Banff

Our little cottage is cute and right on the edge of town. Banff itself is reminiscent of Queenstown; it oozes charm and has a real alpine feel about it. Situated in Banff National Park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Banff is one of the most popular national parks in the world. The park is known for its dramatic mountain scenery, crystal-clear lakes, and abundant wildlife, including elk, bears, and bighorn sheep.

We’re exhausted from doing nothing but taking in all this beauty, and we’ve decided that experiencing such stunning surroundings can be exhausting! The reality is that your mind never gets to switch off because if you’re curious, you want to learn about the history of the places you are visiting or passing through. We need to take some time out, so this stop in Banff is both timely and welcome.

We have two full days here. On Day 1, we were expecting snow from 8 AM to 11 AM, but it never arrived; instead, we were greeted with blue skies and intermittent clouds. We pick up our hire car, a huge Dodge! Needless to say, parking is a bit challenging since the hood is so long and high! Off we go to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. The drive to Lake Louise is stunning—we’re retracing part of the route we took on the train. You can see from the photos, even though they’re taken through the car window, that everywhere you look, there are magnificent snow-capped mountains and vibrant, multicolored forests.

The bridges you see in the photos are wildlife corridors, allowing animals to safely cross the highways. These corridors, which include overpasses and underpasses specifically designed for wildlife, enable species such as elk, deer, bears, wolves, and cougars to navigate the busy Trans-Canada Highway without danger. Fencing along the highway guides animals toward these crossings, reducing the risk of vehicle collisions and ensuring that they can migrate, hunt, and access different habitats safely. These wildlife crossings are considered some of the most successful in the world, significantly improving animal safety and helping maintain ecological connectivity within the park, allowing the region’s wildlife to thrive while accommodating increasing human activity.

We thought we could drive there, but instead, we were fooled by signs for the shuttle buses, falling into that tourist trap. We took the shuttle bus from the Lake Louise Ski Resort, which dropped us at Lake Louise for an hour before picking us up to take us to Moraine Lake. It’s hard to understand why they do it this way; part of me feels it’s a money-making racket. It was $50 per person to Moraine Lake and $70 per person to Lake Louise. I think we managed to get a combined ticket for around $90 each. But all that bitterness and annoyance melts away when you see the lakes.

First stop: Lake Louise, where the monstrosity of the Fairmont Château stands. It’s bloody ridiculous how big it is, but the history is fascinating. The story of the Château begins with the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), which played a significant role in the development of Western Canada. The railway’s general manager, Cornelius Van Horne, was instrumental in promoting tourism to the region by constructing grand hotels to attract wealthy visitors, many of whom would travel across the country by rail.

After the CPR laid tracks through the Canadian Rockies, they built a simple log cabin in 1890 on the shores of Lake Louise to accommodate visitors wanting to experience the area’s pristine beauty. As demand for accommodations grew, the CPR constructed a small chalet in 1893.

The Château Lake Louise continued to expand and became renowned for its elegance and beauty. During this period, fire destroyed parts of the hotel twice (in 1924 and 1930), prompting further rebuilding and modernization efforts. The château-style architecture, with its grand turrets and sweeping lake views, became an iconic symbol of luxury in the Canadian Rockies.

I’m pretty confident that today’s planning laws would not allow it to be built there. But enough whinging—let us focus on the beauty around us. I took so many photos that may seem similar, but everywhere I looked, there was something new and breathtaking that I just had to capture.

Oh, there is more! You can get different views as you walk around the lake. There is snow on the ground and in parts pretty icy. You can hire a canoe for $120 per person. There is construction going on at the Château, but as long as you keep looking at the lake you are all good.

Just spectacular! Then it’s a 20-minute drive to Moraine Lake. The road to Moraine Lake is closed in the winter due to safety concerns. Heavy snowfall in the region makes the road treacherous, with risks of avalanches, icy conditions, and difficult terrain for vehicles to navigate. But it’s open for us, and all I can say is WOW! To get the best view, you need to climb up this short but steep pile of rocks, created by a landslide many years ago. The lake’s vivid turquoise colour, which mesmerizes you, comes from the "rock flour"—fine particles of glacial sediment that are suspended in the water. This sediment is also a byproduct of the glaciers that formed the moraines, like the Rockpile, that shaped the lake’s basin. There’s snow on the ground, and it’s quite icy, but it adds to the overall beauty.

There is a walk around the lake you can do, but we didn't have time as our shuttle was picking us up. A gorgeous spot on the planet and understandable why it is the most photographed lake in Canada. So back to our car and the bus driver suggests we take the scenic bow valley road home to Banff, which we did. Oh my goodness, if we thought the drive there was great, this was magnifique on steroids!

those deer are mule deer.

John has really wanted to see elk, and no elk so far. The bus driver told us that if we went to the Banff Springs Golf Course we would most likely see Elk. Elk are in rutting season, which is when they are at their most aggressive. So we popped on by the Golf course and boy did we see Elk. They were bugling - which is their mating call.

They made a right mess of the bunkers!!!! On our way home we stopped by Bow falls.

By now, we are absolutely fatigued. It’s mushies on toast, a movie, and a good night's sleep for us. We couldn't get Netflix working, so we settled for Twister and Sleepless in Seattle. With all the ads, a 90-minute movie takes about three hours... okay, maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but John counted 25 ads!

We wake up to another beautiful day—spoiled by the lovely weather! Today is a rest day: up the Banff Gondola and a stroll around town. The Banff Gondola is an absolute must if you want to take in the full splendour of the Rockies. In just eight minutes, you’re whisked up to the top of Sulphur Mountain, where the views are beyond magnificent—360-degree panoramas of mountains, valleys, and the town of Banff far below. Once at the summit, there’s a scenic boardwalk to stroll, offering fantastic views, or you can challenge yourself with the 355 steps up to the weather station. Suzie did that while John and I soaked up the sunshine on the rooftop.