Hi,
It was helpful to read the earlier post (ou04snr Thank you.)which sort of coincides with our thoughts (although no pregnancy) to visit Banff, lake Louise and Jasper in mid September. We plan to leave Calgary as early as we can on Day 1 to spend the night in Banff, Night 2 sleep at Lake Louise and then Night 3 in Jasper before taking a day to travel back to Calgary.
Distances aren't great between Banff and Lake Louise so should we rather spend 2 nights in the same place and explore from there? We want to do the most efficient timewise.
Thank you in anticipation.
travelawe
2
tch7
If it were me, I'd probably just stay in Banff the 2 nights. Ever since they finished twinning the highway, the drive to Lake Louise has become pretty painless.
3
anonymous
I agree, in September you can drive that road at night very comfortably and save the hassle of packing, checking out, etc. Plus it's good to do both the Bow Valley Parkway route and the main highway, both scenic. Unless you're staying in primo accommodation in LL, there's more eating/grocery options in Banff and everything open late.
Whichever you choose, get to the Lake itself as early as possible to avoid the bus crowds. Same with Moraine Lake, which is crazy around the 3rd week of September when the larches turn colour.
4
ltt
that's a lot of driving. you'll be doing the icefield parkway 2 days in a row. i would recommend staying all three nights in banff. you could drive part of the parkway on one of those day but return to banff for the night. that would allow you to pick the clearest day to do the trip. if you book accommodations in jasper and then it happens to be rainy or really cloudy, on the two days that you are suppose to drive the parkway, that would be disappointing.
5
Thorn Tree
This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
trusted partner
trusted partner