Winnipeg

Human rights museum, Riel's grave and the Exchange in two days

Two days suit Winnipeg. Start at The Forks Market and give three hours to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, ending in its Tower of Hope, then cross the Esplanade Riel to Saint-Boniface for Louis Riel's grave and the city's oldest building. Spend day two in the Exchange District's grain-boom streets.

Day one. Start with coffee in The Forks Market, the old railway stables at the river junction, then walk across to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Its galleries climb on glowing alabaster ramps; allow three hours and finish in the Tower of Hope for the view across both rivers. After lunch, cross the Esplanade Riel to Saint-Boniface: see the shell of the old cathedral, Louis Riel's grave in the churchyard and the Saint-Boniface Museum in the former Grey Nuns' convent, the oldest building in the city. Eat dinner back at The Forks or in Osborne Village.

Day two. Spend the morning walking the Exchange District, where grain-boom banks and warehouses line Princess, Bannatyne and McDermot; Old Market Square is the centre. Stop at the Winnipeg Art Gallery and its Qaumajuq wing, whose glass vault holds thousands of Inuit carvings. In the afternoon, drive or take a bus to Assiniboine Park for the Leo Mol Sculpture Garden and the zoo's big polar bear exhibit. In winter, trade the park for an hour on the river trail from The Forks and a hot chocolate in one of the warming huts.

Goldeye, rye bread and chili burgers

Try smoked goldeye, Winnipeg's bright orange cured lake fish, and pickerel from Lake Winnipeg, served as cheeks or pan-fried fillets. Ukrainian, Polish and Mennonite settlers left kubasa, farmer's sausage, perogies and a dense rye bread best bought unsliced. The everyday treat is the chili burger, smothered in meat chili.

Winnipeg's food comes from the prairie and its settlers. The local delicacy is smoked goldeye, a small lake fish cured to a bright orange, sold in fish markets and grocery stores. Pickerel, often as cheeks or pan-fried fillets, comes from Lake Winnipeg and appears on menus from diners to smart restaurants. Ukrainian, Polish and Mennonite families gave the city kubasa garlic sausage, Mennonite farmer's sausage, perogies and a dense Winnipeg-style rye bread, best bought unsliced from the bakery. The North End's Selkirk Avenue is the historic heart of that food, though many of the old shops have closed.

The everyday treat is the chili burger, smothered in meat chili at drive-ins and diners, followed by a Russian mint from a sweets shop or a slab of Jeanne's cake. In Saint-Boniface, menus lean French-Canadian, with tourtiere and pea soup, especially during the Festival du Voyageur.

For a meal out, The Forks Market is the easy all-rounder, with food stalls and a beer hall upstairs. Corydon Avenue's old Little Italy has patios, Osborne Village has cheap and cheerful kitchens, and the Exchange District has the city's most ambitious restaurants. Tip around 15 to 20 percent, and expect a gratuity to be added for big groups.

Festival du Voyageur, Folklorama and prairie extremes

Winnipeg's weather swings harder than almost anywhere in Canada. January averages minus 11C by day and minus 21C at night, and wind chill can push it far lower, while July averages 26C with nights around 13C. Most of the year's rain falls in late spring and summer, 70 to 77 mm a month from May to August, often as thunderstorms, and June evenings bring mosquitoes in clouds.

The city fills both extremes with festivals. In February, the ten-day Festival du Voyageur in Saint-Boniface celebrates fur-trade and Metis culture with snow sculptures, fiddle music, beard-growing contests and maple taffy, while the river trail and its architect-designed warming huts draw skaters from The Forks. In summer, Jazz Winnipeg plays in June and the Winnipeg Folk Festival camps out at Birds Hill Park, north of the city, in early July. The Fringe theatre festival fills the Exchange District in July, and Folklorama takes over two weeks of August, when community halls become pavilions with the food, dance and drinks of dozens of cultures.

For a day out, Lower Fort Garry, a stone Hudson's Bay Company post, is about half an hour north, and Gimli, the Icelandic town on Lake Winnipeg, is about an hour away; both are best from June to September.