Canadian Rockies Itinerary- Banff & Jasper

The Canadian Rockies have seen a huge surge in popularity in the past three years. I have included my itinerary below on what I did during my nine day visit, which included Labor Day Weekend. The thing about Alberta, though, is there are only really three months you can visit where the lakes aren’t frozen, starting about mid-June. Because of that small window, there are a lot of people packed into that short amount of time. Combining that with fires and possible smoke, I would say there isn’t really an ideal time to visit where it’s not really crowded. I would avoid holidays, however. Some of my itinerary I had to tweak because of weather. Also, I stayed in Canmore instead of Banff because it was a lot cheaper and only 20 minutes away from Banff and made breakfast in my hotel room all except one day. I stayed in the Banff area for 4 days, Jasper for 3 and my final night back in Canmore.

Day 1

Arrive Calgary Airport 11:15AM
Pick up car rental from airport (I went with “Budget”)
Drive to Canmore to check-in to hotel (1 hour 14 min drive from airport. I stayed at the Sunset Mountain Inn)
Banff Surprise Corner for pictures
Fairmont Banff Springs for dinner at “The Lookout Patio”
Banff Gondola for drinks at the top
Banff Upper Hot Springs

Day 2

Johnston Canyon hike (41 min drive from hotel)
Time to reach lower falls 30 minutes, 1.1 km one way, elevation gain of 30 meters.
Time to reach upper falls, one hour , 2.6 km’s one way, elevation gain of 120 meters.
Return trip going to both lower and upper falls allow 2 to 2.5 hours.
The hike from the upper falls to the Ink Pots takes approximately one hour
Vermillion lake
Juniper Bistro for lunch
Lake Minnewanka
Dinner in downtown Banff
The Grizzly House (fondue restaurant)

Day 3

Moraine Lake (Drive 1 hr 8 min from hotel)
Lunch at cafe
Hikes
Shoreline Trail (1.8 mile out and back)
Rockpile Trail** (.5 mile loop)
Lake Louise (23 min drive from Moraine Lake)
Rent Canoes
Dinner at Fairmont Chateau Lake (Lakeview Lounge patio)

Day 4

Lake Agnes Tea House Trail
We took horses up with Timberline Tours for a 4.5 hour tour including lunch at the tea house. You can also do a hike instead
Mirror Lake
Lake Agnes
Lunch at Tea House
Yoho Valley National Park (36 min drive from Lake Louise)
Emerald Lake
Natural Bridge
Takakkawa Falls (24 min drive) (15-20 min walk)
Banff
The Bison Restaurant (need reservations)

Day 5- Jasper National Park

Drive 2 hr 21 to Icefields Parkway and Athabasca Glacier
Lunch at Icefields Center
Afternoon excursion called the “Glacier Adventure” includes taking an ice explorer to the glacier and walking on the glacier then a skywalk
Drive 1 hr 30 min to Jasper
Check in to hotel (We stayed at Lobstick Lodge)
Dinner in downtown Jasper

Day 6

Maligne Lake (58 min drive, stops at Medicine Lake & Maligne Overlook along the way)
Boat tour to Spirit island
Lunch at visitor center
Maligne Canyon
Park at main parking lot and walk to bridges 1 and 2
Tea at the tea house(47 min)
Park at Bridge 5 and 6 to see more of the Canyon or you can walk all 6 bridges and back
Dinner in downtown Jasper (Cassio’s Italian Restaurant)