Here's my travel itinerary from a 6-day trip to Banff Canada in June 2023. Full of details with the best hikes, activities and what to eat if you're also planning on going there.
Disclaimers:
There is more to do which we didn't have time for and we fully intend to go back, perhaps even at a different time of year.
What to do in Banff - Day 1:
We flew in to Calgary Airport and used Banff Airporter to get to our hostel in Banff. The transport was expensive (most options are though it seems...) but comfortable and customer service was excellent. It was very easy to get in touch with them to change drop off or pick up points.
We stayed for 3 nights in HI Banff Alpine Centre hostel before moving to HI Lake Louise Alpine Centre for 3 nights. We chose private rooms with shared bathroom and it was all comfortable. Both hostels had lovely outside areas with nice views, and the Banff hostel even offered free bus tickets to use on all Roam buses (expect the one to Lake Louise).
We arrived late morning, so unpacked and had brunch. The hostel served the best pancakes with blueberry syrup which we ate outside with a beautiful view over the mountains.
We took the bus down to Banff town centre, had a walk around, went to the tourist information desk for some extra information on buses and hikes, then browsed around all the hiking shops. We then went to have a look at beautiful Bow river and grabbed the bus to Lake Minnewanka.
We walked the Lake Minnewanka trail up to Stewart Canyon but didn't go any further as it was Grizzly season and we were only 2 tasty looking people without bear spray.
We then got the bus back and stopped off at Johnson Lake. It was beautiful, a lot of people were swimming and sunbathing at the start but we did the loop around the lake and it was quiet after the first bit. I loved this trail and we thought we might come back for a swim another day if we had the time (we didn't unfortunately).
We got the bus back to town centre, did a grocery shop in the IGA and hopped on the bus back up to the hostel. I made pesto, there was no food processor so I chopped everything up with a knife! It was surprisingly delicious.
What to do in Banff - Day 2:
Started off with breakfast in the hostel, then got the bus to Banff town centre.
Walked the Bow Falls Viewpoint trail: very easy if you don't struggle with stairs, a nice walk with view of the falls. It did feel over-crowded though and was by no means the prettiest walk of the trip. This is the one I would least likely do again.
Rented a 2-person canoe from the Banff Canoe Club for 2 hours, I can't remember what it cost us but it looks like now it would $90+VAT total. This was a lot cheaper than canoeing on Lake Louise or Morraine Lake. We rowed to Vermillion lake over a beaver dam and saw beautiful birds, scenery and clear green waters. A really lovely way to spend the morning. We had a packed lunch on Vermillion lake enjoying the views, then rowed back.
We completed the Tunnel Mountain summit trail in the late afternoon when the heat was lower. This felt like the first difficult hike and our legs definitely agreed. The view at the top though was so beautiful we both had a little cry (probably fuelled by the exhaustion too). There are viewpoint seats to enjoy a little packed snack and drink before coming back down where we spotted elks with their calves in the woods.
Back at the bottom, we made the most of happy hour at Añejo with margaritas and tacos to recuperate.
That evening, we booked the bus and shuttles for Lake Louise to make sure we had a spot. A Roam transit to our hostel in Village North and a Canada Parks Shuttle Bus to Lake Louise from the Park and Ride.
What to do in Banff - Day 3:
As always, breakfast at the hostel.
The Patagonia store in Banff centre recommended doing the Hoodoos trail. They happened to be close to the hostel so we followed the village campground trail to the Hoodoos lookout and then went down to Bow river, following it into Banff town centre. We had a packed lunch along the way (burritos without rice). I'd never heard or seen hoodoos before so it was fun, a nice trail and quite easy since we started from the top and the incline wasn't too hard on the knees. Not my favourite trail but it was really nice.
We then went to buy bear spray from SkiBig3 Adventure Hub as it was the best value we found.
We booked the Sulfur Mountain Gondola for the late afternoon. In the meantime, we went to check out the Upper Hot Springs but didn't like the look of them. It was a lot of money for an overcrowded spring that looked more like a pool. Well, it wasn't a bit of us basically.
We took the Gondola to the top of Sulphur Mountain and just walked the easy loop at the top to all the beautiful viewpoints. The gondola back down was just in time for sunset which was lovely.
We made dinner at the hostel and sadly missed a bear sighting outside the front door if rumours were to be believed. That evening we booked the shuttle to Morraine Lake.
What to do in Banff - Day 4:
Breakfast at the hostel again.
The free shuttle up to the Mount Norquay ski resort and the via ferrata just reopened for the season on this very day (10th June) so it felt rude not to take it. We decided to do the Cascade Amphitheatre trail, a 6 hour long hike which we dedicated our day to, making sure to pack our bear spray, water, lunch and plenty of snacks. This hike is great if you want to get away from the crowds. I think we only crossed paths with 4 people the entire day! This was definitely the place I felt most likely to end up face to face with a bear, you start off past the ski resort and make your way up the mountain through a lovely forrest. The climb was hard for us, at one point we were very tempted to turn around so we decided to stop for lunch. We'd made packed sandwiches with some sodas, biscuits and bananas, I also bought wholesale nuts and mixed them myself in freezer bags for trail mixes. After lunch we decided to go for another 30 minutes and luckily that's all it took to get us to the amphitheater. It was a big valley surrounded by mountains with a little stream running through it. All we could hear when we arrived was very loud screeching, I thought it might have been a bird or someone far away but it turned out to be a little marmot calling its young back to safety. We stopped for photos and a rest then made our way back down.
We advertised our unused bear spray at the hostel and sold it immediately making back most of the money we spent (bought for 25 and sold for 20 I think). We then went to IGA to get groceries for Lake Louise and hopped on our pre-booked Roam transit bus to our next hostel: HI Lake Louise Alpine Centre. Lake Louise Village is very small and although there is a supermarket, the choice is minimal and prices are higher so I was glad we already bought food, even though we had to carry it there with us.
We had dinner at the hostel restaurant: Bill Peyto's Cafe. I tried the Elk burger, it was slightly sweeter than beef and leaner, I really enjoyed it.
What to do in Lake Louise - Day 1:
We made our way to the Lake Louise Ski Resort Park & Ride using the free shuttle from Lake Louise Village North. We then caught our pre-booked transit to Lake Louise (make sure to book this a couple of days in advance through the Parks Canada Reservation Service).
Once at Lake Louise, we took in the view and made our way along the Lake Agnes trail. You start off with a gentle climb to Mirror Lake and then we chose to vier off to climb little beehive. This wasn't too difficult and gave us a lovely view of the lake from above. We stopped there to have our packed lunch.
We then made our way back down and round to Lake Agnes. This is a busy spot, there is a tea house that the staff hike up to every day and even ask if customers can help bring some of the rubbish bags back down because otherwise it's too much for them to do in one go in the evening! I think the teahouse only accepted cash payments, we had some lovely tea and cake to go (be mindful there are 2 queues, the one to sit-in tends to take longer). I then recommend walking round to the other end of the lake as you get a beautiful view. If you're feeling energised from the cake, I really recommend hiking up Big Beehive, it's difficult with a lot of switchbacks that make it feel long, but the view at the top is 100% worth it!
We went back down via the Six Glaciers plain which I found the hardest as the downward slope was a bit hard on my knees, but it was nice to get the full view and arrive at the other end of Lake Louise. This was also a much quieter part of the trail.
After all that we were exhausted and headed back to our hostel for homemade barbecued hotdogs.
What to do in Lake Louise - Day 2:
Back to the Park & Ride again but this time we got the pre-booked bus to Morraine Lake.
A much quieter day, the walk around the lake is flat and quite short. We had leftover hotdogs on the bank then decided to splurge on a canoe. We payed for one hour and had an explore on the lake, it was beautiful and I can't recommend it enough!
The final day was just travelling back to Banff to get our shuttle transport to Calgary airport and then setting off for San Fransisco.
My tips and favourite trails around Banff National Park:
Trail difficulty ratings as a 26 year old that is moderately fit (really I go to the gym a bit and have leisurely walks from time to time, that's it), I've also ranked them from my favourite to least favourite:
Morraine Lake Canoeing: Easy, expensive, moderate crowds
Big Beehive: Difficult, steep hill with many switchbacks, moderate crowds.
Lake Louise to Lake Agnes Trail: Moderate, some hills but not steep, busy crowds.
Morraine Lake Trail: Easy, flat, busy crowds.
Little Beehive: Moderate, steeper hill but not very long, busy crowds.
Johnson Lake Loop: Easy, flat, busy crowds for the first 1/4 then empty.
Bow River Canoeing to Vermillion Lakes: Easy, only one tricky bit to push the boat over the dam, no crowds.
Lake Minnewanka trail to Steward Canyon: Easy, mostly flat, moderate crowds.
Tunnel Mountain: Moderate, hilly, moderate crowds.
Cascade Amphitheater: Difficult, hilly, no crowds
Sulphur Mountain Viewpoint: Easy, flat except for a few stairs, busy crowds. You can choose to hike up Sulphur Mountain rather than take the gondola, this is difficult and would need a dedicated day.
Six Glaciers to Lake Louise: Moderate, downhill best with walking sticks, no crowds.
Village campground to Hoodoos viewpoint down to Bow river and Banff town centre: Moderate, downward hill, no crowds.
Bow Falls Viewpoint: Easy, flat except for downward stairs, busy crowds.
Useful tools and apps:
AllTrails - I would recommend signing up for the pro version when you arrive to use the 7 day free trial. This will allow you to download the maps for offline use, which is needed on most trails.
To bare in mind:
Even though it was lovely weather throughout our trip mid June, Lake Louise and Morraine Lake are high altitude so it does get cold, especially in the morning. The day we left it started snowing again, so there is no guarantee the trails will be snow-free even in June.
If I was to go again, I would invest in walking sticks. I used wooden sticks instead which did the trick but wasn't ideal!!
Don't forget to buy a park pass!
If I could change anything we did, I wouldn't.
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