Whenever we have out-of-town visitors (and as a South Asian/desi family we have a lot of those!) we are always looking for ideas of fun things to do in Calgary. Rafting down the Bow River is a great way to see Calgary and especially the downtown buildings. If you have guests visiting in summers or want to experience it yourself with family and friends, it’s a great activity for all ages.
My friend was visiting with her children so we decide to raft down the Bow River as a group of three adults, two teenagers, two tweens and one toddler. Everyone had a wonderful time and that’s usually a difficult to achieve accomplishment with such different ages in the mix. Highly recommend Lazy River Raft Rentals which is the company we decided to go with.
Ofcourse, everyone is free to take their own raft down the bow, but we wanted a simpler no-hassle experience because a. we don’t own a raft and b. didn’t want to take one to the river along with oars and life jackets, inflate the raft, get it in the river plus get the raft out of the river later, deflate it and load it back. You get the drill!
Lazy River Raft Rentals also make the experience more hassle free by giving you free parking at their downtown location which is up the river. You can then take a shuttle down the river and start your raft ride from Baker Park. Which means that by the time you end your trip a little after the Peace Bridge and get off, your car is already parked there and you just get in and leave!
The whole trip takes around 3-4 hours depending on the speed of the river. They allow you to stay for longer if you like. We loved the views from the river of beautiful properties by the river and did our desi parent duties by reminding our children of the careers they need to get into, to own such houses.
Dogs are welcome on the rafts and I highly recommend taking a cooler onboard with drinks and some snacks. Kids loved spotting ducks by the river.
It was lovely to point out the prominent Calgary buildings and bridges from the river to our out-of-town visitors as we approached downtown. One of my most favourite things to do was to dip my feet in the cold water.
Rafting down the Bow River with Lazy Day Raft Rentals is the #1 water activity in Calgary on Tripadvisor and it truly lives upto the reputation on the list of fun things to do in Calgary. Highly recommend the experience to make the most of Calgary summers. You can use my code URDUMOM10 to get 10% off your bookings.
Disclaimer: We were hosted by Lazy Day Raft Rentals but all opinions are my own.
Read More: [Farm Fun in Calgary]
Read More: [Calgary Parks for Best Fall Colours]