Banff in 3 Days: Add the Parkway

Start on foot. Banff Avenue runs straight at Cascade Mountain, and the early hour is quiet. The Banff Visitor Centre at 224 Banff Avenue opens 9 am to 5 pm daily if you want maps and Roam tickets in person.

Grab coffee, note the elk warning signs, and remember the rule to stay at least 30 metres from elk.

This is where the park story begins, with hot springs that led Canada to protect the site in 1885. Admission is $7.10 (C$10.00) for adults and $6.03 (C$8.50) for seniors, and youth 17 and under are free. In summer it opens daily 9:30 am to 5 pm at 311 Cave Avenue, and Parks Canada suggests planning at least 2 to 3 hours, though most visitors are done in under two.

Our Cave and Basin page has the full detail.

Lunch in town first, because options cluster on Banff Avenue. Then walk or ride Roam route 2 toward Bow Falls, a wide burst of whitewater on the Bow River. Surprise Corner across the way frames the castle like hotel above the trees.

The Fairmont Banff Springs has welcomed guests since 1888 at 405 Spray Avenue, and you can walk in to see the rotunda without being a guest.

The ride takes about 8 minutes over a 1.6 km track to the upper terminal at 2,281 metres. Book a time in advance, because the operator strongly recommends it and walk in availability is not guaranteed. At the top, the boardwalk to Sanson's Peak is a casual 2 km stroll with 368 shallow stairs each way.

Prices vary by time, day and season, and no fixed figure is printed on any official page. Compare the gondola admission listing with the GetYourGuide version before you buy, or read our Banff Gondola tickets page.

The springs sit at the top of Mountain Avenue, 4 km south of town, one stop past the gondola on the same bus. The water is kept between 37 and 40 C and the pool is open daily 10 am to 10 pm with last entry 9:30 pm. Entry is first come, first served, and admission can only be purchased in person.

Locker token included in the adult price. Our Banff Upper Hot Springs page covers rentals and the holiday schedule.

End the day at Vermilion Lakes, a short drive or a longer walk west of town, where the still water mirrors Mount Rundle. It is one of the easiest sunset spots in the park and a favourite of the Banff at night crowd for stargazing. Bring a layer, because even July evenings cool to a mean low of 9.4 C.

Banff to Lake Louise is 57 km, about a 40 minute drive. The Parks Canada shuttle leaves from the Lake Louise Park and Ride at the ski resort on 1 Whitehorn Road, where parking is free and vehicle access runs 6 am to 8 pm. Check in at the kiosk.

Note the rule that ticket holders who park at the lakeshore lot will not be allowed on the shuttle. If you have no car, the Roam 8X express runs daily year round, though it serves Lake Louise and not the Moraine shore.

Moraine Lake Road is closed to personal vehicles year round, so everyone arrives the same way. Your single shuttle ticket covers Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, the Lake Connector and the return. Climb the Rockpile for the Ten Peaks view, then walk the shoreline trail while the light is still low.

There is no cell service, Wi Fi or running water at the lake, so carry what you need. If the official shuttle is sold out, the Banff to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake shuttle and the door to door Moraine and Louise option sell reserved seats from town, or go guided with the two lake day trip. For the dawn version, the Moraine sunrise and Louise golden hour experience exists for photographers.

Ride the shuttle or the Lake Connector back down to Lake Louise. Paid parking applies at the lakeshore in shuttle season and the lots fill before sunrise, with roughly 75 percent of vehicles turned away last summer according to Parks Canada, which is why the shuttle is the sane choice. Walk the lakeshore toward the head of the lake and look up at Victoria Glacier.

Canoe rentals at the boathouse run $78.10 (C$110) per hour for hotel guests and $127.80 (C$180) for visitors, per the operator's printed rates. If you want the lake story told properly, our Lake Louise and Lake Louise vs Moraine Lake pages go deep.

The village cluster at Samson Mall holds the Lake Louise Visitor Centre, open 9 am to 5 pm daily, plus food and a grocery stop for the drive home. The last shuttle return from the lakes runs at 7:30 pm in season, so there is no need to rush. If your legs still work, the Bow Valley Parkway route home is slower than the highway and better for wildlife at dusk.

Keep 100 metres from bears and wolves and never stop in the traffic lane.

Take Highway 1A rather than the Trans Canada for the first stretch. The Bow Valley Parkway runs parallel through better animal country, and dawn is when the meadows move. Johnston Canyon sits 25 km northwest of Banff on this road.

Drive slowly, stay in the car if you see roadside wildlife, and photograph from the window.

The trail is paved the whole way to the falls. Lower Falls is 1.1 km one way with 85 m of gain, and Upper Falls is 2.4 km one way with 215 m of gain, per the current Parks Canada figures. The catwalks bolted to the canyon wall are the fun part.

Parking fills quickly, and Roam route 9 serves the trailhead in summer at $5.00 (C$5) per single ride. If you would rather hand over the wheel entirely, the Johnston Canyon day trip runs guided from Banff and the e-bike and walking tour rides the parkway in. Our Johnston Canyon page has winter notes too, when cleats are strongly recommended.

From Lake Louise the road climbs past Hector Lake and the Bow Summit turnoffs, with Peyto Lake and Bow Lake among the Parkway's famous stops. The operator's own directions put the Icefield at 55 km west of Banff to Lake Louise, then 125 km north on Highway 93 N, a drive of roughly 2 hours 30 minutes from Banff. Food exists at the Glacier Discovery Centre in season, but lines are long, so a packed lunch wins.

The full Adventure is a 2.5 to 3 hour tour that rides an Ice Explorer onto the Athabasca Glacier and includes the glass floored Skywalk over the Sunwapta Valley, 918 feet above the floor. The Skywalk can be booked alone. The season runs May 1 to October 12, ages 5 and under ride free, and there is a 20 percent discount after 3:30 pm.

Prices are not printed as fixed figures on the operator pages, they load live in the booking flow. The Columbia Icefield Adventure with Skywalk listing and the Skywalk only admission both book from Banff with transport options. Our Columbia Icefield and is the Columbia Icefield worth it pages help you decide which ticket fits.

Retrace the Parkway south and stop where the light is good, because your return is the same road in reverse. A dinner stop in Canmore, 25 km from Banff, breaks the drive nicely and the town makes a good base on future trips, as our Canmore and Banff or Canmore pages argue. You will roll into Banff with the Parkway in your legs and no regrets about the early alarm.