Canadian Rockies-where to stay

Old Jan 20th, 2005, 06:52 PM
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Canadian Rockies-where to stay

My husband & I are planning a trip to the Canadian Rockies early September. We'll be flying in/out of Calgary and will have 7 nights, 6 full days. How many nights should we spend in each area? I figured the first night we'll stay in Calgary since we arrive in the evening. How many nights would you recommend for Banff or Lake Louise and Jasper? Not sure whether to stay in Banff or LL.
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Old Jan 20th, 2005, 07:43 PM
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Hello Ann,

I suggest the following:

1 - Calgary

2 - Day trip to Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller, overnight in Calgary again (You didn't ask for dinosaurs, but when did that stop me from recommending them? )

2 - Drive to Jasper

3 - Explore Jasper's environs

4 - Drive back down the Icefields Parkway, and visit Moraine Lake and Lake Louise

5 - Explore Yoho National Park from your base in Lake Louise

6 - Drive to Banff, Canmore or Calgary (choice of overnight stop depends on departure time of next day's flight -- a stay in Banff / Canmore is really only comfortable if flight is noon or later)

7 - Fly home

Hope that helps.
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Old Jan 20th, 2005, 08:16 PM
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Duh!!! I wish Fodors Talk had an edit feature.

1 - Calgary

2 - Calgary

3 - Jasper

4 - Jasper

5 - Lake Louise

6 - Lake Louise

7 - Banff, Canmore or Calgary

8 - Fly home.

Oh well, I guess my suggestions still work out inspite of the typo in my previous post.
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Old Jan 21st, 2005, 06:13 AM
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Thanks Judy! Not sure if my husband will want to spend a day going to and visiting the paleontology museum but I'll run it by him. He prefers not to do too much driving (we live in the L.A. area, hehe) and wants to base out of a couple places.
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Old Jan 21st, 2005, 07:09 AM
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There's beautiful scenery on the way to Drumheller, so that day would be more than just a museum. And you'd start from and return to Calgary that day, so there's no extra hotel packing and unpacking involved.

And, further to Judy's post, point out that Banff, Canmore, and Lake Louise are very close together, so regardless of which of the three you stay in, you can visit the others and treturn to your hotel at night, even after dinner.

Banff is the biggest tourist town of the three, with a nice main street for strolling, lots of bars and restaurants, etc., and that's the place I'd pick for an overnight hotel, but I like to be where things are going on.

Lake Louise has no town center that I know of; just a cluster of a couple of stores, and then the hotels are pretty scattered. Chateau lake Louise is a favorite of mine, worth going to for a very nice dinner even if you are staying in Banff.

BAK
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Old Jan 21st, 2005, 08:55 AM
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I don't know what your budget is, nor do I know if you are hikers...but take a look at Mt. Engadine Lodge near Canmore. Great hiking, very spartan accomodations. They had a spectacularly accomplished chef who was killed in an avalanche last year, so I cannot give any counsel on food there.
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Old Jan 21st, 2005, 01:00 PM
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Hi Ann,
I did almost the exact trip recommended by Judy two years ago, though i drove up from Seattle. We spent three nights in Banff, two nights in Jasper and two nights in Calgary before driving home. Depending on where you are from, i'd reconsider spending two nights in Calgary. I personally didn't find it that thrilling and would have preferred spending another night or two in Jasper (which was my favorite town).

If you are looking for city activities, then sure, spend time in Calgary, but if you are looking for hiking, biking, our just plain fresh air, spend a few more days in Jasper. It was really so beautiful there and such a small fun town.

Finally - be prepared for all kinds of weather! We went in mid-september. The first day was beautiful, days in the 60s, lots of sunshine. Two days later we had three inches of snow. I had to go buy all new clothes...
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Old Jan 21st, 2005, 06:15 PM
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Our first trip to Canada will be in July.
After leaving Glacier NP, MT we will spend:
2 nights Clareholm
3 nights Canmore
3 nights Jasper
2 nights Golden
This is based on info gleaned from this site during the last year.
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Old Jan 25th, 2005, 07:32 AM
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Thank you everyone for your replies and suggestions! All are very much appreciated.
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Old Jan 25th, 2005, 03:19 PM
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Last year my 17 year old son and I visited the Rockies and enjoyed all of our accomodations. I'd recommend the following: Buffalo Mountain Lodge (Banff), Deer Lake Lodge (Lake Louise) and Beckers (Jasper). While some folks felt that it was silly to change hotels between Banff and Lake Louise, since they are only an hour apart, we were definitely glad we did since we did several day hikes from each point. Particularly liked the last two hotels. While Buffalo Mt Lodge was nice, I'm sure there are other hotels in Banff that would have suited as well.
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Old Jan 28th, 2005, 12:37 PM
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Ronkala:
Do you have specific things in mind to do in Golden? We spent a couple of nights there and there isn't a whole lot to do unless you are going to mountain bike the ski slopes.
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Old Jan 28th, 2005, 02:18 PM
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I was thinking the same thing birdie.

ronkala, there is not a whole lot to do in Golden, you would be far better off spending those 2 days split between some of your other choices, or checking out Banff and Lake Louise for those days. Unless of course there is something specific that you have in mind to do in Golden.
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Old Jan 28th, 2005, 07:39 PM
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We will be leaving Jasper for Golden, stopping at Yoho NP on the way. I figure it might be late afternoon when we reach Golden. If we arrive early enough, we will drive down to Kootenay NP and back. The next day we are driving to Glacier NP and Revelstroke and then back to Golden. After the two nights in Golden, we be starting our return drive to Virginia via SK into ND.
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