Banff, Canada
- Emily Patterson
- Jun 26, 2020
- 7 min read
Updated: Aug 17, 2023
June 25-29, 2018
A year and a half after my brother moved to Vancouver, he reached out to see if any of us wanted to go to Banff. We aren't ones to turn down a trip, especially after seeing the stunning blue water on Instagram, and the rest of the family was on board too! We flew into Calgary on a Sunday afternoon and drove straight to Costco to stock up on drinks and snacks for the week (priorities). Followed by Smash Burger for dinner and then headed to the hotel to meet up with my brother's family. Our first full day, we started with breakfast at Rocky Mountain Bagel Company (where we would get a delicious bagel with toppings every morning of this trip) before going to Moraine Lake. It was a very cloudy morning that turned to rain once we arrived, which was unfortunate, but also worked in our favor. Banff is a popular place to visit in the summer, so the parking lot was full, but we managed to get a spot as some people were leaving due to the rain. We decided to wait it out in the gift shop, and we were glad we did because it wasn't long before the clouds started to part and the sun came out. We did the Rock Pile Hike, which is a very easy trail (with some stairs) leading to the "twenty dollar view." The view was stunning with the vibrant blue lake (from glacial rock flour) and mountain backdrop. We went on to see Emerald Lake, where we walked the roughly 5.2 km trail around, and Lake Louise. At Lake Louise, we hiked to Mirror Lake, which is about as far as we could make it while carrying the little ones. If you continue on the trail, you can stop at Lake Agnus Tea House for refreshments (June-October). The tea house had already closed for the day, so we weren't too worried about not continuing the hike. And turning back just meant we were that much closer to getting to sit down and enjoy delicious pizza at Bear Street Tavern for dinner.
Day two, we went to Johnson Canyon. (This is a popular place in the summer, so the earlier you get there, the better chance you have of getting a parking spot and less crowded trails.) It is about a 30-minute hike to the lower falls, an hour to the upper falls, and another hour to the ink pots. Before making it to the upper falls, someone in our group spotted a little ravine where we all climbed down and found a small waterfall that you could walk behind. We probably had more fun at this waterfall than at the lower and upper falls. We tend to prefer going off the beaten path and getting away from the crowds, which is what added to the fun of this other waterfall. The ink pots were a nice change of scenery. After three waterfalls, we walked into a more open area with pools of blue-green water. We stopped here to enjoy the view and eat our packed lunches. Until this point, we had mostly stayed together, but the return hike was every couple for themselves.
After meeting back up at the parking lot, we drove along the bow valley parkway, known for being a good place to see wildlife. It wasn't a very eventful drive, but we did happen to see a black bear. Before dinner, we fit in a quick trip to the Banff Upper Hot Springs, which, to be honest, was just like going to a warm, crowded swimming pool. It was not a scenic kind of experience, so we wouldn't necessarily recommend it with all there is to do in Banff. We ended the day at Graze food and drink, which was quite tasty, and they even treated us to complimentary dessert for the short wait time to seat the 10 of us together.
Day three, we drove the Icefields Parkway, a beautiful drive, on our way to a glacier tour. We booked a Columbia Icefield Adventure online to ensure all 10 of us could go together (and it is cheaper). Our tickets included a tour out to the Athabasca Glacier and admission to the Skywalk. We found ourselves in quite a predicament when we arrived at the Discovery Center for our tour. The first issue was that the parking lot was full, and we had arrived a little closer than desirable to our departure time. The second issue was that I had all the tickets, and we had no cell service to know where my brother's family was (we got separated when they made an extra stop). As we waited in line to board the ice explorer, we explained we were waiting for others in our group, but they informed us that they are on a strict schedule and didn't have any wiggle room to wait longer. Luckily, they arrived just in time! We were finally able to relax and enjoy the ride to the glacier as our Australian tour guide provided information on the glacier we were about to see, in his lovely Australian accent! We were given about 20-30 minutes out on the glacier, which was plenty of time to take some pictures, drink some glacier water, and take it all in. From the glacier tour, we took a bus over to the glass bottom Skywalk, which was a fun experience, especially watching family members who aren't so fond of heights make their way across, holding on to the railing for dear life.
After the glacier tour, our car planned to make a quick stop at Peyto Lake while my brother's family headed back towards the hotel to get the kids in bed. However, our short stop turned into several hours. Yet again, we had no cell service and had all started the trail at different paces. Chad and I got a head start and ended up venturing a little ways off from the viewing deck. The others didn't see us and thought we had gone on to follow one of the other trails. The trail split into two different directions, so we tried asking other hikers returning if they had passed any other couples, with no success. After a short time, we found my parents and decided to head back to the car since it was getting dark. We figured my brother and his wife would go back to the car when they completed the trail and had not found us along the way. After a while, we started to get worried that they could be in trouble. Both my dad and Chad ran back up at different times and tried looking for them, but ended up back at the car. It was probably an hour and a half before they made it back, to everyone's relief, including theirs since it was now dark. We all piled back into the car while we listened to their adventure (they had found a glacier which I am still so bummed I missed out on), and with it being a lot later than we had planned, we decided to grab pizza for a quick and easy dinner.
Day four, we had booked tickets for the Banff Gondola in the morning and a cruise at Lake Minnewanka in the afternoon. We spent about 2 hours at the Banff Gondola. The gondola ride itself is about 8 minutes, and at the top, there is an observation deck, interactive exhibits, a restaurant, multi-sensory theater, and gift shops. We probably had the most fun taking pictures of the squirrels that would come right up to you. (At the time we thought they were chipmunks, but apparently, they were golden-mantled ground squirrels, chipmunks have stripes on their face.) We finished up at the Gondola with plenty of extra time before our cruise, so I called and was able to move our time up. We have no complaints about the gondola or the cruise, but after having ridden gondolas on so many of our trips, we would choose a hike or something more scenic and less touristy. If you have time, the view of the town of Banff at the top of the gondola is worthwhile. Before dinner, we made a quick stop at Vermilion Lakes since we didn't get to go for sunrise (it was overcast, so we chose to sleep in). We didn't stay long tho because the mosquitoes were fierce. Figuring out dinner was a chore! After an hour of "we will eat anything, what sounds good to you?" we finally ended up at an Irish Pub.
Day five was my dad's birthday. We thought it would be fun to take him canoeing at Emerald Lake, but he said he was too tired to paddle around a lake after a full week of hiking and sightseeing. I was pretty bummed and worried we were not taking advantage of our last day in Banff. However, it ended up still being a fun, much more intentional, family day. We spent the morning playing in the pool with the kids, went to Canadian Unlimited Pizza for lunch, the Scoopin' Moose for ice-cream, and played around at a park before it was time to part ways. It's never fun to say goodbye, but we were staying at the airport hotel in Calgary that night while my brother's family was starting their several day drive back home. It had been almost a year since we had last seen my brother's family, so we were so thankful for this time in Banff with them!
Itinerary:
Day 1- Flight RDU - Houston - Calgary / Costco / Smash Burger / Drive to Hotel
Day 2- Rocky Mountain Bagel Company / Moraine Lake / Emerald Lake / Lunch / Lake Louise / Bear Street Tavern
Day 3- Rocky Mountain Bagel Company / Johnson Canyon / Packed lunch from Rocky Mountain Bagel Company on the trail / Bow Valley Parkway / Banff Upper Hot Springs / Graze Food & Drink
Day 4- Rocky Mountain Bagel Company / Icefields Parkway / Glacier Tour / Skywalk / Peyto Lake / Canadian Pizza Unlimited
Day 5- Rocky Mountain Bagel Company / Banff Gondola / Lake Minnewanaka Cruise / Vermilion Lakes / St. James Gate Olde Irish Pub
Day 6- Rocky Mountain Bagel Company / Pool / Canadian Pizza Unlimited / The Scoopin' Moose / Park / Smash Burger / Drive to airport hotel
Day 7- Flight Home
Food Recommendations:
Accommodations:
If we had started planning this trip sooner, we would have chosen to stay closer. Coast Canmore was about an hour or two from most of our destinations. But being late to book accommodations, this was the best option we could find. The Calgary Airport Hotel was one of the nicest hotels we've stayed at, and we would 100% recommend it, especially if you have an early flight to catch.
Things to Note:
-A park pass is required to travel around Banff and surrounding parks.
-Costco and some other places are very limited in the forms of payment they accept. Between the 6 of us, Costco didn't accept any of the cards we had but were willing to accept US cash.
-Mosquitoes can be bad in the summer. Luckily, we were only bothered by them at Lake Louise and Vermilion Lakes.
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