Banff
Banff National Park is in the heart of the Canadian Rockies and attracts millions of visitors each year. There’s more tourism during summer which is difficult for us snow-lovers to understand.
The town of Banff is 90 minutes west of Calgary and under 2 hours from Calgary International Airport. The town is a charming small mountain community. It’s incredibly picturesque with the backdrop of the beautiful snow-capped mountains, and in amongst nature, there’s the potential to see wildlife wandering right down the street.
During winter the tourists flock to Banff to ski or snowboard at the “Banff Big Three”, which are
Norquay,
Sunshine Village and
Lake Louise.You can ride the three resorts on an interchangeable lift ticket. If you don’t have a car, all the resorts are accessible via shuttle buses from various Banff hotels.
Banff has a lot of choice for
accommodation, but if you like ski-in ski-out accommodation and the convenience of staying on-mountain, then your options will be very limited, almost absent. Sunshine Inn is the only on-mountain hotel. In Banff there are a selection of hotels, B&Bs, hostels and the Banff Springs Hotel which is more like a castle. There are also other options including campgrounds in surrounding areas, and the town of Canmore.
The main streets are filled with
shops and arcades – a shopaholic haven. Some of the shops are ridiculously expensive but these are mixed in with good value souvenir and snow equipment shops. Surprisingly the best bargains we found were at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel where they had an amazing sale on – perhaps we were just really lucky?
There are lots of
dining options in Banff, great après and a vibrant nightlife with plenty of bars. Other than skiing or snowboarding, there are lots of
activities for tourists. As one example, a visit to the Banff Upper Hot Springs is a must to soak the weary muscles.