Group Day Tour Suggestions

The Forks & French Quarter Day

(6-7 hours)               

This tour begins with the Forks National Historic site, Winnipeg's historical “meeting place”, with its unique outdoor historic site and indoor market of various shops, cafes, and restaurants.

Continue over the new Provencher Bridge to Winnipeg's French Quarter (St. Boniface), which is the largest French speaking community West of Thunder Bay. Enter Fort Gibraltar where we will be welcomed and taken back 200 years to the period of the Voyageurs and the fur trade in the Northwest. Visit the interpretive cabins and experience the joie de vive of this era.

Next, we will dine in elegant, romantic 1900's atmosphere at La Vieille Gare. This restaurant is a St. Boniface landmark, located in the old railway station, with an adjoining restored dining car.

After lunch, we will see the beautiful St. Boniface Cathedral, the oldest cathedral in Western Canada. The Cathedral's cemetery features the grave of Louis Riel, the famous Métis leader and founder of Manitoba.

The last stop is the St. Boniface Museum. Built in 1846 it is the largest remaining traditional oak log structure in North America and the first hospital in the Canadian West.       

Tour Includes:

• Guided tour of the Forks
• Entrance fee and guided tour of Fort Gibraltar
• Lunch at La Vieille Gare
• Entrance fee and guided tour of St. Boniface Museum
• Tour guide throughout
• Deluxe highway motorcoach transportation

Day Tour visiting Oak Hammock Marsh, Lower Fort Garry and River Road

(7 hours)  

In the morning you depart for Oak Hammock Marsh Interpretive Centre. Voted “ Canada's Best Outdoor Site ” awarded by Attractions Canada. A birder's paradise set in a reclaimed 36-square kilometer marsh and tall-grass prairie setting Oak Hammock Marsh provides home for more than 295 species of birds and thousands of species of mammals, insects, amphibians and reptiles. You will start in the Interpretive Centre with a 5-minute introductory film then a 45-minute guided tour of the exhibits and followed by a 45 minute guided tour outside in canoes to see some wildlife. There will be time to visit the Marsh gift shop. Following the gift shop visit there is a 20-minute drive to Lower Fort Garry.

You relive the drama of the 19 th century fur trade era at this National Historic Site - the oldest stone fur trade centre still intact in North America. Upon arrival you will be taken to the theatre in the visitor's centre for a welcome speech and film. There will then be a special lunch and following lunch you will be taken on a guided interpretive walk outside, through several of the restored fort buildings such as the Big House , home to the Associate Governor of Rupert's Land and the Hudson's Bay Company and the fur loft building, where pelts of fox, wolf, beaver, raccoon and other animals are stored. Other highlights include the men's house , guest cottage , blacksmith's shop, farm manager's cottage and native encampment .

Upon completion of the Lower Fort Garry tour you board the bus and begin the drive down the River Road Heritage Parkway . You stop briefly at Lockport with its historic St. Andrews Lock and Dam , pass by the Captain Kennedy House Museum (built in 1866 by Captain William Kennedy an explorer, entrepreneur and trader), St. Andrew's–on–the Red Anglican Church (the oldest stone church in Western Canada) and the St. Andrews Rectory National Historic Park.

Tour Includes:             

• Transportation by modern highway motor coach
• Tour guide throughout
• Entrance to Oak Hammock Marsh
• Introduction film, 45 minute guided tour of the exhibits and 45 minute guided tour outside in the canoes at Oak Hammock Marsh
• Lunch at Lower Fort Garry
• Entrance to Lower Fort Garry, welcome speech and film and guided interpretive walk of the Fort area
• Guided tour of River Road Heritage parkway

Mennonite Heritage Day

(7 hours)

In the morning you depart for the town of Steinbach and the Mennonite Heritage Village . This 40-acre complex spreads out from a street reminiscent of the Mennonite villages found in southern Manitoba during the late 1800's. Century old dwellings, church and school are furnished to the period. Following a guided tour you are treated to a traditional Mennonite meal ; Borscht, stone ground bread, coleslaw, pioneer farmer sausage, cottage cheese vereniki, rhubarb platz, coffee, tea or milk. After lunch you will have an opportunity to visit more of the village and the general store , which offers a wide selection of souvenirs. After the Mennonite Heritage Village tour you board the bus and transfer to the town of Steinbach where you visit Loewen Windows , one of the largest window manufacturers in Canada. You hear of the 3 generations of business development. Following the Loewen Windows visit Barkman Concrete with its variety of products including its amazing Skate Park concept . After the Barkman visit, you head back to your Winnipeg hotel.

Tour Includes:   

• Transportation by modern highway motor coach
• Tour guide throughout
• Entrance and guided tour of the Mennonite Heritage Village
• Traditional Mennonite meal at the Heritage Village
• Guided tour of Loewen Windows
• Guided tour of Barkman Concrete

Icelandic Heritage Day

(8 hours)

The guided tour departs your hotel by deluxe motorcoach and travels northward out of Winnipeg. As you arrive in the Winnipeg Beach area you cross Hwy #229 and Boundary Creek which was the northern boundary of Manitoba and the southern boundary of New Iceland from 1870-1881. You have a brief stop at the Stone Church site. Marked today only by a small cemetery, this is the site of the first church building in New Iceland.

Next stop is at Husavick Road where there are examples of early settlement development. From here it is on to Willow Point that was the landing site of the flat boats bringing in the first Icelandic settlers to New Iceland. After Willow Point you arrive in Gimli at about 11:00 am. In Gimli, the first Icelandic settlement, you are taken on a sightseeing tour. Following the tour you will be provided with lunch at the Lakeview Restaurant , with a wonderful view overlooking the lake. After lunch there will be time to relax or take a walk along the boardwalk or beach.

Next on the tour is a visit to the New Iceland Heritage Museum . The museum focuses on interpreting the history of the Icelandic settlementand the inter-cultural history of the area.

After the museum visit you depart Gimli and travel south through the town of Selkirk and passed historic Lower Fort Garry. The tour then continues down the River Road Heritage Parkway , the road used by the first Red River oxcarts. Here you will still find many beautiful historic homes from the mid-1800's. Stop to admire historic St. Andrews Lock and Dam the St. Andrew's–on–the Red Anglican Church , the oldest stone church in Western Canada still used for public worship, and the St. Andres Rectory National Historic Park, of national significance for its architecture.

Tour Includes:  

• Transportation by deluxe air-conditioned highway motor coach
• Tour guide throughout the tour
• Sightseeing tour of Gimli
• Lunch at the Lakeview Resort Restaurant
• Visit to the New Iceland Heritage Museum