Canadian Rockies

I am not the person to give advice but I will tell you of arriving in Banff to find.a moose just a few feet away and being quickly told to back away slowly— lest I be seen as competition for a female moose.

I daresay I am not as fetching to a moose but nonetheless I did not quibble with that warning.

Happy travels.

David - Love your reply, and I hope to see a moose, but will be sure to keep distance! We just went to Grand Teton and Yellowstone and saw some great Elk, but no moose sighting.

When are you planning on coming, and how much time do you have? That would impact any suggestions. Also do you have a price range for accomodations?

We've been to Banff twice. Traffic can be really congested. In those circumstances, we find it easier to be right in the town you want to be rather than having to commute into it, or through it every day. There's a hot springs in town worth visiting, as well as one of those blue lakes right there. You can go up the lifts at one of the ski resorts for the view. We went to Lake Louise for hiking, and then on to the glaciers. We did not go to Jasper, but I believe they had a major fire there last year so look into that before committing.

We spent some time in the Canadian Rockies in May of last year. We were doing a road trip so mostly moved from place to place but spent more time in the Banff/Lake Louise area which we really enjoyed. We stayed at Baker Creek by Basecamp, in a lovely cabin at this mountain resort outside of Lake Louise with snow still on the ground in May. When we saw how homey and cozy the cabin was we almost wanted to live there. The property is right on the Bow River with chairs and fire pits along the river. One night we ate at Juniper Bistro in Banff, which is primarily but not exclusively plant-based, delicious and unique. We also had afternoon tea at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise. I do not recommend it! It was quite expensive and the sandwiches were soggy on one side and stale on the other, the desserts were scary, neon colors with no explanation of what they were and the scones were mediocre. The service was poor. We had afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria the week before and even if the Fairmont was half way decent it wouldn't have come close to our Empress experience. Lesson learned. We wanted to go up to Jasper but it was still a bit icy up that way and it had not recovered from the fires the year before so we skipped it this time. Hope some of this is useful to you.

Canmore is a great alternative as a base. Lots to see nearby and if you like cycling, there is a trail all the way to Banff. Lots of good, interesting restaurants there as well.

Thank you for the tips. Now I’m thinking arriving in Calgary and driving to Canmore - 4 nights, lake Louise 2 nights, Jasper 3 nights? (Not sure is that enough?) 1 night on the Icefields parkway to break up the drive back to Calgary, and spending 1 night by Calgary airport night prior to flight. I’m thinking 11 nights and I’d like to avoid 6 hr drive from Jasper to Calgary. In terms of lodging, I haven't researched rates yet, but I did find Yellowstone lodging was around $400 a night. If I can get nice accommodations under that it would be ideal, but willing to spend more if 1-2 nights (not all 11 days) somewhere high end - I was told staying on Lake Louise at Fairmont was worth it.