A Weekend in Banff

Got limited PTO, but you want to get away? If you live in the States, this is a perfect place to go! Banff has everything from stunning mountains to out-of-this-world lakes. This place still ceases to amaze me with all of its beauty!

If you are flying in, the closest airport will be Calgary Airport. I would recommend renting a car through Turo or through any other rental car agency. Once you get your rental car, you can go to your hotel accommodation.

For hotels, you can either choose to stay in Canmore (the nearby town) or in Calgary. I would recommend staying in Canmore as it is much closer to the park and will have less drive time going into the park!

Day 1: Settling In, Cascade Gardens, and Surprise Corner

On our 1st day, we arrived in Calgary and took an Uber over to our rental car pickup through Turo. We had some snacks and coffee at the legendary Tim Nortons and then headed off over to Canmore to check into our Airbnb.

After checking in, we decided to walk in the town of Canmore to eat some poutine as well as check out the Cascade Gardens. Cascade Gardens is a free attraction where you can view water features, flowers, plants, and wind down after a busy flight. Afterwards, we headed over to Surprise Corner to get a good view of the Fairmount hotel as well as the mountains in Banff itself.

Day 2: Kayaking Lake Louise, Hiking the Beehive Trail, and seeing Lake Morraine

On our 2nd day, we started our day early by heading over to the parking lot for Lake Louise. I would recommend getting there by 7 AM to ensure that you get a parking spot, as it can fill up rather quickly!

Once you find a spot, you can head over to Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise to rent a canoe for an hour. It might be a bit on the pricer side but I would highly recommend it. It was the highlight of our trip. I could not take my eyes off how blue the water was. It is absolutely gorgeous to see mountains everywhere you turn!

After canoeing, we decided to go on a small hike. We did the Lake Agnes to the Little Beehive Trail. It's a fairly easy hike. You will pass by Mirror Lake and then see Lake Agnes to view the waterfall and the tea house. This hike will take about 1 hour. It's a great way to see a lot of lakes in a short period of time.

If you have a bit more time and are more interested in a workout, you can always continue along the trail to finish the big hike called The Plain of Six Glaciers Trail (Lake Louise). However, you will need about 6 hours to finish the entire trail. If you have even more time, you can also choose to do the Big Beehive trail, but this will take about 8 hours and should be the first thing that you do!

After hiking, we decided to take the shuttle over to Lake Morraine. Lake Morraine is not accessible through private transport, and you will have to take a shuttle to get there. Once we arrived, we went on a short walk along the Moraine Shoreline Trail. This trail can take about 1.5 hours. There is also a gift shop that you can check out with a giant bear!

If you have more time, I would head over to Bankhead Ghost Town. It's a cool area to explore, a once-bustling town where you can view remnants of an old coal mine town.

We headed back to Canmore for dinner and some R&R!

Day 3: Leaving Banff & Checking out Calgary

On our last day, we headed out of Canmore and to the city of Calgary. It's about an hour's drive. Once we got to Calgary, we started off heading to the Peace Bridge. The Peace Bridge is a beautiful architectural bridge that connects the city of Calgary to Sunnyside. We took a stroll through Prince Island Park. Afterwards, we decided to walk around and go shopping in Downtown Calgary in the Core Shopping Center.

When you get to Level 4 of the shopping centre, you can see an indoor botanical garden full of hundreds of different plants and trees. It is truly a sight to see when you are in Calgary! If you have a bit more time, there are some other unique sights to see, would be the Wonderland Sculpture and Calgary Tower. Afterwards, we dropped off the rental car and headed to the airport!