Saskatoon, Canada

Saskatoon is the prettier of the two big Saskatchewan cities and locals are entirely aware of it. Broadway Avenue is the bar-and-restaurant strip that serves both the students and the locals without ever getting rowdy, downtown has been steadily improving with the river landing development, and Riversdale is the neighbourhood that went from rough to the coolest restaurant district in the province within a decade. The river runs right through the middle of the city and the trails along it are genuinely beautiful.

The city's character is prairie hospitality with real substance: this is a place where the potash and agriculture economy keeps things stable, where twenty minutes gets you out of town into genuine nothing, and where people are genuinely delighted to talk to a stranger because it does not happen that often. Winters are hard, summers are gorgeous, and the sky does things that photographers drive hours for.

Expect real prairie warmth, sunsets worth waiting for, and conversation that goes deeper than the size of the city suggests.

Nearby: Regina Edmonton Calgary Winnipeg