5 Day Banff Itinerary
Officially heading back to the west coast in September and I CANNOT wait!
Last September, I did my first Canadian trip. You would think living Canada for over 20 years would mean I have seen my fair portion of the country, but that’s not the case. It is actually quite expensive to travel within Canada - I mean, the country is quite large - some flights cost the same as it would to travel to Europe. However, being unable to travel outside of Canada for a year and a half did allow for the possibility to travel within the country (and at a decent price).
I am so grateful to have been able to go to Calgary and spend 5 days in Banff. The scenery of the Rockies is breath taking.
If you are planning to travel to Banff, here is my itinerary and tips for an epic adventure:
Day 1: We arrived in the afternoon to Calgary, picked-up our rental car at the airport and headed straight to Banff.
Some people suggest renting an SUV, but it is not necessary unless you are going during the winter months
Highly recommend staying in downtown Banff. All the major sightseeing places are just a few hours away by car, so it is quite central for all your activities.
After checking into the hotel and grabbing a bite to eat in town, we headed to Moraine Lake. We arrived around 5pm and it was not busy at all. We were able to find a parking spot quite quickly (which apparently is rare). You definitely want to be there when the sun is out to see the beautiful blue of the water.
Day 2: Woke up crazy early to go to Lake Louise. We were told to be there by 6:30am to ensure we got a parking spot… Why did we listen?! We were the only car there for about an hour and a half. The parking lot is small, so you do want to be there early. I would say by 9 am.
You want to be there early when the sun is rising to see the change in colour of the mountain and the lake. Keep in mind it is really cold in the morning.
At Lake Louise there are several hikes you can do. We headed up to Lake Agnes Tea House where we stopped to grab a quick bite to eat and enjoy the view. From there we went up to the Little Beehive for an incredible aerial view of Lake Louise and the Fairmont Hotel.
On our way back to the car, we did stop for a treat and champagne at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise - decently priced and a beautiful view.
Day 3: We drove out to Canmore to checkout this town and neighbouring hikes. The town is really nice and has a homie feeling to it. We decided to start the day with an easy hike to Grassi Lakes. These lakes are like mirrors. You actually cannot tell the difference between the real scenery and the water.
The hike is about 1km each way and highly recommended.
After this small hike we headed to Sulphur Mountain. We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. There is an option to take a gondola to the top of the mountain but we opted to hike it.
It is a 5 km hike that feels like FOREVER. It was honestly a hard hike to do. The view however is amazing and there is a restaurant at the top.
Day 4: At this point we were exhausted from all the hiking. Although we had more hikes we wanted to do, our bodies told us otherwise. We decided to do a tour on a vintage bus/limo. It allowed us to learn a lot of cool history about Banff. Highly recommend Open Top Tours.
We also explored Fairmont Banff Springs, the farmers market and the downtown area.
Day 5: Headed back to Toronto.
There is definitely a lot to do in Banff and we could have stayed longer. However, 5 days was a great amount of time to see the beautiful province.
If you end up going, tag me in your pics on insta! I want to see your amazing time there.
