Thunder Bay or Winnipeg? (crime rate, live in, restaurants)

[Repubocrat]

I am considering driving to one of these two cities from Minneapolis in the next few weeks. I asked a few Canadians about Winnipeg and they all say it sucks. Thunder Bay seems to be a nicer place but I was wondering what is there to do in each one of these cities. Any information is appreciated

[allforcats]

Aim for the amethysts! The largest deposit of amethysts in North America lies in the earth at Thunder Bay.

Winnipeg is nice, if you want to do in some other city pretty much the same things you could do at home. A city is a city...

But Thunder Bay! How often have you, or you and your family or friends if others are going with you, had the opportunity to tour gemstone mines? And dig your own amethysts if you want to. Now there"s a view of life I'll bet you've never given yourself before! -- a type of workd you've never been in before, eh?

Thunder Bay Mining Tours: Mining Tours in Thunder Bay, Ontario
That's just a start. You can Google more info. Have fun!

P.S. You might want to look up TripAdvisor.com, the definitive travel site where real travelers report their real experiences everywhere. The site will give you tons of info on both locations.

[chicken.or.the.nugget]

Why would you want to go to either of the cities? They're kind of dumps. Thunder Bay is basically like Duluth but colder, uglier and less historical. While it has a bigger population, it is way huger and area and less dense than Duluth.
I don't think Winnipeg has anything particularly nice about it.

[Cornerguy1]

Originally Posted by chicken.or.the.nugget

Why would you want to go to either of the cities? They're kind of dumps. Thunder Bay is basically like Duluth but colder, uglier and less historical. While it has a bigger population, it is way huger and area and less dense than Duluth.
I don't think Winnipeg has anything particularly nice about it.

And you're basing your opinion of these cities on your own personal experiences, right?

[lndigo]

Winnipeg's a frigid, oversized slum.

[Robynator]

Originally Posted by Repubocrat

I am considering driving to one of these two cities from Minneapolis in the next few weeks. I asked a few Canadians about Winnipeg and they all say it sucks. Thunder Bay seems to be a nicer place but I was wondering what is there to do in each one of these cities. Any information is appreciated

Neither are particularly big tourist draws compared to other parts of Canada, but I could only imagine that Winnipeg would offer more seeing how it's a large city with a respectably well-sized arts scene and a LOT of history and historic architecture. A lot of famous Canadian historic moments occurred in Winnipeg, so it's more than just a blip on the map. There are some pretty beautiful sandy beaches along the lakes just north of Winnipeg as well, but it might be a bit early for that.

Winnipeg gets its bad rep as it's rather isolated and is known for its extreme temperatures (especially it's extremely cold winters). Other than that, it's not actually a bad place at all - I've always wanted to visit. In reality, most Canadians have never visited Winnipeg so take their "oh don't go there!" with a grain of salt.


Unlike Winnipeg which is located in a river valley in the prairies, Thunder Bay's located on the Canadian shield (ancient rock formation) on the Great Lakes. The topography is more varied. It is a much smaller city of barely over 100,000 people. Winnipeg by comparison is a city of over 600,000. I really don't know much about Thunder Bay so can't provide you with much info. It has never been known to be a destination of sorts, but it certainly can be if you do research ahead of time.

[west_end_don]

Originally Posted by Repubocrat

I am considering driving to one of these two cities from Minneapolis in the next few weeks. I asked a few Canadians about Winnipeg and they all say it sucks. Thunder Bay seems to be a nicer place but I was wondering what is there to do in each one of these cities. Any information is appreciated

Ouch!
I've never been to either, but I'd say Winnipeg. It's a real city.

[chicken.or.the.nugget]

Originally Posted by Cornerguy1

And you're basing your opinion of these cities on your own personal experiences, right?

No, but i have family who live in Winnipeg, and family who have driven through Thunder Bay. I don't need to go there to know a place sucks. Winnipeg might be alright but thunder bay seems like a booring, industrial city. Have you been to Duluth? It's a fact Thunder Bay is colder, and that it is less dense, and from pictures i can tell it is ugly/booring and doesn't have many buildings

[oasisinspace]

I would go to Thunder Bay. The city is very beautiful. Winnipeg has a very bad rep for its violence. There are lots of gangs. Thunder Bay's crime rate is very low. There are many unique stores and restaurants. There is also a fantastic view of the Sleeping Giant from the Marina and at Chippewa Park. Also within a 25 minute drive you can view Kakebekka Falls. A very beautiful waterfalls. If you do go there be sure to try the Hoito off Bay st for the Pancakes. Very good.

[tourist]

One way to look at it is, what attracts you on roadtrips to American-side equivalents in the region?

E.g.
- what would you look to do in/around Duluth? It's smaller, but culturally similar to Thunder Bay.
- what would you look to do in/around Fargo? It's (much) smaller, but culturally similar to Winnipeg.

In terms of physical scenery, Thunder Bay and its surrounding area is (IMHO) more interesting. Look into the Sibley Peninsula (Silver Islet), Ouimet Canyon, perhaps consider doing the whole North Shore of Lake Superior highway route.

Winnipeg struck me as an overgrown farm town when I lived there, but that was nearly 20 years ago. However, it's a *large* overgrown farm town (>600,000 people), so if you indicate more specific interests I might be able to point you at something.

One thing I'd observe about both cities is that "the next few weeks" isn't the ideal time to see either: the warm weather won't (reliably) have started up, but the mosquitoes likely will have. August is definitely the best time to appreciate both cities.