Travelstylechic Blog｜BANFF Canada Road Trip Guide (Gourmet + Sightseeing)

Download PDF here. 
The travel vlog is on my YouTube or Bilibili channel 

⚠️Reminders

• Download the maps onto the Google Map App in advance, otherwise, you’d lose signal in the mountains and the map navigation won’t work  
• Before you enter the national parks, you’d need to buy a parking pass ($21 Canadian Dollars per day for all parks entry, all monetary units below will be in Canadian Dollars) 
• Suggest to bring: Bug spray + sunscreen 
• Book at least 2 weeks advanced on any tickets 
• Usage of drones is prohibited in all national parks in Canada (you can apply for commercial permits)  

 

(2022/8/31 – 9/6) 7 Day 6 Nights Itinerary 

D1：8/31 Wednesday Lake Minnewanka

• Arrive at Calgary Airport
• There is a T&T supermarket nearby, in case you need to buy any Asian food or items 
• Along the way, you’ll pass by Downhill Carting. You can try it if interested. 
  
  

Downhill Carting
https://www.downhillkarting.ca/?utm_source=gmb_listing&utm_medium=organic

• Arrive at Lake Minnewanka
  
  
• Arrive at Airbnb. Our Airbnb is inside Canmore town, it’s about a 15-20 minute drive from Banff Town (Canmore is usually cheaper than Banff).  https://abnb.me/rimd56KgSsb
• If you are staying in Canmore, there is a very nice Chinese restaurant called Phoenix Buffet Restaurant. Highly recommended. 

D2：9/1 Thursday Banff Gondola & Banff Town

• Morning: Arrive at Banff Gondola

• The gondola cable car takes you to the top of  Sulphur Mountain. Tickets link: 

https://bookings.banffjaspercollection.com/
RKY/activities/details/1/YBA-BTC-BA-BGR/Attraction

• If you don’t want to take the gondola, you can also hike up. It takes about 2-3 hours. 

• There are 2 restaurants on the mountain top that provides a sweeping view of the mountains 

Sky Bistro vs. Northern Lights Alpine Restaurant 

• We booked the tickets that include a lunch buffet at Northern Lights, it’s more“cost-effective” than Sky Bistro. 

• Arrive in Banff town 
  
  

• The town is beautiful and great for photos. There are a lot of shops, and quite a few options for Asian cuisine as well. 

• Notable snack shops

• Cows Banff Handmade Ice cream 

• Beavertails sweet fried pancakes
  

• Dinner at  Maple Leaf Grill 

• We highly recommend this restaurant, it’s so good that we came back for a second time (continue down the pages for photos)

• We went home to sleep after dinner because we had to wake up at 1 AM the next day.

D3：9/2 Friday Lake Moraine (to see Sunrise Glow on the Mountain)

 

Lake Moraine is usually PACKED, very hard to find parking spots in the daytime. So we left at 1 AM to arrive at 2 AM for the sunrise. 

 

• Step out of the car when you arrive, you will see shooting stars!

• We suggest you sleep in the car till 6 AM before you hike up. (we hiked up in the dark and it was easy to get lost,  the sun comes out at 6 AM anyways.)

• There will be a sign that says Rockpile Trail, follow this trail and you will find the spot to see the sunrise (an easy hike)

• If you have energy, you can walk along the lakeside for photos. We were too tired, so we headed back home

• But you can totally stay to see Lake Moraine and Lake Louise on this day. So you won’t have to come back as we did on 9/3.
  
  

• After some rest, we headed to Banff town for dinner

• We went to The Bison Restaurant where you get to try bison meats

• We thought the taste was fine, just not amazed by it. It’s still good to try bison meats for the first time.
  

 

Other Suggestions at Banff Town

 

• Ramen Arashi Banff This ramen shop has over 1000 4.5🌟reviews on Google 

• You can also horse ride along the river 

• https://horseback.com/?utm_source=GMBlisting&utm_medium=organic

D4：9/3 Saturday Lake Moraine & Lake Louise

• We decided to head back to Lake Moraine for more in-depth exploration, it was worth the return. This time, we are transporting via bus instead
  
  

• First, we drove to Banff town, there are two 9-hour free parking lot. https://banff.ca/ImageRepository/Document?documentID=12542

• 2 bus options: 

1. Cheaper option $8
   https://reservation.pc.gc.ca/Banff-LakeLouise?Type=7&language=en&_ga=2.230870815.1423444673.1664210458-980059136.1661526729&gccf=true

• Book at least 2 weeks in advance, or you might not be able to book it 

• If you can’t get the tickets in time, you can consider the next option 

• More comfortable option $20
  https://roamtransit.betterez.com/cart/607a075d39c0361ea1fe027a

• The ticket reservation system is more complex, read thoroughly before buying 

• Lake Louise is close by, you can visit it as well

1. Ensure that your bus ticket can get you to Lake Louise
   
   Lake Louise is also very beautiful. But it’s just more crowded

1. There is a very famous restaurant called Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. You need to book in advanced

We went to a Vietnamese restaurant that wasn’t special enough to write about. But there are a lot of food options around Banff town, don’t worry. 

Pack for the next hotel 

D5：9/4 Sunday Glacierview Lodge 

• We drove to another area that is 1.5 hours away. Along the way, we will pass by several landmarks listed below. 

• We strongly advise you to buy some food, because when we get to Glacier Lodge Hotel. There are only 2 restaurant options there, and it’s open to hotel guests only. 

• You’d have to drive 1.5 hours to any other restaurant. 

 

Emerald Lake 

 

• It cost $120 for each canoe in other lakes, but it’s only $90 here and it’s really pretty here. 

 

Takakkaw Fall

 

 

Bow lake

 

• There is a viewpoint parking lot right along the highway, very convenient to stop by. 

 

Peyto lake

 

• You’d need to hike up a little to the viewing platform, but it’s worth the little hike. 

 

Glacierview Lodge 

 

• Hotel with a beautiful view of the glacier 
  
  

• The first floor is the meet-up point of the Columbia Icefields

• There is a Starbucks there, the highest in Canada 

• On the second floor is the two restaurants mentioned earlier 

• We went to Altitude Restaurant 

• The food is not bad, but the two restaurants has bad review because it’s reserved for hotel guests only

• So bring food with you just in case!

D6：9/5 Monday Columbia Icefields & Skywalk

• Morning: Join the Brewster tour to see the icefields 
  
  

• The Columbia Icefield is the largest ice field in North America's Rocky Mountains.

• Reserve tickets in advanced https://bookings.banffjaspercollection.com/RKY/
  activities/details/1/ICE-BTC-BA-GA/Attraction#/
  select-ticket/book-adventure

• Our ticket includes the skywalk 

• We drove back to Banff Town to have dinner

• We came back to Maple Leaf!

• The must trys are: the sweet duck wings and the steak 

• The desserts are very good too 

D7：9/6 Tuesday Head back to Calgary Airport

• It takes 1.5 hours to drive from Banff to Calgary

• Depending on your flight time, you can explore more around 

• There are quite a few high-rating Chinese restaurants around the airport, you should try if you have time

• We went to have Chinese dim sum, we went to T.Pot China Bistro. We love it. 

             That wraps up our trip to Banff! I hope this guide is helpful for you.