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Here you will find all the details about my family trip to Banff and Jasper National Parks and our one week Banff itinerary! We went from a Friday to Friday (8 days) in July of 2023 and lodged at the Kananaskis Mountain Lodge (about an hour from downtown Banff) for whole trip except the first night. There are so many places to visit in Banff & Jasper, one could spend weeks exploring, so here are just a few of the cool things that you can do! Continue reading below for a sample one week Banff itinerary.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DAY 1 – TRAVEL DAY
Travel Day! We left Green Bay, WI around 4pm in the afternoon and had some delays, so we didn’t arrive in Calgary until 1-2am that night/the next morning. After landing, we took an Uber/Lyft to the hotel (5 minutes from the airport) and went right to bed.
DAY 2 – HEAD TO RESORT
We slept in and let the kids swim at the hotel before heading to our main hotel for the trip in Kananaskis. Once we left and arrived to Kananaskis, we spent the afternoon/evening checking out the resort and unpacking. The resort area had some really neat trails including one where you come to this valley outlook (see picture below.) For dinner, we went to Woody’s Pub, which was a family friendly restaurant (until 9pm-ish) and they had tons of beer selections.
For Banff hotel ideas, click here.
DAY 3 – LAKE LOUSIE & PEYTO LAKE
This was one of our bigger adventure days! We started out with a stop at Beamers coffee in Canmore and headed to the infamous Lake Louise – we left our hotel early and arrived around to the lake around 8:15am. Thankfully, we were able to secure a parking spot, but there weren’t many left. So if you plan to go, arrive early for parking otherwise there is now a shuttle you can book. More info on that under the Day 7 (Moraine Lake) section!
Lake Louise was busy, but still very pretty! We ended up doing the Lake Agnes Trail hike, which was 4.6 miles total. In my opinion, it wasn’t worth the trek, but here are a few more details. You hike 2.3 miles with 1427ft of elevation gain up to Lake Agnes. Along the way, you will pass Mirror Lake before arriving to Lake Agnes at the top and the Lake Agnes Teahouse. I was hoping there would be better viewpoints of Lake Louise along the hike and there really wasn’t. I’d probably recommend the Big Beehive Trail for better views. Otherwise Little Beehive Trail continues after Lake Agnus – we hiked that for ~200 meters past the tea house and got a glimpse of Lake Louise, but it was pretty far away. After Lake Louise, we were supposed to go to Moraine Lake, but in 2023 they implemented a new shuttle system that we were not aware of and they no longer allow vehicles to drive up to/park at Moraine Lake. We did book the shuttle for another day though – see Day 7 for more info on that! So after we hiked back down the Lake Agnus trail, we headed to the car and ventured off to our next stop, Peyto Lake!
Peyto Lake was one of my favorites! We arrived around 2pm and were able to secure parking – they have a lower lot (where we parked) and an upper lot for handicapped and buses. From the lower lot, there was a paved hiking path to the first overlook – it was 10-15 minutes one way and mainly uphill. There is a deck/outlook point to see the vibrant blue color of Peyto Lake here. Because of time, we headed back after this point. However, there is a second outlook point that is an extra 5-10 minutes. Based on my research, I would recommend this if you have time – it’s also supposed to be less crowded at the second outlook point. The path used to be marked but apparently isn’t anymore so check into it if you want to consider doing (Link here: https://www.walkmyworld.com/posts/peyto-lake-hike)
After Peyto Lake, we drove back to the hotel, let the kids swim in the pool and hot tub and did pizzas for dinner from Forte (the hotel’s Italian restaurant.)
Here are some other tour ideas as well:
DAY 4 – JOHNSTON CANYON, DOWNTOWN BANFF & BANFF GONDOLA
We started the day with another stop at Beamers Coffee in Canmore and headed to Johnston Canyon. This is another popular summer destination, so make sure to arrive early! We arrived a little before 9am and found parking, but it definitely got way busier after we were done with our hike. The hike to Lower Falls is 1.5 miles round trip (0.75 miles each way) and the hike to Upper Falls is 3 miles round trip (including Lower Falls.) We hiked to Lower Falls and continued to Upper Falls as well. Along the hike, you are walking through/alongside the Canyon and get to see several waterfalls – the biggest is at the top (Upper Falls.) It’s a steady incline the whole way up – some of it is metal/paved, but some of the hike is on dirt trails.
After Johnston Canyon, we headed to downtown Banff. There are many local shops and restaurants – we spent a few hours eating and shopping, but definitely could have spent more time down here! The restaurant we went to for lunch was called The Bear Street Tavern. They had really good pizza and it was a family friendly place with outdoor seating.
Next on our itinerary for the day was the Banff Gondola. The gondola was about $50/adult and our gondola reservation was for 2:50pm. We ended up taking the shuttle from Downtown Banff to the Gondola location – it’s free/included in your Gondola ticket. The Gondola location is about 20 minutes away from Downtown Banff and you can find the shuttle schedule on the Gondola’s website. I would highly recommend taking the shuttle as the parking lot was completely full when we arrived and I’m not sure what we would have done if we drove.
Once our shuttle dropped us off, we headed to the Gondola line. It’s an 8 minute ride up to the top of Sulphur Mountain. At the top, they have several restaurants and things to do. The main level is a boardwalk/overlook point with several hikes branching off if desired. The second level is like a museum talking about Banff’s history, animals, etc. with some interactive exhibits and stuff. The third level has a few restaurants and the fourth level has another outdoor overlook area and an outdoor resultant/bar called Peak Patio. This is where we spent most of our time – the views were amazing and they had a nice seating area! After a couple of hours, we took the shuttle back to Downtown Banff.
Here are some other tour ideas as well:
DAY 5 – GOLF & NORDIC SPA
Since we were staying in Kananaskis, we wanted to golf somewhere nearby. We chose to golf at Brewster Golf course for the views and price. It looked a little sketchy at first pulling in, but ended up being a very nice, quaint course. The greens/fairways were well maintained and there were mountain views in the distance. We had to keep our carts on the path, which was a little bit of a pain, but I guess that’s how they keep the course in good shape! For 9 holes, it was about $50/person including cart and rental clubs. Another golf course nearby is the Kananaskis Country Club – this course is amazing from what we heard, but it’s a lot more expensive. You can only golf 18 holes and it’s about $200/person with cart and rental clubs.
After golf, we went back to our hotel’s Kananaskis Nordic Spa did the Hydrotherapy Experience, which was $86 USD and consisted of “Hot, Cold, Relax, Repeat.” There were a variety of things to choose from for each step. For “Hot” there were hot pools, saunas, and steam rooms. For “Cold” there was one cold plunge pool. For “Relax” there were warm pools, campfires, hammocks and a Bistro restaurant to go to. The Bistro served food and alcohol, but from our understanding, the alcohol had to stay in the bistro so you couldn’t take it to the pools, etc. After you do each Hot/Cold/Rest activity, then you are supposed to repeat the process and so on. After we were done with the pools, we finished with an exfoliating shower to complete our experience. We did our entie experience during the day, but I would recommend doing at night time if possible because the place and pools have cool lighting and I think it’s half price after 6pm. One thing to note is that it’s just a single entry – so you can spend as much time as you’d like, but once you leave you cannot re-enter.
DAY 6 – ICEFIELDS PARWAY & JASPER NATIONAL PARK
We decided to make the drive on Icefields Parkway, which has been rated as one of the prettiest drives in the world! It was a beautiful drive surrounded by mountains with sooo many viewpoint/hikes/stops along the way. The Icefields Parkway highway connects Lake Louise (near Banff) to the town of Jasper and technically runs through both Banff National Park and Jasper National Park. We went from Kananaskis to the town of Jasper and back in one day – it was a long day and definitely do-able, but if you have time, I’d recommend breaking the drive into 2 days (or more depending how many hikes you want to do.) There are a lot of campgrounds/small hotels along the way and also more in the town of Jasper too.
The drive from Kananaskis to Banff is 1 hour. The drive from Banff to the town of Jasper is about 3 hours. So overall, with 4 hours of driving each way and stops for sightseeing/lunch, it ended up being about a 15 hour day. We left at 6am and got back to our hotel at 9pm. Below are the stops we made along the way, but there are definitely more things to do that we skipped because we were short on time.
For the locations below, we chose to do some on the way to Jasper and some on the way back to break up the drive, but I have them listed in order from Jasper to Banff. Another thing to note is that there was no cell phone service on most of the Icefields Parkway, so plan accordingly with maps and stuff. The only place with cell service for us was at the Columbia Icefields Center near the mid point of the highway/trip. Everywhere we visited was very well labeled on the highway signs though.
https://www.icefieldsparkway.com
- Athabasca Falls – This stop is a waterfall on the Athabasca River – there are several viewing points only 5-10 minutes from the parking lot. We were here for 15-30 minutes.
- Sunwapta Falls – This is another quick stop for viewing another waterfall. There are several viewing points 5-10 minutes from the parking lot. We were here for 15-30 minutes.
- Athabasca Glacier – Across from the Columbia Icefields Center is the Athabasca Glacier. You can follow the driving signs to the parking lot, which is where you can hike to the “toe of the glacier” from. The hike is 0.9 miles round trip – there is a moderate incline, but it was worth it! You don’t get close enough to touch the glacier, but you can see how much it has receded/melted over the past 100 years (sadly) and can see the melting stream/river in front of it during the summertime.
- Saskatchewan River Crossing – This is the only gas station on the Icefields Parkway – they have lodging, washrooms, a restaurant and a gift shop here.
- Waterfowl Lakes – This was a favorite of mine! This lake was another “vibrant blue” lake, but seemed to be less popular than all the others. We stopped and took pictures here and then carried on, but this would be a pretty stop for a packed lunch, etc!
- Bow Lake – Bow Lake is another less popular lake that still has the pretty blue hues to it. It’s more popular than Waterfowl though. We also stopped here for pictures and carried on, but this would also be a good place for a packed lunch, etc.
Here are some other tour ideas as well:
DAY 7 – MORAINE LAKE
Moraine Lake was another favorite lake of mine, but popular and requires planning to visit. In 2023, they stopped allowing public parking at Moraine Lake – the only way to get to the lake is to have a hotel reservation at the Moraine Lake Lodge, book a commercial/private tour, or book a shuttle through the Parks Canada website (we did the Parks Canada option.)
You have to book the shuttle well in advance, but they also open up more “last minute” times two days before at 8am. (Side note: I have read that their last minute rides are 60% of their capacity.) For example, the Thursday “last minute” shuttle times would be available Tuesday at 8am. This is what we did. With the shuttle ticket, you have to drive to the Park and Ride off the highway/Lake Louise exit. From there, the shuttle will take you to the lake on your ticket. We had Moraine Lake on our ticket so we went to Moraine Lake first. We could have then went from Moraine Lake to Lake Louise, but after exploring Lake Moraine we went straight back to the Park and Ride since we had done Lake Louise earlier in our trip.
While at Lake Moraine, we did two hikes. The first one was a hike around half of the lake and back for a total of 1.8 miles. It was a flat and easy hike and ended with some waterfalls that fed into Lake Moraine at the end before heading back. I loved this because we were able to get away from some of the crowds a bit and have more picture opportunities. We also saw many people eating lunch along the lake, which was a great idea if you remember to bring a blanket and some food!
Once we arrived back to the main spot, we did the Rock Falls hike. It was less than 1/4 mile, but was mostly steps/an incline. This hike leads to the top of a rock pile where you can take more pictures of Lake Moraine at a higher elevation. Definitely recommend this short hike!
If you have more time, there are more trails here and/or you could rent a canoe. The canoe rental was -$100 USD/hour. If we had more time, we would have definitely done this.
After the lake, we headed back to hotel and got ready for our “last night” dinner at The Cedar Room. If you are near the Kananaskis area, I would recommend this restaurant – our steaks, sides and service were all amazing!
DAY 8 – TRAVEL DAY
On our last day, we packed up and headed to the airport to go back home unfortunately. All went smooth except for our last flight from Minneapolis to Green Bay. We boarded the plane and were almost landed in Green Bay when they decided that thunderstorms in the area were too severe, so they diverted us back to Minneapolis. We had to spend the night in the airport with the whole family, which was an experience I am sure all of us will remember forever, haha.
Otherwise, that’s a wrap for my one week Banff itinerary! If this trip interests you, I think my Iceland itinerary may be of interest to you as well. Check that out here.
This blog post may contain affiliate links, which are at no cost to you. It just helps support me so I can continue to put out free content for you like this! Thank you for your support!