Winnipeg Master Class – The Guide, Part Three – Attractions (with a small serving of our culinary scene)

Esmeralda Fawlty’s* Winnipeg Master Class showcases what you need to know about the city when it comes to culture, attractions and events.

To delve deeper, we’ve created this supplementary guide to our top spots from the video. Below you’ll learn a bit of their history, what the vibes are like, and what not to miss when you’re there.

This is your Winnipeg Master Class, Part 3 – Attractions (with a small serving of restaurants and breweries).

Manitoba Museum

The region’s history is showcased in so many delightful and striking ways at downtown’s legendary museum. Kids and dinosaur buffs can marvel at world-class fossils like a 90-million-year-old Cretaceous-era pliosaur* that once hunted the inland sea where you now stand in the Earth History Gallery. On the way there, you’ll first pass the iconic life-sized Métis bison hunt diorama, which truly sets the tone as this place is packed with wondrous dioramas big and small that you can lose yourself in for hours.

Journey through the cosmos during Planetarium shows then do some hands-on learning in the adjacent Science Gallery. The museum’s most famous item is the Nonsuch ketch, a replica 17th century ship that traversed the Atlantic that you can board and explore as your imagination sets sail (and yes, like in the video, choir groups can perform on its deck; in fact, we have musicians play parties on this ship all the time. And no, they don’t always have to play sea shanties, but when in Rome…).

Anyway, artifacts, immersive galleries and countless stories are all contained in this one-of-a-kind museum that fascinates people of all ages.

*Yes, we do know that pliosaurs, along with mosasaurs –– which are also found within this Earth History Gallery –– were actually giant aquatic lizards, and not dinosaurs. This is a Master Class, after all.

The Forks

Manitoba’s most visited tourism destination is a one-stop shop for dining, museums, playing and meeting locals. And the best part is that The Forks, which marks the meeting of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers, changes with the seasons.

From spring to autumn, The Forks Market is home to one of Western Canada’s largest patios, all serviced by a curated indoor and outdoor bar called The Common. Order a craft beer, unique wine or cider by the glass, and then watch Winnipeg Waterways’ vibrant yellow pontoon boats go by. In fact, we highly recommend you hop on one of these boats at The Forks Historic Port, because the award-winning Winnipeg Waterways is guaranteed to charm you over with witty captains pointing out all the top spots while regaling you with historic anecdotes about the region.

In winter, this whole area becomes one massive medium for skating. Rent skates from the market and take to the on-land trails that have been used by Hallmark movies for their enchanting lights strung from the trees. You can also twirl around on the Canopy Rink, often to music from live DJs, while the largest section of the Nestaweya River Trail also has its main access from The Forks Harbour. Here you’ll find skate assists, ice bikes and more available to rent right on the harbour rink, where those summer boats once parked.

For attractions, along with a huge collection of public art (opens in new window), The Forks’ grounds are home to Manitoba Theatre for Young People, the Children’s Museum, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, The Johnston Terminal with its boutiques and culinary offerings and the Tony Hawk-approved Skateboard Plaza Park. You can also rent bikes onsite from Bee-2-Gether Bikes, who offer novelty pedal-powered vehicles that can hold multiple people.

Year round, The Forks Market flaunts food kiosks from some of the city’s top chefs with countless cuisines represented –– from Sri Lankan to Cantonese, Filipino, Argentinian and Mexican, to Neapolitan pizza, pastries and breads made of heritage wheats milled onsite, market-made Icelandic skyr, and even gourmet hot dogs courtesy of Wienerpeg.

Activate Games

A Winnipeg invention that has taken the world by storm, Activate Games debuted in Winnipeg in January 2019. Since then, owners and co-creators Adam and Megan Schmidt have expanded to hundreds of locations across the US, Canada, Northern Europe, UAE and Malaysia.

Why such a success? Because it’s like starring in your own 8-bit video game, but in real life, with games and rooms all designed with a retro sort of Tron look. You and your team of three to five players have 90 minutes to embark on a quest to beat as many levels and garner as many points as possible in the 11 game rooms. You’ll shoot hoops, duck lasers, throw balls at targets, climb across a colour-coordinated wall course, blast lasers at targets, solve word problems by pushing buttons while avoiding a huge eye, and jump around in a room that combines the “the floor is lava” with Tetris. It’s all so fun, and the original two locations are located at 3888 Portage Ave and 10-1150 Nairn Ave.

Thermea Spa Village

Winnipeg’s Scandinavian-inspired open-air spa is guaranteed to make your stresses melt like butter. Thermea’s offerings include thermal pools, an icy waterfall, a huge Finnish sauna where Aufguss rituals take place every hour, a beach area replete with mists to keep you cool and numerous relaxation rooms and firepits. Inside, its Le Resto offers holistic and comforting local cuisine from award-winning chef Darnell Banman that is meant to be eaten in your robes, while upstairs skilled staff provide top notch massage and body treatments. Pro tip: bring a book (there are some great areas to kick up your feet) and an extra bathing suit which will come in handy for Le Resto, as no one wants to dine on a prawn roll with romesco aioli while sitting in a wet bathing suit.

We recommend spending the whole day here (book in advance, as this place is always busy), frequently embarking on the thermal cycle of hot-cold-relax-repeat to become the embodiment of tranquility. As they often state, when people are checking out and have become the embodiment of sleepy bliss, “no one is used to relaxing this hard.”

The Leaf

This extravagant indoor horticultural attraction, “home to Canada’s tallest indoor waterfall” features three distinct biomes to explore. The Hartley and Heather Richardson Tropical Biome has grown to epic proportions since opening in late 2022. Palms, bamboo and banana trees nearly touch the conical transparent roof, while the winding paths are canopied with huge green leaves, and brimming with flowers, tropical plants and fruits. Look closely and you’ll spy anole (a small lizard native to the Caribbean), while the tranquil acoustics come courtesy of the cascading waterfall.

The Mediterranean Biome contains Wollemi Pines –– thought to be extinct two million years ago –– which are a holdover from the early Jurassic, along with fragrant herbs, plants and a slightly arid atmosphere. New garden and horticultural exhibits are staged quarterly in the Babs Asper Display House, while up past the waterfall is the Shirley Richardson Butterfly Garden.

Gather Craft Kitchen & Bar at the Leaf is one of the city’s most sought-after restaurants with its large patio and ingredients sourced from both the outside Kitchen Garden and biomes. The Kitchen Garden itself is part of The Leaf Gardens, a 30-acre expanse that includes an Indigenous Peoples Garden, Sensory Garden and Performance Garden replete with a small stage that plays host to free concerts throughout summer.

Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada

This jaunty facility at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport is home to more than 20 aircraft, with 17 exhibits that showcase Western Canada’s history of flight. You’ll see artifacts that shaped and connected this vast region, along with whacky creations like the flying saucer-inspired Avrocar and the very dangerous looking Froebe Helicopter, which was Canada’s first chopper (and boy, it sure looks like it could chop, particularly if the pilot was too tall – yikes!).

The flight plan here always includes inspiring stories of pioneering aviators, along with being able to board several planes and experience state-of-the-art audio-visual displays. There’s an Observation Lounge for watching jets take off at Richardson International Airport, plus little ones are guaranteed to land in the far-out Galaxy Exploration Zone.

Journey to Churchill at Assiniboine Park Zoo

Just like you saw in the video, polar bears are all about making a splash –– usually right over your head –– at Assiniboine Park Zoo’s Journey to Churchill. Whether you’re watching them swim above you in the Sea Ice Passage, or wrestle and tumble around the “tundra” in the huge enclosure, you won’t believe your eyes. Heck, a few bears might even stand up and look through the floor-to-ceiling glass façade of Tundra Grill as you’re eating lunch.

Being the most comprehensive Arctic species exhibit of its kind in the world, you can also expect Arctic fox, snowy owls, muskox and wolves, while within its Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre (located right beside the exhibit) you can learn about polar bear denning and how global warming is damaging the fragile Arctic ecosystem.

The Zoo itself is also home to more than 180 species from around the world, including new inhabitants like ring-tailed lemurs, red pandas and Louis the domestic yak who has some rather luscious locks. And just look at these snuggling meerkats (opens in new window)!

Canadian Museum for Human Rights

Designed by the late great architect Antoine Predock, the city’s most eye-catching attraction draws attention from every angle –– whether it’s the southwest glass cloud that represents the wings of a dove, or the northeast side with its mountain of limestone. Inside, 10 powerful, interactive and awe-inspiring exhibits gradually climb from darkness to light and culminate in the Tower of Hope, where sweeping views afford you time to reflect. An ambitious museum meant to foster dialogue and promote change for a better world, the CMHR provides a stirring account of the human experience in the face of oppression.

We’ve staged countless video shoots within its labyrinth of alabaster ramps. Connecting the galleries (see 2:30), the translucent stone shines through with LED lights, illuminating the cavernous space. From above, it’s like an Escher lithograph, and a photographer’s dream.

The museum’s amenities include two concepts by WOW Hospitality, Bistro Boréal and Patio for lunch and Sunday brunch, and Cloud Coffee on level 5 overlooking the Garden of Contemplation.

Ten Spa at the Fort Garry Hotel

Winnipeg’s castle, the Fort Garry Hotel, Spa and Conference Centre, has been keeping it regal since 1913. From the moment you enter its grand entranceway you can’t help but feel a little ritzy, particularly when you consider the countless famous historic figures –– from King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (the Queen Mother) to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Louis Armstrong and Sir Laurence Olivier –– whom it has played host to. In fact, in the past year alone, hotel guests have included James Marsden, Vince Vaughn, John Travolta, Kristen Bell, and Prime Minister Mark Carney – who was the first guest of the hotel’s new Vice Regal Floor.

The hotel unveiled Ten Spa in 2005, which is consistently ranked one of Canada’s best. On top of spa standards like massages, facials and pedis, Ten Spa is noted for its Turkish hamam treatment. This hot air bathing ritual involves being scrubbed down with salts, having water poured slowly over your limbs, then massaged on a hot marble slab. To say it’s sensual would be an understatement. The tea and Turkish delight service is sublime, too.

We’d be remiss not to mention the dining scene at this stately property. In the video we feature the Oval Room Brasserie (1:51), the city’s loftiest dining room, which is also one of its most relaxing. The service is always incredible (and a touch cheeky), award-winning sommelier Christopher Sprague has incredible wine lists, and classic dishes like wedge salad, moules-frites (oh baby, their fries are outstandingly crisp and fluffy) and shrimp cocktail are musts, and it’s of course open breakfast through late night. Don’t skip dessert!

The hotel is also home to high-end Italian restaurant Vida Cucina Italia, featuring Campanian cuisine by celebrity chef Rosanna Marziale. Both restaurants are Wine Spectator award-winners, while Oval Room has also been named one of Canada’s 50 best hotel restaurants by OpenTable and Kayak.

Restaurants and breweries featured

Winnipeg indeed has one intriguing and tasty culinary scene. The brief snippet at 1:40 will introduce you to a few staples – an amuse bouche if you will – of what creations you must order while here.

This includes the thrill of honey dill. The city’s famed condiment – a mix of mayo, dill, honey and perhaps some secrets – was said to have started at Mitzi’s Chicken Finger Restaurant, a Chinese restaurant downtown that closed April 2024 after a legendary 46-year run. Nowadays, you’ll find honey dill on menus across the city, particularly everywhere chicken fingers and fries are sold (which is most family restaurants, really).

A Goog, you say? Yup, that’s an inverted blueberry milkshake with hot fudge, whipped cream and bananas, that is indeed, bananas. You can only get it at BDI (Bridge Drive-In), an iconic window service ice cream parlour that opened in 1957, where other memorable creations include the Sleeping Beauty, a half pineapple playing host to two deluxe sundaes and enough whipped cream to keep Maleficent at bay.

And that Fat Boy she’s taking on at 1:46, it’s the city’s signature burger, which was invented by Greek brothers, the Scouras, in the mid-1950s. It contains a loose chili – Coney Island style, but spiced like moussaka (think cinnamon, clove and some cardamon) on top of an almost-smash(ed) burger with shredduce, a pickle spear, tomato, mustard and an ungodly amount of mayo. You can find burger shacks like VJ’s Drive Inn (where we filmed that scene) in nearly every neighbourhood in the city. We love VJ’s for not only the burger, but also the fry ceremony – whereby a bag of fries is held in front of you before being dumped in a box.

A few other culinary locations we used include Feast Café Bistro – one of Canada’s original Indigenous-owned and operated restaurants, run by the incredible Christa Guenther (opens in new window); Cibo Waterfront Café, where those four ladies are seated within that all-brick dining room; Fête Ice Cream and Coffee, where so many of the decadent house-made flavours are dairy free; Little Brown Jug brewery; and The Forks’ patio.

*Kudos to our star, local actress Amanda Shimoji for embarking on this year-long project with us.

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For the full Winnipeg Master Class experience, don’t miss the other installments:

Winnipeg Master Class – The Guide – Part One: Arts & Culture (opens in new window)

Winnipeg Master Class – The Guide – Part Two: Landmarks & Architecture (opens in new window)

Winnipeg Master Class – The Guide – Part Three: Attractions & Culinary (opens in new window)