Hi all,
My husband and I will be visiting the area for 4 days in August (including travel to Calgary on eve of 4th day) and would value some advice. We were thinking of arriving in Banff on the first day and exploring the area - Gondola, a few light treks etc. Would we need a car to properly see the place and access main attractions or would we get by without? We intend on hiring a car on the second day anyway so should we get it a day earlier? On the second day we plan to head for lake louise and surrounds and perhaps stay somewhere about half-way between Banff and Jasper (maybe Sasketchewan river crossing??). Day three - drive to Jasper for day, don't know whether we should stay there or head halfway back again. I guess much of day four will be spent returning to Banff to get evening airport shuttle bus.
I know time is very short but that's just the way it is! Would we get to take in Moraine lake, Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, Lake Minnewanka, and Icefields over our few days? We would be interested in doing a few short treks but don't mind too much if we don't have time for longer ones- we can always come back!
Alternatively, would we be better off basing ourselves in one place for the few days and doing organised tours instead?
Obviously I am quite confused and all advice is most welcome!
Thanks,
Bhani
There is a bus that runs up to the Banff gondola from downtown every half hour or so, another bus goes to the Banff Springs Hotel. There are walking trails along the river that are accessible from downtown, so you probably don't need a car, plus driving and parking will be a mess since they are digging up main street. More info: town of banff
There are a couple of car rental agencies in Banff. Maybe pick it up the night before so you can get an early start to Moraine Lake before the crowds arrive. Your itinerary sounds doable, you would probably enjoy staying a night in Jasper, there is plenty to see there and a better range of accommodation.
If you don't have reservations, the first thing you must do is find accomodation when you get to Banff/Jasper. If you wait until later in the afternoon, it becomes very difficult to find a place to sleep.
And I'm concerned that you may not find accomodation half way between Banff and Jasper, without a reservation. Maybe someone else on the forum can verify this.
August 4,5 and 6th are a holiday. If you are doing this on these dates, for sure you will need reservations.
Around Jasper, be sure to see Mt Edith Cavell and Maligne Canyon. If time permits, Miette Hot Springs. You will be somewhat rushed, but everthing you want to do, is doable.
we'll you could get by without a car the first day but, you might waste some time waiting for public transport.
is there a reason you don't want to rent a car in calgary. i'm just guessing but i would think it would be more expensive in banff.
assuming your flying into the calgary airport, i'd just pick up the car from there and keep it until your return flight.
it will be quite rushed if you want to include jasper. if you decided to drop jasper, you would be more relaxed around banff/lake louise/yoho area. but, if you go to jasper, don't stay anywhere half way in between. there really isn't anywhere nice.
you could do banff the first night, lake louise the second, spend the day driving to jasper and spend one or two nights, return to banff/calgary.
Hi guys,
Thanks for replies. Yep, we are flying into and out of Calgary. We fly in about 9pm and i figured it may be a bit late to set out for banff at this hour. Was a bit concerned about trying to negotiate our way around after dark - and find a place where we could check in late at night. Perhaps we should go ahead and hire a car in Calgary? it certainly would give us a bit of extra time (just me being a bit too cautious i guess!).
Once we have settled on a plan we will definitely book our accommodation in advance. I suppose we could leave out Jasper - is it an absolute must-see worth the extra time spent in the car?
Ta again,
Bhani
i personally love jasper but with so few days, i would consider dropping it in order to enjoy the one area more. you could still spend part of a day driving the icefield parkway towards jasper. then just turn around and return to banff/lake louise.
I think it is possible to see all those sights within four days but it will be rushed. It is only 3 hours travel time one way between Banff and Jasper. As for staying between unless you are camping the choices are slim, as far as I know it is pretty much the motel at the Sask River Crossing as you suggested or 5 or 6 Youth Hostels along the way. If chosing between the two I would go the hostel route as I have been to the Motel about 7 years ago and the prices were steep and accomodation is sparce. They do a good trade with the tourist buses though! If you are wanting to and able to camp, I would recommend the Rampart Creek campsite, it is about 10 kms north of the crossing. What I would suggest is picking up the car at the airport and heading to atleast the west side of Calgary the night you arrive. Day one see Banff in the morning and head to Lake Louise for afternoon and evening. Day two head north and see the sites between Louise and Jasper and spend the night in Jasper. Spend day three in the Jasper area and either stay there the night or start heading back and stay somewhere between Japser and Louise. Day four start heading back to Cowtown and catching any of the sites along the way you missed on your loop up. I have done this trip in three days and I wouldn't recommend anything less then 4 days for the trip.
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