48: Banff Trip Planning Q&A (Part 2)

Last week we talked about the big picture planning stuff, how to prioritize and how to structure your days. But you know what? Those strategic questions are only half the battle. Because once you've got your trip booked, there's this whole other layer of questions that pop up. Like which gondola should I actually do? Should I bike the Bow Valley Parkway?

What time does Parks Canada Shuttle Reservations open on april fifteenth? These are the questions that don't keep you up at night, but they definitely will fill up your notes app when you're trying to finalize your itinerary. So today we're diving into part two of this question and answer series. This is all the logistics, the specific stuff you need to know before you leave home. Welcome to the BAMF Travel Podcast. I'm your host, Celim Brewer.

I'm here to help you plan the best trip to BAF National Park and the surrounding area. If you missed part one last week, go back and listen to that first, if you're still in the early planning stages. That episode is all about the big picture decisions when planning your trip to Banff National Park and the surrounding area. But if you've already got your dates and accommodation booked and now you're trying to figure out the details, this episode is for you.

So one of my recent live BAMF trip planning workshop attendees at

Which gondolas do you recommend? Do you hike up or down? Great question because there are three main gondola options in the BAMF area and one chairlift, and they're all quite different. The first is the Banff gondola which goes up Sulfur Mountain. This is the classic gondola that most first time visitors do. It's going to feel the most touristy, but that's because it's the one most people know of and it's so close to the town of Banff.

At the top you've got this amazing boardwalk with 360 degree views. You can see the Banff Town site below you, the bow valley stretching out, and mountain peaks in every direction. The whole experience takes about one and a half to two hours if you're not eating at one of the restaurants there. There's a small interpretive area at the top plus the boardwalk that I highly recommend doing. Now do you hike up or down?

Most people gondola up and down to save time and energy, but if you love the idea of earning the view, you can absolutely hike up Sulfur Mountain. It's a solid workout. It's about five to five and a half kilometers up with some elevation gain. Just know that if you do hike up, you still have to pay for a one-way gondola ticket down, so you'll pay half price. If you want to take the gondola up and hike down, you need a full price ticket.

Next is the Lake Louise gondola. This one's at the Lake Louise ski area, about ten minutes from the Lake Louise village. The views from the top are stunning. You can actually see the Chateau Lake Louise along the shores of Lake Louise from up there. And there's a wildlife interpretive center up there. It has some hiking trails if you want to explore more. The hiking trails are outside of the electric fence, so Bear Spray is a must.

This gondola is a bit quieter than the BAF gondola. It's a great option if you want just a really great view without doing a big hike. This one you cannot hike up or down as the gondola goes over wildlife corridor where bears can sometimes be seen. Next up is the sunshine gondola. This is my favorite one. You get both some incredible views and access to some hiking trails up at Sunshine Meadows.

If you're planning to hike up there, which I highly recommend if you're visiting in the summer, you take the gondola up, followed by a chairlift, and then hike around the alpine meadows. It's absolutely beautiful. I did a full episode on this one, so if this is on your itinerary, make sure to listen to episode 25.

And then finally, up at the Mount Norquay Ski Resort, you can do their summer chairlift. The views at the top are wonderful, as is the restaurant, the Cliff House Bistro. Now there's no hiking, but you will take this if you're doing the Via Ferrada up there.

So to sum it up, if you only do one gondola and you want the classic Banff experience, do the Banff gondola. If you're already spending a day at Lake Louise and want to add something extra, the Lake Louise gondola is great. If you want to do some hiking, Sunshine Meadows is great. Absolutely beautiful.

Alright, moving on to the Bow Valley Parkway. I was asked, is biking the Bow Valley Parkway a good excursion? Short answer, yes. Most definitely. But with some extra information you should know. The Bow Valley Parkway is the scenic road that runs between Banff and Lake Louise. It runs parallel to the Trans Canada Highway. It's gorgeous, lots of forests, mountain views, wildlife sighting.

Here's what you need to know about biking it. In the spring, so May and June and fall, September, the eastern portion of the Bow Valley Parkway is closed to vehicles and open to cyclists. So this is the best stretch of this road and the best time to cycle the Bow Valley Parkway. During those times when the closure is in place, it's an absolutely amazing biking experience. You've got the whole road to yourself. It's quiet and you're way more likely to see some wildlife.

In the summer, July and August, the road is completely open to vehicles, so you'll be sharing the road with cars. It's obviously still scenic, but definitely not as peaceful and not that car free experience. Again, I did a full episode on the Bow Valley Parkway. So if you head to episode 12, you'll get to learn even more about that.

If you are thinking about biking the Bow Valley Parkway, here's my advice. If you're visiting in May, June, or September, absolutely plan a bike ride during those days. That closure to vehicles is actually August 28th to October 2nd in the fall. I usually just say September because it's easier. But just know if you come late in August, this is still a possibility for you.

Now if you're visiting in July or August, you can obviously still bike it, but I'd recommend starting earlier in the morning to avoid peak traffic. And know that you're going to be sharing the road with cars. Obviously, if you're going earlier in the morning, you want to make sure you have bear spray and, you know, making noise as you bike. You can always consider an e-bike if you want a longer, more relaxed ride as well.

As another option, if you're nervous about sharing the road with cars, the Legacy Trail, so from Banff to Canmore, is a fantastic paved bike path that's completely separate from vehicle traffic. If you missed it, you can

A lot of these questions that I'm talking about today are from my live BAMF trip planning workshop that I did or by emails that people have sent me. So another great question I got asked was when hiking, what should we be sure to take with us? And this is A super important question. Here are some hiking essentials that I always bring. Number one, bear spray. Know how to use it. You can rent bear spray from outdoor shops in Banff and Canmore for about ten to fifteen dollars a day.

This is especially good if you're flying home, you can't take it with you, and you don't need to deal with it when you're done with it. Number two, water and snacks. More than you think you're going to need. Bring a lot of water per person, plus some trail mix, energy bars, fruit, whatever works for you.

Like I always say, layers, weather changes fast in the mountains, so bring a warm layer, whether it's a fleece or a light down jacket, plus a rain or wind jacket, even if it's sunny when you start. Good footwear is a must. You don't need the most expensive hiking boots for every trail, but you do need good shoes with some good traction and ankle support, especially if you're going to be spending a lot of time on your trip walking or hiking.

And don't forget that small first aid kit, especially with some blister bandages, if your shoes aren't well worn in. Of course, an offline map cell service is going to be non-existent on a lot of the trails, so you want to download an offline map on your phone and even track.

your hiking. A lot of the trails are well marked, but it never hurts to do that. Of course bring a battery pack. All of those things like tracking your hike, taking lots of photos and videos can use up your phone battery super fast. Don't forget about that sun protection, sunscreen, sunglasses, a hat. Make sure they're in your pack. Now, if you are a person who likes to do things late afternoon or in the evening,

Don't forget a headlamp. If there's any chance you're gonna be out near dusk or into the dark, bring a headlamp. You don't wanna be scrambling down the trail in the dark without If you're heading out solo, you may want to have an inreach or some type of satellite device so new iPhones can send messages via satellite and always let someone know where you're going and when you expect to be.

If you want a full list of everything I recommend bringing when hiking, I've got a detailed guide on my website and I'll link to that in the show notes.

Next up for questions is driving in Banff. One attendee asked, we'll be renting a car. Anything we need to be aware of when driving? Now, I recently did a full episode, episode 43, on driving for first-timers, but here's a few things to know. Obviously you want to fuel up before long drives. If you're doing the Icefields Parkway, fill up your tank and ban for Lake Louise before you go. There's only one gas station on the way and it's not going to be cheap.

Make sure you slow down for wildlife. Wildlife jams happen constantly. You'll round a corner and suddenly there are twenty cars stop because there's a bear on the road. Slow down, give the animal space, and never get out of your car to approach them. Stick to the speed limit. So there's a lower speed limit in the national parks and in the towns, obviously. So you want to stick to that not only to avoid getting tickets, but also for the safety of the wildlife.

as we always say, weather can change quickly. So you want to drive to those conditions. Even in the summer, you know, you can hit rain, fog, Maybe some snow at higher elevations. So just be prepared. And then obviously that sell service. Download your offline maps before you leave the town as there are plenty of places without any sell service. Now about parking, another workshop attendee asked, do you need to pay for parking when you drive a car to the lakes and park?

There are very few places that you need to pay for parking outside of the towns in the national parks. The exception to this is Lake Louise, where it costs$42 to park. If you're coming outside of when the park pass is free in 2026, so it's going to be free June 19th to September 7th. If you're coming outside of those dates, then you need to make sure you have your park pass and it's displayed in your car. Parks Canada will often have check stops and you will need to have a park pass.

So that's very specific to the national park. you still need to pay for parking in the towns of Banff and in the town of Jasper and in Canmore. And then of course if you visit anywhere in Canonaskis, then you need a Canonaskis conservation pass for parking anywhere.

Now since we're on transportation, let's talk about shuttles because this is where most questions come up. Several questions came up in the workshop chat, so let me rapid fire through them. One, can you walk up and get Parks Canada shuttle tickets without a reservation? If available, you can still get Parks Canada shuttle tickets up to the minute before the departure window.

Very typically they're all sold out. So the chance of them being available is pretty low. I wouldn't count on showing up and just getting a shuttle ticket. This is really only likely to happen on a very bad weather day when people are canceling. For the Alpine Start Shuttle tickets, those are not available on a walk-up basis. Those need to be purchased the day before. Two, what time does Park Canada Shuttle Reservations open? On april fifteenth. So this year Parks Canada Shuttle Reservations

date where they will release roughly 40% of the tickets will be on April 15th at 8 a.m. Mountain Time. So mark your calendar, set an alarm, and be ready to book right at 8. Popular dates, you know, especially in weekends, July, August, those are gonna sell out fast and the morning time slots go quickly too. Number three, do you have to reserve the Rome transit shuttles in advance? There are some seats left for walk-ups on Rome Route 8X from Banff to Lake Louise.

But this is not going to work if you want to visit Moraine Lake 2. You need to get the reservable superpass. So that means reserving in advance to get access to the Parks Canada Lake Connector Shuttle from Lake Louise Lakeshore to Mraine Lake. If you're just visiting Lake Louise, absolutely, there are some seats left for walk-ups on Roamer 8X. But if you want to visit Moraine Lake as well, you'd need to reserve in advance.

Final one, if I take Rome Transit to Lake Louise and use the lake connector to get to Moraine Lake, how do I get back to the Rome bus? You take the lake connector back to Lake Louise. Then you catch your return Rome bus back to Banff. So the lake connector is included if you have that Rome Transit Reservable Superpass. I know it sounds super complicated, but once you do it, it's very straightforward. So when you go from BAMF to Lake Louise, you'll take Rome bus Route eight X

Once you get to Lake Louise, if you have that reservable superpass, you'll take the lake connector to get to Moraine Lake. To get back to Banff, you get back on the Lake Connector, back to Lake Louise. From Lake Louise, you get back on Rome Route 8X back to Banff. So one more shuttle question from the workshop was We're staying at Mraine Lake Lodge. Is it best to take the lake connector to Lake Louise or drive ourselves?

If you're staying at Moraine Lake Lodge, I'd lean towards using the lake connector. Shuttle, the big advantage is avoid having to get to Lake Louise Lakeshore parking super early and then paying that$42. If you can get a Parks Canada reservation, it's fairly simple. This will give you maximum flexibility, like if you want to start early or stay later. Driving can work, but again, you just have to plan around those busiest windows. So going super early or maybe even later.

If you want to go with the Lake Connector Shuttle, what you would do is you would get a shuttle reservation, the same as everyone else, but instead you're just going to go to the lake connector shuttle lineup. at the Moraine Lake parking lot, show your reservation plus your proof of lodging at the Moraine Lake Lodge. And then you can take the lake connector to Lake Louise. And then of course you'll just take it back to Marine Lake Lodge when you're ready. Now just know this also works.

On the other side, if anyone is staying at the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and wanting to use that Parks Canada shuttle to see Marine Lake, you just Reserve your shuttle tickets, but on that day you'll walk over to the parking lot, you'll go find the lake connector lineup, and you will show the Parks Canada folks your proof of lodging and your reservation, and you can take that lake connector right to Marine Lake.

On to questions about maps. One attendee asked, I am a visual person. Where can I get a map of BAMF showing downtown, uptown, sulfur mountain, tunnel mountain areas? Now I love this question because having a mental map of the area does make everything less confusing. So the town of Banff has some official maps. If you go to Banff.ca forward slash maps, they have downloadable PDFs including parking maps, trail maps, a great overview of the town site.

Another workshop attendee asks, how can I navigate offline on the Icefields Parkway? Now the easiest method for that is to download offline maps before you leave town. Simple option is Google Maps, search for the area, then download the region for offline maps. You could also consider using an audio guide app like Guide Along, it's very popular for the Ice Fields Parkway. It tells you about history, about the viewpoints, and stops even when you have no signal.

So I've got a full list of useful apps, this one included for Banff Trip, so I'll link to that in my show notes. I also got asked some really great questions about solo travel. I do have this on my list of topics to cover eventually, but for now let's answer a few questions like

I plan to stay in Canmore and drive to Banff one day, and another day take a shuttle to Lake Louise and Moraine Lake. I'm looking for reasonable places to stay in the Lake Louise area that are safe for a solo traveler and also along the Icefields Parkway and in Jasper. For solo travelers, here's what I recommend. The Lake Louise area, the main village hotels, and well reviewed lodges are all straightforward, safe for solo travelers. Lake Louise is very small, very traveler friendly.

Along the Icefields Parkway, accommodations are limited. Most visitors will base themselves in Lake Louise or Jasper and do the parkway as a drive day with all the stops. Either, you know, in between the two places or if you're not going all the way to Jasper, just a day on the Icefields Parkway out and back.

However, any of the places along the parkway would also work. There's the crossing resort or sunwap to Rocky Mountain Lodge. If you'd rather a hotel than Glacier View Lodge is right at the Columbia Icefield Center. And then for Jasper itself, you'll find a good mix of hotels, cabins, lodges, right in town. It's a very comfortable place to travel solo.

You can stay in town for easiest access to restaurants or evening walks, or choose cabins just outside of town if you want a quieter, more nature-focused experience. Now what about hiking solo? Now this is a question that does come up and it's really going to depend on your comfort level. It's always safer to hike in a group. However, you can choose more popular hikes, knowing that you'll rarely go long without seeing anyone.

You do always want to make sure you have your own bear spray with you. You know how to use it and you're making lots of noise when you're hiking. Actually, this also applies even if you're in a group. Or another really great option is to join a guided hike. There's a lot of really great guided hikes around BAF to choose from.

Okay, just a couple more quick questions. Do we need some type of park pass for hikes outside of the national park gates? So if the trailhead is outside of the national park boundary, like in Canonaskis, then yes, for Canonaskis, you need a Canonaskis conservation boundary. And then again about bear spray. Do we have to purchase it? You can either purchase or rent bear spray. So you can easily rent it in BAM.

from places like Ultimate Sports or Wilderness Rentals or Gear Up in Canmar, Wilson Sports in Lake Louise. So it's easy to rent and then you can just bring it back and not have to worry about it. However, if you are moving a lot and possibly not returning to the same town or don't have time to make that return, then you absolutely can purchase it. Again, most of the sports stores will sell it as well.

Okay, that's a wrap on part two. If you still have questions or if you want a more personalized walkthrough of all of this information, you can book a quick 30 minute or one hour travel consultation with me where I can answer all your questions and we can either build or review your entire itinerary. Just go to travelbanf Canada dot com and book it right in my calendar.

Thanks so much for listening to the Banff Travel podcast. If these two episodes helped you, share them with a friend who's planning their own 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.