Calgary,Edmonton and Lake Louise/ Banff
 

What are the highlights of each of these places and how much time should we allocate for each spot. Input on sights, hotesls and restaurants welcome!

Personally I would allocate most of your time to mountains (Lake Louise/Banff). One thing I HIGHLY recommend is to drive between Lake Louise and Jasper on the Icefields Parkway. This is truly one of the best drives anywhere.

you are WAY too vague to get any useful info. sights??? what do you like - shopping malls, hiking, etc. hotels??? $300/night in your range? restaurants - hamburger or sea food?

As ltt as intimated, it would help if you mentioned what time of year you wanted to come, how much time you could afford altogether, what activities you like, and roughly what sorts of hotels and restaurants you're aiming at (luxury, moderate or budget).

If you intend to visit the area this summer (July / August), you should make your reservations in the Rockies ASAP. If you're going to be in Calgary during the Stampede (July 9 -18), your reservations here should be a matter of even greater urgency.

If you can afford the time, it would be nice to spend 10 days - 2 weeks in the area, although it can be done in as little as a week. If you are pressed for time, I agree with JMM that you should concentrate on the mountains and cut out out Edmonton and Calgary. Anyway, here's an itinerary that assumes you have time for the cities as well.

Day 1 - Land in Edmonton and overnight there.

Day 2 - Edmonton.

Day 3 - Drive to Jasper (3.5 hours). You should have time to visit Maligne Canyon and Angel Glacier in the afternoon.

Day 4 - Jasper. The area around Jasper is beautiful, and deserves at least a full day. My preference actually would be to give it 2 full days, if you can afford the time. If you have one day, take the gondola up Whistler Mountain, and ride the boat across Maligne Lake to Spirit Island. If you have a second day, visit Mount Robson Provincial Park.

Day 5 - Drive the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise. Take a Snocoach ride on the Athabasca Glacier, and stop at the several scenic lookout points on this route. Overnight in Lake Louise.

Day 6 - Hike around the Lake Louise / Moraine Lake area. Overnight in Lake Louise.

Day 7 - Venture into Yoho National Park (Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, etc.). Overnight in Lake Louise.

Day 8 - Drive to Banff on the Bow Valley Parkway (Route #1A), stopping to see Johnston Canyon on the way. Look at the sights near Banff (Sulphur Mountain gondola and Lake Minnewanka, for instance). Overnight in Banff.

Day 9 - Spend an hour or two looking around Banff's shops in the morning. Then set out for Calgary. While you could zip along the TransCanada Highway (Hwy #1) and get there in 1.5 hours, it would be more interesting to take the circuitous, scenic route through Kananaskis Country. If you prefer this option, drive from Canmore east to Seebe, then turn south on Hwy 40 through Kananaskis Village down to Highwood House. Turn east here where Hwy 40 becomes Route 541. Turn north on Hwy 22 and make your way to Calgary via Black Diamond, Turner Valley, Millarville, Priddis, and Bragg Creek, which will then bring you into Calgary from the west on Hwy 8. If you stop in little towns like Bragg Creek to look at craft shops and such, you could almost make a day out of this. Here's a map that shows this route.

http://www.toloko.com/playing/kananaskismap.htm

Day 10 - Look around Calgary.

Day 11 - Visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller. The dinosaur skeletons really are impressive. Overnight in Calgary.

Day 12 - Fly home.

Judy's plan is very good. It looks like one I followed my second trip to Calgary year ago when I was starting my love affair with that area. I suggest you study it very carefully and follow it as closely as you can.

To answer the very valid questions! We are travelling from Northern Idaho on August 15 and would like to spend 8-10 days.

Hello Nanlyngil,

If you're coming from Idaho, I'm guessing you'll drive rather than fly. I don't know if you want to do this as a round trip from Idaho or if you'll be going somewhere else after that. If you'll be doing a circular drive, you could consider an itinerary something like this:

Aug 15 - Drive to Lake Louise.

Aug 16 - Visit Yoho National Park. Overnight in Lake Louise.

Aug 17 - Moraine Lake, Johnston Canyon, Banff.

Aug 18 - Look around Banff townsite some more in the morning, drive 1.5 hours to Calgary, look around Calgary in the afternoon.

Aug 19 - Drive to Drumheller, visit Royal Tyrrell Museum, drive to Edmonton.

Aug 20 - Edmonton

Aug 21 - Drive 3.5 hours to Jasper in the morning.

Aug 22 - Jasper

Aug 23 - Drive the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise, stopping at the Columbia Icefields and other sights along the way. You could overnight in Lake Louise, but I think it would make sense to press on to Radium Hot Springs or perhaps even Fairmont Hot Springs, British Columbia, to give yourselves a head start the next morning.

Aug 24 - Drive to Idaho.

This was very very helpful. Bookmarking