Big country. Better bookings.
Moraine Lake mornings, the Icefields Parkway, grizzlies in the Bow Valley and the gondola up Sulphur. What each tour is actually like, what it costs, and where to book it.
Seven tours worth building a trip around.
First visit or fifth, these carry the itinerary. The two-lake day to Louise and Moraine, a glacier walk out on the Columbia Icefield, the boat across Lake Minnewanka and the ride up Sulphur when the valley goes gold.
Banff Gondola Ride Admission
Ride the Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain for 360° views, six mountain ranges, and an easy boardwalk to Sanson’s Peak and the Cosmic Ray Station.
From $55 per person
Read the review →
★ 4.6Bucket-list dayJasper: Columbia Icefield Skywalk and Ice Explorer TicketFrom $962,444 reviews
★ 4.5Books out fastColumbia Icefield Tour with Glacier SkywalkFrom $991,860 reviews
★ 4.8Local favouriteLakes Moraine, Louise, Emerald, Johnston Canyon & Yoho TourFrom $611,023 reviews
★ 4.3Worth the early startJasper: Columbia Icefield SkywalkFrom $37916 reviews
★ 4.7Easy winJasper National Park: Maligne Lake Cruise With GuideFrom $84896 reviews
★ 5.0Crowd-pleaserLake Louise, Moraine Lake and the Icefields Parkway Full-Day TourFrom $165836 reviews
The most beautiful road in Canada.
The Icefields Parkway runs 230 kilometres from Lake Louise to Jasper, past Peyto and Bow Lake, glacier after hanging glacier, to the Columbia Icefield where you can walk out onto the ice. Go with a guide who knows where to pull over and you see twice as much.
Which lake day is yours?
Everyone comes for the turquoise water; which lakes you chase depends on your trip. Three ways to spend the day, each already reviewed and priced. Pick the one that sounds like you.
The two-lake classic
Louise and Moraine
11 hours · from $51 · 1,554 reviews
The postcard day. Sunrise over Moraine Lake and the Valley of the Ten Peaks, then Lake Louise below Victoria Glacier with a canoe on the water. Both lakes shut to private cars in summer, so a tour is the easiest way to reach them without the 4 a.m. shuttle scramble.
Compare the Louise & Moraine tours →
Along the parkway
Peyto and Bow Lake
6 to 8 hours (approx.) · from $74 · 146 reviews
The lakes you drive to. Peyto in its wolf-head shape from the Bow Summit overlook, Bow Lake mirror-still under Crowfoot Glacier, a string of pull-offs most people blow straight past. Less crowded than Louise, and the light in the afternoon is worth the wait.
See the Peyto & Bow drives →
Over the divide
Emerald Lake, Yoho
11 hours · from $51 · 1,554 reviews
Cross into British Columbia and Yoho National Park for Emerald Lake, the Natural Bridge and the Spiral Tunnels. Quieter than the Banff side, greener water, and an easy loop trail around the lake if you want to stretch the legs before the drive home.
See the Yoho & Emerald tours →
The whole park is a dark-sky preserve.
Once the day-trippers drive out, the Milky Way comes up over the peaks. Jasper runs one of the largest dark-sky preserves on earth, and Banff is not far behind. Head out with a guide and a telescope, or walk the townsite while a storyteller fills the dark with its ghosts.
Mountain food, done properly.
Elk sliders and Alberta beef, a craft-beer flight after a long hike, a progressive dinner through the townsite. Banff eats better than a national park has any right to. These are the tastings worth booking a table for.
The rivers run cold and fast.
Snowmelt keeps the Kicking Horse and the Kananaskis roaring all summer. Big whitewater for the brave, float trips down the Bow for everyone else, and a canoe on a glassy lake when you just want the quiet. Wetsuits provided; nerve is on you.
The Banff you already pictured.
Bow Falls thundering below the Fairmont, the view from Surprise Corner, the hoodoos above the river and the steam rising off the Upper Hot Springs. A half-day sightseeing tour strings the icons together and hands you the stories behind each one.
Pick your corner of the Rockies.
The park breaks into a handful of valleys, and each is its own day. Lake Louise for the turquoise water. The Icefields Parkway for the glaciers. Canmore for the quieter side of the range. Jasper up north when you have the extra day.
Know the kind of day you want?
Pick how you want to spend it and every tour behind the tile is already reviewed and priced. Boots, paddle, saddle or telescope, the Rockies will meet you at your pace.
Bigger days, worth the drive.
Banff sits in the middle of a lot of mountains. Jasper and the Columbia Icefield up the parkway, Yoho over the divide in BC, Kananaskis to the south. A long day out and back, and the seat in the van is part of the ticket.
Three days, done right.
You can’t see all of the Rockies in one trip; you can absolutely do the right three days. This is the order we’d hand a friend driving in from Calgary tomorrow.
Day 1
Settle into Banff
Ride the gondola up Sulphur for the lay of the land, walk down to Bow Falls, then soak at the Upper Hot Springs while your legs get used to the altitude. Easy pace, big views.
Plan day one →
Day 2
The big lakes day
Moraine Lake at first light before the crowds, canoe on Lake Louise below the glacier, and if the legs are willing, the teahouse hike up to Lake Agnes for tea and scones.
Plan day two →
Day 3
Drive the parkway
North up the Icefields Parkway with stops at Bow Lake and Peyto, out onto the glacier at the Columbia Icefield, and the Skywalk over the valley before you turn for home.
Plan day three →
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