Can someone help me plan a quick couple day event? I plan to fly in to Calgary on a Friday with family.

Family will leave on Tuesday. I will stay a few extra days for work. Kids are 11 and 9. Almost 12 and 10.

I want to, relatively cheaply, experience both Jasper and Banff.

Thinking an ice tour in Jasper and then curious what else we should do.

1) Friday
-fly in drive to banff. Spend one night in banff

2) Saturday
-wake up and drive to jasper
-wildlife tour jasper

3) Sunday
ice tour jasper
-drive back to banff or Calgary???

4) Monday
-last day in Calgary for family

5) Tuesday
-family flies out while I work




Cost is a factor so appreciate both ideas of things to do and also ways to keep cost down.

Are you aware there was a major fire in Jasper last year? The town and surrounding majorly impacted. There are some recent posts if you search.

Your plan has a lot of driving, it's pretty epic mountain scenery, but it could be a factor.

Are you trying to go this season? Affordable lodging goes quick, and I would let that be my guide. If it were me, I'd try and stay in Canmore for cost savings both lodging and dinning. Banff can be very costly, and if you aren't staying there for the "town vibes" then I would not stay there just as a touchdown spot. There is a hotel in Lake Louise town (Lake Louise Inn I think) it can be affordable. There are some attractions there, a couple lakes, that will take planning.

If it were me, I'd likely do:
Canmore day 1, get settled, rent a cooler and stock up on picnic stuff and snacks and water. Might even consider getting food stiff in Calgary.

Day 2 and 3 use Lake Louise as a base if I could find lodging in budget. Use a for fee shuttle to hit lakes on one day, day trip to ice fields and Jasper next day.

Day 4 drive back, maybe splurge for a last night in Banff, enjoy town stuff, nice meal and off to Calgary next day.

It's a great area, but will take some planning to avoid down time. Lodging is very costly in Summer all around the area. I could see a trip there being frustrating if you don't go in with a strategy.

Everything the poster said above is 100% correct. Jasper and Banff are small towns with limited lodging options, Jasper even more so after the fire.

The drive from Banff to Jasper is about 3 1/2 hours in perfect traffic conditions and with no stops.

Unfortunately, it's a 2 lane road. There are a lot of RVs and scenic pullovers. This drive is much more likely to take 4-5 hours.

Canmore can be much more affordable, assuming there is lodging available. But keep in mind, it is about 30 min south of Banff (so further from Jasper).

Calgary is about 2 hours from Banff. Driving from Jasper to Calgary is not a drive I would do an entire day if I was actually trying to enjoy my visit.

Given your tight timeline, there is PLENTY to do in the Banff area. I'd just stay in Canmore and do all of the fun outdoor things around there and save Jasper for another time.

You should be able to squeeze a trip into see the glacier at Columbia Icefields. The glacier and visitor center is right on the highway and is only about 2-2.5 hours from Banff (it's south of Jasper). I would do that as a day trip and not go all the way to Jasper.

Appreciate these posts. Very helpful.

This trip is entirely work driven and so the timing is set. Not sure if there will be another trip up there so figured I would take advantage of it and get the wife and kids up for a few days (will be my kids first time out of the US). We already did our big vacation. This was not planned hence I can't extend out several more days.

I will start double checking lodging the next day or two before I book flights.

I will probably just stay away from Jasper and stick with Canmore, Banff and look into Columbia Icefield

Be sure to look on Airbnb for Canmore places. Banff doesn't have as much of an Airbnb presence (there are a few places), but Canmore is a lot of condos.

As noted, that's such a tight schedule. Jasper is great, but it's not worth sacrificing that much time in Banff.
Here's a pretty packed schedule with the highlights and some of your goals.

Friday:
Fly In
Walk Bow River, Check out Cascades of Time Garden if Interested
Walk Town, Eat Dinner

Saturday:
Plan A - A few hikes and Lake Moraine
Morning Drive Down Bow Valley Road to Johnston Canyon for Possible Wildlife

Johnston Canyon Hike - 3.4mi - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/johnston-canyon-to-upper-falls?u=i

Marble Canyon - .9mi - (If you want to check off Kooteney National Park) - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/british-columbia/marble-canyon?u=i

Lunch at Trailhead Cafe in Lake Louise or Banded Peak at Park & Ride Area

Park at Park & Ride - Shuttle to Moraine Lake (This requires Reservations - Get on that!)
Moraine Lake

• Quick Views from Rockpile - .5mi - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/rockpile?u=i
• Hike Mount Bowlen Base - 1.7mi https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/mount-bowlen-via-moraine-lake-shoreline?u=i
• (OR Consolation Lakes -https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/consolation-lakes-trail?u=i

Shuttle Back

Stay Lake Louise Area 2 Nights

OR

Saturday
Plan B - Hiking Lake Louise
Park at Park & Ride - Shuttle to Lake Louise (This requires Reservations - Get on that!)
Hike Lake Louise -
6.4mi+ - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/lake-agnes-trail-to-plain-of-six-glaciers-trail-loop?u=i And add Big Beehive (Adds ~.5mi)
Stay Lake Louise Area 2 Nights


Sunday
Peyto Lake - 1.5mi - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/peyto-lake-panorama-overlook?u=i

Mistaya Canyon Trail - .7mi - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/mistaya-canyon-waterfall?u=i

Parker Ridge - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/parker-ridge--3?u=i - 4mi

Athabasca Glacier area - Visitor Center, etc

Book a halfday tour with ICEWALKS in advance
2PM - 5PM - Half Day Ice Walk (~3mi)

Drive back to Lake Louise


Monday
Gondola up to Sunshine Meadows ~20min
Chairlift up to Mount Standish (included in gondola ticket), then this:
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/canada/alberta/citadel-pass-trail-rock-isle-trail?u=i (Your trailhead is Mt Standish, not the lodge) ~4.5mi

Lunch in Canmore + Grassi Lakes Trail OR Lunch in Banff + Anything You Missed OR Just Head to Calgary

Grassi Lakes Trail ~2.1mi
Take Interpretive Trail Up - https://www.alltrails.com/trail/canada/alberta/grassi-lakes-interpretive-trail
Then Upper Trail Down - https://www.alltrails.com/explore/trail/canada/alberta/grassi-lake-trail?u=i

Was talking to my cousin who is just back from Calgary Rodeo and has made 5 trips there. They stayed in Canmore. Considering that Lake Louise is one the top attractions, apparently you have to experience it through the Fairmont Hotel which stands above one end of the lake. It's not a lake you can just drive around and enjoy. You don't have to stay at the hotel (very expensive) but he says to pay for valet parking and to book high tea there, which is really an expensive, elaborate lunch. Consider these as an entry fee to really have full access to Lake Louise and the one property on it. It sounds like this is a one-day event but I everyone seems to say it's worth it.

mefoghorn said:

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Was talking to my cousin who is just back from Calgary Rodeo and has made 5 trips there. They stayed in Canmore. Considering that Lake Louise is one the top attractions, apparently you have to experience it through the Fairmont Hotel which stands above one end of the lake. It's not a lake you can just drive around and enjoy. You don't have to stay at the hotel (very expensive) but he says to pay for valet parking and to book high tea there, which is really an expensive, elaborate lunch. Consider these as an entry fee to really have full access to Lake Louise and the one property on it. It sounds like this is a one-day event but I everyone seems to say it's worth it.

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The Fairmont is super expensive, but most of the on-site amenities, including dining, are reserved for hotel guests. Might be worth it to some, but the sticker price is several times more than other area hotels.

The alternative is taking the shuttle to the lake. That gives you access to the lake and the trails. There is paid (non-guest) parking down there, but it's a madhouse and fills up quickly.

We stayed at Paradise Lodge about 1 mile away and just walked it.

I just got back from Banff yesterday. It was awesome. I had a thread on it a while back.

We stayed at an AirBnb in Harvey Heights (just west of Canmore but before Banff). It was a lot cheaper than Banff (still not cheap).

Our big scheduling problem was going to the Glacier on our first day (we were told sometimes weather affects availability) then the next day going to Lake Louise. We got back "home" from the glacier at like 11:30pm after doing some impromptu hikes, and my wife set our alarms for 3:45am so we could see the sunrise from Lake Louise. 3.5 hours of sleep made the hike a lot harder lol. I would change that for sure.

Also, one thing we learned from our white water guide, is that you can rent an ebike and go from Louise to Moraine. It's a 13.4km hike which I wasn't about to attempt. But with an ebike, I'd totally do it.

Lots of great suggestions on this thread for things to do.

My family went to Banff and Jasper for a little more than a week last summer. We stayed in Jasper 2 nights and Canmore the remainder of the time. Just a few observations from my trip.

--I think downtown Banff sucks. It's a MASSIVE tourist trap where parking is impossible.
--I would highly suggest doing this if you want to do the Athabasca Glacier - https://www.icewalks.com/ . Probably my favorite part of the whole trip.
--There's generally a wait, but if you can manage it, canoeing/kayaking on one of the alpine lakes is an amazing experience. We ended up doing it at Emerald Lake because it's generally less busy than Lake Louise.

I agree with the glacier. My 10 year old, who was against going to Banff, loved it. She said it was her favorite part. My 12 and 14 year old loved it too.

We did whitewater rafting which was awesome. It was really cold but they give you wetsuits. A lot of fun for a run. I forget the exact place we went - I'll have to look it up when I get home but it was east of Canmore. A pretty easy run with some fun rapids.

We ate in downtown Banff twice. The Banff Grizzly house was fun - a fondue place. We spent a lot of money there, but got to eat some exotic meat. It made sense for us to eat there because I played golf at Banff Springs prior to it. My family rented e-bikes and rode around and had a blast while I played.

We had so many plans, thanks to some suggestions on this board and Brooke on this forum gave some good advice.

We spent some time in Calgary which was fun. Went to the Calgary zoo, which was a good zoo (we go to a lot of zoos because the kids love them). We also ate at the tower for brunch which was totally worth it. The brunch was great. And it was probably just slightly less than the view deck that you pay $30 to visit.

We loved Banff and will probably go back. Next time I'll get into better shape because I was super sore after all the hiking. I'll blame the hiking the day before for my 85 on the golf course. lol