travel around Fairmont Hot Springs
 

Two couples ( 50's) will be staying at timeshare at Fairmont Hot Springs Villas for 7 nights. We play golf, like to hike, fish, bike ride.......Can anyone suggest itineraries from this location ( we don't mind driving alittle) We will be staying at Lake Louise area 3 days after this.

Also, how far is it to Glacier Natl. Park and is it possible to do day trips from Fairmont Hot Springs to Banff area??

If you like to hike - close to Banff is an area called Johnston Canyon- pretty easy hike - its pretty poplular so lots of people on trail - we hiked all the way to the paint pots- very nice.
In Banff you will find a very nice visitors center with all sorts of info on what to do - and people to give you recommendations.

At Lake Louise I also recommend the hike to the tea house - the trail is right beside the lake - very nice hike -may be a little steep for some - I thought it was great.

Hello nancyl,

Golfing, hiking, fishing, biking all are available in the Fairmont area. I'm sure the staff at your accommodation will be able to advise you on where to go and which companies to use for these activities.

As to excursions, on one day, you could head south on Hwy 93 / 95 and visit Fort Steele, the town of Kimberley, and the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook.

On another day you could head north up Hwy 95 to Golden and then west on Hwy 1 through Glacier National Park and over beautiful Rogers Pass to Revelstoke. At Revelstoke there is yet another railway museum, if you're up for it.

When I mention Glacier National Park, I'm referring to the lesser known one in British Columbia.

When you asked about Glacier National Park, I suspect you may have been referring to the better known one in Montana. That is quite far from Fairmont, too far for a day trip.

Sunbum1944 gave you good suggestions, but those activities would be better done when you move on to Lake Louise.

Another thing you could consider doing is undertaking the Lake Louise / Banff activities while you're in Fairmont, and then moving on to Jasper instead of Lake Louise. The Icefields Parkway between Lake Louise and Jasper is stunning, but involves too many scenic lookout points to be done as a day trip based from Lake Louise, in my opinion. Besides, Jasper has some wonderful sight seeing that is worth at least a full day in its own right.

While you're in the area, I highly recommend that you see Emerald Lake and Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park and Moraine Lake (near Lake Louise) in Banff National Park.

You might want to explore the Kootenay Rockies section of British Tourism's website at

http://www.hellobc.com/bcescapes/regions/bcrockies.asp

and the Rockies section of Travel Alberta's website at

http://www1.travelalberta.com/Rockies/

You can get driving directions, distances, times and route maps at

www.mapquest.com

But keep in mind that Map Quest counts driving time only and doesn't consider stops at scenic lookout points such as you undoubtedly would make along the Icefields Parkway, for example.

Another fun thing is to check with the Brewster Tours - they have bus trips out of Banff and Lake Louise - we took a day trip to the Athabasca Glacier- bus driver did lots of sight seeing stops on the way