47: Banff Trip Planning Q&A (Part 1)

We've all been there, sitting at the computer with 17 browser tabs open. One has Moraine Lake Shuttle Times, another shows hotel prices that make you wince. A third has a blog post from twenty nineteen that may or may not still be accurate. You've been researching for three hours and you're more confused than when you started. Sound familiar?

Every time I host one of my live BAMF trip planning workshops, I hear the same sentiment from attendees. I just want to make sure I am not missing anything. And honestly, that's the exact feeling that inspired today's episode. Because here's what I've learned from hosting these workshops. The questions people ask aren't just about logistics, they're about deeper worries. Am I booking the right things? Will I regret skipping something? How do I fit it all in without feeling rushed?

So today I'm starting a two-part series where I answered the real questions people bring to my workshops and the challenges they share with me in email. Part one is all about the big picture, the strategic decisions that set up your whole trip. And next week in part two we'll dive into all the nitty gritty logistics. Welcome to the BAF Travel Podcast. I'm Celim Brewer and I live here in Canmore, just minutes from BAF National Park.

My mission is simple. Help you plan an incredible trip without the stress, without the overwhelm, or those 17 browser tabs. In late January of this year, I hosted another live BAMF trip planning workshop. And between the questions people submitted beforehand and the challenges they shared in their emails, I had enough material for an entire miniseries.

Because if you're wondering about these things, I guarantee hundreds of other listeners are too. So grab your notebook if you're in planning mode and let's dive into questions that come up again and again. Just a small side note, I don't currently have any live BAMP trip planning workshops planned as I just don't have the time to set up another one and make sure I can get enough people in it. But if you're just starting to plan your trip and you want that full overview of the area

I've made it possible for you to purchase a recording of the last BAF trip planning workshop I did. That means you get instant access to the full ninety minute presentation I did on BAF National Park, Jasper National Park, Yoho, Kootenie, and this whole area. Just head over to Banff Travel Planning dot com forward slash live and get instant access. Now let's start with the question I get more than any other, which one attendee phrased perfectly.

Figuring out what all needs to be booked ahead of time. Here's the thing. You don't need reservations for everything, but there are a few critical bookings that will make or break your trip, and if you wait too long, you might miss out. First, of course your accommodation. If you're visiting June through September, hotels fill up with six to twelve months ahead especially in the Banff town site and Lake Louise. So if you want to stay in a specific hotel, it's best to plan ahead.

And as we know, prices are going to increase as we get closer to summer and the inventory of hotel rooms and Airbnbs start dwindling. Now speaking of accommodations, one recent email I got was do you have any overnight lodging recommendations? Most things I've been seeing are around$400 a night, and we were looking for something a little less expensive, if possible.

Yeah, I hear you. BAF accommodation is expensive. There's just no way around it. But there are some strategies to help bring that cost down. One option is to stay in Canmore instead of Banff. Canmore is only twenty minutes from the Banff town site and hotels are cheaper. Now you'll need a car or need to be more comfortable using public transit, roam transit buses. But if budget is a concern, this is the easiest way to save a chunk of money. Just stay further out.

Of course, booking well in advance. As we know, hotel prices go up as availability goes down. If you book six to nine months ahead, you'll see more inventory and better rates. Another option is consider the shoulder seasons. If your dates are flexible, May and October are going to be cheaper than June through September. And honestly, they're some of my favorite times to visit. You might catch a bit of rain or early snow, but the trade-off is fewer crowds and lower places.

And again, like I already said, look just outside the park. Not too far away, but towns like Deadman's Flats for Banff or Hinton for Jasper can save you money, but do consider the extra driving you're going to need to do each day. Finally, if you're open to it, camping is your cheapest option, but you're going to need to be able to bring camping gear or rent it while you're here. Plus, getting camping reservations requires you to be on it in January when reservations open for the entire season.

Although keep in mind, cancellations are still an option. And you can find some first come, first serve campgrounds. Okay, back to what needs to be booked. Second critical booking aside from your rental car and your accommodations is your moraine lake shuttle if you want to visit that lake. Those Parks Canada shuttles open for booking mid-April, so April 15th at 8 a.m. mountain time to be exact. And popular dates times, so throughout peak season, are gonna sell out super fast.

So you want to mark your calendar, set an alarm, and be ready to book the moment reservations open. Often you'll also want to plan a shuttle to Lake Louise as parking there can be very difficult to get. Now Rome Transit is another option for getting to those lakes, but at this point you're gonna have to watch out for the dates for those reservations and when they open up because I haven't seen that yet. And then of course you have the option of

commercial shuttle operators. But again, some of those will sell out in the peak summer months. So it is best to plan ahead for these two layers. Other activities like the Banff Gondola will also sell out at popular times in peak season. If you're headed to Jasper, Moline Lake Cruise will also sell out in the summer months, as well as the Columbia Ice Field Adventure. If any of those are must do on your itinerary, you're gonna want to book them.

Now, while not all activities and tours will sell out far in advance, I do always recommend booking once your dates are set to just check it off your list, and then you don't need to worry about it. Now, as we're speaking about bookings and reservations, something I get asked about often is if you need reservations to enter Banff National Park. Now, there's no limit to how many people or when people can enter the park.

Just don't forget your park pass unless of course you are visiting in the summer when it's free for 2026. So those dates again are June 19th to September 7th. Another question about reservations and booking that I always get asked is about canoeing in places like Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, and Emerald Lake. Just know that those cannot be reserved in advance, so you're just going to need to get in.

On to the next question. One of my workshop attendees wrote, I think the biggest struggle is just pairing things together day by day, making sure we use our time wisely. And Yes, this is where a lot of people get stuck. You've got a list of must sees, but how do you fit them into actual days without being too rushed, having enough time, and not doing extra driving that you don't need to do?

So what I always tell people when building a BANF itinerary is think in areas not necessarily just the attractive Obviously you don't want to try to see Lake Louise, Johnson Canyon, Banff Townsite all in one day just because they look like they might be near each other on a map. Yes, they're all in Banff National Park.

But trust me, that day is going to feel way too rushed and you're going to spend half the time in your car and probably not enjoying any of it. Instead, let's cluster your days by the area. So Lake Louise and Moraine Lake are an obvious pairing. This can be a big lakes day, you can plan a really nice long hike at one of them, or a shorter hike at both, pack a lunch and give yourself the whole day.

Then you can do a Banff Townsite day, explore downtown, walk to Bow Falls and Surprise Corner, maybe do the Banff Gondola or a tunnel mountain hike in the afternoon. The Icefields Parkway Day, so you may be driving all the way to Jasper, or you may be doing it just as an out and back day trip, depending on how much time you have, you know, stopping at Bow Lake, Pato Lake, Mistaya Canyon, Athabasca Glacier, all of those things.

It makes sense to do a Yoho day trip where you're going to head west out of Bath National Park into Yoho National Park to see Emerald Lake, Natural Bridge, Takaka Falls if the road is open depending on when you're coming, and even Wapta Falls for a hike. Now, each of these days has a clear focus, which means you're not constantly packing up at the car and rushing to the next thing, and you can actually relax into the experience.

Which leads right into this next question that I got asked. What is the best order to visit around Banff, Lake Louise, Moraine, and Emerald Lake? Now we can keep this super simple, especially for first time trips.

Start with the Banff Town site and the nearby sites, you know, like we talked about Bow Falls, Surprise Corner, Tunnel Mountain, Lake Minawanka. This is a great place to start because you don't have to travel too far. You're close to your hotel and restaurants and you can ease into that vacation mode. Next day, head out to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake and dedicate a full day to this.

And then finally on your third day, do a day trip to Yoho for Emerald Lake, Natural Bridge, and the waterfall stops that you want to make. If you have another day around bamps. You could do Bow Valley Parkway, Johnston Canyon, and it's also nice to break up those longer driving days, like if you're going to go all the way to Yoho National Park or the Ice Fields Parkway. Having a day with less driving where you can stick around BAF is really nice to stick in between those.

Now that's just one idea of what you can do. That order in particular kind of builds in intensity. Start with the easier to navigate spots closer to town. You know, maybe when you're a little bit tired from traveling to get there, and then you move to the days that either require more driving or getting up much earlier. And then of course if you have bad weather, you can shuffle things around.

I know this isn't for everybody, but it is really well worth it as well to build in a slow day. If you're here for five days, you don't need to pack all five days with major sites. You can give yourself a day to sleep in, wander around town, or maybe an afternoon just to hang out. Those slow days are often the ones you remember the most.

Now I've talked about Lake Louise and Marine Lake a lot, and another question that always comes up about those two, and that was asked as part of the workshop, was do you recommend doing Moraine Lake and Lake Louise on two different days and especially if we want to do a hike. So my honest answer is it depends on what you want it from that day. One day works if your main goal is just to see both lakes and do a shorter hike that is max three to four hours.

Now you have to be okay with it being a full active day and that, you know, you might be a little tight on your schedule. For example, you could start at Lake Louise around nine AM, assuming you've gotten the shuttle to get there. and hike to Lake Agnes Tea House. You know, it's around seven and a half kilometers round trip. Probably gonna take you around three to four hours. You could grab a tea or a snack at the tea house and then head back down where you go to the parking lot.

get in line and gonna head up to Moraine Lake for the afternoon. Maybe you walk the lakeshore, maybe you just go up to the rock pile for a viewpoint. You know, that's how you can easily fit them both in. Two days is definitely better if you want to do longer hikes and if you want to do multiple hikes.

There are some incredible hikes at both Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. If you're a hiker, I highly recommend taking the time to do a big hike at each one, and then I would split them into two different days. Obviously, if you have a group with very different fitness levels, you may want to split it up into different days. For example, if you have a big group, you know, maybe there's a mixed ability for hiking in your group.

What I would suggest you could do then is do both lakes in one day and pick one good hike that everyone could do, like the Lakeshore Trail at Lake Louise, the Lakeshore at Moraine Lake, or even Constellation Lake. From Moraine. Now that one's about six kilometers around trip, but it's relatively flat. Now if you split it into two days, your strong hikers can do the plain of six glaciers.

or even large valley to Sentinel Pass, and then the other people in your group could do shorter options like we talked about, those Lake Shore Trails, Constellation Lakes, or even maybe Fairview Lookout at Lake Louise. So there's a lot of different ways that you can do those two days. It really comes down to the hikes that you choose, how long they are, and the abilities within your group.

Another popular question I get is about the best photo stops. So one attendee said, my main interest is to take some of the best photos as possible. Can you recommend some photosops? Now this is a little hard because really everywhere is a great photo stop. There are so many great places to take pictures, so make sure you have your camera with you and ready.

Obviously, if you are a photographer, you're going to be prioritizing those early mornings and the golden hour when that light is just magical, you know, those hours after sunrise or before sunset. Now, keep in mind this can be really early in the morning and late in the evening in the summertime, with those 5 30 a.m. sunrises and 10 p.m. sunsets. But if you're serious about getting great photos, you need to be up early and out late.

And like I said, it's not hard to find some incredible photo spots here. The obvious ones, right? Lake Louise, Moraine Lake up at the rock pile. Two Jack Lake with the reflection of Rundle is absolutely beautiful. Vermilion Lakes for a sunrise. Cascade Ponds has some incredible views. along Banff Avenue, that picture of the town of Banff with Cascade in the distance, obviously Pato Lake, Bow Lake, the list goes on.

Obviously, if photography is your priority, you're going to be better off spending more time at one location and waiting for some great light instead of rushing through. a bunch of different locations all day long. And of course, like I always say, don't stress too much about the weather. It can change quickly.

Now another email that I got was my biggest challenge with planning is prioritizing. I know this is a once in a lifetime trip, choosing what I want to do the most since I can't do everything. This is the toughest one because it's true. You can't do everything. I live here and I haven't done everything. And if you try, you'll spend your whole trip stressed, rushed, exhausted.

Now, another attendee put it this way: we just want to make sure we see as much as possible during our visit. I get it, I really do. But here's the shift I want you to make. Instead of asking, how do I see as much as possible? Ask yourself this. What would make this trip feel complete for me? For some people, that's hiking to a tea house. They have these.

uh images that they've seen that they just absolutely want to see that themselves. Maybe you want to go to the tea house and sit there for an hour with a cup of tea and a view. For others, it's seeing that color of the lakes or Spotting wildlife on the Ice Fields Parkway. So I would figure out what my top three must-dos are, the things that if you did them, you'd go home happy, and then build your itinerary around those. Knowing that everything else is gonna be a bonus.

Plus, like I always say, Baff isn't going anywhere. If this trip goes well, you're gonna be back. And if you don't come back, at least you'll have truly experienced the things that mattered most to you instead of running yourself ragged trying to check off a list from these images you saw on Instagram. I think we all know that the best trips aren't the ones where we saw the most things. They're the ones where we felt the most present and took the time to enjoy where we were.

Another thing that comes up frequently is what someone sent me in an email. Biggest challenge. So many tours, which are good or not? This is such a valid question, because there are hundreds of companies operating in BAF, and it's hard to know which ones are worth your money. Now here's how I think about it. Do tours when it makes sense to

You know, if you don't want to drive and you just want to take in the view, especially on the Icefields Parkway, maybe you want expert commentary for that day. You want a guide, you don't want to do the research for yourself, or you're traveling solo and you want to meet other people.

Maybe the logistics are really complicated, like getting to Moraine Lake during peak season and you would rather just somebody else deal with it. Or if you want to stop at places where you don't want to deal with the parking, like Emerald Lake and Takaka Falls, where someone can just drop you off. So for some of those reasons, it makes sense to do a tour and knowing the best ones to choose.

I highly recommend you look for local tour companies. There are so many tour companies out there, but the people who actually live in Banff, in Canmore, they know the area they've been exploring for likely decades. Those are the great people to have taking you around. Now, it doesn't make sense to do a tour when you want flexibility in your schedule or you're comfortable navigating shuttles and parking on your own.

Or maybe you want to spend as much or as little time as you want at each stop. Finally, if you're on a budget, tours are probably gonna break that budget. So again, if you want to book a tour, my advice is look for a small group tour, 12 people or fewer, look through the recent reviews, make sure the itinerary matches the pace that you want. Some tours might try to cram in a bunch of stops in one day, which sounds great, but may not feel like it.

For the Icefields Parkway specifically, I think a tour can be worth it if you don't want to drive. The scenery is obviously incredible, but the drive requires focus and there are lots of places to stop. So having a guide who knows where to stop and when makes it less stressful.

However, you may also miss some of the stops you were hoping to see. A group tour will have less stops because they need to account for everyone. Some may take longer at a stop or to do a walk, and so they just really can't make as many stops. And for Lake Louise and Moraine Lake, honestly, the Parks Canada shuttles are a great value. You get the same access, you get lots of flexibility. I know they sound complicated. But once you get the system figured out, it's really not that bad.

Okay, that's part one. Big picture strategy stuff. Next week in part two, we're getting into the weeds. I'll answer all the specific logistics questions from the workshop like which gondla should you do? Is the Bow Valley Parkway good for biking? What do you actually need to bring on a hike? How do the shuttles really work? all the specific questions that come up once you've already got your trip booked and you're finalizing the details.

If you found this helpful and you're in the early stages of planning your bath trip, I want to tell you about something that might save you hours of research. As I mentioned, I do host live BAF trip planning workshops several times a year where I walk through everything you need to know, when to visit, where to stay, how the shuttle systems work, and how to build an itinerary that actually feels good to follow.

But here's the thing, if you can't make it to a live session or if you want instant access, you can purchase the recording from my last workshop. You get all the same information, you can watch it on your own schedule, plus you can still submit your own questions and I'll answer them by email.

It's designed for first-time visitors who want a clear step-by-step plan without spending weeks researching on their own. You can find it at BAFTravelplanning.com forward slash live and the link is in the show notes.

Thanks so much for listening to the BAMF Travel Podcast. If this episode helped you, I'd love if you'd share it with a friend who's planning their own BAMF trip or leave a review so more people can find the show. Until next time, happy trip planning and I'll see you out on the trails.