What to do with 6.5 hours in YYC?
 

We are flying Kelowna-Calgary-London on WestJet in May. (Very excited to be in business on Westjet flight 1!). We have a long layover in Calgary, arriving at 1pm, leaving at 7:30pm. Any suggestions on how to kill the time? Head into town? If so, what should we see/do? The last time I was in Calgary was during the 1983 World Scout Jamboree and Buster has never been. Thanks!

Calgary is known for its steak! Great steak and relatively speaking affordable compared to many other cities. If you're not a vegaterian, check out one of the many great steak houses, Cesar's Steakhouse downtown is a classic! It's old school, dark and well priced.
Calgary is not the most exciting city, rather bland to be honest, better known for its access to the outdoors. But i fyo have time to kill, checkout:

Stephen Ave. for walking street downtown - cafe's, restaurants, bars
17th Ave - for cafe's restaurants - main entartainment strip on weekends - Beano has great coffee
National/Craft on 10th Ave - for quick good bite and beer - german style beer halls
South end of Nose Hill Park off of 14th st. NW for quick view of Calgary skyline/downtown

Cheers,

Laurie

I was literally about to say the same about the steak, I've been to Calgary once, it was amazing!

Trying to get some more answers...
Flying YXY - YYC and YYC - YUL next month.
Arriving at YYC around 4 PM, flying out at 1:15 AM. Not sure how to kill the time (9+ hours!)

Domestic only the Chinook lounge offers walk-up (paid) access. Even at a discounted fee (US$27), it's only good for 3 hours and will close around 10:30 PM. Reviews aren't exactly positive and no real food is offered.

I was thinking about getting us (my better half is travelling with me) a room at the Marriott In-Terminal hotel for leaving our hand luggage, grabbing some complimentary food in the concierge lounge, access to a shower, a bed, could even do a dip in the pool. Not too bad for CA$ 180 (+$22 taxes), which I can deduct in my taxes anyways and gets me points. That's roughly the same price as paying 2x 3h per person at full rate in the Chinook lounge.

I'm wondering if it's worth it going somewhere else. Taxi gets us downtown fast, but will probably be pricey. The bus will take at least an hour in each direction, which leaves 4-5 hours downtown.

What's the ultimate survival guide to long YYC airport connections?

P.S. This is actually on our return trip home. When we're flying out, we also have an over-night lay-over and specifically took an early flight in, so we have time to visit downtown a bit.

We ended up using the Marriott option. Dipped in the pool, had an extensive shower (very welcome after a full week of camping), had great complimentary food in the lounge (and some pricey wine) and managed to get 2 hours of shut eye. Price got down to $159 with CAA card, which was amazing value. Front desk said to not check out at 1 AM in case of delays/cancellations, which was a great idea. Checked out on the app after our flight.