Not Long Enough….That’s the first thing you need to know about our trip to Banff. If you’ve never heard of Banff it’s a Canadian Rocky Mountain town with a population of about 8,000 people sitting an easy 90 minute drive from Calgary, Alberta. The town, founded in the late 19th century as a railway stop, lies inside the Banff National Park which is advertised as “The World’s Finest National Park” and for good reason.
I first visited the area during the summer months as a young teenager travelling with my grandparents. I was hooked for life and have since been back several times and hope to continue coming back for many years to come. During summer months the outdoor activities are endless while in winter months you can enjoy some of the best snow around. Whether you come in summer or winter you will have some of the best views nature has to offer in stunning Rocky Mountain scenery, wildlife spotting opportunities including bears (summer), elk (heaps of elk), moose and many other animals. When not outdoors you can indulge yourself with fantastic lodging and dining throughout the park including some of the most picturesque hotels on the planet.
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| Fun with photos in Banff |
Our Three Days
On arrival into Calgary airport we hopped on a Brewster Airport-Banff bus ($50 USD pp one way) for the two hour trip to the mountains. Leaving the plains of Calgary you’re quickly surrounded by jagged peaks that seem to come out of nowhere and reach towards the heavens. If travelling in the daylight keep an eye out for herds of elk and other wildlife, we saw a large herd of elk on our trip back to the airport.
We chose to stay at the Inns of Banff hotel which sits on the main street Banff Avenue, just on the outskirts of town but still walking distance to downtown during good weather. The hotel is on the cheaper end of a group of hotels managed by the Banff Lodging Company but has some nice amenities including free wifi and indoor and outdoor heated pools with the outdoor Jacuzzi being the place to go after a day on the mountain skiing/snowboarding. Sit back and relax with steam blowing off the hot water, surrounded by snow, and watch the sun set amongst the rocky mountains. When staying at the hotel you get a free bus pass for the local town bus which comes by every 40 minutes and will take you straight into downtown and back again, this saves you two bucks a person per trip so a pretty good deal.
We purchased our two day Ski Big 3 lift tickets from the hotel which gave us two lift tickets with transportation each day to either Sunshine Ski Resort, Lake Louise Ski Resort or Norquay Ski Resort. It was a bit cheaper ($16 USD) to buy from the hotel vs the Ski Big 3 desk at the hotel but still a pretty penny at $360 dollars for both of us. The included transportation is a bus which picks you up at designated times from your hotel in the morning and drops you back off in the evening.
After getting into our hotel we bundled-up went to The Keg steakhouse for dinner and each picked a different steak with mashed potatoes to share. Pamela picked a pecan and blue cheese topped sirloin and I picked the winner in a teriyaki sirloin. It was really nice to have a proper steak again as it had been a while. We made a brisk walk back to the hotel in time to hit the outdoor hot pool.
Our first full day was spent snowboarding at Sunshine Ski Resort. The bus picked us up at 7:43 in the still dark morning, we were so tired and it was so dark that you could have told us it was 2am and we would have believed you. Thirty five minutes later we were on the Sunshine gondola heading up to Sunshine Village where we had an awesome day of snowboarding. This was Pamela’s first day back on the board in a couple of years and despite her initial anxiety she picked it up right away. By lunch time we were blasting down intermediate runs and enjoying a light dusting of snow on an unusually warm (0 C/32 F) January day.
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| The morning gondola at Sunshine |
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| Pamela taking a little break at Sunshine |
With boarding and soaking in the hot pool done we caught the bus into town and ate what we think was our best meal of the trip at the Masala Indian restaurant. The chicken korma was amazing!!! We almost went back the next day. With no room for dessert we shopped a bit and took a brisk walk back to the hotel as we just missed the bus.
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| Loving the Indian food at Masala in Banff |
Day number two of our Banff trip started at a much slower pace, we both had slept in a bit, me waking up at a very late 8:30am and Pamela crawling out o f bed very sore from the day before around 11:30am. We had a quick breakfast in the room and caught the bus to the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel for some sightseeing. The hotel, one of the most famous landmarks of the area, was built in the late 19th Century as a stop for tourists taking the new railroad through the Canadian Rockies. The hotels famous history, position on the mountain and views of the area make it a must stop for any visitor to Banff.
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| The Banff Springs Hotel from a distance |
Unfortunately it was cloudy and raining in Banff so the views from the hotel were a bit stunted but still nice. We sat down at the Rundle Lounge in the hotel for some lunch. For one reason or another the lounge was short-staffed that day so the service was shockingly terrible, definitely not Fairmont standards.
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| The view from the lounge at the Banff Springs Hotel |
After a disappointing lunch we caught the bus back towards town for a walk along the Bow River. The Bow River runs right through the town of Banff and the National Park. During the winter much of the river is frozen over but still very nice to look at. Through the town of Banff there are walking and cycling paths along the river that can take you in either direction. We walked along the river for a great view of the Banff Springs Hotel and the mostly frozen over waterfall near the hotel. The two and a half kilometer return walk was nice, even in the cold and rainy drizzle, but a bit slippery in some places from all the ice set on the trails.
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| Pamela crossing a frozen Bow River |
Back in town we did some more shopping and on a recommendation decided to try the Pad Thai Restaurant for dinner. The Massaman Chicken Curry was sooo good, especially on a chilly winter night. For a small family restaurant the service was outstanding and definitely blew away our lunch stop at the 5 star Banff Springs Hotel. Our night ended with a bus trip back to our hotel and a long soak in the hot pool, it was still raining at 8pm that night….we never would have thought it would rain all day in Banff during January, where was the snow?
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| Enjoying the Massaman Curry at Pad Thai Restaurant in Banff |
Day number three, our last full day in Canada, had us catching the 7:39am bus for the 50 minute trip to the Lake Louise Ski Resort. It had snowed the night and day before so the mountain was in really good condition especially for us early birds. The views of Lake Louise itself atop the Grizzly Express Gondola are amazing in winter and even better in the summer. After about an hour of really good riding the snow started falling again and we were just loving it. We stopped in the morning for a few minutes to grab a coffee but otherwise boarded non-stop until about 3pm where we took our tired legs to the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise via their free shuttle service.
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| Pamela riding at Lake Louise |
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| Having a great day on the mountain |
While at the amazingly beautiful hotel we took so many pictures of the famous hotel, frozen lake and snow filled trees and mountains. We walked out onto the ice skating rink/frozen lake and grabbed some pics of the ice castle you can actually skate through. As a photographer Pamela fell in love with the place immediately. We stayed so long and took so many pictures that we missed the last scheduled shuttle back to the ski resort. Thankfully a very-very nice shuttle driver took pity on us and drove us the 10 minutes back to the ski resort where we caught the last bus back to Banff at 5:30pm.
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| The ice castle built on a frozen Lake Louise |
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| A sleigh ride at Lake Louise |
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| The view of Lake Louise from atop the Grizzly Express Gondola |
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| Looking back on the Chateau on top of the lake |
Back at our hotel we did the mandatory soak in the hot pool until I was annoyed by the million wild kids that showed up; if you’re looking for a peaceful hot pool than this probably isn’t the place. Cleaned-up and annoyance over we bussed it over to the Banff Ave Brewing Company for dinner. A Bison Burger and Poutine was our choice with the Poutine being a heart attack inducing bucket of fries covered in four different kinds of cheeses, gravy and about a pound of salt. We’ll definitely have to make it when we get back to Australia :-)
The next morning we were picked up from our hotel at 7:30am for the trip down to the airport. So sad to leave already, it was made that much harder when we looked at the ski reports and saw heaps of snow had fallen at the resorts overnight which would have made for an epic day boarding. We take solace in knowing that we’ll be back to this area, hopefully next time for longer as three full days is just not long enough.
Cheers for Now –
Pamela and Dave
