Edmonton

Edmonton, the capital of Alberta, sits on the North Saskatchewan River in the heart of the Canadian prairies — a city with a short but intensely warm summer, enormous indoor infrastructure to cope with its winters, and a rapidly developing arts and food scene that has earned it recent national attention. It is the most northerly major city in North America. West Edmonton Mall, at its opening in 1981 the world's largest mall (now the largest in North America), contains an indoor waterpark, ice rink, amusement park, submarine rides, dolphin and penguin habitats, a miniature golf course and 800+ shops — a phenomenon of indoor entertainment that makes sense in a climate where temperatures regularly fall below -20°C. The Royal Alberta Museum, the Art Gallery of Alberta (an extraordinary building by Randall Stout that resembles a frozen wave) and the Alberta Legislature Building are the city's principal cultural institutions. The North Saskatchewan River valley system — a 7,400-hectare system of parks and river valley trails running 48km through the city — is one of Canada's greatest urban park systems. The Old Strathcona neighbourhood south of the river is the most vibrant for independent restaurants, bars and the excellent Fringe Theatre Festival (August, the second-largest fringe festival in the world after Edinburgh). Edmonton serves as the gateway to the oil sands of northern Alberta and the wilderness of Wood Buffalo National Park.