Summer vacation in Banff area with teenagers
Feb 5th, 2005, 01:03 PM
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Summer vacation in Banff area with teenagers
We are considering a vacation this summer to the Canadian Rockies. We have two children (17 &13). We all love the outdoors and most of our summer vacations have always revolved around the outdoors (Colorado, Yellowstone, rainforest in Costa Rica, Alaska, Grand Canyon). One of my main things when we travel together is a good night's sleep since we stay active. That means no motel room with two double beds. We are used to a king bed and kids are boy and girl and used to separate beds. When we did Alaska, we stayed in B&B's and liked that because we sometimes had two rooms with one bath or two baths and connecting rooms. Where do you recommend flying in to? We all have valid passports. Probably will stay for 7 nights. Any iternary and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Feb 5th, 2005, 02:06 PM
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In Lake Louise the Baker Creek Chalets are perfect for that. We have stayed there twice, both times in cabins. Once we had a 2 bedroom which had a queen in one and then two twins in the other. Last time we had a 1 bedroom cabin that had a loft. There was a queen bed in the bedroom, but then two twin beds up in the loft. We have a boy and a girl like you, so it works well.
Feb 5th, 2005, 02:38 PM
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Hello fae,
Calgary is the most convenient airport for accessing the Canadian Rockies.
You could consider this itinerary:
1 - Land in Calgary. If your flight lands early enough, consider driving 5 hours to Jasper. This may be tough to do after your flight, but it does stay light until late in summer. If you think you can manage this, it would be efficient. If you think Jasper is too much of a stretch, you could overnight in Canmore (70 min from Calgary's western city limits) or Banff (90 min from Calgary).
2 - Explore Jasper's environs.
3 - Jasper again.
4 - Drive the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise, stopping this time to see the things you missed on the way up. Heaps to see and do. It's nominally a short drive, but easily can expand to a full day. Overnight in Lake Louise.
5 - Explore LL's environs.
6 - More of LL's environs.
7 - Drive from LL to Banff along the Bow Valley Parkway (Route #1A), look around Banff townsite, then drive on to Calgary. Overnight in Calgary. A convenient place with respect to the airport is Greenwood Inn. If you want a B&B rather than a hotel, think about Lions Park B&B.
Things you might like to do in the mountains include hiking, white water rafting and horseback riding. You can do all of those activities from Jasper, Lake Louise (and from Banff too, for that matter).
In and around Jasper there are a few cabin complexes. One that enjoys a great deal of popularity amongst Fodorites is Becker's Chalets, although I have not stayed there myself. In addition to that, Jasper has a number of "home accommodators." They are similar to B&Bs, except that they don't provide breakfasts. Some of them come with kitchenettes, though.
Any one of Lake Louise, Banff or Canmore can be used as a base for seeing the sights that are at the southern end of this itinerary.
I personally like LL, because it's more centrally located with respect to the prime scenery, IMO. It would appeal to those who don't need much night life, as it is a small village. In addition to Baker Creek Chalets, which also enjoy a great deal of popularity here at Fodors, Paradise Lodge and Bungalows is another property that receives good reviews.
Banff townsite is the biggest of these three mountain resort towns. It is the best place to stay if you like to be around people, if you like the pub scene, etc. Banff also has a few chalet complexes in which each unit has more than one bedroom. Douglas Fir Resort is one that is mentioned here from time to time.
Canmore is just outside of Banff National Park, and provides overflow accommmodation for Banff. It has any number of self-catering apartments. It also has some B&Bs, although I am not personally familiar with the B&Bs.
At the height of the season some of the accommodations in the most popular spots have minimum stays of 2 or 3 nights. In addition to that, some of them have harsh cancellation policies. (If memory serves me correctly, Becker's policy is 7 days, for example.)
To my taste, the second half of June is the best time to come to this area. The lakes are thawed, and you can see them at their turquoise best, but there are not as many tourists as there are in July and August.
You can get a free map and travel guide for Alberta from:
http://www1.travelalberta.com/cfforms/freestuff/
and for British Columbia (to cover Yoho and Kootenay National Parks) from:
http://www.hellobc.com/bcescapes/request_start.asp
Driving directions, distances and times are available from:
www.freetrip.com (which also makes accommodation suggestions)
and
www.mapquest.com (which also provides route maps)
Hope that helps.
Calgary is the most convenient airport for accessing the Canadian Rockies.
You could consider this itinerary:
1 - Land in Calgary. If your flight lands early enough, consider driving 5 hours to Jasper. This may be tough to do after your flight, but it does stay light until late in summer. If you think you can manage this, it would be efficient. If you think Jasper is too much of a stretch, you could overnight in Canmore (70 min from Calgary's western city limits) or Banff (90 min from Calgary).
2 - Explore Jasper's environs.
3 - Jasper again.
4 - Drive the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise, stopping this time to see the things you missed on the way up. Heaps to see and do. It's nominally a short drive, but easily can expand to a full day. Overnight in Lake Louise.
5 - Explore LL's environs.
6 - More of LL's environs.
7 - Drive from LL to Banff along the Bow Valley Parkway (Route #1A), look around Banff townsite, then drive on to Calgary. Overnight in Calgary. A convenient place with respect to the airport is Greenwood Inn. If you want a B&B rather than a hotel, think about Lions Park B&B.
Things you might like to do in the mountains include hiking, white water rafting and horseback riding. You can do all of those activities from Jasper, Lake Louise (and from Banff too, for that matter).
In and around Jasper there are a few cabin complexes. One that enjoys a great deal of popularity amongst Fodorites is Becker's Chalets, although I have not stayed there myself. In addition to that, Jasper has a number of "home accommodators." They are similar to B&Bs, except that they don't provide breakfasts. Some of them come with kitchenettes, though.
Any one of Lake Louise, Banff or Canmore can be used as a base for seeing the sights that are at the southern end of this itinerary.
I personally like LL, because it's more centrally located with respect to the prime scenery, IMO. It would appeal to those who don't need much night life, as it is a small village. In addition to Baker Creek Chalets, which also enjoy a great deal of popularity here at Fodors, Paradise Lodge and Bungalows is another property that receives good reviews.
Banff townsite is the biggest of these three mountain resort towns. It is the best place to stay if you like to be around people, if you like the pub scene, etc. Banff also has a few chalet complexes in which each unit has more than one bedroom. Douglas Fir Resort is one that is mentioned here from time to time.
Canmore is just outside of Banff National Park, and provides overflow accommmodation for Banff. It has any number of self-catering apartments. It also has some B&Bs, although I am not personally familiar with the B&Bs.
At the height of the season some of the accommodations in the most popular spots have minimum stays of 2 or 3 nights. In addition to that, some of them have harsh cancellation policies. (If memory serves me correctly, Becker's policy is 7 days, for example.)
To my taste, the second half of June is the best time to come to this area. The lakes are thawed, and you can see them at their turquoise best, but there are not as many tourists as there are in July and August.
You can get a free map and travel guide for Alberta from:
http://www1.travelalberta.com/cfforms/freestuff/
and for British Columbia (to cover Yoho and Kootenay National Parks) from:
http://www.hellobc.com/bcescapes/request_start.asp
Driving directions, distances and times are available from:
www.freetrip.com (which also makes accommodation suggestions)
and
www.mapquest.com (which also provides route maps)
Hope that helps.
Feb 7th, 2005, 09:09 AM
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beckers always gets very good reviews. another place you may want to consider is douglas fur resort in banff. they have a variety of different types of rooms/chalets so you could have your own rooms. they also have kitchens which always comes in handy, fireplaces, the deers often are at the balconies in the morning and evenings and there is a waterslide in the pool area which i'm sure the kids would enjoy.
the calgary airport is right on hwy 2. if you fly in with enough time to travel to jasper, just get on the highway and head north to the rocky mountain house, hwy 11 turnoff (about 1-1 1/2 hours drive). turn west and head to the icefield parkway. then north again to jasper. if you arrive late in calgary, get a hotel at the airport and head out early in the morning. there is a nice beach at sylvan lake (close to your route) if you wanted to stop and have a dip. quite little town.
this will be the longest drive on your trip so nice to get it out of the way first. you will have NO problems finding plenty to do in 7 days. when you get into jasper and banff, stop at the tourist information places and describe what you like to do - they'll offer plenty of suggestions.
the calgary airport is right on hwy 2. if you fly in with enough time to travel to jasper, just get on the highway and head north to the rocky mountain house, hwy 11 turnoff (about 1-1 1/2 hours drive). turn west and head to the icefield parkway. then north again to jasper. if you arrive late in calgary, get a hotel at the airport and head out early in the morning. there is a nice beach at sylvan lake (close to your route) if you wanted to stop and have a dip. quite little town.
this will be the longest drive on your trip so nice to get it out of the way first. you will have NO problems finding plenty to do in 7 days. when you get into jasper and banff, stop at the tourist information places and describe what you like to do - they'll offer plenty of suggestions.
Feb 11th, 2005, 09:54 PM
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We made a loop from Calgary to Waterton, Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper, Edmonton, and back to Calgary. It was a wonderful vacation. I hate to say that we passed up the best thing that area had to offer that it sounds like your family will enjoy - the outdoor activities. The hiking and camping opportunities looked great.
