.
Conservatory Dr & Corydon Ave, MB R3P 2N6, Canada
Gray Academy of Jewish Education is a co-educational, K12, college-preparatory school. It began in 1902 as the King Edward School for Jewish immigrants to Winnipeg. Similar schools opened in 1907, 1914, 1944, 1949 and 1950 until all these Talmud Torah branches merged. Further consolidations occurred in 1997 and 2004 to become the Gray Academy. This is their main building on the Asper Jewish Community Campus. It was built in 1905 by the Department of Agriculture for the Manitoba Agricultural College.
123 Doncaster St, Winnipeg, MB R3N 1X7, Canada
The most exclusive neighborhood in Winnipeg began in 1889 when John Henry Munson purchased a mansion along the Assiniboine River. He called his property Crescentwood. During the next twenty years, more of the city’s rich built lavish homes along Wellington Crescent. It is well worth a slow drive but it is better to take a tour. Then you can learn the history of the first owners – most of Winnipeg’s elite families. Plus you will hear side stories such as neighbors’ fate on the Titanic in 1912: J. J. Borebank died, Mark Fortune and his son drowned but his wife and daughters survived, and John Suckling refused to go on that voyage despite his wife’s protests.
1301 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3N 0A9, Canada
If you love great residential architecture from the early 20th century, then you will appreciate the 500 plus homes along Wellington Crescent and the nearby streets of Kingsway, Ruskin Row, Harvard, Avonherst and Yale. You will admire styles including classical revival, Queen Anne, Tudor, half-timber, Dutch colonial, Elizabethan, colonial, Georgian, and Victorian. Most of these multi-million dollar mansions were designed by prominent architects of the time for Winnipeg’s social elite.
1015 Wellington Crescent, Winnipeg, MB R3N 0A9, Canada
The five onion domes of the Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral are a distinctive architectural feature along Main Street in Winnipeg. The vision for the church began in 1945. This stunning building was consecrated in 1962. The mosaic of the Holy Trinity surrounded by angels and saints was added in 1988 in celebration of the Millennium of the Ukrainian Orthodoxy.
1175 Main St, Winnipeg, MB R2W 3S4, Canada
Kildonan Park in the northern part of Winnipeg was created in 1909 to provide 96 acres of green space for the local community. The park features picnic areas and shelters, an outdoor theater, a pavilion, a swimming pool, sports fields, a walking path along the Red River and plenty of gardens. Toboggan slides and a skating rink are available in the winter. This red footbridge is located in the South Garden.
Kildonan Park, 2015 Main St, Winnipeg, MB R2V 2B9, Canada
Since the Rainbow Stage at Kildonan Park opened in 1952, it has become the oldest open-air theater in Canada. Each summer season the non-profit organization presents several shows including classic musicals performed by Manitoba artists. The theater is very reasonably priced so the 2,400 seats often fill quickly.
Kildonan Park, 2015 Main St, Winnipeg, MB R2V 2B9, Canada
This colorful mural of a woman in a Venetian theater mask graces the entrance to the Rainbow Stage outdoor theater in Kildonan Park. It was painted on 8,000 square feet of concrete in 2011 by Mandy Van Leeuwen and Michel Saint Hilaire.
Kildonan Park, 2015 Main St, Winnipeg, MB R2V 2B9, Canada
As part of Manitoba’s centennial celebration, the local German community donated funds to build the Fairy Tale Cottage in 1970 at Kildonan Park. Better known as the Witch’s Hut, its round stone structure is topped by wooden shakes. As you walk through the red door you will see panels portraying the Hänsel and Gretel fairytale by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. The story was first published in 1812. Then, climb the circular staircase to view a scene of all three characters from this Brothers Grimm classic children’s tale. Admission is free.
Kildonan Park, 2015 Main St, Winnipeg, MB R2V 2B9, Canada
Although the Royal Canadian Mint was opened in 1976, the glass pyramid design by Étienne Gaboury still looks very contemporary and unique among other Winnipeg buildings. This government-owned facility produces all Canadian coins. Monnaie Royale Canadienne also has minted coinage for over 70 countries. At the beginning of your tour, make sure to lift the 99.99% gold bar. The value exceeds half million USD. As you can imagine, the showcase is well guarded.
520 Lagimodière Blvd, Winnipeg, MB R2J 3E7, Canada