This summer, I drove down to explore the southern Alberta City of Lethbridge and am sharing my suggested itinerary so you can do the same!
I worked with Tourism Lethbridge during this May 2025 trip while my husband Mike competed at the city’s annual Spring Runoff Disc Golf Tournament put on by the Lethbridge Disc Golf Association.
Mike is an avid disc golfer, and loves participating in competitions (regardless of how he does 😅 lol). It’s a great outdoor activity to do in the city, and also a wonderful thing to bring in tourists—like us!
Did you know: Lethbridge is the third biggest city in Alberta after Calgary and Edmonton. It’s located about 5 hours drive south from Edmonton, or 2 hours from Calgary.
I’ve written about Lethbridge before—in particular, highlighting their incredible local food producers and what’s known as “Canada’s Premiere Food Corridor.”
Especially this summer, as we all look to spending more time within our province and Canada, I absolutely recommend you plan your visit to Lethbridge, especially if you’ve never been!
I hope you’ll use the suggestions of places I visited + food I ate to help guide your exploration.
We met up with some of our best friends Jack and Nicole and their daughter Alice for this May 2025 trip and made it a family-friendly-focused weekend of activities.
You can also check out Tourism Lethbridge’s free exploration app—which is another awesome resource to help you experience all the fun, local food, businesses, attractions & more in the region. The thing I really like about this app is that it allows you to redeem points for different places you visit—then redeem those points for prizes!
#ExploreLethbridge – What To Do + Where to Eat in the Southern Alberta City of Lethbridge
EXPERIENCES AT A GLANCE:
(listed in alphabetical order within each section)
This is where we visited and what we did during this summer trip to Lethbridge.
- Attractions / Experiences
- Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre
- Casa Community Arts Centre
- Downtown Lethbridge (Shopping + Public Art)
- Elizabeth Hall Wetlands
- Festival Square (in Downtown Lethbridge)
- Henderson Lake Park
- Lethbridge Viaduct (High Level Bridge)
- Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
- Spring Runoff Annual Disc Golf Tournament
- Food / Drinks
- Blossom Hot Pot
- Cafe Noir
- Firestone Restaurant (inside Coast Hotels)
- Food Truck Friday at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
- Beau’s Birria Taqueria, Georgina’s Food Truck, Ma & Pa BBQ
- Cleo’s Cafe (inside the Nikka Yuko)
- Kingsmen Ale House
- Kuya Wills & Tobits Cucina
- MAMA LA Vietnamese
- O-sho Japanese
- Sonder Coffee Bar
- The Penny Coffee House
- Theoretically Brewing
- Two Guys and a Pizza Place
- Wow Eats
- Local Shops
- Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge Gift Shop
- Analog Books
- Big John’s Books
- Echo Books
- Uglistuffs
Find more great exploration suggestions:
- Tourism Lethbridge Official Website
- Tourism Lethbridge Exploration App
- My 2022 “Food Corridor”-focused Lethbridge Travel Guide
Thanks to Tourism Lethbridge for supporting my small business by working with me to produce this Travel Guide + Lethbridge travel content. This partnership does not affect my views & recommendations.
Attractions / Experiences in Lethbridge, Alberta
Listed in alphabetical order by section
Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre
Address: 2124 16 Ave, Coaldale, AB T1M 1P9 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Located just 20 minutes outside Lethbridge in the Town of Coaldale, is one of the only centres of its kind in the country—the Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre, a volunteer bird rescue and rehabilitation facility giving injured hawks, falcons, eagles, owls and vultures a second chance at life back in the wild since 1983.
The area used to be a farm field with no trees (!!) and today the site of the nature centre is now prairie wetland teeming with wildlife including shore birds, waterfowl, reptiles, muskrats, deer, plus all the injured birds of prey they help each day.
We had the absolute pleasure of getting a private tour and bird meet & greet with passionate manager Colin, who has been with the centre since it began nearly 50 years ago. Private experiences with birds of prey is a newer offering for the centre, and has become a popular way for the non-profit to raise much needed funds to continue helping more than 100 birds in need. I would say it’s extremely worth inquiring about for your visit!
Our meet & greet included Sarah the Golden Eagle (Colin’s bestie, who also goes with him to do different educational talks around the province), Basil the Burrowing Owl, an endangered species (Benjimin set the record for youngest person to hold Basil at the centre!), a peckish brand new, six-week old Great Horned Owl I nicknamed Bonito due to the colour of its feathers, and Rolo, a teeny saw-whet owl, which are apparently very common in the Edmonton area!
Even without the private session, all visitors to the Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre can access owl talks, sit in for flying demonstrations, feed the ducks (not a bird of prey but a very popular activity lol) learn so much about these different birds (big educational focus) and more. Don’t miss the gift shop too! (well, you can’t because you enter through it lol, but worth taking home some bird-y things).
We really enjoyed meeting and chatting with the staff, many of whom are students studying in animal or biology-related programs. Everyone was so clearly very passionate about and cared for these birds! Be sure to ask them lots of questions.
The centre is even working on launching an accommodations and events space so you can stay right on site when you visit! That would be a pretty cool place to stay for your Southern Alberta visit!
The Alberta Birds of Prey Nature Centre is a really special place and needs to be on your Lethbridge-area adventure itinerary. Our visit happened to coincide with Opening Weekend for the season. They operate May through September, rain or shine (we experienced mostly rain during our visit and appreciated some of the covered spaces that offered a bit of rainy reprieve lol).
Casa Community Arts Centre
Address: 230 8 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 5H2 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Casa Community Arts Centre located in the heart of downtown Lethbridge, is a big art gallery, maker space and performance venue celebrating all forms of art in the city. When it opened, the beautiful, 42,000-square foot building set a new standard for interdisciplinary arts centres in the country!
When we visited on a weekday morning, the building was bustling with folks arriving for workshops. You can plan to align your visit with a particular class, screening, market, concert, artist talk, or many other events held here throughout the year, or just pop in to check out free, public art exhibits at the Gallery at Casa, which features rotating exhibits. That’s what we did.
Some of the art works that caught our eye at Casa Lethbridge included:
- The Gift of Vacancy by Heather Kehoe, an embroidered series that reimagines historic portraits of women, silhouetted by embroidered backgrounds based on historic patterns.
- The Indian Act by Don AhnAhnsisi McIntyre, which is an Ojibway retelling of the story of who is family, set to the backdrop of the Canadian Indian Act.
- Mirrored Earth by Jacqueline Metz and Nancy Chew, a reflective piece about the landscape of coulees (a geographical landform commonly found in southern Alberta), and the relationship between context and interpretation, about ways of seeing.
- Digging a Hole with a Garden Hose by Shelby Charlesworth, which explores the systemic impact of capitalism creating personal feelings of failure, and how perceptions of failure societally relate to experiences of gender and queer identity.
From the perspective of parents to young children, popping into Casa for free, indoor programming worked out really well for our itinerary lol.
Downtown Lethbridge (Shopping + Public Art)
Website | Facebook | Instagram
No visit to Lethbridge would be complete without exploring Downtown Lethbridge. Technically the boundary spans quite a number of streets and avenues, but if you put in Festival Square, or Analog Books (which I write more about later in this guide). then that will take you to what I think is the “centre” and most bustling nearby streets comprising Downtown Lethbridge.
There are more than 600 businesses in the Downtown Lethbridge Business Revitalization Zone so you could honestly just plan a whole trip focused on visiting what Downtown Lethbridge has to offer! I write more about the downtown shops and restaurants below but wanted to pull out ‘Downtown Lethbridge’ as its own standalone ‘Attractions/Experience’ worth noting.
There is a huge concentration of public art right in downtown Lethbridge as well, which makes for a great self-guided walking tour through the various streets and alleyways!
I love going public art crawling in cities I explore and Downtown Lethbridge’s artwork really delivers.
So downtown is a really get one-stop for shopping, dining, and art experiences in the city!
Elizabeth Hall Wetlands
Address: 80 Bridge Dr W, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4S5 | Website
The Elizabeth Hall Wetlands is a preservation area located on the west side of the Oldman River in Lethbridge. This is a nature interpretation park with information kiosks and observation points and visitors are encouraged to self-guide through the marked trail system, a combination of paved and shale. It’s also a popular spot for bird watching!
This nature reserve is also home to other animals like beavers, muskrats, and western painted turtles—can you spot them?! There is a dock located on the north end of the wetland which gives you a bit closer-up viewing of plants and wildlife who call the pond their home.
You also get a different perspective of the popular Lethbridge Viaduct (High Level) Bridge from these wetlands. Mainly it’s just a nice, natural area to take a walk, bird watch or snap some nice nature photos. It was a nice place for our kids to run around, and it feels like you’re away from the hustle and bustle of the city without travelling far at all, as it’s right in town.
These wetlands are considered one of the most beautiful parks in the city!
Festival Square in Downtown Lethbridge
Address: 600 3 Ave S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0H4 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Festival Square is a public plaza located in the heart of downtown Lethbridge, home to a number of events throughout the year including a main stage for live performances.
There weren’t events happening during our visit, but I can see how the public plaza would be a wonderful place to spend time (especially during the summer!) particularly with its great proximity to so many local downtown shops and restaurants.
Our kids also took some time during our stop by to run around the stage, where we also snapped some photos of the big Lethbridhe OKI letters sign, which is a Blackfoot word meaning “greetings” or “welcome,” that is considered Lethbridge’s official greeting. Lethbridge itself is located on the Blackfoot Traditional ancestral territory, home to the Nitistapii (Blackfoot) in Treaty 7.
Henderson Lake Park
Address: 1103 31a St S, Lethbridge, AB T1K 2Z9 | Website
Henderson Lake Park is a must-stop in the City of Lethbridge!
We were super impressed with the amenities of this beautiful park, including a 24-hectare man-made lake you can do water recreation on (paddleboards, kayaks, boats, etc.), plus beautiful lake view walking paths, beautiful mature trees, and three playgrounds for the kiddos.
It’s a REALLY nice park and it’s also super well located near other attractions worth a Lethbridge visit, like the Henderson Outdoor Pool or Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden (which I write more about below).
It was hard to pull the kids away from this park, it was really lovely being so close to the water and surrounded by greenery just steps from really solid play structures. Plan a picnic here!
Lethbridge Viaduct (High Level Bridge)
Address: Scenic Dr S & 3 Ave S Lethbridge, AB T1J Canada, Scenic Dr S, Lethbridge, AB | Website
The Lethbridge Viaduct (also known as the High Level Bridge), is a massive landmark you need to visit when in the city.
The high level black steel trestle bridge is more than a century old. It was first built in 1909 and served an important function as a permanent railway line over the Oldman River.
This impressive bridge spans more than 5,000 feet or 1.6 kilometres long and 96 meters or 314 feet high and has several accolades as the largest railway structure in Canada and longest, highest, largest railway trestle bridge in the world! The Government of Canada actually designated the bridge’s construction as a National Historic Event. The old and famous bridge is still used by trains today!
There’s lots of city trails that give you great views of this bridge, and a formal lookout point, and it’s also super close to the Helen Shuler Nature Centre (we didn’t get to visit this time around but could be a great stop for your visit!) as well as Indian Battle Park and Fort Whoop-up, more worthwhile Lethbridge attractions!
Here’s a video of the famous bridge:
View this post on Instagram
Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
Address: 835 Mayor Magrath Dr S, Lethbridge, AB T1K 0C6 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
How many “must-visits” can I reference in a Lethbridge travel guide? lol well here’s another one! The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden in the City of Lethbridge is a must-visit.
This four-acre garden—one of the most unique Japanese gardens in the world—was built in 1967 to recognize contributions made by citizens of Japanese ancestry in Lethbridge, Alberta, and act as a symbol of international friendship. The name of the garden represents that friendship: Nikka is a combination of two Japanese words: Ni (from “Nihon,” meaning Japan) and ka (from “Kanada,” or Canada), while Yuko translates to “friendship” and refers to the friendship between Japan and Canada. Did you know there is a Canada-Japan sister and friendship cities program? Sixteen communities in Alberta have sister cities in Japan.
It’s important to note that Japanese immigrants played a significant role in the development of southern Alberta and also faced significant injustice. The garden celebrates and maintains Japanese culture in the region, that friendship and relations between Japan and Canada, while educating guests on Japanese history in the province and country.
I first visited this garden during my 2022 trip to the area and that was the first time I really dived into Japanese-Alberta history, in Lethbridge of all places!
The Nikka Yuko is a hybrid of three garden styles: a strolling garden, a dry rock garden, and a tea garden. The structures at the garden including the teahouse, bell tower, azumaya shelter, gates and bridges were handcrafted in Kyoto, built then shipped across the ocean to be reassembled in Lethbridge. So authentic! However all the plants, trees, flowers, are native to Alberta. A true Japan/Alberta experience. It’s a really lovely and peaceful place.
In addition to the beautiful garden spaces, the Nikka Yuko has a timeline of the Japanese diaspora and relevant Japanese-Canadian / Albertan historical events right on the wall of their Bunka Centre, as well as the Dr. Robert Hironaka Exhibit Room with cultural artifacts and documentaries about Nikka Yuko’s history and development. The centre is also home to an awesome little cafe (Cleo’s Cafe) and a gift shop (Lethbridge gift shops are really great lol).
The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden’s parking lot also hosts Food Truck Friday through the summer (more on that in the food section of this guide), and the garden itself hosts multiple events throughout the year. Plenty of reasons to visit year-round.
Spring Runoff Annual Disc Golf Tournament (+ Disc Golf Courses)
(Lethbridge Disc Golf Association)
The main reason we come back to Lethbridge each year is for Mike to compete in the annual Spring Runoff Disc Golf Tournament organized by the Lethbridge Disc Golf Association.
The tournament typically takes place at Nicholas Sheran Park and Aperture Disc Golf Course at the University of Lethbridge. Both parks are 18 holes and Nicholas Sheran Park is actually Canada’s largest disc golf course!
Even if you’re not competing in the tournament, these parks and disc golf baskets are accessible to anyone anytime throughout the year so if you have a disc or two, this is a nice way to enjoy the outdoors in Lethbridge.
… and more Attractions/Experiences!
Obviously we didn’t visit every single possible attraction or experience in Lethbridge during this trip (always a good excuse to come back to try more! lol) but I am confident these suggestions for stops in your itinerary will make for a really great visit.
While you’re in this Southern Alberta city you should consider a day trip also to Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump, a UNESCO-designated World Heritage Site that preserves and interprets over 6,000 years of Plains Buffalo culture and is located just 45 minutes drive from Lethbridge.
It was on our itinerary initially but things can change pretty quickly when you travel with toddlers so we’re now eagerly looking forward to our next Lethbridge and area visit to experience that too!
Food & Drink in Lethbridge, Alberta
Listed in alphabetical order by section
Blossom Hot Pot (All You Can Eat)
Address: 402 2 Ave S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0C3 |Facebook | Instagram
Located inside a former firehall, “Lethbridge Fire Hall No. 1” is Blossom All You Can Eat Hot Pot Restaurant. The building itself is really cool, a three-storey brick building with arched, recessed windows and big vehicle bay openings. It’s one of the oldest and finest remaining brick fire halls in Alberta, first constructed in 1908.
Though the inside was a bit more dimly lit than I was expecting, the restaurant definitely satisfies hot pot cravings! They offer split broth pots here (which is what we did), and the restaurant also has a robot cat server. Choose from a variety of cooked and uncooked items, including some Japanese / sushi dishes too (some rolls, tamago egg, and salmon sashimi!) There are lots of tasty items to choose from at Blossom All You Can Eat Hot Pot! You will not leave hungry.
Cafe Noir
Address: 328 6 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2C8 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
I really enjoyed our visit to Cafe Noir, a must-stop in downtown Lethbridge for specialty drinks and housemade bagels. Get the bagels on their own, or turn it into a sandwich, which we did—a prosciutto sandwich on jalapeño cheddar bagel! It was a great bite to start our day of downtown exploration!
Watch for their seasonal drink menus (including a variety of matcha drinks on their Summer Sips). And enjoy all the plants, pop-up markets, light and Instagrammable Wall in the space.
Worth noting: Cafe Noir is located on the second floor of the building – as soon as you walk you walk up. Keeping the kids away from the steep stairs was a priority here lol.
Firestone Restaurant (inside Coast Lethbridge Hotel)
Address: 532 Mayor Magrath Dr S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 3M2 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Although for this 2025 trip we stayed at a lovely AirBnB near Nicholas Sheran Park, in 2024, we stayed with our friends at Coast Hotels, home to Firestone Restaurant, a flame-cooking, forno, woodstone oven-focused restaurant with signature ‘rum bar’ (you’ll find an extensive list of premium rums here!) It’s a nice looking restaurant.
Here, breads and pizza doughs are made fresh daily, soups, salad dressings and sauces are made in-house from scratch, all desserts are also made in-house, and they offer a new feature menu every 4-6 weeks (keeps ya coming back!)
Timing-wise, we only stopped into Firestone for breakfast. They make a great eggs benny and waffles! Though next visit I’d like to try their dinner menu.
Food Truck Friday at the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
Address: 532 Mayor Magrath Dr S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 3M2 | Website | Instagram
On Fridays in the summer, the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden parking lot fills up with the city’s best food trucks for Food Truck Friday! We rolled into the city just in time to pop by the garden for dinner. There were a lot of options to choose from but we landed on:
Beau’s Birria Taqueria, a Mexican food truck specializing in delicious birria tacos with consomé, the flavourful broth that the beef is slow-cooked in. Dip and slurp it up. They grill it before your eyes and the cheese is so good. Mike said this was the best birria taco he’s ever had.
Georgina’s Food Truck, a Filipino food truck that has been operating since 2023. The family-run, Filipino BBQ truck serves delicious rice bowls (like the pork sisig we got), fried dumplings, skewers, spring rolls, ribs and more. It was really good! Our son’s favourite of the night.
Ma & Pa’s BBQ, a BBQ truck serving up brisket, pulled pork, or chicken sandwiches, smokies, hot dogs, chili, poutine and more. The sauce with brisket and fries was great!
Plus: Cleo’s Cafe (inside the Nikka Yuko) – Cleo’s isn’t a food truck, but the cafe on-site inside the Burka Centre at Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden. They have some great drinks (monin iced tea, hot or cold yuzu tea, green, maple and other Japanese teas), plus matcha maple ice cream, waffle cookies, and taiyaki ice cream (our favourite order), and it’s all very well-priced!
Kingsmen Ale House
Address: 2012 Mayor Magrath Dr S, Lethbridge, AB T1K 2R9 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
We really enjoyed our visit to the Kingsmen Ale House, a popular British pub in Lethbridge known for their authentic, British specialties.
Here we tried and loved Kingsmen Ale House’s award-winning Fish and Chips (beer battered Atlantic cod and dusted chips), Bavarian Meatballs in a creamy caper sauce, Dover Nachos—potato crisps, cheddar ale sauce, candied jalapeños, cheese curds, cider slaw. Corned Beef & Cabbage and The Kingsmen British Burger (with Alberta chuck and brisket patty, fire roasted tomato bacon jam, pickled red onions, Guinness mayo, lettuce and brioche bun.
There’s a lot of British decor throughout the space. The main pub is pretty dark but we got a seat in a side room closer to the windows which was quieter and also made for better lit photos (lol, that’s important in my line of work). And our servers were great. I’d love to come back to just eat my way through the whole menu! They proudly make a ton of dishes from scratch here and kids are welcome—they even get colouring sheets and crayons.
Kuya Wills & Tobits Cucina
Address: 313 5 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0H3 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
I was excited to find a Filipino restaurant in downtown Lethbridge—Kuya Wills & Tobits Cucina—serving up all-day Filipino breakfast and weekend all-you-can-eat Filipino buffet!
Don’t let the ‘Asian, Western, Italian’ tagline of the restaurant confuse you, the delicious Filipino items is their specialty! (though they also make pizza from scratch).
I love that the restaurant serves Boodle Feast—or Filipino Kamayan Feast—a popular, communal Filipino dining experience where food is laid out on banana leaves and you eat with your hands. We rarely see this offered in Edmonton so to see it in Lethbridge was a nice surprise.
The all-you-can-eat buffet is a great value, and overall, we really enjoyed our meal here!
MAMA LA Vietnamese Cuisine
Address: 8 Aquitania Blvd W #50, Lethbridge, AB T1J 5L4 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
For Vietnamese in Lethbridge, we stopped at MAMA LA, a casual but modern Vietnamese restaurant serving a good selection of Vietnamese appetizers, sharable plates, rice dishes, soups and vermicelli dishes, Vietnamese sandwiches and more.
Portion sizes are big (that feels like a recurring Lethbridge food theme lol), and the space isn’t huge, but is really bright and clean. I liked the illustrations and photos depicting Vietnamese food and scenes along their wall as well.
My son devoured his kids vermicelli bowl here, and we enjoyed all of our bites which ranged from banh mi sandwiches to fried rice to bun bo hue.
Our friends Jack and Nicole especially loved our lunch here! They live closer to Lethbridge than we do and come through the city more often, noting that they’re planning to return to MAMA LA.
O-Sho Japanese Restaurant
Address: 311 4 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 1Z9 | Website| Instagram
O-Sho Japanese is one of the few (only??) Japanese spots in Lethbridge open on Sundays. The longstanding Japanese eatery has been serving the community for more than 20 years, and is in a big building that includes regular seating, seating at the sushi bar, and traditional private tatami rooms where you take your shoes off and sit on cushions. Very handy rooms to be in with young kids lol.
From sashimi to an assortment of rolls, to Bento Boxes and noodle dishes, O-Sho’s large menu covers off a lot of Japanese food cravings you may have. Consider sharing a bottle of sake for the table too!
Sonder Coffee Bar
Address: 1119 3 Ave S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0J5 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Sonder Coffee Bar is a popular cafe, well-known for their drinks and waffles. Order savoury waffles (ham and egg, brie and pesto, brie and bacon, prosciutto and greens), or sweet waffles (plain, cinnamon sugar, strawberries and whipped cream, bananas and whipped cream, blueberry and lemon curd, cheesecake and fruit, nutella and fruit, or peaches and raspberries).
We had a great, sweet waffle breakfast spread here! You can also get housemade bagels or bagel sandwiches, and choose from an assortment of housemade baking, like banana loafs, croissants or coffee cakes.
Sonder is the cafe arm of Red Engine Coffee Roasters, and they also do some great teas and other drinks (like matcha lattes, lemonades, and fogs).
It’s a very cute space, well-worth a visit!
The Penny Coffee House
Address: 331 5 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2B4 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
The Penny Coffee House is one of Lethbridge’s oldest local coffee shops, serving Lethbridgians and visitors in downtown Lethbridge for more than 30 years.
This community hub was bustling when we stepped in for some drinks and treats on our downtown exploration day. Treats are baked daily and their dill pasta salad is a customer favourite!
They also have a small patio out front, perfect for enjoying on a sunny summer day.
Theoretically Brewing Company
Address: 1263 2 Ave S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 0E7 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Theoretically Brewing Company is a lovely and nerdy brewery in Lethbridge, where drinks are served in test tubes and their logo is a nod to the periodic table.
The LGBTQIA+ owned and recognized Safe Space is a community hub for everything from craft nights to live music. It’s a really fun vibe! You can book a tour and tasting, or order a la carte. Mike got a flight featuring their Ionic Irish Red Ale, Study Buddy Hef, Alberta Clipper IPA, and Platinum Blonde Ale. Mike’s favourite was the Platinum Blonde, a lighter slightly citrus-y brew.
Theoretically Brewing Company is part of the Highway 3 Ale Trail, a suggested route of 8 taprooms in Southern Alberta, running from the Rocky Mountains in the Crowsnest Pass to Fort MacLeod, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat. Some craft beer lovers plan their entire southern Alberta trips around stops along the Highway 3 Ale Trail!
Two Guys and a Pizza Place
Address: 316 11 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2N8 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Although we didn’t stop on this recent trip, it’s hard to talk about Lethbridge food without mentioning their famous pizzeria—Two Guys and a Pizza Place.
This delicious pizza joint has been a mainstay in the city for more than 20 years. A long time ago it was featured in an episode of the Food Network’s You Gotta Eat Here, which really reinforced why its such a celebrated local eatery. Two Guys and a Pizza Place offers over 40 kinds of pizza, including a few that have been named Canada’s Best. There are a lot of really interesting topping and sauce combinations, you get half and half pizzas which allow you to try a lot of different varieties.
I love when toppings just come together to create amazing flavours and that’s what you get here. They brush garlic butter on the crust too so you’re definitely going to eat every single bite of these pizzas. Delicious! The place is bustling on a Saturday night at 6 p.m., so there was a bit of wait for food, but the pizza was worth every second of the wait.
Wow Eats Lethbridge
Address: 2025 Mayor Magrath Dr S, Lethbridge, AB T1K 2S2 | Facebook | Instagram
Our final breakfast in Lethbridge during this most recent trip was at Wow Eats, a Korean-style premium bakery first, but also a full-service restaurant offering brunch and dinner.
Wow Eats Lethbridge is an expansion from the Wow Chicken brand in Calgary, and their sweet treat line-up is awesome.
You’ll want to save room (or trunk space) to stock up on cakes, tarts, donuts, croissants, macarons and more. I really loved my massive matcha croissant. The desserts here are definitely a star.
Our breakfast included a Bacon, fried egg, green mix, tomato, cheddar, avocado spread sandwich, Wow Chicken, and Fried Chicken Eggs Benny. We also shared a Bulgogi Beef Poutine! It was a lot of food. The portion sizes here are BIG!
The restaurant space is also pretty large and spacious.
… and more Food & Drink!
Of course we were not able to visit every single possible restaurant in Lethbridge during this trip (honestly there are so many more on my ‘to-try’ list I need to get back for like the Little Nicaragua Coffee Company, Tacos Made in Mexico, or Lighthouse Japanese Restaurant). But I am confident these suggestions for food & drink stops in your itinerary will be really well-received!
Just remember a lot of places are closed Sundays and Mondays so it’s super important to check hours of operation for spots you’re interested in in advance to avoid disappointment (or shift your Lethbridge getaway dates to maximize restaurant opening times!)
Local Shops
Listed in alphabetical order by section
Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge Gift Shop
Address: 318 – 7 Street, South Lethbridge, AB T1J 2G2 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
The Allied Arts Council of Lethbridge (who also operate the Casa Community Arts Centre) have a nice little gift shop downtown arts lovers can pop into to pick up some gifts from local artists. I would say this is a fairly fragile – be extra careful with toddlers – shop to be in lol. But there were some nice ceramic bowls, plates, figurines, paintings, hanging ornaments, and more to be found here!
Analog Books
Address: 322 6 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2C8 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Analog Books is hands-down one of my favourite bookshops ever. It’s home to two bookstore cats Hugo and Copper, both of whom came to say hello during our visit. The cat-themed books and gifts here is really top notch for my cat lovers. Analog has got a great kids section, well all sections, really! And so many wonderful book-adjacent gifts, like paper feather pens and puzzles, which we also picked up here.
Analog Books just feels like a super cozy bookshop, what you would want in book store look and feel. The vibes are excellent. You could spend a ton of time browsing in here!
Big John’s Books
Address: 320 7 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2G2| Facebook | Instagram
We also ended up doing an impromptu downtown Lethbridge bookstore crawl during our exploration, which included a pop into Big John’s Books, Lethbridge’s longest-running bookstore, where you’ll find lots of new and used books, including a basement with even more treasures.
Echo Used Books
Address: 325 5 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2B4| Facebook
And Echo Book store, which is located right next by The Penny Coffee House, whose shelves are teeming with used books. This bookstore is celebrating more than 30 years in business, and is well-known for its “cubby holes” (rooms filled with books of a certain type). Get lost in the aisles at this bookstore!
Uglistuffs
Address: 405 5 St S, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2B6 | Website | Facebook | Instagram
Ironically, there is only cute stuff at Uglistuff! This has got to be one of the cutest gift shops in Lethbridge. They sell everything from keychains and stickers to slippers and jewelry. There’s a cute kids corner and a custom clothing bar! They also offer free rubber duckies for little ones too. Definitely worth stopping into on your Lethbridge visit.
… and more Local Shops!
Of course we were not able to get to every single possible local shop in Lethbridge during this trip, really we barely scratched the local business surface, but were pleased with the smattering of local shops we did manage to browse and buy at.
We also really loved the close proximity and walking distance in particular for so many lovely Downtown Lethbridge stores! You could certainly plan your own self-guided shop hop in between food, art, and other attractions.
So that’s just a few ideas for ways you should explore the southern Alberta City of Lethbridge!
Honestly, lots to check out—and a lot we still need to do on a return trip!
Everyone we met in this city were so welcoming. And we really loved seeing the pride + rainbow flags and crosswalks around town. Just a wonderful signal that this is a welcoming place to visit.
Here’s a few more fun facts you might be interested in learning about the City of Lethbridge!
- They are one of the sunniest cities in Canada, with around 320+ days of sunshine per year.
- It is known as a windy city, so be prepared for that in your exploration lol.
- It’s really not too far from Waterton Park and several UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Head Smashed-in Buffalo Jump.
Here’s some more relevant links to help you plan your visit to Lethbridge:
Finally, you might be interested in where we stayed while visiting Lethbridge!
For this 2025 trip, we rented a lovely AirBnB house right by Nicholas Sheran Park. It was spacious, perfect for two families with young kids, and pricing during our dates was comparable to hotels. It is a bit farther away from downtown but the drive is really no problem for the extra space and pricing.
For previous Lethbridge visits I’ve also stayed at the Coast Lethbridge Hotel & Conference Centre and Sandman Signature Lethbridge Lodge, both are great and also walking distance to downtown food, art and exploration, so may be a good fit for your visit.
If you end up visiting Lethbridge and my guide helped you plan your visit, let me know!!
I know you’ll have an awesome time in the region like I did.
Thank you to Tourism Lethbridge for partnering with me so I could experience and share about my Explore Lethbridge adventures.
I can’t wait to get back down there to explore!
Linda
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