7 day itinerary in Calgary, Banff, and Jasper area
 

My husband and I are planning to spend 7 days in the Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper area from Sep 5-12. We enjoy hiking, and experiencing the culture of the area we are visiting. This is our first trip to Canada and would appreciate an itinerary to follow and any other advice you may find useful. We will be flying into Calgary and will have a rental car. Thanks for your help!

That's a tough one: 7 days is just enough to get a "taste" of what Banff/Jasper have to offer. I'd guess that the only warning I would give is to not spend too much of your time driving and rushing about trying to see and do it all; play it by ear and according to the weather. You could consider saving Jasper for "next time" (and once you've sampled the Rockies there will be a "next time").

If you really do want to try to cover both parks in one shot you might plan on splitting your time up about 4/1/2; 4 days in Banff (including one in Lake Louise), one day driving to Jasper (stopping at the Icefields along the way) and 2 in Jasper followed by a longish day from Jasper back to Calgary airport.

One hike that I haven't seen mentioned here (maybe I haven't looked hard enough) is a great one: that's to take the Sunshine Gondola up to Sunshine meadows and hike around up on the Continental Divide for a day. If the weather is nice it can't be beat: take a lunch and water with you though because facilities are sparse once Labour Day is past. Another nice hike in Lake Louise is up to the Lake Agnes Teahouse.

In Jasper, the Edith Cavell Meadows/Angel Glacier is worth doing; not excessively strenuous but a nice, comfortable 1/2 day hike leaving you time to possibly take the Gondola for the sights there or maybe over to Maligne Lake.

There are many threads asking for itinerary help in Banff/Jasper. If you do a quick search you'll find very helpful information in them.

as mentioned, do a search...asked and answered tons of times

Thanks so much for your responses, especially Tootsall! I wish we did have more time to spend, but unfortunately, one week is all we have, so hope we can manage to see the highlights of all three areas. The prices for accomodations are so much higher than we anticipated, that I'm thinking this will be the only time we visit! The value of the dollar isn't too strong, unfortunately! We will certainly try the hikes you recommended, as I've heard others speak of them. Thanks again!