Banff is such a stunning place: every lake as stunningly blue as the last, beautiful rock formations, glaciers, waterfalls, wildflowers, the list goes on. But like all popular national parks, it can feel a bit like Disneyland at some of the most popular points of interest, we’re talking droves of tour buses everywhere, so knowing where to go and what is worth seeing is important for having the best time here.
When is the best time to go to Banff?
Banff has a bit of a chill all year round. If you look at seasonal highs you’ll notice that July and August really are the only times of year that get up to the 70’s F, but nights are still chilly in the 40’s F. We went for 4th of July weekend and got nice, sunny weather, but cool evenings and scattered thunderstorms. Packing a bathing suit and shorts was just as important as packing sweats and a fleece for the evenings.
Many people say the best time to visit is in summer, between mid-June to early September as a result. This is when the days are long (sun was setting at 10pm in July), the wildflowers are going crazy, and the lakes are a chef’s kiss.
For winter travel, if you want to explore the park and not just ski, I’ve read the best time is between December and March, when driving around feels magical with the peaks snow-capped.
Where to stay in Banff National Park?
You have several options when it comes to accommodations in Banff. If you don’t want to rough it, then there are a ton of hotel and motel options in the town of Banff (which is in the park), and also some great Airbnb options throughout the park and right outside of the park. If you want to get really fancy, there are two Fairmont Hotel options in the Park, one at Lake Louis and one in the town. The one in town is the original Fairmont, it’s a castle, and it’s stunning. If you have the means – holy moly, do it.
However since we camped, I’m going to detail that experience a bit more 🙂
Camping in Banff:
If you’re a camper at all, I highly recommend exploring the park via campervan, RV, or even tent if you’re feeling up to it. Personally I don’t love tent camping when there are grizzly bears are around, but there are a few campsites that have electric perimeters around them. (But do note, we didn’t see a grizzly when we were in the park). We rented a campervan with Radventures. They were one of the more affordable basic options that we found, had great reviews, and came with all the basic necessities for staying and cooking at a campground.
Also camping in Banff is easier said than done, camping in the park is incredibly competitive. Camp reservations release once a year in a specific window, in 2023 is was in March early in the morning. Get on early and wait, it’s a lot like waiting for concert tickets these days 🙂 You’ll visit https://reservation.pc.gc.ca/ to reserve your sites. I can’t recommend enough you plan where you want to camp ahead of time and even pick out sites you think look good. I picked ours based on privacy level, which is a cool feature they show on most of the specific sites. If you click into the site details it will show privacy as poor, moderate, and good.
For specific campsites, there are several locations on the website, some being “Banff” region and the others being “Lake Louise – Banff”. So when you’re searching for campsites remember there are different categories.
In general the campsites in Banff are great, there’s drinkable water, and depending how remote you either have an outhouse or one with showers and running water. Most bathrooms at the in-town campsites were immaculate. And a really cool feature is that you get free firewood at all of the campsites! Coming from the US, where bundles are $6 minimum, we loved this so much.
We camped at:
Tunnel Mountain Village 1
This was one of the campsites in town. We loved it, with large campsites with decent privacy an proximity to town. Great home base, and beautiful wooded area.
Rampart Creek Campground
This is in the Northern part of the park, along the Icefields parkway This was our personal favorite campsite we stayed at since we got a site right on the milky blue river with an amazing view of the beautiful mountains.
Lake Louise Soft Sided Trailers
You have two campsites in lake Louise, one for camping and the other for RVs. The difference is that the one for tents has a bear-proof electric fence around it since there are so many grizzlies around it. (Do note, most areas in Banff you won’t run into a grizzly bear because of how many people are on the trails etc, so don’t be alarmed, but definitely be prepared). Beautiful area, and great for proximity to Lake Louise activities. Also had decent bathrooms with running water. But over all our least favorite due to how crowded and small the campsites were.
Two Jacks Lakeside
If you can get a spot here, do it. It’s one of the more popular sites, being so close to town (12 km away). But if you had a spot on the lake you can’t beat it since it’s right on Lake Minnewanka. This one goes first when people are booking campsites. To enjoy this spot, you’ll definitely want a kayak or some sort of water craft, cool inlets to go explore on this lake.
For more beautiful campsites in Banff, check out this article.
General Tips for exploring Banff National Park:
- Bring your own kayak, raft, SUP, or water floatation device! Renting a Kayak on Lake Louise is $150 CAD for an hour, seriously. We rented an inflatable kayak through our van rental company and used it 4X and spent $150 CAD for it for the 5 days we were there. Look into it at one of the local outfitters if you have a car, there are so many amazing lakes and opportunities to get out on the water. Definitely don’t miss out.
- Don’t romanticize Lake Louis as much as I did. You should check it out, for sure. BUT I recommend exploring it in tandem with one of the tea house hikes. Don’t make it your primary destination. This is legit Disneyland vibes around a blue lake where people are lining up in droves to pay $150 CAD to kayak for an hour. If you want to make it your final destination, make sure to go early (before 6:30AM, seriously for parking, or reserve your shuttle. Lake Louis is beautiful, there’s no doubt about it. But there are many lakes up North that are just as blue and beautiful with no crowds. If you go up past Lake Louise 10 minutes you’ll run into Lake Herbert, a tiny crystal blue lake. 30 minutes past Lake Louise is Bow Lake (see the below picture, shows how blue the water is at Bow!) a large beautifully aquamarine colored lake as well. Most of these lakes along the Icefields Parkway are great to stop and picnic or kayak.
- Bring or rent bear spray, you can rent from some places for cheap but a lot of places charge a premium. We rented through our van rental for half the price. If you can find something outside of the park.
- Get a shuttle pass ahead of time. If you don’t want to worry about waking up early and parking at Lake Louise, make sure to reserve your shuttle pass way ahead of time. Also note if you want to visit Lake Moraine you can only do so if you have a shuttle reserved. Your only access options are now the Parks Canada shuttle, taxis, a tour or cycling. They offer 48 hour-ahead of visit passes that they release 48 hours ahead of each day, but they ran out. I was on as soon as they sold them at 8am and didn’t get one, and even had been waiting. It’s okay, but it does mean if you want to get to Lake Louise in your own car, you need to get to the parking lot by 7am at the latest we were told.
- You do need to buy a Parks Canada pass to explore the park(s) but you can get them upon entering the park, you’ll pay by the day. Day passes are $10.50 per person. Or you can buy them in advance online. A Parks Canada Discovery Pass, gets you entrance to all Parks Canada destinations for the year, is $145.25 CAD per family.
- Base your itinerary on the days of the week you’ll be visiting. Obviously summertime is going to be crowded no matter what, but if you’re visiting Banff on a week day, maybe plan your visits to the popular areas like Lake Louise and the Tea Hikes during one of the week days, and not the weekend days you’re visiting. It might only help a little with crowds, but does help.
The perfect five day itinerary in Banff and nearby:
Day 1: Arriving and Exploring the Town of Banff’s Local Sites (Half Day)
Drive time to Banff from Calgary:
If you flew into Calgary you have a bit of a drive to Banff. If you’re staying in the town of Banff it’s an hour and a half to the Park / town entrance. If you opted into camping up in the Northern section of the park, it could take you up to three hours to get there. So plan accordingly. We decided to stay in town the first night, and then head all the way up to the top of the park the next day.
Sunset at Vermillion Lakes Vermillion Lakes
Good to start out with the least impressive lake you’ll see the entire trip – but it’s still beautiful! The lake itself is lovely and a great spot for watching the sunset. If you want a peaceful and quiet lake right beside Banff town this is it. We were also told it’s a great for spotting beaver and moose, but we weren’t so lucky.
Get dinner in town
We had dinner at Hello Sunshine, an upscale Japanese restaurant. Great ambiance, and they also have two small Karaoke rooms in the back if you’re into that sort of thing. We also hit some bars after including Tommy’s, a local dive with some good bar games. Great time to walk around and see the town, which from our perspective was WAY more crowded and insane than we thought it would be. So not our favorite place during meal time, but glad we checked it out.
Day 2: Northern Banff: Drive the Icefields Parkway to the Colombia Icefields Center
We chose to spend a whole day exploring the Northern portion of the park, which we couldn’t recommend more. It seemed that a lot of people we talked to only went as North as Lake Louise and if you did that you’d be missing so much of what the park had to offer. The Icefields Parkway is said to be one of the most beautiful road trips in the world, and with all the beautiful lakes, the rivers, and the stunning mountains along the way, we agree.
To get up to the North part of Banff that borders Jasper National Park, you’ll drive an additional 2 hours. We packed in a lot in this day, and a lot of miles (driving and hiking), but it was all amazing. You could definitely spread this portion out if you have more time in the park, since there’s SO much more to explore if you can find a place to stay up North, and then visit Jasper and the surrounding parks. Tons of long hikes and lakes to spend your days. But we’ll go over the highlights, basing what we did off a ton of research and tips from locals.
Note: there are only really two gas stations on your drive, one in town, one at Lake Louise, and one at the Saskatchewan River Crossing. Definitely fill up when you can. And as far as restaurants or places to eat go, there are stores attached to the gas stations. Lake Louise offers some dining options, Saskatchewan River Crossing has a restaurant, Bow Lake has a restaurant, and Columbia Icefields Center has a Starbucks in there so you can buy food. Also as you continue North you will lose service, so definitely recommend downloading Google Maps ahead of time.
Peyto Lake
The first stop on the journey up is Peyto Lake which is about an hour North from the town of Banff, 35 minute drive from Lake Louise. Peyto Lake is truly one of the most stunningly blue lakes in the park, but it is quite a popular destination as well. And to set expectiations the main spectacle is to a viewpoint, not the shore of the lake. You’ll park in the parking lot and reach the main lookout after a steep 10 minute paved walk which offers a magnificent view from high above the lake. This is where almost everyone stops. If you have yet more energy there’s apparently a secret Peyto Lake viewpoint and there’s also a full walk (which is just under 6km) that gives you incredible views of Bow Lake, which is yet another of the most beautiful lakes in the area.
Parker Ridge Trail
You’ll get back on the road and continue to drive for another 45 minutes or so and find Parker Ridge Trail. This is your longest hike of the day but still relatively short, and definitely the most strenuous but it’s absolutely the most stunning viewpoint we saw the entire time we were in Banff. It’s 3.5 miles but is a challenging 820 feet elevation which you climb all at once over the course of about a mile in the beginning, with no shade. The payoff is an incredible glacier view at the top and depending on the time of year, with beautiful wildflowers. I loved this guys’ explanation of the hike.
Colombia Icefield Discovery Center (Jasper National Park Icefield Information Centre and Glacier Gallery)
Another fifteen minute drive and you’ll hit the Colombia Icefield Center where you can get a cool view of more glaciers and stop by the center if you’d like to learn a bit more about the topography. This is technically a part of Jasper National Park. There were a couple of activities to do here like go on a bus on the ice, and also go to a lookout point. Both seemed like a bit touristy and a waste of time after looking into them. The Parker Ridge Trail we thought gave you a better glacier view than the lookout they offer here, if you’re willing to put in a little hiking time.
Stanley Falls
Your final stop for the day is another quick hike up to Stanley Falls. You’ll continue past the Colombia Icefields along the Icefields Parkway for about 15 more minutes and pull over on the right side when you see the Stanley Falls sign. Very stunning short hike where we ran into maybe one other person. You hike along a the river by the highway, and then turn into the forest where you hike along the river with multiple waterfall points and then end at Stanley Falls. In July the waterfalls were flowing heavily and there were a ton of waterfalls along the way, it was stunning. Was about 2 miles round trip and not very strenuous, definitely worth it. The man at the Icefield Discovery Center advised us that we couldn’t miss it and he was right. However it was very remote, so definitely carry your bear spray at the ready for this one.
Rampart Creek Campground
We finished our night off at Rampart Creek Campground which was about 45 minutes back South toward where we came from. This was our personal favorite campsite we stayed at since we got a site right on the milky blue river with an amazing view of the beautiful mountains. Perfect place to relax and drink a beer after a long, epic adventure. We jumped into the river and then relaxed, built a fire, and made some campfire tacos.
Day 3: Lake Louise Surrounding Area
The following places are in the vicinity of Lake Louise, so if you’re booking any nights close by to Lake Louise, that’s your time to explore the area. Since we camped North of Lake Louise we gave ourselves a day to drive back down and explore the stops that weren’t based at Lake Louise.
Note: If you’re staying in Banff, and have more energy to hike a bunch after the first day, this could be your day to do the Tea Houses.
Takakkaw Falls
Takakkaw Falls is a 40 minute drive from Lake Louise campground- Takakkaw Falls is actually in another National Park that borders Banff called Yoho National Park (actually just across the British Colombia Border). It is the most spectacular waterfall close to Banff because it’s 381 meters high and is Canada’s second largest. The scenery is both beautiful and dramatic, and the “hike” to get in is a flat 1/4 mile to get close to the waterfall, although you can see it very well from the parking lot. Do note, there is a steep road to get up to the falls so don’t think you can tow a trailer or get a large RV up this road.
Emerald Lake
From Takakkaw Falls, you can continue a bit more West on the Highway for 30 minutes to check out Emerald Lake. Be warned, Emerald Lake is totally another Disneyland vibe, there are droves of tour buses and SO many tourists trying to Kayak here. If you decide to go, plan to get out on the water, stay at one of the lodges, or have a meal at one of the restaurants near or on the lake. If you don’t want to spend a bit of time here, it’s not worth it just for the viewing due to all the crowds, in my opinion, but it totally lives up to its name – it is EMERALD and gorgeous. Sitting on the lake shore is very nice, and apparently at sunset it’s amazing.
Lunch at The Fairmont Chateau, Lake Louise
You used to be able to park at The Fairmont Chateau on Lake Louise and have lunch in order to get a parking spot at Lake Louise. You can no longer do this, but what you can do is reserve a lunch reservation at the Chateau if you’re really jonesing to see Lake Louise this day. If you brought a kayak with you, couple lunch with a nice kayak on the lake. Lunch will not be cheap but if you get a patio seat, the view is incredible.
Go grizzly bear spotting on the Lake Louise Gondola
The Lake Louise gondola is actually not at the Lake, it’s just at the ski resort area, so parking shouldn’t be as much of an issue for you if you want to make this stop. You come here for the best chance of seeing wild Grizzlies in Banff. They report when they last saw grizzlies and do see them every day. You get the option of the gondola or an open chair lift, definitely do a chair lift if the weather is okay for better visibility and photos. The rides are not cheap, it’s $60 CAD/adult so I would base on whether you go up or not based on budget and whether or not they have seen grizzly bears recently – just ask!
Also here they have a nice little restaurant with a view of the mountain and some decent cocktails. If you want to relax and take in the mountain air, this is a good spot for it.
Soak in the Hot Springs
We didn’t actually make it to the hot springs but heard mixed reviews. We were told the earlier you soak the better because the springs are the cleanest at the beginning of the day. But were told the springs themselves were pretty cool with great views and really hot water after all that activity. The springs are also pretty cheap relative other activities , at just CAD $8.30 for adults and $6.30 for kids.
Day 4: Tea House Hike
Breakfast at a Tea House Lake Agnes Teahouse or The Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House
This was a major highlight of the trip, because going on a beautiful hike to a tea house at the break of dawn in the middle of nowhere, with lake views, and insane wildflowers during the summer, is truly an amazing experience. You have two options of tea houses in the park, the Lake Agnes Teahouse or The Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House. You can do both, but that does make for about a 10 mile hike, but I’ll explain the differences below so you can decide what you want to do. So unless you’re up for that, it’s probably best to just choose one.
Now, first and foremost, we are not early risers, quite the opposite actually, we’re those friends who sleep in. BUT there are two advantages to waking up early on this day. The first, is that if you don’t have a Lake Louise shuttle pass, you have to get up there early in order to park in the parking lot. The lot fills up around 7AM at the latest we were told . We got up there around 5:45am and the car park was about 1/3 full already. The second reason to wake up early is, the tea houses only fit so many people, so you want to be one of the first 30 or so people if you want to dine-in and have a cool experience. You can wait in line but things take a little while at a place where there’s very little resources. For reference, we chose to do the Lake Agnes Tea House, we left a little after 6am, and got to the Tea House at 7:30am. The tea house opens at 8am, there were about 20 people up there, we waited in line for 30 minutes, and got a beautiful table outside. The Plain of Six Glaciers Tea House opens at 9am, so you might have a little more time to be one of the first in line. We heard long queues begin around 9am for both.
Now the question is, which teahouse hike should you do?
I wanted the best of both worlds, so we visited Lake Agnes, but did the extended route to see some of the trail for the Plain of Six Glaciers, and I do not regret it. Some caveats:
If you look at reviews for both tea houses they are about 4.5 reviews on Google (insane), so you really can’t go wrong, both are said to be amazing. We read (and believe) that the Lake Agnes Teahouse was more strenuous because it’s the same elevation around 1300 feet gain over 2 miles (4.5 mile round trip, 1300 feet elevation gain), and the Plain of Six Glaciers is over 3 miles up (6.5 miles, 1200 feet elevation gain). This guy said he’s more impressed with The Plain of Six Glaciers. The Lake Agnes is notoriously the more popular trail with more crowds.
For Lake Agnes, you start the 3.5km hiking trail from the shore of Lake Louise. The trail is uphill basically the entire way. This is not an easy climb with the switchbacks, but you are out of the sun in the forest. Generally scenery up was beautiful, but just forest. If you’re from Denver like us, nothing life-changing. Along the way you’ll pass Mirror Lake and arrive to Lake Agnes with the teahouse shortly after. Once you get seated, you can choose from various teas (no coffee here), and then some fun homemade snacks including biscuits, breads, soups, sandwiches, or whatever else they decided to make that day.
Now for the most beautiful part. I STRONGLY recommend not going back down the way you came for the most beautiful views and scenery in the park. We followed this trail but added on the Big Beehive viewpoint. At a minimum, continue on to the Beehive, it’s one of the most stunning views in the park of Lake Louise, see below picture. But if you do the entire loop plus Beehive the round trip is about 7.5 miles (can’t recommend this enough). From Lake Agnes you’ll continue along the beautiful lake with stunning wildflowers. Then from there you go up a steep hill to get to the Big Beehive, seriously gorgeous. Then you’ll start to make your decent after a long ascent and you’ll be happy you have no more climbing to do. The hike back is along a river, and then ends with you on the shore of Lake Louise which is so great to see the other side of it.
Note – definitely bring warm clothes for this hike, it’s cold in the morning and I regretted hiking in shorts. We were freezing sitting outside at the tea house.
Lake Louise at sunset:
This is a long hike so you may need a little post-hike nap or relaxation time. We chilled and read at our campsite. Then later that evening we decided to check out Lake Louise and Sunset. Parking is almost always a nightmare at Lake Louise, but we found if you come right during sunset we didn’t have a problem finding parking. Obviously you do have to pay legally, but the water at sunset was very magical.
Day 5 – Exploring In & Around the Town of Banff
Lake Minnewanka
Right outside of town is Lake Minnewanka. This lake is relatively large, and is a great place to picnic, swim, walk around, explore via kayak, rent a canoe, swim, picnic, hike up Stewart Canyon . Over by the campsite, Two Jack Lakeside, there’s also another little lake inlet that’s a nice place to explore. You can also do a Lake Minnewanka Cruise if you want to tour it by boat.
Johnston Canyon
This was something else we didn’t have energy for, but is a Banff hot spot. My good friend from Calgary said this is a very crowded hike with the “trail” being concrete so she didn’t recommend it unless you went all the way up to the Ink Pots which is a round trip of 12km.
The trail winds through a narrow canyon with turquoise water, until you reach two waterfalls. The walk to the Lower Falls is paved, and easy 0.8km trail and you can walk behind the waterfall when you get there. The Upper Falls track is 2.5km up and is steeper. Continue on to the Ink Pots – gorgeous blue and green pools have a huge mountain backdrop and lots of places to sit and admire them from.
Grab a drink at the Fairmont Banff
The Fairmont in Banff’s town is legendary – it’s a castle! It’s very pricey to stay, so for those of us who can’t swing it, at least grab a drink here. The views are so great from the bar, and they have a very impressive (but spendy) cocktail menu. But worth checking out for the balcony views, and to see the historic castle.
Sulphur Mountain Gondola for sunset
Head up on the gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain for a treat-yourself dinner. The restaurant has one of the best views in the world, completely surrounded by mountains! If it’s out of your budget then you can still head up the mountain and enjoy the views for sunset. There is a boardwalk which takes you to the very summit (it doesn’t take long to get there) and offers more incredible views along the way. The Sulphur Mountain Gondola is also pricey ($64 CAD for adults) If you follow our advice and head up for sunset you’ll pay the after 5pm rate (which is the same as the Alberta residents rate) at $49 per adult.
Other things to do that we didn’t get to around town:
- Cave and basin: a local favorite trail is Marsh Trail 1.7 mile loop
- Cascade pond: we were told there’s a picturesque bridge
Where to eat in the town of Banff:
Restaurants:
- Hello Sunshine – Sushi / Japanese. DELICIOUS. They also have two small Karaoke rooms in the back
- Block Kitchen + Bar – smaller Asian fusion spot – really delicious
- Bear Street Tavern – Monday is 50% off pizzas. They also have beer steins 🙂
- Park Distillery – fancy cocktails and solid food
- Amu Ramen – they only have like 10 bar seats in this place, super small but really good ramen
- Anejo – trendy mexican food with a great happy hour
- Eddie Burger – a lot of locals frequent this place
Bars
- Three Bears Brewery – solid brewery and really cool space. They also have pizzas, burgers, wings but all like elevated bar food
- Rose and Crown – they have live music!
- Tommys – best local spot. Dive bar that has games and darts!
- Elk and Oarsman – rooftop overlooking Mainstreet and the mountain!
- High Rollers – bar/restaurant/bowling! Get downstairs and it’s got all the things
Thanks for reading! Have other favorite Banff activities or tips? Comment below!
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