Skip to content
Roam Canada

Alberta Rockies

Banff and Lake Louise

The national park everyone pictures, in the weeks when you can actually park.

Best months
January–February · May–June · September–October

Banff is Canada’s oldest national park and its busiest. In July the lake shuttles sell out and hotel rates climb with them. Come in late May, late September or midwinter and the same peaks, the same turquoise water and the same elk are there, with rates well below July and room to stand at the shoreline.

Things to do

  • Lake Louise and Moraine Lake

    Moraine Lake Road is closed to private cars; book a Parks Canada shuttle from the park-and-ride at the Lake Louise ski hill, or ride Roam to the lakeshore and transfer to the Lake Connector. The road usually opens in early June and closes around Thanksgiving in mid-October, so time it.

  • Larch Valley in late September

    A 4.3 km climb from Moraine Lake into a bowl of larches that turn gold for about ten days around the last week of September. Weekdays are quiet; weekends need the first shuttle of the day.

  • Icefields Parkway

    230 km from Lake Louise to Jasper past Bow Lake, Peyto Lake and the Athabasca Glacier. The only fuel is at Saskatchewan Crossing, and it shuts for winter, so fill up in Lake Louise. The road can close after snow from October.

  • Johnston Canyon ice walk

    From December to March the Lower and Upper Falls freeze into blue pillars. Guided walks supply cleats; you can also do it yourself with your own microspikes.

  • Wildlife from the road

    Elk graze in Banff townsite year-round, bighorn sheep gather at Lake Minnewanka, and bears feed on roadside dandelions in May and June. Stay in the car: 100 m from bears, 30 m from elk and sheep.

  • Banff Upper Hot Springs

    A 37–40°C outdoor pool at 1,585 m on Sulphur Mountain, best after dark in winter when the steam hides the car park. Towels and swimsuits rent at the door.

When to go

  • Late May to mid-June

    Lake Louise thaws around the turn of June and the waterfalls run hardest. Bears are low in the valleys. Hotel rates are well below July and the shuttle reservations are easy to get.

  • Late September to early October

    Larches, first snow on the peaks, and the summer crowds gone after Labour Day. Nights drop below freezing; days are usually clear and 10–15°C.

  • January to March

    Skiing at Lake Louise, Sunshine and Norquay, ice walks in Johnston Canyon, and skating on Lake Louise itself once it freezes solid. Banff town is at its quietest and cheapest outside the Christmas weeks.

  • Avoid mid-July to August if you can

    Car parks full by dawn, shuttle sell-outs and peak pricing. If summer is your only option, book shuttles the day reservations open and stay in Canmore.

How to get there

  • Fly to Calgary (YYC)

    Year-round nonstops from London Heathrow, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Tokyo; seasonal from Rome, Barcelona and Munich. Banff is about 1 h 45 min west of the airport on the Trans-Canada Highway.

  • Shuttle or car

    Banff Airporter and Brewster Express run from the airport to Banff several times a day; Brewster continues to Lake Louise. In shoulder season a car is still the easiest way to reach the Icefields Parkway and Kananaskis.

  • Getting around without a car

    Roam Transit links Banff, Canmore and Lake Louise. Parks Canada shuttles cover Lake Louise and Moraine Lake from the park-and-ride. A Discovery Pass or day pass is required for the park.

Nothing listed here yet

Tell us the month you would go and we will go find the operators.