If you’re up on your Canadian clichés, you probably know the Prairies for their long, frigid winters and country roads so straight and flat you can see the headlights of an oncoming car from miles away. The punchline of many a joke on The Simpsons and the destination for a business-trip episode of The Office—the show’s writers chose Winnipeg, one of the largest cities in the region, because it struck the perfect balance of sounding both vaguely exotic and totally obscure—Canada’s heartland doesn’t get the same love bestowed upon its naturally stunning coastlines or eclectic, cool Toronto and Montreal.

And yet, Saskatoon and Winnipeg are stealthily gathering cred among those in the know. Though both cities date back thousands of years to Canada’s earliest aboriginal inhabitants and flourished as the country built its transcontinental railway in the late 19th century, growth stalled here for decades. But then a reversal: For years young people poured out of the Prairies but recent population trends show the fastest growth in Canada. From culinary talent like Saskatoon’s Dale MacKay, Canada’s first Top Chef winner who packed up for Vancouver on his 15th birthday and spent years in the kitchens of legends such as Daniel Boulud and Gordon Ramsay, to boutique owners such as Alicja Dalecki, proprietor of Winnipeg’s chicly minimalist Boutique Anya, locals are returning in droves.

Combine this influx with the opening of major cultural centers—Winnipeg’s architecturally spectacular Canadian Museum for Human Rights is the world’s first museum dedicated to these themes (a current exhibit explores the role of artisan cooperatives in furthering women’s rights, with beautiful textiles and crafts on display); the Remai Modern, which opened in 2017, will soon house the largest collection of Picasso linocuts anywhere—and you get a new sense of worldly sophistication fused with friendly Prairie sensibility.

What’s happening in the Prairies is something more than fresh—it feels like peak Canadiana. Here’s how to experience the best of Saskatoon and Winnipeg.