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Country Guide > North America > Canada > Alberta


Travel - International

Air
The province is served by Air Canada (AC) and others including Air North, Alaska Air Lines, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Continental Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Martinair, Northwest Airlines, SAS, United Airlines and WestJet. For fares and schedules, contact airlines.

Approximate flight times
From Edmonton/Calgary to London is eight hours 30 minutes, to Los Angeles is three hours, to New York is five hours and to Sydney is 15 hours.

International airports
Edmonton (YEG) (tel: (780) 890 8900; website: www.edmontonairports.com) is 28km (17 miles) from the city. A bus service to the city operates every 20 minutes (travel time – 40 minutes).
Calgary (YYC) (tel: (403) 735 1200; website: www.calgaryairport.com) is 20km (12.5 miles) from the city. A bus service to the city operates every 30 minutes (travel time – 20 minutes).
Both Edmonton and Calgary also receive domestic services; and both have duty-free shops, banks, restaurants and car parking.


Rail
VIA Rail (tel: (1-888) 842 7245; website: www.viarail.ca) serves Edmonton and Jasper three times a week. The Canadian, the Western transcontinental train, crosses the province thrice weekly originating from Toronto, Ontario in the east through Edmonton and Jasper, to Vancouver in the west and vice versa. This train connects with the Skeena service at Jasper with a thrice-weekly service to Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The seasonal Rocky Mountain Railtours (website: www.rkymtnrail.com) is the only other rail service operating into the province. This is a two-day, all-daylight tour from either Calgary, Banff or Jasper to and from Vancouver, running between mid-April and mid-October (tel: (604) 606 7245; toll-free in Canada and USA only).

Road
Coach: Greyhound Canada (tel: (800) 661 8747) runs coach services into Alberta, thereby connecting Edmonton with all other major capitals. The main Greyhound terminals are at Banff, Calgary, Edmonton, Fort McMurray, Grand Prairie, Lethbridge and Red Deer. Coaches are also operated in Alberta by Brewster Transportation and Tours (Banff) (website: www.brewster.ca) and Gray Line Sightseeing Tours (Calgary), which organise coach tours in the area. A coach is operated between the two city centres of Calgary and Edmonton by Red Arrow (on behalf of VIA Rail) six times a day (tel: (1-800) 232 1958; website: www.redarrow.pwt.ca). Car hire: Available in all large towns and at Edmonton and Calgary airports. National driving licences are accepted in Alberta.

Note
When visiting in late autumn, winter or spring, travellers are advised to ensure their vehicle has snow tyres or to carry chains. It is also advisable to have an adequate supply of antifreeze when crossing through mountain passes.

Urban
Buses and the light rail system in Calgary are operated on a flat-fare system. Exact fares are required if tickets are purchased on boarding; pre-purchased single- and multi-journey tickets are available. Edmonton, where there is a similar fares system, has buses, trolleybuses and a light rail route. Local buses operate in all other major towns.

Travel times
The following chart gives approximate travel times from Edmonton (in hours and minutes) to other major cities/towns in Alberta.
Air Road Rail
Calgary 0.45 3.00 -
Banff - 5.00 -
Jasper - 4.30 5.20



   
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