Beautiful Banff

This is a great place to base a trip to see the Canadian Rockies... The scenery is BREATHTAKING! Bring your camera, your hiking boots, and a sense of adventure. Plan to spend a few days getting back to nature! You will not be disappointed!

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

It is best to rent a car.

Hostels vary in amenities provided, but the basics are the same... bed, shared kitchen, common living room, etc.

Good, clean rooms with friendly staff!

We travel to see the sights not the inside of a hotel room!

I visit the Banff/Lake Louis area as often as possible. This is a pub the locals recommended after spending a day in the great outdoors. It was EXACTLY what we were seeking. Great food, friendly staff, and reasonable prices for DELICIOUS food!

The eight-minute ride takes you to the 7500-foot summit with its panoramic view and alpine trails. BREATHTAKING!!!

You can also hike to the top, no special equipment or clothes needed. You can then opt to take the gondola back to the base.

$18/adult CND

Road Trip!

One of the most spectacular drives in Canada...

Travel west on Highway 1 to Canmore. (Pay $10/car/day to enter Banff National Park.) Highway 1 will take you into the heart of the Rocky Mountains through the town of Banff. From there, you can continue straight onto Lake Louise.

Better yet, turn off to the right shortly after Banff and drive the winding, forested Bow Valley Parkway, which will take you to Johnston Canyon (Have the time? Take a hike!) Then continue through Lake Louis townsite, then through to where the Icefields Parkway (Hwy 93) branches off towards Jasper.

You can cut the loop short by turning onto the more remote David Thompson Highway (Hwy 11) at Saskatchewan Crossing (about halfway between Lake Louis and Jasper) to Red Deer then back to Calgary.

If you continue north to Jasper, expect long stretches of UNBELIEVABLE views! Unfortunately, these views mean heavy gridlock during the summer months. (Once in Jasper, it is about 250 miles back to Calgary.)