A Weekend in The Hat: Food + Drink + Shops + Experiences in Medicine Hat, Alberta

Interested in exploring Southern Alberta???

Well do I ever have some travel recommendations for you! 

This summer (2023) I partnered again with Tourism Medicine Hat to try even more things to do in the Southern Alberta city and share those suggestions for to try when you visit! 

Note: my tourism partnership does not affect the opinions stated in this guide. I love exploring Alberta and I super love visiting Medicine Hat—I do it pretty much every year!! 

This was not my first nor my last time visiting The Hat (as the locals call it). I love visiting!

Medicine Hat is an awesome city in Southern Alberta full of so many things to do, see, and eat—and it’s a bonus that some of our dearest friends live there too.

Medicine Hat is known as the Sunniest City in Canada—with an average 330 sunny days—more than any other spot in the country!

The city is also located just 45 minutes from Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park—the first interprovincial park in Canada comprising hill, forest and prairie areas in both Alberta and Saskatchewan.

There’s plenty to do in this area of the province (so much so you should plan several trips!) 

Whether you’re a local who wants a tourist perspective on where you live (Medicine Hat), or you’re from around Alberta (or nearby B.C. / Saskatchewan) and are looking for ideas for a fun road trip—use my travel guide to plan your visit to Medicine Hat! 

At a glance Recommendations:
(scroll on for more details + photo inspiration!)
  • Experiences
    • The Butterfly House
    • The Sunshine Trolley
    • Sharing Stories at the Saamis Tepee
    • E-bike Rentals to Explore The Hat
  • Shopping
    • River Bee Books
    • Sunday Dinner Home Store
  • Where to Eat
    • JJ Kitchen
    • Tsuki Japanese
    • The Whiskey District
    • King Bagel
  • Independent Coffee Crawl
    • Poolhouse Cafe & Roastery
    • Station Coffee Co.
    • Copper Leaf Cafe
    • Nosh
    • Inspire Cafe 
Also be sure to check ALLLLLLL of my Medicine Hat Travel Guides!!!

(I wasn’t kidding when I said this wasn’t my first or last time visiting The Hat lol)

As each visit I end up doing different things, I do recommend you browse all the Medicine Hat content to best help decide what you’d like to do when you visit! 

Use + share my Travel Guide to Medicine Hat in Southern Alberta!

Experiences

The Butterfly House

Location: 920 1 St. SW, Medicine Hat, Alberta | Website | Facebook | Instagram

When visiting Medicine Hat, you have *got* to walk through the Butterfly House located inside  the Windmill Garden Centre. 

The garden centre itself is arguably the best and most unique in Medicine Hat! Not only does the exterior have an actual windmill, the centre and greenhouse itself is massive, with tons of plants and decor (walking through feels like it goes on forever in all directions!) =

The Windmill Garden Centre has been serving the southern Alberta community since 1942. There’s lots to see (and want to take home!) here. 

Experience The Butterfly House at the Windmill Garden Centre in Medicine Hat, Alberta!
The Butterfly House in Medicine hat is gorgeous!
Find beautiful butterflies inside The Butterfly House!
We saw a lot of butterflies we've never seen before!

The Butterfly House opened just over a decade ago (2012) and is home to more than 30+ species of 300+ butterflies. Visitors are invited to walk through or sit to take in the sights and sounds of the space. 

The Butterfly House is a beautiful, lush (hot + humid!) section of the greenhouse and garden centre, with tons of trees, plants, many water features, little bridges, and of course the star—a lot of butterflies!

It’s really so beautiful. The butterflies really surround you with no effort and there’s lots of chances to see them in their natural element flying around, resting on leaves—and you!!—, eating oranges set out for them. There’s even mirrors when you exit asking you to double check  whether any butterflies are resting on you before you leave, because that does happen!

You could say The Butterfly House is LUSH.
Mike trying to be still so butterflies land on him lol.
Inside The Butterfly House at Windmill Garden Centre.
The Butterfly House is a great family-friendly attraction!

While the greenhouse and garden centre is free to roam—and includes a free petting zoo with friendly goats you can feed—the Butterfly House does require admission ($10 adults, $8 seniors/youths, $6 children). There are also family passes at a slightly discounted price you can purchase. It’s not the biggest space but it feels like it transports you some place super warm and tropical—filled with butterflies! There’s also no set time limit to explore (or just sit on benches to take it all in). It is really well worth the ticket!! 

The Butterfly House is an awesome place for all ages to visit when you’re down in The Hat. And perfect for some Instagrammable photos in a very lush, tropical vibes setting! 

These goats are so cute!
Playing with the garden centre goats!
The Windmill Garden Centre goats are free to play with + feed!

The Sunshine Trolley

Location: Departs from the Visitor Centre (330 Gehring Rd SW, Medicine Hat, Alberta)

Website | Instagram

What’s the Sunniest City in Canada without its very own Sunshine Trolley??

As I mentioned above, Medicine Hat gets its sunny slogan from the fact that it averages 330 sunny days per year—which is more than other spot in the entire country. 

During the summer time—and as an ode to this fun fact—Tourism Medicine Hat rolls out their Sunshine Trolley—a really fun way to ride through key landmarks and explore the city!

We love riding on The Sunshine Trolley in Medicine Hat!
All aboard!
Benjimin's first trolley ride!

The Sunshine Trolley runs Wednesdays through Saturdays throughout the summer.

There’s audio tours, guided tours, and different trolley loops. You can even book private rides!

Our ride was private and our conductor Bob was really nice. 

Also: Kids 12 and under ride free! 

You will board one of two trolleys—a 2008 Supreme Trolley from Newfoundland (this one has air conditioning! lol) or a 1998 Fort Motorhome transformed into a vintage trolley from Drumheller (this one does not have air conditioning lol). Both are super cute, with wooden seat interiors.

We had a lovely family ride on The Sunshine Trolley!
Riding the trolley is super fun!

If it’s your first time visiting The Hat, it’s worthwhile spending a morning or afternoon experiencing the city by Sunshine Trolley.

The trolley will take you to all of the key destinations in the city, you’ll get some great information about each spot, and then you’ll be able to better decide where you might want to return visit on your own for further exploration. I really think you’ll love the ride!

The Sunshine Trolley takes you to various landmarks in Medicine Hat!
Grateful for our trolley conductor!
If you visit during the summer, you've got to ride the trolley!

Sharing Stories at the Saamis Tepee 

Location: Saamis Tepee (32 Eagle Birth Rd. SW, Medicine Hat, Alberta)

Website | Facebook | Instagram 

When in Medicine Hat, you have to experience “Sharing Stories at the Saamis Tepee” with local Indigenous artist and storyteller Brenda Mercer. During our June 2023 trip to The Hat, we had the absolute pleasure of meeting Brenda and taking in her special storytelling experience. 

Located at the World’s Largest Tepee, Brenda, who is often joined by Davie James (a local Metis man who is also involved in the Medicine Hat Skateboard Association), share stories about their journey to reconnect with their culture, teach about the Indigenous practice of smudging, and lead you through some kind of Indigenous crafting activity.

Brenda Mercer leads Sharing Stories at the Saamis Tepee experience.

Brenda and Davie share about the history, culture and traditions of the Blackfoot people of Treaty 7 and the Cree people of Treaty 4 (where Medicine Hat is located).

They talk about Elders and their relationship with Elders, lack of Elders in the region, and importance of absorbing and passing on knowledge. 

They talk about their own upbringing—rejecting their culture—then finding it again and sharing it through experiences such as this one. They encourage you to ask questions too—and they do their best to answer them.

I appreciated that Brenda and Davie didn’t pretend to know everything, that they were on this journey as much as we were. They were open and honest and vulnerable and it made for a very genuine and meaningful conversation. They really want to build up Indigenous community and culture in The Hat. 

Just a sample of cultural items Brenda shared with us.
Brenda and Davie, our storytellers for this experience.

As part of our experience, we got to pick our own sage to smudge. Sage grows plentiful in Medicine Hat and is one of the four sacred medicines (sage, sweetgrass, tobacco, and cedar).

We learned about how to smudge and also why people smudge—that the reasons are very individual. Some reasons why may include to remove negative energy from life, or to approach something with good intentions.

You may also make a medicine pouch or take home a medicine box during this experience as well, though for our experience (shorter timeline for tourism trip purposes), she just showed us some of the different items she has made + that she might walk people through making. 

Sage, a sacred medicine, grows plentiful in Medicine Hat!
We picked sage for a smudge as part of this experience.
Watch for ants on the sage!
Learning how to smudge.

We also got to drum using beautiful drums Brenda makes herself! She showed us the first one she ever made using bison hide, and she shared the story of how that specific drum came to be. Then Brenda let us pick a drum from her collection to use for a drumming and singing portion of our time together. 

Davie led us through the drumming. It was a beautiful (but sad) song, The Water Song, which speaks to the need for clean drinking water in many Indigenous communities across the country. 

This was such a special moment already and then Brenda gifted me the drum I had picked for our drumming! I had selected the drum painted with a colourful turtle (to represent Turtle Island—North America), and Medicine Wheel for its beautiful and meaningful design.

After our drumming, Brenda said she felt I needed to go home with that drum.

This was such a beautiful surprise!!

Brenda shares about the first bison hide drum she made.
This drumming was so special.

After our experience ended, we were encouraged to walk over and look out onto the site behind the Saamis Tepee (an archeological site, photo below) where bison once roamed and the first Indigenous people in this region lived. Just as another way to understand the land where we live (or in this case, travel). 

Just imagining the people and animals who used to live here.

I’ve been intentionally taking in and sharing more Indigenous-focused tourism experiences over the last few years (coincides well with Indigenous Tourism Alberta, which has been promoting Indigenous experiences and entrepreneurs you can support across the province), and Brenda’s gathering, storytelling, and crafting in Southern Alberta is such a lovely way to support Indigenous artists and respect and share the culture, and take in action around reconciliation. 

After we shared stories under the Saamis Tepee, we popped into the Visitor Centre next door, where Brenda has handmade jewellery on display (and for sale!) I was happy to add one of Brenda’s pieces to my ever-growing  earring collection. I also picked up a fun custom Medicine Hat disc for Mike (he loves disc golf and we’re starting to build a tourist collection of discs!) You can get some great suggestions for things to do in the city from the staff here as well. 

Thank you to Brenda and Davie for sharing stories with us!! This was such an intimate and memorable experience and something you should book when you visit Southern Alberta!

If there isn’t an event date that lines up with your visit, I do encourage you to reach out to Brenda directly.

She has arranged custom group experiences just simply because people asked. Do this! 

Benjimin's first visit to the World's Largest Tepee! (he slept through most of it lol)

E-Biking (and E-Triking)

E-bike Rentals: Let’s Go Adventure! | Other Bike Rentals

One of my absolute favourite things to do wherever I travel is rent e-bikes to explore!

And I am very happy to report that e-bike rentals are now available in Medicine Hat! It’s something I’ve been checking every summer for the last few years so I was thrilled this (June 2023) was the visit we could finally e-bike around The Hat.

Not only does local company Let’s Go Adventures! rent out e-bikes, but they also rent out e-TRIKES, along with paddle boards, single + double kayaks and floats for water adventures in the South Saskatchewan River, Echo Dale Regional Park swim lake, or nearby Elkwater Lake. 

Much adventure to be had in Medicine Hat and it’s real easy with rentals!

Let's go e-bike around The Hat!

I absolutely loved my e-ride through The Hat.

As I’ve written, I’ve visited this city so many times before but truly have never seen it like I did this time around on our e-ride—through parks and under bridges, alongside creeks and through The Hat’s famous coulees. 

That’s really one of the coolest parts about e-biking a place (and why it’s one of my favourite ways to explore a city)—you can get into all the nooks and crannies that a car can’t quite get you to. Feeling the wind, listening to all the sounds, seeing things you’d miss if you were driving—it’s really something special! 

Medicine Hat actually boasts 155+ kilometres of multi-use trails that connect nine major parks and green spaces in the city. It’s really cool how you can go from coulees to hills to forested paths and along the river to their historic Downtown—all on bike!

And Medicine Hat is really is a popular place for mountain biking in particular. Some of those hills make for some adrenaline-pumping biking action too (if you are into that lol, for me the steep descents are scary lol so I took some of them very slowly! Ride safe! lol).

My friend Jack and I exploring Instagrammable Walls by e-bike (and trike)!

With Let’s Go Adventures!, you can also pay extra to get drop off and pick up service to wherever location you want in the city too. It’s a super convenient option! We had them drop off our e-bike and e-trike at the restaurant we were having dinner at and then picked up at our friend’s house that we later e-rode to (or you could have them do hotel drop-off/pick-up, for example). 

For the e-trike experience, this is the first rental company I’ve ever seen offer e-trike rentals though admittedly I still much prefer e-bikes, the e-trike was fun and unique to try.

It’s the balance and turning that is quite a mind game lol.

If you’re not super skilled on a bike then I would recommend you stick to e-bikes. Also if you’ve never done an e-ride, I would recommend you do e-biking first as well. But if you are pretty confident in your biking skills and have also e-biked before and want to try something new, then the e-trike might be a fun and unique option for you! 

Exploring Medicine hat by e-bike is a breeze!
It was so fun to experience Medicine Hat by e-bike and e-trike!
This was our biking route that you may want to consider for your e-ride!

For the most part, we stayed on dedicated trails for our entire ride. 

  • Saamis Tepee down into Saamis archaeological site (old off leash dog park)
    • This is super steep going down so be careful! 
  • Under the Trans Canada Highway through a tunnel into Kin Coulee
    • Including biking through Kin Coulee Park—where we passed so many people having picnics / BBQs and playing in the grass. It was so lovely! 
  • Over to Saratoga Park Trail
    • This was super nice, changing from forest to hill views. We also met some old men riding wheelchair/scooters along this path and they were super impressed with our e-bike and e-trikes lol
  • Down South Railway Street to Downtown
    • Less glamourous road but it included a quick gas station stop for a slushie (hot day!) 
  • Around Downtown including stops at Instagrammable Walls
    • Depending how you plan your trip you could make stops in to grab coffee, drinks, food, etc. but we had just done downtown exploration earlier that day so this was more to visit some of the Instagrammable Walls   
  • Across Finlay Bridge (over the South Saskatchewan River) and back
    • Probably the most iconic bridge in Medicine Hat (though they do have many!)
  • Went up to “The Hill” from Downtown (where we saw the deer on front lawns!)
    • It’s steep going up but a breeze on e-bikes/e-trikes!
  • Across the St. Mary Bridge that goes over Ajax Coulee and into Kensington neighbourhood

My friend Jack used to dirt bike around Medicine Hat growing up but it had been well over a decade since he’d hopped on a bike and explored his hometown. 

After our ride, he said he was now considering getting a bike to commute to work as it was so fun and fresh to see the city by bike! So lovely.

Once again I can confirm: e-biking a place is one of the very best ways to experience it as a tourist!
Love the varied terrain in Medicine Hat!

So those are just a few suggestions for experiences to try in The Hat! Be sure to browse all of my Medicine Hat Travel Guides to find recommendations for even more activities + experiences! 

Shopping

During this June 2023 trip to The Hat, we popped into new-ish two shops while exploring downtown (on our Indy Coffee Crawl, more on that below!) There’s lots of great little, locally-owned retail stores around town (and even a sea can market in Downtown!) so be sure to check out my other Medicine Hat Travel Guides for more ideas on shops we’ve visited during past visits, or check Tourism Medicine Hat’s Shopping & Retail listing!

River Bee Books

Location: 216 S Railway St., Medicine Hat, Alberta | Website | Facebook | Instagram

Who else loves stopping at book stores when you travel? 

River Bee Books is one of the city’s newest bookstores located in downtown Medicine Hat.

This independent book shop (support your local indy bookstores!) has a really impressive bookshelf (and classic library ladder!), lots of books across a range of categories, a really cool ceiling, and interestingly—a ton of cat books and cat/book gifts (though no book store cat lol). 

Our group picked up several books during our visit here, and frankly, it just feels nice to browse.

River Bee Books in Downtown Medicine Hat.
Having a little book store meet cute. lol
Love the wall of books at River Bee Books!

Sunday Dinner Home Store

Location: 616 3rd St SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta | Website | Facebook | Instagram

The Sunday Dinner Home Store (formerly Kitchen Kaboodle), sells kitchen staples, gadgets, décor, and more. As they put it, “just like when you prepare a meal, all of our items are selected and presented with care.” It’s a great gift shop with some unique items, and a cheese bar too!

I bought some ‘Wookey Hole’ cheese to take home. This cheese got its name from where the cheese is aged—in a cave in a small place called Wookey (in Europe). Fun, right?

Inside Sunday Dinner Home Store!
Cute floor decor at Sunday Dinner Home Store!

Food & Drink

I always eat great food in The Hat! There are some old favourites we always try to revisit when we come by, but I’m always searching for new or new-to-us spots to try as well.

It helps that our friends Jack and Nicole live in town, they keep an eye out for new places we might be interested in when we visit them next—like this time around a new Korean restaurant JJ Kitchen had just opened!

JJ Kitchen

Location: 635 3rd St SE, Medicine Hat, Alberta | Website | Facebook | Instagram

JJ Kitchen is a new * Korean restaurant in Medicine Hat we checked out during this trip and it’s so goooood! JJ Kitchen is located in the heart of Downtown Medicine Hat, and is run by a sweet Korean family. Both husband and wife and their youngest boy greeted us during our lunch. 

* new as of my June 2023 visit

The delicious spicy pork JipBap at JJ Kitchen.

Their popular items include CupBaps (beef bulgogi, fried chicken or spicy pork), or JipBap (with the same protein options), and fried chicken. The CupBap is where it all comes in a bowl (like a rice bowl), whereas the JipBap is translated into a ‘homemade meal’ served with rice on a plate, with soup and additional banchan (Korean side dishes).

JJ Kitchen also had a special when we went of GimBap, which are Korean seaweed rice rolls, and Triangle GimBap (which is triangle shaped rice rolls with your option to add stuffing, like tuna).

I had never actually seen Triangle GimBap sold in a restaurant before in Canada (I haven’t visited Korea yet but it’s on my list!) so I was super excited to try the Triangle GimBap (it feels like you’re eating food from an anime lol. Triangle GimBap is very similar to Japanese Onigiri, which is also a triangle shaped rice roll). It’s as cute as it is delicious. 

We loved our meal at JJ Kitchen!
Ever try Korean Triangle GimBap before? It's aewsome!

JJ Kitchen has a really cute covered patio space as well, were playing Korean music (including BTS) inside, and had a shelf of different Korean items (including a BTS album lol), along with portraits on the wall describing different Korean dishes/ingredients. 

This restaurant also makes very flakey, tasty, Korean croissants!

When in Medicine Hat (and particularly downtown), pop in to try JJ Kitchen!! 

We had a Japanese fast at Tsuki in Medicine Hat!

Tsuki Japanese

Location: 94 8 St NW, Medicine Hat, Alberta | Website | Facebook | Instagram

For many years, my go-to Japanese restaurant in Medicine Hat was Takumi but as luck would have it, they were closed for vacation during our visit this June 2023. Disappointed, but excited to try a new-to-me Japanese restaurant, we actually went just down the street to Tsuki Japanese, which has been serving Medicine Hat since 2012. 

Apparently two of the best Japanese restaurants in The Hat are located in the same neighbourhood, down the same street! 

Excellent sunomono salad at Tsuki!
A delicious Japanese platter at Tsuki!

Tsuki is meant to mean ‘love’ in Japanese (Mike hears it on animes he watches all the time lol) and we certainly loved our meal here. They have a big menu and a bigger space compared to Takumi (though I don’t want to keep comparing them, they both stand out on their own!) 

I enjoyed their sunomono salad (so refreshing), and we shared an assortment of their special rolls (including their Red Dragon rolls). We were pretty obsessed with their Aburi Salmon (torched salmon) Nigiri (ended up getting more orders of that after we devoured the first order lol) and all of the sashimi / raw fish we tried were good, thick slices and high quality. 

Tsuki also offers five different ramen options, bento boxes, and Katsu (breaded and deep fried dish) which we ordered and enjoyed (the chicken version).

We ended the night with delicious housemade macarons for dessert! 

This was an awesome experience. You won’t go wrong whichever Japanese spot you pick! 

We could not get enough of this Aburi Salmon!
Nice thicc cuts of fish!

The Whiskey District

Location: Gehring Rd SW, Medicine Hat, Alberta | Facebook | Instagram

When my Medicine Hat friend Jack suggested we check out The Whiskey District while we were in town, I thought, Oh neat, is that like a neighbourhood with lots of different whiskey spots? lol

No, it’s just one place that really knocks their whiskey out of the park, lol. 

The Whiskey District is located on the top floor of a big multi-use building (there is an elevator for easy access up!) It’s a huge space both inside and out. Its top floor patio wraps around half of the building and gives you a neat perspective of Medicine Hat (a full view of the Trans-Canada Highway that cuts through the city).

Old Fashioned flights at The Whiskey District.
Giant slush, anyone?!

The Whiskey District specializes in (you guessed it) whiskey!

In addition to Whiskey Flights, you can also get Old Fashioned Flights (which both Mike and Jack got and loved)—the first place we’ve been to offer a flight of Old Fashioneds.

The Old Fashioneds in this flight were: 

  • #5 Jim Beam Reg Stag Cherry
    (with fig and cinnamon bitters, a bourbon cherry and sugar syrup)
  • #9 Sortilege Maple Whiskey
    (maple walnut bitters, spiced apple and brown sugar syrup)
  • #11 Ruperts Spiced Vanilla
    (Eau Claire Rupert’s Whisky, plum bitters, simple syrup and bourbon cherry garnish)
  • #19 Basil Hayden Dark Rye
    (black currant bitters, dehydrated orange and brown sugar syrup).
I don’t think you can go wrong with any of these Old Fashioned selections!

Whiskey District actually has a pretty big drink menu in general including classic and house cocktails, shooters, bulldogs, slush drinks and a variety of non-alcoholic options too. Their food menu includes pizzas, steaks, burgers, nachos, cheesecakes and more!

Everything we ate here was great! Mike loved his spicy fried chicken burger, Jack loved his ‘The Devastator’ Burger which comes topped with spicy curly fries (and he added a side of curly fries too lol), and Nicole loved her Wild Mushroom Alfredo pizza (which uses local McBride’s Bakery dough!) We shared their Nachos (add spicy beef!) and appreciated the generous toppings. 

And the vibes were so good! Can’t beat that top floor patio feel (but the inside looked nice too!) 

I also think it’s nice that The Whiskey District is “Family Friendly, Always!” 

The fried chicken burger at The Whiskey District.
Excellent nachos at The Whiskey District!
The Devastator burger at The Whiskey District.

King Bagel

Location: 215 6 Ave. SE | Facebook | Instagram

King Bagel is one of Jack’s favourite spots in town so we had to stop in! Located in Downtown Medicine Hat, we visited as part of our Indy Coffee Crawl (more on that below), but I didn’t include it in with the crawl officially because it’s not really a cafe / doesn’t really specialize in coffee (as you can probably guess, the bagels here are the focus!) 

King Bagel has a very unassuming interior and exterior, with a small menu of well—bagels!

It’s really what they do best. You’ll find really tasty bagels, stuffed bagels, sweet bagels, and bagel sandwiches at King Bagel. They also have a small sitting area that has serious Central Perk from Friends vibes (at least, with the older style, yellow couches lol). 

Don't let the unassuming sign fool you—pop in! lol
Cute corner at King Bagel.

Honestly there are so many great places to eat in Medicine Hat, be sure to browse all of my Medicine Hat Travel Guides to find recommendations for even more spots to eat + drink! 

Love the Poolhouse in Medicine Hat!
Inside the super cute Poolhouse.

Indy Coffee Crawl

Something that might surprise visitors to The Hat is finding out just how many independently-owned, local coffee shops there are in the city—and in particular, downtown! 

As they’re all so close to each other (walking distance) in Medicine Hat’s historic downtown, it makes it really easy to go on an Indy Coffee Crawl (they call it a Coffee Tour but I like to Crawl lol).

Below are a few of the independent coffee shops we crawled around during a morning exploring historic downtown Medicine Hat and their many awesome, local cafes! 

  • Poolhouse Cafe & Roastery (formerly Madhatter Roastery)
    • Location: 550 3rd St SE | Website | Facebook | Instagram
    • This was my favourite spot to visit on our crawl. It’s very aesthetic with cute lights, plants and archways. The newly renovated space is white, bright and vibrant. They roast coffees from around the world right in downtown Medicine Hat! Find from-scratch food, drink + baking here (quiches, sandwiches, wraps, coffees, teas, croissants, cookies and more) and even watch them grind coffee during your visit! 
  • Station Coffee Company
    • Location: 644 2 St SE | Website | Facebook | Instagram
    • Station Coffee Co. is located in a 100-year-old brick building in the heart of downtown Medicine Hat. Here you’ll find exposed brick and warm vibes, a cafe that specializes in handcrafted espresso, coffee and tea plus freshly made baked goods. Their food window  is stocked with sweet and savoury selections and take a seat in the expanded back of the coffee shop including back alley patio. 
Station Coffee Co. in historic Downtown Medicine Hat!
Find a ton of old, exposed brick inside this historic building!
  • Copper Leaf Cafe
    • Location: 579 3rd St. SE | Website | Facebook | Instagram
    • The Copper Leaf Cafe is another Medicine Hat cafe located inside a historic building (Gaslight Plaza), selling all day breakfast sandwiches, wraps, salads, paninis, drinks and a weekly pasta special. Tuesdays are Reuben Tuesday! And you can find their charcuterie box supplying a variety of businesses across Medicine Hat. We enjoyed our paninis during our visit. Inside the cafe you’ll also find lots of locally-made items for sale from different Medicine Hat artisans (I almost bought more earrings!) and artwork!!
  • Nosh
    • Location: 557 2nd St. SE | Website | Facebook | Instagram
    • Nosh is a bright, orange cafe located inside a shared shopping / retail business space (Ko[lab]). Describing itself as a ‘social house,’ Nosh specializes in lunch along with ‘krafted kokteyls and signature seasonal kawfee.’ I appreciated the barista recommending the special of the day ( a coconut latte) when we popped in and I really love the giant pixellated Frida Kahlo painting on the wall.
Inside Nosh.
Paninis from Copper Leaf Cafe.
Lots of art adorn the walls of Copper Leaf!
  • Inspire Cafe
    • Location: 675 2nd St. SE | Website | Facebook | Instagram
    • Part cafe, part art gallery, Inspire Cafe is located inside one of just three flatiron buildings in Alberta (the other ones are in Edmonton and Lacombe)—another historic building (if you haven’t guessed, all of these historic buildings with functioning businesses is why Downtown Medicine Hat is known as a ‘Historic’ Downtown lol). Inspire Café specializes in “inspired comfort food” (sandwiches, homemade soups, freshly roasted coffee, specialty teas and in-house made desserts) and is a shared space with an art gallery + working art studio. I like ordering their house lemonades here and if you’re looking for a Medicine Hat keepsake to take home, there are some great art pieces to choose from here!
  • And of course—there are many more cafes in the city that are outside of the downtown walking area too!! I’ve included other cafes in some of my other Medicine Hat blog posts so be sure to check those out too if you’re interested in coffee shops beyond downtown. 
Love the flatiron building Inspire Cafe is in!
Strollers out to explore Downtown Medicine Hat!

Because we were trying to hit up a lot of the walking distance cafes in a short amount of time for this working trip, we only tried a couple of things at each spot but most of all the cafes are really set up for full meals + varied drink selections so even if you only made it to three (I believe at least three spots constitutes a ‘crawl’) then you’ve really undertaken a lovely, local, Downtown Medicine Hat experience.

As mentioned, we also weaved in shopping / retail stops along our Downtown Indy Coffee Crawl so it made for an extremely fun + local Medicine Hat thing to do during one of the mornings of our visit!

Our accommodations for this Medicine Hat trip!

Where to Stay in Medicine Hat

For this trip we stayed at Townplace Suites by Marriott which is super conveniently located near the Tesla Superchargers so we could charge up easily once we got into the city and before we left. 

They also have free Tesla charging in their hotel parking lot too! Along with a free buffet breakfast, pets are welcome, and there’s a great pool for the family.  

In past visits, we have enjoyed our stay at the Medicine Hat Lodge Resort Casino & Spa which also includes which is the largest hotel entertainment complex in The Hat, and includes a big indoor waterslide park and complimentary breakfast as well (plus the casino!) 

And for a very cute bed and breakfast stay in Medicine Hat, I also recommend Guesthouse 71!

I share more about the other accommodations in my other Medicine Hat blog posts!

Use + share my Travel Guide to Medicine Hat in Southern Alberta!

— 

So that wraps up just a few suggestions for Things to Do, Eat and See in the wonderful Southern Alberta City of Medicine Hat—based on my June 2023 visit. 

As mentioned, I’ve visited Medicine Hat a lot and I keep coming back because there’s so many things I still haven’t done—and so many places I want to revisit!

If you’re looking for a Southern Alberta city to explore—make it Medicine Hat!

And use all of my many travel guides to help plan your visit to The Hat—the sunniest city in Canada with one of the most charming and historic Downtowns you can find in Alberta.  

Note: my June 2023 visit to Medicine Hat was sponsored. Experiences were hosted by Tourism Medicine Hat. This does not impact opinions or views stated in this post—I love exploring Alberta and love visiting Medicine Hat!! There’s so much to do + eat + see there (I’ve gone every year for years and still find new things to do!!)

Linda

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1 Comment

  • pat dee says:

    hi I’m very interested in trip to medicine hat
    sounds like so much fun
    and right here in Alberta
    cool
    I’d like to know the cost and I’d like to travel with a group
    I’m a older lady
    I live in Edmonton as well
    could we arrange a bus perhaps
    I have traveled alot with Anderson vacations
    could we get their assistance
    or you do small private groups
    well hope to hear from you soon
    take care
    a happy traveler

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