Our family will be visiting Calgary, Banff, Jasper and Edmonton area July 27 - Aug. 9. We are wondering is it better to start in Calgary and go up to Banff and Jasper to Edmonton or do the reverse. We will be driving while in Alberta and are flexible with where we fly into. Thanks for any advice.

6 of one and half dozen of the other..great trip whichever way you choose. Be aware that there is along weekend in AB while you are here(Aug 1) so traffic will be heavier than usual and on the road to Jasper (or from Jasper) it will be heavy at the best of times..Get you resv. made ASAP.

I prefer Edmonton - Jasper - Lake Louise - Banff - Calgary. I think that the Icefield Parkway (Jasper to Lake Louise) is more interesting travelling north to south (actually NW to SE) than the other way around, although it is gorgeous both ways. Plus you get the Edmonton - Jasper bit out of the way first.
July 27th is a Sunday, so the traffic should not be too bad driving west on the Yellowhead from Edmonton (there'll probably be more traffic going the other way, Edmontonians going home).
Banff to Calgary is a short drive, about one hour, easier to do on a last day of driving than the 3.5 hour (minimum) drive Jasper to Edmonton.
amer-_can is right, the first Monday in August is a holiday making it a long weekend Aug 2 to 4 this year - better to make reservations as soon as possible.

Can you fly into Edmonton and out of Calgary, so you don't have to back track? If so, Borealis' route choice sounds great. Either way, its a stunning area and I wish I was going with you.

Thanks for all your suggestions. We are finalizing everything this week so the information shared has been most helpful.

Actually, doing the Icefields Parkway twice is a great thing - the views are different each way and there's more than enough to see.
I would strongly suggest flying in and out of Calgary, rather than having to deal with the drive from Jasper to Edmonton. Boring and almost entirely out of the mountains.

I agree with kgsneds. No need to drive between Jasper and Edmonton, and certainly not between Calgary and Edmonton. Stick to the mountains, even if it means back-tracking. As kgsneds says, there's more than enough to see.