We are planning a trip for this summer and were wondering if this itinerary was realistic:

Day 1: Arrive in Calgary and drive north/west to Jasper (Not sure where we are going to stay - any B&B suggestions?)
Day 2: Drive to Arrowhead, hike Maligne Lake/Canyon
Day 3: Hike Angel Glacier / Cavell Meadows
Day 4: Drive Icefield Highway and stop at Athabasca Falls, take Snocoach tour, visit Peyto Lake and if time permits, stop at Lake Louise. Arrive in Canmore at Lady McDonald B&B.
Day 5: Hike Moraine Lake area, maybe rent a canoe or take a boat tour on lake. If we didn't get to Lake Louise on the day before, visit/hike today.
Day 6: Go to airport.

1. Any suggestions on other places to hike/visit?
2. Based on what I have listed, will we need daily park passes, or should we just purchase a yearly pass to make it easy (just the two of us)?
3. Any B&B suggestions for Jasper (preferable close town)?

Thanks

Let me suggest you go to the Jasper NP website and look under accommodations.
You will need to enter by going first to www.parkscanada.ca and drilling down to Jasper.

Also you might try here:http://www.stayinjasper.com/

There are not a lot of true bed and breaksfasts in Jasper and many of the accommodations have minimum stays in the summer of 2 or even 3 nights.

Good searching.

I am curious why you are driving all the way to Canmore and then backtracking to Lake Louise. (Same exit off the Trans Canada for Moraine Lake.)

Another aspect of the trip I think a good map would show you is this:
The shortest route to Jasper from the Calgary Airport is to go north and take the David Thompson Highway from Rocky Mountain House to the Icefields Parkway where you intersect the parkway at a place called The Crossing.

There is no other way other than to go via Banff and Lake Louise on the way up.

If you go via Edmonton, even skirting to the west of the city, makes for a longer trip. Edmonton is more than 200 miles from Jasper!

So in thinking about your route, you might want to take that factor into account.

We stayed at the Raven B&B in Jasper last summer and enjoyed it. We posted a very long trip report (click on nkh above and it should show up somewhere on the list) that may help you with this and some other details, since we did most of the things you listed in your itinerary. There are also a number of other trip reports you could search for that may help (they helped me when planning!) - Jasper, Rockies etc were all good keywords as I recall.

Have a great trip!

>>>>>>The shortest route to Jasper from the Calgary Airport is to go north and take the David Thompson Highway from Rocky Mountain House to the Icefields Parkway where you intersect the parkway at a place called The Crossing.<<<<<<

Bob, I used to give people this very same piece of advice till Borealis set me straight.

My intuitive assumption was that the route via Rocky Mountain House was shorter. In fact it's about 90 miles and 1 hr 20 min longer.

If you do enquiries on Map Quest, you find that Calgary to Jasper via Rocky Mountain House is 346 miles, which takes 6 hours 20 minutes. Calgary to Jasper via Banff, on the other hand, is 256 miles, which takes 5 hours.

The reason for the counter-intuitive length of the Rocky Mountain House route apparently is the convex route of the David Thompson Highway (Hwy #11).

If a person has the time to drive the David Thompson Highway, I certainly do recommend it, just for the sake of variety. However, it's not the quickest way of reaching Jasper after landing in Calgary.

danielsonkin, your scheme of driving to Jasper straight after landing is dependent on a couple of factors. It assumes you'll be landing no later than mid-afternoon. It would take you about 7 hours from the time that you touched down in Calgary to the time that you reached Jasper. Assume 1 hour for clearing immigration and customs. Assume 1 hour for dinner somewhere along the way (probably Lake Louise village). Assume 5 hours for the drive itself. If you landed at 3 pm, you could count on reach Jasper at 10 pm. That would be okay when there were long hours of daylight in the summer time.

If you were staying at a B&B, however, it might be thoughtful to ask your hosts in advance if there was a way for you to let yourselves into your room without disturbing them. (They might agree to leave a key in a pre-arranged hiding spot or something like that.)

I'm a fan of Lady Macdonald Country Inn but, as Bob has pointed out, staying in Canmore and then returning to Moraine Lake the next day would involve some double backing. On the other hand, if you were flying out of Calgary on Day 6, Canmore would be closer to Calgary Airport than Lake Louise is.

I hope you've allowed yourselves enough time to check in at Calgary Airport. This page of my web site explains how much time you need:

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...s/airport.msnw

After visiting Moraine Lake, you might have time to visit Takakkaw Falls in nearby Yoho National Park. Alternatively, you could consider visiting Johnston Canyon on the Bow Valley Parkway (Hwy #1A) between Lake Louise and Banff.

You only need to buy a national park pass once, when you first enter Banff National Park just west of Canmore. The same pass gets you into Jasper, Yoho and Kootenay National Parks and indeed any one of Canada's 28 national parks (at least in theory -- obviously physical limitations will prevent you from visiting all of them in 6 days).

You would be better off buying a group national park pass for 5 days. (A group pass is valid for 2 adults and up to 5 children travelling in the same vehicle.) An annual pass only pays for itself if you will be spending 7 or more days in the national parks. That said, if there is a chance that you'll visit a national park in any part of Canada in the 365 days following your arrival, it would be worth your while to buy an annual pass.

The first day of your national park pass's validity is counted from the time of your arrival until 4 pm the next day.

If you have the time after your arrival in Calgary, a prettier alternate route to take (rather than the whole of the David Thompson highway) is to take highway 22 up to Rocky Mountain House and then west to highway 93 (Icefield Parkway).

Highway 22 is the "Cowboy Trail" and begins a short distance west of Calgary's western city limits (at Cochrane actually), and travels through some very pretty ranching country in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains.
This is a long route - it's approx 380 km (or 240 miles) from Calgary's western city limits to Saskatchewan River Crossing (the place that Bob mentioned above).

Note also that the type of highway will determine your speed limit. The Trans Canada from Calgary to Canmore is four lane divided with a speed limit of 110 km/h (approx. 70 mph). In the National Parks the speed limits are much lower, and most of the highways (except for a bit between Banff and Lake Louise) are only two lane undivided.
The "Cowboy Trail" (highway #22) is also 2 lane undivided but with a speed limit of 100 km/h (about 62 mph) in most sections.

And, as Judy mentioned, the days in summer are very long (in Calgary - your furthest point south - the sun sets just before 9:30 pm at the end of July), so you have plenty of time to do sightseeing well into the evening.

Thank you everyone for your thoughts. We have been able to extend the trip a bit so here is our final itinerary:

Sat arrive in Calgary and drive to Lady McDonald Inn in Canmore. Explore the Banff/Lake Louise area Sun and Mon.

Tuesday drive up Icefield Parkway and visit the Glacier and other stops along the way. Arrive in Jasper and stay at Alpine Village Cabins.

Wed and Thurs explore Jasper area.

Fri drive back to Calgary via Icefield Parkway (visit different places along the way)

Spend the night in Calgary, Fri night, and visit Calgary during the Day on Sat until the evening when our flight leaves.

Any interesting boutiquey hotels that people recommend for Calgary? I suppose the best place to stay is downtown, correct?

Thanks again.

I don't know if they are boutique hotels, but there is a cluster of motels and hotels just off of Barlow Trail south of the airport.

That is where I stay because the facilities are easy to find, close to the airport, and offer free parking.

I usually stay at the Greenwood Inn, which has nice rooms and a good restaurant. There is plenty of free parking and it is a short trip to the airport.

I must admit I was wrong about going through Rocky Mountain House. It is longer by a good margin because the road actually curves south and you are backtracking to reach The Crossing.

The only two times I drove it I was on my way to Drumheller from Jasper and to Edmonton from Lake Louise. Intuitively it is closer, but not when you look at that big bend to the south which is opposite the way you want to go.

The drive along the David Thompson Highway is remote with little traffic, so you can move right along, but I don't think that the potentially faster speed compensates for the extra distance that route takes.

Your plan is good. If you have time, I do suggest that you drive on the Trans Canada Highway over Kicking Horse Pass near Lake Louise and view Takkakaw Falls in Yoho National Park.

The Falls are a spectacular sight that have enjoyed many times.

Given that your shortest route from Calgary to Jasper is along the Icefields Parkway, you may want to reconsider your travel plan.

The problem is that along the parkway there are not many places to overnight. The Crossing is the location of a motel that is ok. There is the Num Ti Jah lodge at which I have never stayed, but it is expensive. There is a hotel at the Icefields Center along the parkway, but it tends to be high priced and it is actually located over the visitor center on the 3rd floor.

I also have been told that the food at the cafeteria there is not the best.

The lack of facilities then argues for driving all the way to Jasper after you land.

When you start looking at rental car prices, you may find that Enterprise offers the best rates. It is off airport, but we had quick and easy shuttle service from the main terminal to the office and back again when we left to come home.

The Calgary airport is one of the friendlier ones to use with fairly easy access in and out. I do suggest your passport for ease of return through US customs and US immigration control. (Making an assumption here that you need a passport and that you are returning to the States.)

In case you are wondering you go though US controls in Calgary.

Just don't try to take any apples home with you. US Customs will confiscate them.

>>>>>>Any interesting boutiquey hotels that people recommend for Calgary?<<<<<<

In Calgary there is a lovely, 19-room, boutique hotel called the Kensington Riverside Inn. It's just across the Bow River from downtown Calgary. It has a residential district on one side of it and a funky shopping / restaurant district on the other side of it. But it's rather pricey.

If you want something more reasonably priced, you could consider Lions Park B&B. It's on a leafy residential street, but it's close to the TransCanada Highway / 16th Avenue NW. It's also within walking distance of the north end of the Kensington district, where my favourite Ristorante La Luna Rossa is located.

Still another convenient area to stay is "Motel Village." It's a cluster of hotels and motels on Banff Trail NW, just off the TransCanada Highway / 16th Avnue NW. If you do a Google search, you can recognise these hotels from the fact that they have the words "Motel Village" or "University" in their names or they have "Banff Trail" in their street addresses.

There are some budget hotels in Motel Village, but there also are some quite decent, 3-star hotels. Quality Inn University is clean and decent, but it is not a boutique hotel by any stretch of the imagination. Best Western Village Park Inn and Hampton Inn & Suites University are the best of the crop.

Both Lions Park B&B and all of the hotels and motels in Motel Village are close to train stations that give you convenient access to downtown Calgary. Another advantage of Lions Park B&B and the properties in Motel Village is that they provide free parking.

If you want to get into good hotels downtown, you're looking at places like the Hyatt and the Marriott. They cost more than the others I've mentioned, and they charge for parking.

I am not aware of a boutique hotel in downtown Calgary. The only boutique hotel I'm aware of is Kensington Riverside Inn, which is just across the river from downtown. From the KRI you could catch the train into downtown, or you could walk there.

The hotel district that brookwood mentioned in the northeast quadrant of Calgary is a great place in which to stay if you have a morning flight out of Calgary. It's the same general vicinity in which the airport is located. However, since you will not be catching a morning flight out, you also could consider other areas of the city.

Here is my suggested walking itinerary of downtown Calgary in case it's helpful:

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...ofcalgary.msnw

For Jasper stay at BECKERS CHALETS; gREAT;pAUL

Thank you all for your suggestions.

Do you think our staying in Canmore is going to be a problem for the Lake Louise portion of our trip? I understand we will be about 45 minutes from LL sites and now I am beginning to think about all the time spent driving. If I think about being 45 minutes outside Lake Tahoe or Yosemite, that's a lot of driving, especially on windy mountains roads. Do you think it's worth the premium to pay more to stay closer to the actual places we will be visiting (Morraine Lake, Johnson Canyon, Lake Agnes, etc)?

Also, does anyone have experience with the Alpine Village Cabins versus Beckers?

Thanks, Daniel

>>>>>>Do you think our staying in Canmore is going to be a problem for the Lake Louise portion of our trip?<<<<<<

In my opinion Canmore is less ideal than Lake Louise.

>>>>>>I understand we will be about 45 minutes from LL sites and now I am beginning to think about all the time spent driving.<<<<<<

If you stay in Canmore you won't be 45 minutes from Lake Louise. You'll be upwards of 65 minutes from it. Canmore to Baff is about 15 minutes, and Banff to Lake Louise is about 50 minutes.

>>>>>>Do you think it's worth the premium to pay more to stay closer to the actual places we will be visiting (Morraine Lake, Johnson Canyon, Lake Agnes, etc)?<<<<<<

If you can afford to do so, I think it's worth paying extra to stay in the Lake Louise area.

Johnston Canyon is actually slightly closer to Banff townsite than it is to Lake Louise. Johnston Canyon is very nice but, if you have to make tough choices, I would suggest you omit it. Maligne Canyon outside of Jasper is more impressive, in my opinion.

The one downside of staying in Lake Louise is that you'll have at least an extra hour to drive to reach Calgary Airport on the day you fly out. This page of my website explains airport logistics:

http://groups.msn.com/CalgaryandCana...s/airport.msnw

Since you have such a short time in the area, I would spend your last night in Lake Louise or Banff and skip Calgary. There are so many beautiful places to see in the area. If you enjoy hiking, it is a vacation in paradise. Where else can you hike to a teahouse?

In Lake Louise we stayed at Baker Creek.

I second LindainOhio's suggestion. We have stayed at Deer Lodge in Lake Louise and enjoyed it immensely (http://www.crmr.com/lodgedeer.php). It's smallish, quaint, and has a great restaurant.

We stayed at The Glass House B&B in Jasper and it is a "true" B&B. It is within walking distance of everything in the town centre. After a day of hiking etc. we went back to the house and left the car for the evening.

Thank you again for everyone's feedback.

Well, we decided to book a room for the first part of our trip in Lake Louise at the Deer Lodge. We stay there for 2 days/3 nights and then drive up to Jasper for 2 days/3 nights (I am still trying to decide between Alpine Village and Beckers). Then we come back to Canmore and stay at the Lady McDonald for the last night of our trip. We drive into Calgary and explore the city on the last day before catching an evening flight back home.

I think you will really enjoy Deer Lodge. Please give us a report on your trip when you get back!

Deer Park sounds like a great place. I am really happy we decided to stay at Lake Louise rather than drive back and forth each day Banff or Canmore.

Does anyone have any thoughts on Alpine Village versus Beckers?

We stay at Becker's every June, but have viewed & pricedx out Alpine Village. I think the one advantage Alpine Village has over Becker's is that it would be quieter at night, and in one of the self-contained cabins, no noisy neighbors stomping up & down the stairs (which is a common problem in the duplex units at Becker's, believe me).

Thanks for mentioning that neighbor issue. At Beckers we had a cabin and at Alpine we were in a duplex. That definitely balance the scales in favor of Beckers.

Finally everything is set. Thank you to everyone for all the great ideas and help organizing this trip. I can't wait to see those Canadian Rockies!

I'd post a report when we get back.