What to do for an afternoon in Banff
 

We are arriving in Banff this Saturday around 1:30pm and are leaving the next morning for a ranch in Cranbrook. What should we do for our one afternoon in Banff? We are staying at the Buffalo Mountain Lodge. (We are spending two nights in Lake Louise and two nights in Jasper at the end of our trip.)

if you don't want to drive much, go down into town (there is public transport right outside your hotel)and walk up to the bow falls and the banff springs hotel for a look around. then you could drive to the gondola and take that up the mountain. then dinner either in town or your hotel as a very good upscale restaurant.
another choice if you want to drive some, take the old hwy up to johnsons canyon and take the easy hike up there. it's about 1/2 way to lake louise so you can then either turn around and go back to banff or drive onto lake louise and go for a walk around the lake.

Thank you. Both options sound good. Is it possible to actually soak in hot springs somewhere? We will have just flown 7 hours and hot springs sound very appealing.

Yes there are hot springs there--right by the gondola that goes up to the top of Sulfur Mountain.

There are lots of things to do around Banff--depending on what you like. Along with the above suggestions, you can drive along Tunnel Mountain Road (where Buffalo Mountain Lodge is) and see the Hoodoos. There is also a hike to the top of the mountain with great views if you are up to it. You can drive a very short distance to Lake Minnewanka and take a stoll along the Lake (probably could take a boat ride on it) and into Stewart Canyon. You could drive to Vermillion Lakes (right next to Banff) and up Norquay Road (for a different view of Banff if you are into taking pictures). People were floating down the Bow River in intertubes. The Cave and Basin museum is interesting I have heard. There's always the Banff Springs Golf Course--we saw elk there in the evening.

We really liked the Buffalo Mountain Lodge--have a great trip!

Thanks for all the ideas. I guess we will have to choose depending on weather, timing and our state of fatigue.

You may already have seen these, but some web sites that I found helpful were:

http://www.canadianrockies.net/
www.canadianrockies.com
www.travelalberta.com

We thought it was very helpful to have a map of Banff--it is a very small town and easy to get around in once you become oriented to the different streets and how they go together. There is also a visitor's center in the town.