Chris had a work event in Banff, Alberta so I took the opportunity to tag along. This was my first trip to Alberta so I was quite excited to go!
I arrived Wednesday afternoon and had the rest of the day to myself so headed into the town centre to do some reconnaissance for the ‘post Shopify part of our stay. The people at the Info Centre were super helpful so worth a visit to chat with them to help plan your days.
I had booked myself a late afternoon ‘upload on the Banff Gondola Sulfur Mountain (Chris did this before I arrived with the Shopifolk); the views at the top of the mountain were spectacular and you realize the scale of these mountains that surround you! This was a pretty epic start to my trip. The guy I shared my gondola with was from Calgary and made a for dinner (The Bear Street Tavern ) so went with that once I was back down. I took so many pictures at the top that I depleted the battery on my phone so I sat at dinner by myself with nothing to look at. Felt like I was back in
The 2 hour time difference from Ottawa was enough jetlag that I ended up in bed pretty early that night, Chris even texted me to meet up with him, but I didnt even see his message until my eyelids opened in the morning.
We spent our first nights at the Fairmont Banff Springs (thank you Shopify!) but when the work part of the trip wrapped up we moved in town to the Mount Royal (our dime). Wed both hotels. The Fairmont Banff Springs was lovely and luxurious. The Mount Royal was convenient and hip and the rooms were a little bigger. The Mount Royal also had hot tubs and a bar on the roof, which was a very nice perk after a day of sightseeing.
Thursday afternoon (we both worked in the morning) we headed out to Lake Louise for the afternoon. If you do nothing else on your trip to Banff, do this. There is a reason its featured on so many Canadian memes. We took the short hike to the Fairivew lookout and were not disappointed. Neither of us packed appropriate footwear for hiking this time
of year ( lots of ice on the trails still) but we made the round trip and managed to stay upright (barely) the whole time.
Dinner that night was at Eddies Burger Bar then we had drinks at Three Bears Brewery . All the fresh air, hiking and beer wore us out. We had a soak in the hot tub and had another early night.
Early Friday morning we hopped in our JEEP Grand Cherokee (rented) and took a drive up the Icefields Parkway to explore. The Canadian Rockies seem to get grander and grander the farther we went. So many places to stop and see. Since we only had 1 day we chose Johnston Canyon , the Bow Summit at Peyto Lake , the Athabasca Glacier at the Columbia Ice fields and pulled over at a bunch of viewpoints right along the highway along the route. If we were to do this trip again I think I would consider starting in Jasper and taking a few days to explore the many trails available on the way back to Banff, but the Icefield Parkway was epic and something wed definitely recommend.
Since Saturday we had most of the day still available to us (7:50 PM flight out of Calgary) we headed down the highway to Canmore to explore. Canmore did not disappoint. Arguably more pretty than Banff. We wandered town a bit and took a walk along the Policemans Creek Boardwalk . Easy and no ice! We had enough time for lunch at Grizzly Paws Brewery and a quick pint at Canmore Brewing Company before heading back to Calgary to fly home.
This was my first trip to Alberta and it did not disappoint. Would love back and explore some more. More photos below!
