FRANÇAIS
Back to my Roots
I love the prairie because there is an energy that comes from the land. A drive only a few hours from Winnipeg offers a traveller a small sampling of this vast beauty. One particular trip to the south west of our province held great historical importance for me.
Winnipeg has always been my home. I come from Mennonite background and my maternal grandfather, Cornelius Winters, came to Southern Manitoba in the 1880's. The family had journeyed from a small village in Southern Russia to very similar terrain in Canada.
At The Lake
Manitoba - the province of 100,000 lakes. If you travel north on Highway 59 for about an hour, you arrive at Cottage Country on the east side of Lake Winnipeg. Next stop Patricia Beach Provincial Park, Beaconia, Grand Marais and Grand Beach Provincial Park, Lester Beach, Belair, Hillside Beach, Victoria Beach, Albert Beach and Traverse Bay (I'm beginning to sound like a bus driver!).
When I was a young boy we spent many wonderful summers at Victoria Beach. I have fond memories of building sand castles and walking to end of the pier to watch the fishermen fish and the boats sailing by. This was the epitome of family time. I think the popularity of the beaches is a balance to the busy-ness of life. It certainly was for us and I am forever thankful that a part of my youth was spent in creating the perfect sandcastle.
Summer Top 10 Best Kid Bets: Manitoba
All around this great province are inspiring, engaging activities for families to enjoy with one another. Here are a few from our list of the Top 10 Best Kid Bets page.
Friends of Riding Mountain National Park
At the Visitor Centre in the Wasagaming townsite, kids can sign up for the Junior Naturalist’s program to sample Aboriginal foods, take a hike or visit bears at night. Stop at the KeeSee Sharing Lodge to learn about First Nations culture and heritage in Riding Mountain. Take the circle drive to see the bison herd near Lake Audy.
Winnipeg Museum Day
Start at the Manitoba Children’s Museum near The Forks and move on to the awesome Manitoba Museum, Manitoba Planetarium and Touch the Universe Science Centre.
Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive CentreStroll the boardwalk over the marsh, view the animals on display inside or laugh at the antics of the Richardson’s ground squirrels outside. Paddle a canoe through prime birding territory.
See the rest of the bunch on the Top 10 Best Kid Bets page.
Summer in the City
Six-hundred and eighty-five thousand people call Winnipeg home. They work in its turn-of-the-century warehouses and play in its spacious casinos. They dress up to attend world-class ballet, theatre, symphony and opera, and dress down for hikes and picnics in its many parks and green spaces. They get serious at white-knuckle CFL Blue Bombers football games and applaud the antics of street performers at the city’s many festivals.
They are Winnipeggers. And they take pride in their city - from its urban beat and multicultural milieu to its fascinating roots and friendly people. There are many ways to spend three spectacular days under Winnipeg’s sunny skies.
Click here to read some suggestions from the pros.
Manitoba Fun Facts
Discover the quirky, lighter side of Manitoba. Have fun getting to know us a little better.
Manitoba basks in more than 2,300 hours of bright sunshine each year.
Winnipeg has held the "Slurpee Capital of the World" title for nine years in a row, gulping 400,000 of the semi-frozen soft drinks per month.
Churchill, Manitoba, is known as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World" for being the most accessible place to view polar bears in the wild.
Souris, Manitoba, is famous for its 177 m (582 ft) free-suspension footbridge over the Souris River - more than 40 metres longer and reportedly bouncier than the West Coast's famous Capilano Swinging Bridge.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival, one of North America's largest outdoor folk music festivals, turns Birds Hill Provincial Park into Manitoba's third largest population centre every July. Over 55,000 music lovers from across the continent come together for this four-day celebration.
Assiniboine Forest in Winnipeg is the largest urban nature park in Canada and home to 80 species of birds.
Spruce Woods Provincial Park is home to an ecological rarity in Manitoba - a desert-like area known as Spirit Sands featuring 30 m sand dunes.
People have been meeting at The Forks in Winnipeg for thousands of years. The famous junction of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, once a gathering place for Manitoba's first peoples and later a bustling fur trading post, is now a popular 21st century attraction.
Family Offers
